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⭐The Other Euro Crisis: Rights Violations Under the Common European Asylum System and the Unraveling of EU Solidarity
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1 The Other Euro Crisis: Rights Violations Under the Common European Asylum System and the Unraveling of EU Solidarity Lillian M. Langford 1 I. INTRODUCTION The seams of solidarity that bind the member states of the European Union together are under intense strain. From one side pulls the ongoing euro debt crisis, with its torturous rounds of negotiations, tense late-night ministerial meetings, and increasingly stifling austerity measures. From the other side pulls a distinct, though not unrelated, crisis: the human rights emergency unfolding at the EU s borders and the inability of its deficient asylum system to cope. Just as the debt crisis threatens to destroy the painstakingly cultured solidarity of the EU, the disintegrating state of its patchwork asylum regime could prove fatal to the principles of mutual trust and cooperation that theoretically bind its member states. Since February 2011, tens of thousands of individuals have inundated Europe s southern shores in flight from the violence and instability in North Africa. Although the dawn of the Arab Spring signaled a departure for millions from decades of tyrannical rule, it also forced many to flee their homes and seek safety in nearby countries. Since its beginning, the EU has experienced a dramatic rise in asylum applicants, with much of the surge originating from Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, and Syria. Once at the EU s borders, however, refugees are confronted by a deficient asylum regime that fails to ensure respect for fundamental human rights and tests the already strained relationships between EU member states. The current configuration of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) presents a triple threat to EU solidarity. First, it places a grossly disproportionate burden on the southern states notably Greece, Italy, and Malta that are already buckling under crippling austerity measures. The 1. J.D. Candidate, Harvard Law School, 2013; M.P.P. Candidate, Harvard Kennedy School, My sincere thanks to Professor Christopher Stone for his dedicated guidance and comments on successive drafts of this paper, and to Marei Pelzer of Pro Asyl, without whom it would never have been written. I dedicate this Note to Luca Carboni, a faithful citizen of Europe who believed deeply in the promise that it held for all.2 218 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 failure of the remaining states in the union to assist in processing and assimilating new refugee arrivals breeds resentment amongst the citizens of the south, creating a political climate that makes meaningful immigration reform at a national level more difficult and introducing further financial strain on their domestic economies during an unprecedented debt crisis. Specifically, the provision of the Dublin II Regulation requiring most asylum seekers to be processed by the first EU country in which they arrive (the State of First Arrival rule ) creates asymmetrical obligations for which the northern states have failed to compensate. Aside from its negative impact on EU solidarity, this uneven allocation of responsibility may also be creating incentives for southern member states to employ controversial migrant interception measures that defy their human rights obligations under EU and international law. Second, the current asylum system fails to ensure that member states adhere to common standards with respect to asylum seekers, a flaw that hinders the building of mutual trust between them. Due to these states intertwined responsibilities under the CEAS and EU law, such disparity in national asylum regimes creates conditions under which one member state can be held liable for the human rights violations of another, as declared by both the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Both courts have recently ruled that a member state sending an asylum seeker back to Greece under the State of First Arrival rule can be held liable for Greece s violations of his rights. In its current form, therefore, the union s patchwork asylum system is only as strong as the threads in its weakest patches here, as in the debt crisis, Greece and Italy. This configuration creates a climate of mistrust and resentment on the part of states who have worked to bring their asylum systems in line with EU standards, yet remain exposed to liability for correctly complying with the State of First Arrival rule stipulated by the Dublin regulation. Furthermore, when sending member states know that they can be held liable for human rights violations, they must undertake inquiries into the treatment of asylum seekers in the weaker receiving states a practice that the latter find contrary to the principles of mutual trust and solidarity that should underlie the union. Third, the present CEAS framework limits the ability of Frontex, the EU external border control agency, to build solidarity between states. Although its mandate focuses primarily on protecting the EU s visa-free Schengen zone, Frontex also has great potential to foment trust and unity between member states while simultaneously helping to align their understanding of fundamental human rights principles. However, its ability to do so has been limited by the agency s lack of independence from state-level politics, human rights criticisms largely related to national border control practices, and the failure of member states to harmonize their asylum regimes. In spite of its increasing importance in the union and continued potential for3 2013 / The Other Euro Crisis 219 building solidarity, ultimately Frontex remains a mere coordinating body between national governments that can do little to soothe the inter-state tensions arising from the flaws in the