The extent to which the EU should be offering asylum to refugees from third countries has recently received a great deal of attention. For instance, Britain recently experienced the arrival of several hundred Gypsies from central and eastern Europe. The European Parliament returned to the issue this month in Strasbourg as part of the annual debate on human rights within the EU.
According to Mrs Pailler (F, EUL/NGL) who presented a report on the issue, 1996 was a year in which serious problems emerged in connection with immigration and the right of asylum. "I am opposed", she said, "to the notion of a `fortress Europe' and advocate instead a Europe based on fraternity and solidarity." The EU needed to establish specific rights for immigrants and asylum applicants as quickly as possible. Mrs Pailler deplored what she saw as the exclusively repressive nature of much existing or draft EU legislation on immigration and asylum, such as those on family reunions and the definition of a "refugee". She wanted non-EU immigrants to enjoy the same rights as nationals of the country in which they were living, including the right to vote in local elections if they resided in a country for over five years.
A number of member states came under fire for legislation on asylum and immigration. She believed they effectively abolished the right of appeal for most asylum seekers from "safe" countries; i.e., those counties where the government considered that there was no serious risk of persecution. She argued that this did not always guarantee real protection for asylum seekers, who might be sent back to a country in which they had been the victims of human rights violations, or in which they were at risk.
MEPs voted in favour of most of Mrs Pailler's proposals, and there was some support from Commissioner Hans van den Broek who supported the introduction of a system to allow applicants for asylum a fair hearing.