European Commission
Malmström

Belgium is today a country in shock after the horrific attack in Liège yesterday, which led to six deaths, more than a hundred injured and an entire country asking the same question: Why? According to indications, the perpetrator was acting alone and was a quite well known criminal. The merciless killing raises once again the issue of access to weapons in Europe. I have today discussed the possibilities to establish a working group within the Commission to see if there is a possibility to strengthen legislation around illegal weapons at EU level.

The European Asylum Support Office (EASO), which I inaugurated this summer is now fully operational. The office plays an important role in our common support to Greece, where several experts are working under the EASO management to support the Greeks in the reform of their asylum system. In order to involve civil society in the work of the office, EASO will have an open consultation tomorrow with invited organisations and where representatives from UNHCR, IOM amongst others will speak. This part of the meeting will also be broadcast live on the web tomorrow morning at half past nine.

Last year, South Africa alone received 180,000 asylum applications. The 27 EU Member States combined only accepted 260,000 in the same year. Although we hear much talk about solidarity in asylum matters, there is a lack of concrete measures. We see this clearly when we look at how the reception of asylum seekers in Europe is divided. During the first half of this year 75% of all asylum applications in Europe were made in six countries: France, Germany, Belgium, UK, Sweden and Italy. This means that there are 21 EU Member States that could take a lot more responsibility.

Today I have therefore presented a proposal on how we can encourage more European countries to show solidarity. Notably this will be achieved by giving the Member States the opportunity to receive financial assistance for accepting refugees, but it will also work to strengthen the Asylum Support Office, EASO, so they can provide skilled personnel to assist in the handling of refugee claims. Special funds will be available to support countries that wish to receive refugees and we hope that the current relocation program from Malta to other EU countries can be made permanent. We are now also negotiating the final parts of the common European asylum system package to be completed next year. When this is then in place, the countries that currently lack a system for asylum reception will be obliged to build one. You can read more about the proposal I presented today.

Otherwise, I have devoted the day to reading the speeches of Merkel and Sarkozy, ahead of the summit next week.

2011-07-20 Malta showed itself from its best side yesterday when the EASO (European Asylum Support Office) was inaugurated. I am happy that the Support Office is now fully operational. It was also quite timely that the inauguration took place the day before the World Refugee day, that we pay special attention to today.

In my work as Commissioner I work with all aspects of migration, the functioning of the borders, the management of migration flows and the rules for reception to be applied at the EU –level. But what keeps coming back to my mind are all those people I have met in refugee camps and asylum centres. I carry their stories with me everyday.

According to UNHCR, there are approx. 43 million people displaced worldwide today. That is an intangible figure. And behind this figure are 43 million personal stories, 43 million people that don’t have a secure place to call home.

Some refugee camps are unfortunately made permanent. Children grow up and live their whole life in these camps. I often talk about the need to put in place the European Resettlement Programme. With this Programme we could be able to coordinate our efforts in order to empty an entire camp.

More than one million people have fled Libya over the past few months, the large majority were foreign workers who needed – and received – assistance in returning home. A few have arrived in Europe but a large number of people are still in refugee camps in the neighbouring North African countries. In Tunisia and Egypt there are many people fleeing the Libyan war who now have no homes, or for whom return would be as unsafe as staying in Libya (Somalis and Eritreans for example). We must find solutions for their resettlement, including here in Europe. These people should be in our thoughts even more today, on the occasion of the World Refugee Day, especially as the general attitude among decision makers these days seems to be that it is easier to talk about effective border control than humanitarian responsibility.

2011-06-19 Today I am in Valetta, Malta to inaugurate the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). The EASO will support Member States by facilitating cooperation in all aspects of the assessment of asylum claims and in the reception of asylum seekers.

Tonight there will be a big inaugural ceremony with local celebrities as well as international guests from UNHCR, the Hungarian Presidency, the incoming Polish Presidency and Ambassadors.

Practices for receiving asylum seekers still vary considerably across the EU and much more needs to be done to achieve greater convergence. In this regard, the EASO will have an important role to play.