CEAS, particularly the State of First Arrival rule. Union efforts to remedy the deficits of the CEAS that threaten EU solidarity have so far failed to reach the root problems. The establishment of a European Asylum Support Office (EASO) to help coordinate between states and support those under particular strain may prove useful, to some degree, for harmonizing member state policies. The EASO, once fully operational, should be able to do so through research, information sharing, action plan development, and joint training sessions. However, it lacks the ability to enforce higher protection standards in member states, especially when political will for enhanced asylum requirements is absent at a national level. Merely establishing action plans for reform without creating concrete responsibility sharing mechanisms between states will fail to culture true solidarity. In addition, recent reforms to Frontex s mandate and human rights policies might help assuage fears about rights violations at the fringes of the union, but these reforms do not effectively target the internal tensions created by the current configuration of the CEAS. Such reforms will no doubt be critical for a smoothly functioning common asylum system, but building additional frameworks and institutions like the EASO on the unstable foundation of the CEAS invites collapse and further damage to mutual trust in the union. It is the system s regulatory regime, in particular the State of First Arrival rule, that must be reformed before all else. In order to create a universal European asylum system that respects human rights, complies with international law, and helps further the aim of building solidarity between EU member states, the union must undertake meaningful reform to the legal framework underlying the CEAS. To continue ignoring the core problems that plague it while attempting to provide patchwork solutions would be to risk further unraveling of the unity that the 27 states of the union have worked hard to develop and maintain. In light of the pressure exerted by the debt crisis, which has only been exacerbated by the immense refugee influx of the past two years, it is more critical than ever for the EU to take affirmative steps to reform its asylum regime. Since the union is still just an alliance of sovereign states, however, commitment to reforming the asylum regime must ultimately begin at a national level. Reform efforts must grow from state recognition that the CEAS in its current form, including in particular the Dublin regulation s State of First Arrival rule, is untenable and fundamentally at odds with the European fundamental human rights regime. Demand for significant change to this system will require political courage and national level action even at a time when anti-immigration sentiment is on the rise across4 220 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 Europe. Most importantly, reform will require that national leaders make a sustained and unwavering commitment to perhaps the most critical of the union s founding values: respect for fundamental human rights. Part II of this Note begins with an overview of the refugee crisis in the European Union today and its particular implications for the southern EU member states. Part III then goes on to examine the legal framework coming to bear on the states with respect to their treatment of asylum seekers, in particular highlighting the Dublin Regulation and its role in creating a disproportionate burden on the southern member states for handling of asylum claims. This Part also gives an overview of the recent case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding the Dublin Regulation and the rights of asylum seekers under its provisions. Part IV follows by observing the widely varying practice of the member states under the CEAS, taking Italy as a case study for how the Dublin Regulation has contributed to questionable policies that have ultimately led to human rights violations. In addition, this Part discusses the failure by the northern states to help share responsibility for the burden on the southern states resulting from implementation of the Dublin Regulation. Part V situates Frontex in the current political and legal context, showing how its structure and limitations as a coordinating body for border protection have prevented its functioning in a solidarity promoting capacity. Finally, Part VI briefly addresses the fledgling European Asylum Support Office and its potential for contributing to harmonization of member state asylum systems, thereby strengthening EU solidarity. This Note ultimately concludes that the deficits of the CEAS and the threats they present to Union solidarity cannot be remedied through the creation of new institutions or superficial rights protection mechanisms; rather, they must be addressed by reforming the asylum system itself, beginning with the Dublin Regulation. II. THE REFUGEE CRISIS IN THE EU TODAY The dawn of the Arab Spring led to a dramatic swell in asylum-seeking arrivals at the EU s southern borders, creating a disproportionate burden for the southern member states even as anti-immigration sentiment in these countries was on the rise. Over the course of 2011, more than 58,000 migrants arrived at the EU s Mediterranean shores, many in flight from the instability and violence in North Africa. 2 The journey is extremely danger- 2. Briefing Notes, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Mediterranean takes record as most deadly stretch of water for refugees and migrants in 2011 (Jan. 31, 2012), see also MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES, SWEET SIXTY?:THE 60TH ANNI- VERSARY OF THE UN REFUGEE CONVENTION: REFUGEE CRISES IN 2011 AND CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE 6 (2011); PARLIAMENT FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, BRITISH FOREIGN POLICY AND THE ARAB SPRING : THE TRANSITION TO DEMOCRACY, , AS 04, 2 (U.K.) (written evidence of5 2013 / The Other Euro Crisis 221 ous and many have died from drowning, starvation, or thirst during the crossing: the UNHCR estimated that over 2,000 perished between January and June of that year alone. 