Brussels, 8 December 2011 - The event
included speeches from Prof. Guy Goodwin-Gill of
Oxford University, Prof. Phillippe De Bruycker of
the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Archbishop
Agostino Marchetto and Andrea Vonkeman of UNHCR.
Three refugees were present to give their accounts
of the hardships they endured, particularly due to
the Dublin Regulation, while endeavouring to find
safe haven in the European Union.
Prof. Guy Goodwin-Gill called on the EU to ''bridge
the migration-protection gap''. Goodwin-Gill, one of
the foremost authorities on international refugee
law, displayed his disillusionment with the level of
progress made for refugee protection in the European
Union, stating that he ''is far from convinced that
we have moved ahead even 60 years after''.
Refugees, he claimed, are ''members of a
particularly underprivileged and vulnerable
population group who are in need of special
protection.''
Although he admitted that the much-maligned Dublin
Regulation was, in theory, ''not all bad'', he was
scathing of the way it is being implemented.
Reception conditions, he pointed out, vary from
country to country. ''Politics won't allow logic to
reach its logical conclusion'', he said.
While alluding to the 2000 people have lost their
lives over the past 12 months while attempting to
enter the EU via the Mediterranean, he stated that
''no one in the European Union has appeared to count
the cost of the Dublin Regulation...it leads
countries to pass responsibility on to another
nation's shoulders and is perhaps incompatible with
child protection''.
He was equally disparaging of the EU border agency Frontex. The
agency, he claimed, is the practical
manifestation of the EU expanding its borders and
the mandate it is given, ''proves refugee protection
is not given the value it is due''.
He called for an EU mandate where protection is the
primary goal. ''International legal obligations are
indisputable'', he said.
Also speaking was Mohammed Idris, an Eritrean
national who made five attempts to traverse the
Mediterranean Sea to get to Europe via Libya.
From traffickers who demand additional money
''midway through the journey'', to Libyan police who
''attack you at night'' in an attempt to ''push you
back to the desert'', his story was one filled with
despair, hardship, brutality and exploitation.
Unsurprisingly, the account given by Somalian Abdi
Mohammed Jabir was all too similar. Jabir, like
countless other refugees, got caught in the Dublin
Regulation snare by being deported back to
Ukraine from Hungary where the police ''take your
mobile phone, laptop and money''. Eventually, he
gained refugee status in Hungary.
Ibrahim Mohammed Banaytu, a trained nurse from
Eritrea, fled persecution in 2008 and came to Europe
via Yemen, Egypt, Turkey and Greece, where he was
place in the country's infamous detention system.
''Dogs get more respect in Greece'', he said.
Despite the adversity he suffered, Banaytu never
lost hope and has been able to maintain a sense of
humour about his ordeal. ''God never forgets
anybody, but sometimes He takes His time!'', he
quipped.
He eventually made it to Belgium, via France, where
he was again detained with the intention of being
sent back to Greece. The European Court of Human
Rights ordered that his transfer be stopped. After
having his asylum claim rejected twice, he was
eventually given refugee status in August 2011.
''Some people have humanity'', he said
For
further information and to registration, please
contact:
For further
information contact:
Philip Amaral
Policy and
Communications Officer, JRS Europe
europe.advocacy@jrs.net
T: +32 2 250
32 23
F: +32 2 250
32 29
