International Obligations
The European Union's refugee policy is based on the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees, which also informs the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This is what the UNHCR says:
What rights does a refugee have?
A refugee has the right to safe asylum. However, international protection comprises more than physical safety. Refugees should receive at least the same rights and basic help as any other foreigner who is a legal resident, including the freedom of thought, of movement, and freedom from torture and degrading treatment.
Similarly, economic and social rights apply to refugees as they do to other individuals. Every refugee should have access to medical care. Every adult refugee should have the right to work. No refugee child should be deprived of schooling.
How does UNHCR distinguish between a refugee and an economic migrant?
A migrant normally leaves his or her country voluntarily, to seek a better life. To a refugee, the economic conditions of the country of asylum are less important than its safety.
May asylum-seekers be detained?
Liberty is a fundamental human right, like asylum. As a general rule, detention of asylum-seekers is not acceptable. It is particularly undesirable when those detained include the very vulnerable - children, single women, and people with special medical or psychological needs. They are not criminals; they have already suffered great hardship and jailing them is wrong.
The 1951 Convention specifically bars countries from punishing people who have arrived directly from a country of persecution (or from another country where protection could not be assured), provided that they present themselves speedily to the authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry. Monitoring (through reporting obligations or guarantor requirements) is often a perfectly viable alternative to imprisoning asylum-seekers.
Detention is only acceptable if it is brief, absolutely necessary, and is instituted after other options have been implemented . . . Detained asylum-seekers should always be informed of their rights - including the right to challenge their imprisonment.
May governments deport persons who are found not to be refugees?
People who have been determined, under an equitable procedure, not to be in need of international protection, are in a situation similar to that of illegal aliens and may be deported. However, the UNHCR does urge that protection should also be granted to people who come from countries devastated by armed conflicts or generalised violence. Additionally, the UNHCR strongly advocates that every rejected asylum-seeker be granted the right to a review of the rejection.
Which countries maintain a resettlement quota?
Of the 185 member states of the United Nations, only 10 establish annual resettlement quotas over and above their acceptance of persons arriving spontaneously at their own borders. These 10 are: the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Other countries may consider submissions from the UNHCR on a case-by-case basis.