3 Although this sea route from North Africa to southern Europe has long been employed by economic migrants and refugees alike, the Arab Spring caused a substantial surge in the number of boat arrivals from affected countries. The relationship is clear from UNHCR s official data for That year, the member states of the EU collectively experienced a 59% increase in applications from Syrian nationals, 4 an 85% increase in Egyptian applications, 5 a 293% increase in Libyan applications, 6 and a 911% increase in Tunisian applications. 7 The states at Europe s southern borders have borne a particularly heavy burden as a result of this increase. 8 Together, the governments of Albania, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey registered an 87% rise in asylum applications over the previous year. 9 Within the EU, Italy and Malta, whose asylum systems were strained even before the crisis, were hit particularly hard. 10 The rapidly multiplying numbers of asylum applications had a particularly stark impact in light of the ongoing financial crisis and related austerity measures. Yet assistance to these countries from other EU member states fell far short of need in spite of repeated appeals by the affected states and the European Home Affairs Commissioner. 11 The UK offered to absorb just 10 of the new asylum seekers in Malta, despite having a population over 150 times that of the tiny island William Hague, MP, Secretary of State), available at cm201012/cmselect/cmfaff/writev/arab/as04.htm. 3. UNHCR, GLOBAL APPEAL : EUROPE, REGIONAL SUMMARY 90 (2011), available at /www.unhcr.org/4ec230f30.html. 4. UNHCR, ASYLUM LEVELS AND TRENDS IN INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES 2011: STATISTICAL OVERVIEW OF ASYLUM APPLICATIONS LODGED IN EUROPE AND SELECTED NON-EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 24 (2012). 5. Id. 6. Id. 7. Id. These figures probably underestimate the rise in applications of each of these groups, as the country of origin of 16,000 asylum seekers in Italy was unknown when UNHCR s 2011 statistics were published. Id. 8. See UNHCR, Update No. 30: Humanitarian Situation in Libya and Neighbouring Countries 3 (June 22, 2011), available at For a discussion of the refugee crisis in Europe before the outbreak of conflict in Libya and the surrounding region, see HUGO BRADY, CENTRE FOR EUROPEAN REFORM, EU MIGRATION POLICY: AN A Z (Feb. 2008), available at 9. These states accepted 66,800 asylum applications in UNHCR, supra note 4, at Italy saw a 240% increase in applications since 2010 and the number of applications in Malta jumped by a staggering 1221%. The EU as a whole also experienced a significant increase in asylum applicants, receiving 277,370 asylum applications in 2011, a 15% increase over Id. at See infra section IV.c; see also Ivan Camilleri, EU report confirms lukewarm reaction to Malta s appeal for burden-sharing, TIMESOFMALTA.COM (June 3, 2011), /local/EU-report-confirms-lukewarm-reaction-to-Malta-s-appeal-for-burden-sharing ; Ivan Camilleri, EU Pressures members to resettle asylum seekers, TIMESOFMALTA.COM (May 12, 2011),6 222 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 country. 12 This response can hardly be said to constitute the solidarity in responsibility-sharing that should theoretically underlie the CEAS. 13 At the same time, Europe has experienced a steady growth of anti-immigration sentiment, and many individual member states have developed policies to match. 14 Even before the crises in Tunisia, Libya, and elsewhere in the region began, certain southern member states responded to the increased burdens they bore under the CEAS by developing controversial interception procedures to prevent new arrivals. Today, however, under even greater financial strain and with constantly rising numbers of asylum seekers, the national-level political will to reform the asylum system is very weak indeed. 15 III. THE SCATTERED AND PROBLEMATIC LEGAL FRAMEWORK Regardless of political appetite to do so, the member states of the European Union are bound by law to respect the rights of refugees. The legal obligations of EU member states with respect to asylum seekers stem from a set of overlapping, and often complex, laws and directives at the international, supranational, and domestic levels. For simplicity, it is helpful to conceptualize the legal framework as an inverted pyramid. 16 At its base, the smallest part, the pyramid consists of the international prohibition on refoulement the return of an asylum seeker to a territory where he faces death or torture enshrined in the Refugee Convention and customary international law, discussed below. At the broad top of the pyramid are the extensive sets of European Union-level directives EU secondary law providing specific guidance to member states on the domestic legislation they 12. Camilleri, EU report confirms lukewarm reaction to Malta s appeal for burden-sharing, supra note Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union art. 80, Mar. 30, 2010 O.J. (C 83) 49, 78 [hereinafter TFEU] ( The policies of the Union set out in this Chapter [concerning border checks, asylum and immigration] and their implementation shall be governed by the principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility, including its financial implications, between the Member States. Whenever necessary, the Union acts adopted pursuant to this Chapter shall contain appropriate measures to give effect to this principle. ). 