EU proposal would let asylum-seekers work

Asylum-seekers would be allowed to work six months after they applied for refugee status, the EU proposed yesterday.

The European Commission has approved a draft proposal that would lay down minimum standards for the treatment of asylum-seekers in all EU member-states.

Member-states would be obliged to provide a minimum level of assistance to asylum-seekers and address the needs of unaccompanied children, torture victims and pregnant women.

The proposal requires the unanimous approval of the member-states, although Ireland and Britain can choose whether to opt into any harmonised system of standards that is agreed.

Officials predict the proposal will be the subject of long and difficult negotiations, and the Government is likely to resist any move to allow asylum-seekers to work. Between 800 and 1,000 people apply for asylum in the Republic each month, the highest number per head of population in the EU.

Only 15 per cent of asylum applications are successful, and the Government fears allowing applicants to work could encourage economic migrants. Some EU member-states, including Germany, already allow some asylum-seekers to work, and most EU leaders are eager to introduce a Europe-wide approach to asylum and migration.

The new proposal follows extensive consultation between the Commission and the member-states and includes a number of measures to discourage abuse of the asylum system.

The Commission hopes peer pressure would ensure that all member-states applied the minimum standards and a panel of experts would ensure that comparable rules were introduced throughout the EU.

EU justice ministers will discuss the proposal next month, and the Commission hopes the new rules will come into force at the end of this year. Ireland and Britain have three months to decide whether they want to be bound by the new rules.