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| Europe |
| Germany Ships Illegal Immigrants To N. Africa |
| 2004-10-01 |
| 1 October 2004 Germany has set out a controversial proposal to stop illegal immigrants reaching the European Union by sending them to holding centres in North Africa. The idea is backed by Italy, but has drawn concern from other EU nations over cost and human rights. France questioned the financing of the plans, and whether they would respect human rights and raised the prospect of the centres attracting human traffickers. Sweden says there is no quick fix to stopping economic migrants coming to Europe in search of a better life and urged the EU to look at ways to address the root causes of illegal immigration. In 2003, Britain was forced to drop similar proposals to set up asylum centres outside the EU after pressure from Sweden and France, which argued they were in breach of international law. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #7 Sorry I thought is was an international law. Well I am all for respecting laws that make sense but in the case of economic refugees the laws done't make sense. We have several million ilegal economic refugees here. We send them home they come right back. Good luck. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-10-01 11:07:21 PM |
| #6 EU law says that when a refugee reaches EU soil (and has not transited thru a "safe" country) he/she must be allowed to stay until asylum hearings are finished. Another problem is when "refugees" shred their passport after arrival and it can't be proven where they come from. In that case they cannot be sent back to the state they hail from. This is a problem African asylum centres would avoid. Whether they would really do much to stem the refugee flood is another question. The German position seems to be that it's better to do something than just sit and wait. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-10-01 11:03:27 PM |
| #5 What international law prohibits a state from excluding non-natives from it's territory? Is there really such a thing. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-10-01 10:49:49 PM |
| #4 Send them to Sweden and France. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-10-01 10:43:37 PM |
| #3 It's still a proposal at this stage but the U.S. tried something similar to stop the Cubans drowning at sea I think. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-10-01 10:36:16 PM |
| #2 So the proposal is to establish a legitimate and, hopefully, safe alternative to crossing the Straits of Gilbraltar in pontoon boat fashioned from 55 gallon drums. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-10-01 10:33:45 PM |
| #1 The headline completely distorts the proposal. The idea is create holding centres (kind of "safe havens") in North Africa for Africans who want to claim political asylum in the EU. More than 90 percent of Africans who claim political asylum in the EU are actually economic migrants. The German proposal is (up to now) backed by Italy, Poland and Denmark. The British proposal included sending political refugees (or those who claimed that status) who had reached EU soil already, back to Africa into those centres, which would be a breach of international law. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-10-01 10:26:50 PM |