14. Certain southern EU border states such as Spain, Italy, Malta, and Greece have been subject to particular criticism for their expanding anti-immigration policies and practices. See, e.g., Michael Campagna, Effective Protection Against Refoulement in Europe: Minimizing Exclusionism in Search of a Common European Asylum System, 17 U. MIAMI INT L & COMP. L. REV. 125, (2010); Aidan Lewis, Italian Migration Policy Draws Fire, BBC NEWS, Mar. 7, 2009, Briefing Notes, UNHCR, As States Increase Border Controls, UNHCR Calls for Sensitivity for Those Fleeing Persecution (Jan. 7, 2011), available at U.S. DEP T OF STATE, HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2010: ITALY 14 15, available at For more information on the rise in anti-immigration rhetoric in Italy, see section IV.b.1 below. 15. Telephone Interview with Hugo Brady, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for European Reform (Mar. 9, 2012) [hereinafter Brady Interview] (noting that currently there is no political appetite to reform the European asylum system at all. ). 16. This conceptual tool does not fully capture the complexity of these overlapping legal systems, but helps illustrate the hierarchy and relative weight of each of the relevant obligations.7 2013 / The Other Euro Crisis 223 must adopt regarding how asylum seekers are to be received, treated, and afforded protection. Forming the middle sections of the pyramid are other international and EU-level treaties, EU primary law, and the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU ( CJEU ) and the European Court of Human Rights ( ECtHR ). The complex configuration of this system, the awkward relationship between the different levels, and, above all, the State of First Arrival rule found in the Dublin regulation has led to human rights violations and severe strain to EU solidarity. A. The Dublin II Regulation: The Root of the Problem Situated in the middle part of the regulatory pyramid, the Dublin regulation ( the regulation or Dublin II ) is one of the main obstacles to a functional, fair asylum system in Europe. Dublin II was established in accordance with the Treaty on the European Union and the Tampere Conclusions 17 as a critical component of the CEAS and came into force in 2003, binding on all EU member states and a few non-member states. 18 In theory, the regulation was intended to actually increase solidarity between member states. 19 The principal objectives animating its creation were 1) to ensure access to effective, time-efficient procedures for determining refugee status; 2) to prevent exploitation of the asylum system by parties attempting to make multiple claims in different EU member states; and 3) to identify in the shortest possible time a single member state responsible for examining a claim. 20 By eliminating the confusion and conflicting decisions of asylum adjudicators that arose when applicants filed in numerous EU states, the Dublin regulation has the potential to ease tensions and create a more efficient system that would benefit all member states. 17. The Tampere Conclusions emerged as the product of the European Council meeting in Tampere, Finland, on October 15 and 16, In the Conclusions, the Council agreed to short-term targets for establishing a functional common asylum system, including procedures for determining the state responsible for examining an application, minimum reception conditions, and guidelines for determining refugee status. Presidency Conclusions, Tampere European Council (Oct , 1999). 18. Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland, are also participants in the Dublin II system. Council Decision 2006/188/EC, 2006 OJ (L 66) 37 (Denmark); Protocol to the Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway Concerning the Criteria and Mechanisms for Establishing the State Responsible for Examining a Request for Asylum Lodged in a Member State or in Iceland or Norway, 2006 O.J. (L 57) 16; Agreement Between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation Concerning the Criteria and Mechanisms for Establishing the State Responsible for Examining a Request for Asylum Lodged in a Member State or in Switzerland, 2008 O.J. (L 53) The principle of solidarity is among the fundamental values underlying the European Union, and represents the idea that members of the Union should equally share in both prosperity and burdens. Its importance is emphasized in the preamble to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ( INTENDING to confirm the solidarity which binds Europe and the overseas countries and desiring to ensure the development of their prosperity... ). TFEU, supra note 13, preamble. 20. Council Regulation 343/2003, Establishing the Criteria and Mechanisms for Determining the Member State Responsible for Examining an Asylum Application Lodged in One of the Member States by a Third-Country National, 2003 O.J. (L 50) 1, preamble, paras. 3 4 [hereinafter Dublin II]; see also UNHCR, THE DUBLIN II REGULATION: A UNHCR DISCUSSION PAPER 9 (2006).8 224 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 But Dublin II s ability to build trust and cooperation in this way is thwarted by its hierarchy of criteria for determining which state is responsible for processing a claim. The regulation states that preference for family unity and prior issuing of entry documents are the most important factors for assigning that responsibility, but where neither of these is applicable, responsibility falls to the state where the asylum seeker first entered the EU. 21 And although it lies at the lower end of this hierarchy, in the majority of cases this State of First Arrival rule 22 is usually the criterion by which the determination is made. 23 Needless to say, especially in light of the situation in North Africa, this rule has shifted a grossly disproportionate share of the burden for handling claims to the southern EU border states especially Greece, 24 Malta, 25 and Italy. 