BRUSSELS: Britain yesterday defended plans to process asylum-seekers outside the European Union (EU) in the face of angry condemnation by Amnesty International.
"It is doubly incongruous that the present proposals were initiated by the EU member state that is part of the military operations in Iraq," he added.
Britain wants to stem the rising number of refugee claimants arriving in the European Union by processing their claims closer to home. In the case of Iraqis, that would mean sending them to centres in Turkey, Iran or Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq.
Morocco or northern Somalia could act as centres for African asylum-seekers, while eastern Europeans seeking refuge could head to non-EU countries such as Romania or Croatia.
British Home Secretary David Blunkett is to outline the new ideas at the EU ministers' meeting at Veria, Greece, today and tomorrow.
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