Le istituzioni locali e il mondo associativo per la costruzione di una rete in materia di cooperazione, cultura di pace, integrazione multietnica, promozione dei diritti umani e della solidarietà fra i popoli.
The limits of rights
Friday, 19 October, the seminar “The limits of rights” (“I confini dei diritti”) promoted by the regional project "Emilia Romagna, terra d´asilo" in collaboration with the Province of Parma, ASGI and Sprar, took place in Bologna. The key issue discussed by the participants was the contradiction between the right for asylum and its realisation in practice. On the one hand, EU member-states undertook a commitment to protect this right, but on the other hand, they constantly violate it trying to get rid of potential refugees through restrictive and even repressive means.
During the seminar the participants focused on several legal problems impeding practical realisation of the right for asylum. One of them is the definition of a refugee nowadays. The definition provided by the 1951 Refugee Convention is considered general and vague, but its modification will inevitably result in limiting the number of potential asylum seekers falling within the scope of the refugee legislation. Thereby, the Convention remains untouched to avoid restrictive practices and the following criticism. One more problem is decoupling asylum policy from immigration policy. This task has important implications for the status of a person. People coming from Iraq, Afghanistan and other troubled areas of the world are often considered immigrants, furthermore, clandestine ones, mainly because of their illegal entry to the territory of EU countries. Nevertheless, taking into consideration particular conditions in their countries, they have the right to apply for asylum. The difficulties to get access to legal procedures for obtaining the status of refugee force them to undertake these risky trips through the Mediterranean Sea.
The part of the seminar related to the control of EU borders draw particular attention of the audience. The Fortress Europe data about 10 376 deaths along European frontiers and 3 631 missing in the sea since 1988 and 1 096 victims since the beginning of this year is striking and damaging for the EU image, as well as the facts of informal agreements between Italia and Libya on expulsion of potential asylum-seekers to Libya. The activity of FRONTEX patrol missions was criticised because it hardly could stop inflows of the people from disadvantage regions and at the same time it adds to their difficulties. The report on administrative detention centres in Malta and Slovenia became one more evidence of the EU hypocrisy. But keeping in mind all these negative facts, the reasons for EU restrictive policies should be analysed, as well as the consequences of strict observance of the obligations under the refugee legislation. Are European countries able to grant protection to all those having the right for asylum? Are they ready to provide these people with a social package? Have they elaborated effective integration policies? At present, the answer is likely to be negative. European countries have no capacities to shelter all the needy; moreover, they have to work on restructuring their welfare systems and combat unemployment. European countries have not developed measures for integration of immigrants over the last decades (though the terms “immigrant” and “refugee” are not equivalent, the majority of the latter come to Europe to settle down and have no intent to return to the countries of origin, therefore the receiving countries have to deal with their integration). Now attempts are made for creating European dimension of immigration and asylum policies, but this process is not easy, in particular, given different traditions of the member-states.