26 Under Dublin II, these states must process the applications not only of those asylum seekers who file with them first, but also those of Dublin transferees asylum seekers who are physically sent back to them from other member states where they have attempted to file their applications. The movement of these individuals is tracked through Eurodac, the EU s fingerprint database, that raises a red flag when an asylum seeker files an application in the UK, for example, when she actually first entered the EU through Greece. 27 When this happens, under Dublin II, the UK files a 21. Dublin II, supra note 20, arts For further detail on the hierarchy of criteria and their application in practice, see generally UNHCR, supra note 20. See also Silas W. Allard, Casualties of Disharmony: The Exclusion of Asylum Seekers Under the Auspices of the Common European Asylum System, 24 EMORY INT L L. REV. 295, (2010). The determination of the State of First Arrival is usually made through fingerprint matches furnished by the Eurodac database, established for this express purpose. Dublin II, supra note 20, preamble, para I have here termed this the State of First Arrival rule for simplicity of terminology; however, it is not officially or widely known by this title. 23. In 2009, for example, of a total of 15,389 Taking Charge requests (requests to the responsible member state to examine an asylum application pursuant to Dublin II), 14,883 (96.7%) were for Documentation and Entry reasons, while just 412 (2.7%) were for Family reasons and 94 (0.6%) were for Humanitarian Reasons. Dublin Incoming Requests Annual Data, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: EUROSTAT DATABASE, (Up-to-date Dublin transfer data can be found under Database by Themes Population and Social Conditions Population International Migration and Asylum Asylum Dublin Statistics ). 24. EU: Put Rights at Heart of Migration Policy, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH (June 20, 2011), 25. Nicholas De Blouw, Drowning Policies: A Proposal to Modify the Dublin Agreement and Reduce Human Rights Abuses in the Mediterranean, 40 CAL. W. INT L L.J. 335, (2010). 26. See infra notes and accompanying text. The Eurostat statistics for Dublin transfers in 2009, the last year for which complete data is currently available, show that Greece and Italy received far more requests to accept Dublin transferees than any other member states, with 9,506 and 7,430 requests, respectively. The next highest number of requests was to Poland, at 4,862. Although the requests to Malta were fewer (1,125), given that the country s population is a mere 408,333, the number is quite significant. EUROPEAN REFUGEE FUND AND FORUM RÉFUGIÉS, DUBLIN TRANSNATIONAL PROJECT, TRANSNATIONAL ADVISORY AND ASSISTANCE NETWORK FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS UNDER A DUBLIN PROCESS, FINAL REPORT 19 (2011); CIA WORLD FACTBOOK: MALTA (July 2011 est.), https:// 27. See Eurodac, EUROPEAN DATA PROTECTION SUPERVISOR, SWEB/edps/Supervision/Eurodac (last visited Apr. 3, 2012).9 2013 / The Other Euro Crisis 225 formal request with the Greek government to take responsibility for the applicant, to which Greece must generally respond in the affirmative if the fingerprint records are clear. 28 In any event, if Greece fails to respond to the request within two months (or within one month in urgent cases), the application is assumed to have been accepted by default and the UK sends the asylum seeker back to Greece for processing. 29 Dublin II provides one notable clause that allows for divergence from this system. If the UK decides that the asylum seeker should not be sent back to Greece for political, humanitarian, or practical reasons, it can decide to process the claim itself under the Sovereignty Clause. 30 That said, the regulation specifies that all EU member states, by virtue of the assumption that they respect the principle of non-refoulement, are to be considered safe third countries for the purpose of transfers under Dublin II. 31 This means that, in the example above, the UK government should not refuse to send an asylum seeker back to Greece because it believes that Greece is not complying with its international human rights obligations. However, over the past three years, this has happened with increasing frequency, sparking intense debate and litigation and dealing a serious blow to mutual trust between EU member states. 32 B. The Rest of the Pyramid: Human Rights Obligations How Dublin II interacts with the other parts of the legal pyramid is complex and under debate. To better understand its problematic nature, however, it is necessary to review at least the basic components of the applicable human rights law as well as the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice that come directly to bear on the question Refugee Convention Internationally, the 1951 Refugee Convention and its Protocols 33 are the most basic, and widely recognized, sources of legal obligations concerning 28. Dublin II, supra note 20, arts. 18(1) (6). 29. Id. art. 18(7). 30. Id. art. 3(2). The clause itself provides only that any member state may examine an asylum application for which it is not responsible, but the preparatory document to the regulation clarifies the intended purpose of the clause: The sovereignty clause allows a Member State, where an asylum application is lodged but who is NOT responsible under the criteria laid down in the Dublin Regulation, to nevertheless decide to examine the asylum application, for political, humanitarian or practical reasons. Accompanying Document to the Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the evaluation of the Dublin system 20, COM (2007) 299 final (June 6, 2007). 31. Dublin II, supra note 20, preamble, para See infra sections III.b U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, opened for signature July 28, 1951, 189 U.N.T.S. 137; U.N. Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, opened for signature Jan. 31, 1967, 606 U.N.T.S. 267 [together hereinafter 1951 Refugee Convention].10 226 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 asylum. All EU member states are party to the Convention, 34 and under EU treaty law, the CEAS must be consistent with its provisions. 