Land Without Refugees

Border Surveillance System

As the EU Interior Commissioner Franco Frattini announced Tuesday at the 11th European Police Congress in Berlin, the border surveillance system, he is proposing, will uniformly register every entry and exit crossing of the European border in the future. The central index of all entries and exits over the EU peripheral borders will render a hard line of action possible against those, who have not left the EU before the expiration of their visas. This would prohibit refugees from remaining, who had legally entered the EU with valid visas. Their names could be placed on a wanted list throughout the EU. Similar reflections were already heard at a recent meeting of the EU Interior and Justice Ministers. These are in conformity with the German hard line migration policy.[1] Slovenian government officials have affirmed that the necessary decisions could be taken already this year. Slovenia is currently presiding over the EU Council and is closely cooperating with Berlin in the context of an 18 month "triple presidency" (Germany, Slovenia and Portugal).

Dublin II

These plans to intensify the migrant manhunt throughout the EU is a supplement to existing migration policies that are already exerting intense pressure on migrants in Germany, forcing them out to the peripheral EU border states. This stems from the so-called Dublin II Regulation, which came into force nearly five years ago. This regulation orders refugees to apply for asylum in the country, by which they entered onto EU soil.[2] As circumstance would have it, this would necessarily pertain to the southern and southeastern EU member states and their offshore islands. Germany, on the other hand, thanks to its "central" geographical situation, remains to a large extent free of undesirable immigrants. Unwanted migrants can, without exception, be deported, because every arriving refugee, coming other than by air, entered Germany from the territory of another EU member nation and must therefore apply for asylum outside of Germany. Recent victims of this regulation were refugees from the Russian Chechnya Republic, who - after the abrogation of German-Polish border controls at the end of 2007 - attempted to seek asylum in Germany. They were immediately deported back to Poland. German special refugee laws and the German camp system are also beginning to show their deterrent effects.[3] Agencies are reporting that Germany "is often used only as a transit territory by illegal immigrant smugglers" because "the conditions for refugees here have degenerated."[4]

More Deaths

The "Dublin II Regulation," supported by Berlin, has intensified the misery of the refugees at the EU's peripheral borders over the past few years. The regulation imposes the main burden of the German refugee-blocking policy upon the peripheral EU states, thereby forcing them to seal their borders. The measures Germany is forcing onto the EU, for example the establishment of a border protection agency, Frontex, are leading to a steadily rising death toll in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.[5] The Spanish Interior Ministry recently announced that, thanks to Frontex patrols off the coasts of Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and the Cape Verde Islands, only 12,500 refugees were able to reach Spain last year. That is 60% less than the preceding year. More than 12,800 others seeking entry were turned back. At the same time Madrid confirms that the number of those who lost their lives seeking refuge in the EU rose again in 2007. Because of the Frontex patrols, the refugees are attempting even more hazardous routes.[6]

Abandoned at Sea

Some are attempting even totally new routes. At the beginning of January several refugees from Mauritania were picked up at sea off the West Coast of Turkey. They had departed from their West African homeland, traversed the whole of North Africa and finally attempted to reach the EU from Turkish territory. The Greek coast guard found them on an Aegis island, forced them to board a ship and then abandoned them in the Mediterranean off the coast of Turkey.[7] This is not an exceptional case. Last fall, Pro Asyl, an organization supporting refugees, documented the systematic mishandling of migrants by Greek officials. According to Pro Asyl, the coast guards of EU member states regularly use illegal and risky maneuvers to repel refugee boats into Turkish territorial waters, even accepting the possibility of loss of life. Sometimes they abandon refugees on deserted islands.[8]

Down to the Equator

The inhumane and irrational character of the German/European drive to wall in Europe is becoming increasingly apparent. Whereas human rights organizations for years have been protesting against the humanitarian catastrophe at the Southern European maritime borders, the EU is extending its theater of operations for its refugee blocking troops even further south. Last weekend the Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, was touring the small West African nation Guinea Bissau, one of the poorest countries in the world, with two-thirds of its population living in dire poverty. One out of four children dies before it reaches the age of five. Until now Guinea Bissau held practically no significance for Berlin, which fobbed the country off with mine detector commandos, small wares and a single donation of medicine (worth 13,000 Euros) to combat a cholera epidemic in 2005. Now the interest in the country is growing because of the intention to block even the last possible refugee's entry into the EU. Foreign Minister Moratinos not only negotiated the permission to deport several thousands of migrants to Guinea Bissau from the EU, he also received the accord that the country would permit Frontex to operate within its territorial waters.[9] With this move, the EU's hunt for refugees is nearing the Equator. Guinea Bissau is situated half-way between the southwestern tip of the European continent and the Brazilian coastline.

304 Temporarily

Thanks to refugee hunts and migration policies, the German Interior Minister could announce new records in his prevention of non-profitable migrants from entering the country. The ministry announced that the number of asylum applications registered last year has, for the first time, again been lower than 20,000 and thereby reached the level of 1977. Apparently European borders have become more impermeable than during the latter phases of the East-West conflict ("iron curtain"). The overall quantity would be still much lower, had the number of Iraqi war refugees not doubled, to reach around 4,300. But asylum applications posed by Iraqi refugees represent one of the highest acceptance quotas - 1.6% are accorded asylum in Germany. Of the total demands processed, only 1.1% were granted asylum. In all, exactly 304 people were granted asylum in Germany in 2007. Albeit, only temporarily. The asylum status is granted only for a limited period of time.

Please read also our EXTRA-Dossier Festung Europa.

[1] Schengen wird strenger; Wiener Zeitung 26.01.2008
[2] Verordnung (EG) Nr. 343/2003 des Rates vom 18. Februar 2003 zur Festlegung der Kriterien und Verfahren zur Bestimmung des Mitgliedstaats, der für die Prüfung eines von einem Drittstaatsangehörigen in einem Mitgliedstaat gestellten Asylantrags zuständig ist. S. dazu Interview mit Karl Kopp
[3] see also Um jeden Preis, Nicht verwertbar and Nicht verwertbar (II)
[4] Razzia gegen Menschenschmuggler: Elf Festnahmen; dpa 09.01.2008
[5] see also Master of the Seas, Frontex and Auf Leben und Tod
[6] 60 Prozent weniger als im Jahr davor; Radio Megawelle 11.01.2008
[7] Griechenland soll Flüchtlinge vor türkischer Küste ausgesetzt haben; Spiegel Online 09.01.2008
[8] "The truth may be bitter, but it must be told". Über die Situation von Flüchtlingen in der Ägäis und die Praktiken der griechischen Küstenwache. Frankfurt am Main, Oktober 2007. www.proasyl.de
[9] Guinea Bissau, la salida más al sur de los cayucos, se suma al Frontex; ABC 28.01.2008