London, March 28, 2003 (The Guardian): Amnesty International last night voiced strong criticism of the government's proposals to send asylum seekers to a "transit processing centre" outside Europe while their applications are decided.
The home secretary, David Blunkett, will put the scheme to a European Union meeting of justice and home affairs ministers in Greece today.
Ruud Lubbers, the UN high commissioner for refugees, will attend today's meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers.
"The UNHCR believes there is merit in some of the key ideas put forward by the UK, and intends to continue to work with governments and the European commission as these ideas are developed," a spokesman said yesterday.
The package has two strands. It includes developing a system of UN "safe havens" in regional protection zones to cope with asylum seekers fleeing areas of global conflict or natural disasters, as well as the scheme to set up "transit processing centres" for those who try to get to Europe to claim asylum.
Amnesty International said the debate was likely to centre on plans to set up the regional protection zones in countries such as Turkey, Iran, northern Somalia or Morocco, as well as possible processing centres at the EU's border with Romania, Ukraine, Croatia, Russia or Albania.
"The real goal behind the UK proposal appears to be to reduce the number of spontaneous arrivals in the UK and other EU states by denying access to territory and shifting asylum seekers to zones outside the EU where refugee protection would be weak and unclear," an Amnesty spokesman said.
But Mr Blunkett defended the scheme yesterday, saying it was essential to show "our citizens at home that European asylum policy is not simply a gateway for uncontrolled migration, but rather a firm and fair procedure for those who genuinely need protection."
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