35 The cornerstone of the Convention is its prohibition on refoulement: No Contracting State shall expel or return ( refouler ) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. 36 The prohibition on refoulement is recognized by legal scholars as a norm of customary international law as well as a critical component of the universal prohibition on torture. 37 Although the Convention does not explicitly require that states grant protection to refugees or outline specific procedural obligations with which they must comply, the UNHCR and asylum law experts argue that Article 33 implicitly requires certain procedural safeguards, 38 including ready access to an asylum procedure guaranteeing both confidentiality and an objective and independent analysis of the human rights situation in other countries, 39 and a remedy with suspensive effect when there is a risk of refoulement to a country where the applicant could be exposed to ill-treatment or torture. 40 The prohibition on refoulement encompasses not just direct returns to a country where an individual may face torture or other ill-treatment, but also indirect or chain refoulement, which entails returning an individual to a country that may send him on to a third country where such risk is 34. UNHCR, States Parties to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol as of April 1, 2011, available at 35. Art. 78(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), mandating the creation of the CEAS and establishing its underlying principles, states: The Union shall develop a common policy on asylum, subsidiary protection and temporary protection with a view to offering appropriate status to any third-country national requiring international protection and ensuring compliance with the principle of non-refoulement. This policy must be in accordance with the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951 and the Protocol of 31 January 1967 relating to the status of refugees, and other relevant treaties Refugee Convention, supra note 33, art UNHCR, Note on International Protection, 16, U.N. Doc. A/AC.96/951 (Sept. 13, 2001), available at 38. AGNÈS HURWITZ, THE COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY OF STATES TO PROTECT REFUGEES (2010); UNHCR, GLOBAL CONSULTATIONS ON INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION/THIRD TRACK: ASYLUM PROCESSES (FAIR AND EFFICIENT ASYLUM PROCEDURES) (2001), 4 5, available at org/3b389254a.pdf. 39. That procedure should involve an individual assessment of the risk of ill-treatment in case of expulsion of the person concerned to the country of origin or a third country. Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Rep. to the Italian Government on the Visit to Italy carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment from 27 to 31 July 2009, 27, CPT/Inf (2010) 14 (April 28, 2010) [hereinafter CPT Report to Italian Government]. 40. See, e.g., Gebremedhin [Gaberamadhien] v. France, App. No /05, 58 (Eur. Ct. H.R., Apr. 26, 2007), available at11 2013 / The Other Euro Crisis 227 present. 41 This means that an EU member state cannot, for example, send an Eritrean asylum seeker to Libya if there is reason to believe that the Libyan government will send him back to Eritrea and he will face torture or arbitrary killing there. Since this requirement implies an investigation of the conditions for asylum seekers in potential receiving states, the UNHCR has repeatedly emphasized that sending states must undertake such an examination in order to be in compliance with their human rights obligations European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights ( the Convention ) 43 is a multilateral treaty that, along with its numerous Protocols, sets forth basic human rights guarantees for individuals falling under the jurisdiction of its 47 states parties. The Convention also established its monitoring body, the European Court of Human Rights ( ECtHR ), which guarantees a unique degree of protection for the rights of individuals vis-à-vis governments. 44 Individuals suffering violations of any of the Convention s enumerated rights while within a member state s jurisdiction 45 can appeal directly to the ECtHR, whose judgments are binding on the parties involved. 46 For example, the court often hears cases brought by asylum seekers in EU member states alleging violations of their procedural or substantive rights by a state party to the Convention. The Convention s provisions come directly to bear on the rights of asylum seekers in Europe. Most important, perhaps, is Article 3, which prohibits torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 47 It is settled ECtHR case law that this provision implies a prohibition on refoule- 41. HURWITZ, supra note 38, at 180. Hurwitz points out that this obligation is derived directly from Article 33, which prohibits return in any manner whatsoever. Id. 42. See, e.g., UNHCR, Note on International Protection, 12, U.N. Doc. A/AC.96/975 (July 2, 2003); UNHCR, Background Note on the Safe Country Concept and Refugee Status Submitted by the High Commissioner to the Sub-Committee of the Whole on International Protection, 11 12, U.N. Doc. EC/SCP/68 (July 3, 1991). 43. Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as amended by Protocols 11 and 14, Nov. 4, 1950, Europ. T.S. No. 5 (entered into force Sept. 3, 1953) [hereinafter European Convention on Human Rights]. 44. Id. art The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) recently affirmed its earlier ruling that an individual may fall within a state s jurisdiction for the purposes of the Convention when she is under the state s authority and control. See, e.g., Al-Skeini and others v. United Kingdom, App. No / 07, 137 (Eur. Ct. H.R., July 7, 2011), available at ( It is clear that, whenever the State through its agents exercises control and authority over an individual, and thus jurisdiction, the State is under an obligation under Article 1 to secure to that individual the rights and freedoms under Section 1 of the Convention that are relevant to the situation of that individual. In this sense, therefore, the Convention rights can be divided and tailored. ). Therefore, an individual need not be on a Member State s physical territory when the rights violation occurred in order for her to seek relief at the ECtHR. 