EU Proposes Longer Legal Limbo For Migrants From Belarus

Brussels, Dec 1 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Dec, 2021 ) :The European Commission proposed on Wednesday letting member states bordering Belarus and facing migrant flows allegedly orchestrated by Minsk to keep arrivals' asylum claims in legal limbo for longer.

The measures would allow Poland, Lithuania and Latvia to extend the period allowed for new asylum claims to be registered from 10 days to four weeks, and to extend to four months the time limit for ruling on an application.

Migrant rights' groups slammed the changes as building up "Fortress Europe" and trashing the EU's reputation for humane treatment of asylum-seekers.

The EU home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, told a media conference the situation at the Belarus borders for those EU countries was "unprecedented... and that's why we are doing all these measures".

She noted the situation was "de-escalating", with EU pressure prompting migrant-origin countries such as Iraq to halt Belarus-bound flights and to take back some of the thousands of migrants already in Belarus.

But she said the pressure remained for "flexibility... to deal with a danger, with a difficult and stressing situation".

Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas said the bloc was in "firefighting" mode to tackle the "hybrid threat" of Belarus directing migrants towards the EU's borders.

"We're providing a solution that addresses all the rights of people who want to apply for asylum under exceptional circumstances to do it," he said.

But Amnesty International said the situation was already "perfectly manageable with the rules as they stand".

"Today's proposals will further punish people for political gains, weaken asylum protections, and undermine the EU's standing at home and abroad," said Eve Geddie, director of the group's European office.