UN refugee agency calls on European nations to go further in asylum standards

Welcoming the entry into force across the European Union (EU) of minimum standards for granting refugee status, the United Nations refugee agency today urged countries to live up to their moral and legal obligations and maintain the highest possible asylum standards.

All EU members are required to have implemented the “qualification directive,” which establishes minimum standards for qualifying for refugee status or other forms of protection, by tomorrow.

Pirrko Kourula, Director of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) Europe Bureau, said the new directive should serve as the foundation for an emerging continent-wide system of granting asylum.

“This is very much needed, for although every asylum application must be examined on its merits, the chance of finding protection in the EU ranges from zero to over 80 per cent for certain nationalities, depending on where they apply,” she said.

Ms. Kourula described the directive as “not a perfect instrument. It only sets minimum standards which EU member states are free to surpass. We encourage them to offer the highest standards of refugee protection.”

UNHCR remains dissatisfied with some of the directive’s provisions, regarding them as too narrow or restrictive. One example is the definition of subsidiary protection, which applies to people who do not fall under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention but nevertheless are considered to be facing “serious harm” in their countries of origin.

Yet Ms. Kourula noted the directive confirms that acts of a gender-specific nature can constitute persecution, and that individuals may need protection regardless of whether they face persecution by States, warlords, militias or other private actors.