46. European Convention on Human Rights, supra note 43, arts. 19, 34, Id. art. 3.12 228 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 ment, returning a person to a country where she could be exposed to a real risk of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 48 This interpretation, broader than the Article 33 guarantee of the Refugee Convention, has been said to constitute a de facto right to asylum under the Convention, although it is not explicitly provided. 49 The recent case law of the ECtHR concerning Article 3 and asylum applicants is discussed below. It is a requirement for all EU member states and candidates for membership to accede to the Convention, so Article 3, and the asylum right it implies, is fully in force in all the countries of the union. 50 In addition, under the Lisbon Treaty, which amends the Treaty on the European Union ( TEU ) and came into force in late 2009, the EU itself must become party to the Convention. 51 This means that individuals will be able to challenge not only the actions of national governments on fundamental human rights grounds, but also those of the union-level institutions; the EU, in turn, will be bound by the judgments of the ECtHR. 52 This is a major development and a significant step towards closing the lingering lacunae in the EU s system of human rights protection. The accession of the EU to the Convention also means that decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union ( CJEU ), the ultimate authority on EU law, will be appealable to the ECtHR. 53 In addition, it means 48. [E]xpulsion by a Contracting State may give rise to an issue under Article 3, and hence engage the responsibility of that State under the Convention, where substantial grounds have been shown for believing that the person concerned, if deported, faces a real risk of being subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3. Sufi and Elmi v. United Kingdom, App. Nos. 8319/07 and 11449/07, 212 (Eur. Ct. H.R., June 28, 2011), available at see also Soering v. United Kingdom, App. No /88, (Eur. Ct. H.R., July 7, 1989), available at Saadi v. Italy, App. No /06, 125 (Eur. Ct. H.R., Feb. 28, 2008), available at 49. HURWITZ, supra note 38, at Secretariat of the Council of Europe, Accession by the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights: Answers to frequently asked questions 1 (June 30, 2011), available at dghl/standardsetting/hrpolicy/accession/working_documents/eu_accession-qa_2011_en.pdf [hereinafter Accession of the EU to the ECHR FAQ]. 51. The Union shall accede to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Such accession shall not affect the Union s competences as defined in the Treaties. Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, art.6(2), Dec. 13, 2007, 2007 O.J. (C 306), 1, 13 [hereinafter Treaty of Lisbon]. 52. Accession of the EU to the ECHR FAQ, supra note 50, at 2 3. It should be noted, however, that the ECtHR will not thereby become a superior court to the CJEU in a general sense, but rather remains a court that specializes on a specific human rights instrument. Although its judgments are binding, the EU, as the other states parties to the European Convention on Human Rights, will retain the freedom to implement the Court s orders by the means it deems appropriate. Id. at Before the Lisbon Treaty came into force, the two courts operated on a basis of mutual recognition and co-operation, but without any formal association. Introduction, EU CHARTER OF FUNDAMEN- TAL RIGHTS, (last visited Mar. 31, 2012); Accession of the EU to the ECHR FAQ, supra note 50, at 7. For example, in its judgment in N.S. v. UK, discussed below, the CJEU relies upon the previous finding of the European Court of Human Rights in M.S.S. that member states of the EU may rely upon the reports of non-governmental organizations to determine the compliance of other member states with their fundamental human rights requirements. Joined cases C-411/10, N.S. v. Sec y of State for Home Dep t, and C-493/10, M.E. et al. v. Refugee Appl. Comm r & Min. for Justice, Equality, and Law Reform, 91 (Dec. 21, 2011), available at13 2013 / The Other Euro Crisis 229 that the actions of Frontex will be subject to review at the ECtHR, a critical step for protecting the rights of asylum seekers at the EU s external borders. 54 In spite of the Lisbon Treaty s requirement of EU accession to the Convention, however, the necessary legal framework dictating the procedure for doing so has yet to be completed. Although its finalization was originally projected for the end of 2011, 55 efforts by certain member states to block the conclusion of the process have caused its delay Charter of Fundamental Rights The Charter of Fundamental Rights ( Charter ) 57 is the foundational source of human rights guarantees under EU law, and all national- and union-level legislative action is subject to scrutiny under its provisions. 