ADVERTISEMENTLast year, 330,000 people sought asylum in Europe. Thousands arrived in Greece, however only 152 were able to apply for asylum. Of these, just two were granted refugee status. Currently, an asylum-seeker’s chance of success depends on where they apply because each EU member state assesses asylum requests differently.
It is hoped that asylum-seekers will get fairer and more equal treatment across the EU under a draft law – one of five acts forming the backbone of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) – which is to be put to a vote in the European Parliament in June.
In this month’s edition of On the Frontline we turn our attention to asylum and the CEAS. Paul Hackett reports from Greece, one of the main gateways for migrants and refugees coming into Europe. NGO’s say there is no proper asylum process in Greece.
Our guests in the studio with Isabelle Kumar are Charles Clarke, former British Labour Home Secretary and Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, who has called for all EU states to shoulder their share of responsibility.
For more on this, read Cecilia Malmström’s Harvard University lecture below.
“Responding to the Arab Spring and rising populism: The challenges of building a European migration and asylum policy” given by Cecilia Malmström at http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-12-312_en.htm