58 It was signed in 2000 by the European Council and became part of EU primary law, 59 enforceable in national and EU-level courts, when the Lisbon Treaty entered into force in The Charter carries the same legal weight as the founding treaties, 61 and its provisions are interpreted by the CJEU. Although it has been referred to as the most modern codification of fundamental rights in the world, 62 the Charter was not intended to create new rights, but restates and conglomerates numerous sets of existing oblieuropa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?pro=& nat=&oqp=&dates=&lg=&language=en&jur=c%2ct%2cf&cit=none %252CC%252CCJ%252CR%252C2008E%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%25 2C%252C%252Ctrue%252Cfalse%252Cfalse&num=C-411%252F10&td=ALL&pcs=O&avg=&page= 1&mat= or&jge=&for=&cid= HUGO BRADY, OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE EU: HOW THE LISBON TREATY COULD HELP 11 (2011), available at 55. Accession of the EU to the ECHR FAQ, supra note 50, at Press Statement, European Parliament, European Parliamentarians deeply concerned at national moves to block EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights (Jan. 25, 2012), https://wcd.coe.int/viewdoc.jsp?id= &site=dc. 57. Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Dec. 18, 2000, 2000 O.J. (C 364) 1 [hereinafter Charter of Fundamental Rights]. 58. R (on the application of Saeedi) v. Sec y of State for the Home Dep t, [2010] EWHC 705 (Admin), [50] (R v. SSHD became N.S. v. UK on appeal to the CJEU, discussed further below in section III.b.6); Viviane Reding, The EU s Accession to the European Convention on Human Rights: Towards a Stronger and More Coherent Protection of Human Rights in Europe, Comments at the Hearing of the European Parliament s Constitutional Affairs Committee, Brussels (Mar. 18, 2010), available at pdf. 59. The primary law of the EU consists of treaties that lay out the foundation for the Union s organization, objectives, and operation. Secondary law is that which is developed by the EU institutions relating to the execution of their duties, specifically regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions. Sources of European Union Law, EUROPA: SUMMARIES OF EU LEGISLATION, legislation_summaries/institutional_affairs/decisionmaking_process/l14534_en.htm (last visited Apr. 2, 2012). 60. Treaty of Lisbon, supra note 51, art. 6(1). For a comprehensive discussion of how the Treaty of Lisbon affects human rights in the EU, see generally BRADY, supra note Consolidated Version of the Treaty on European Union art. 6(1), March 30, 2010 O.J. (C 83) 19 [hereinafter TEU]. 62. Reding, supra note 58.14 230 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 gations for EU member states under international and European law. Unlike the 1951 Refugee Convention or the European Convention on Human Rights, the Charter explicitly guarantees a right to asylum, creating greater obligations for EU member states than the other two instruments alone. 63 In addition, the Charter restates the prohibition on refoulement, as found in the Refugee Convention and implicitly established by Article 3 of the European Convention. 64 How does the Charter interact with the Convention? While the Charter technically occupies a more authoritative legal position than the Convention, it explicitly provides that rights found within it that correspond to Convention rights should be interpreted for consistency with the latter. 65 It also expressly prohibits the abridging of rights found in the Convention while allowing for states to provide even greater human rights guarantees at their discretion. 66 The Charter itself may therefore require greater protections than the Convention through certain provisions, but never less. The official Explanations of the Charter elucidate the exact rights that are deemed equivalent in meaning and scope to those of the Convention. Among these is Article 19(2), which corresponds with Article 3 of the Convention, as interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights. 67 Therefore, when the courts of EU member states and the CJEU interpret the Charter s 19(2) prohibition on refoulement, the case law of the ECtHR is a very persuasive, if not formally binding, authority. Consequently, the CJEU, when interpreting Charter rights corresponding with those of the Convention, regularly refers to the decisions of the ECtHR on those rights. 68 And although Article 19(2) does not explicitly provide more expansive protection than its corresponding Convention guarantee, European legal scholars argue that Articles 18 and 19 of the Charter, taken together, go beyond EU member states obligations under the Refugee Convention 63. The right to asylum shall be guaranteed with due respect for the rules of the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951 and the Protocol of 31 January 1967 relating to the status of refugees and in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community. Charter of Fundamental Rights, supra note 57, art No one may be removed, expelled or extradited to a State where there is a serious risk that he or she would be subjected to the death penalty, torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Id. art. 19(2). 65. In so far as this Charter contains rights which correspond to rights guaranteed by the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the meaning and scope of those rights shall be the same as those laid down by the said Convention. This provision shall not prevent Union law providing more extensive protection. Id. art. 52(3). See also R (on the application of Saeedi) v. Sec y of State for the Home Dep t, [2010] EWHC 705 (Admin), [56]. 66. Charter of Fundamental Rights, supra note 57, art. 52(3). 67. Explanations Relating to the Charter of Fundamental Rights, 2007 O.J. (C 303), 2, See, e.g., Joined Cases C-92/09 & C-93/09, Volker und Markus Schecke GbR, Hartmut Eifert v. Land Hessen, 51 (Nov. 9, 2010), available at CELEX:62009CJ0092:EN:HTML; see also infra part III.b.5, which discusses relevant ECtHR case law.15 2013 / The Other Euro Crisis 231 and the European Convention on Human Rights by actually creat[ing] an obligation for European border authorities to provide active protection The Asylum Directives Recognizing that widely divergent interpretations of the asylum right and the necessary procedural guarantees across member states was problematic for effective human rights protection, the European Council issued a series of directives between 2003 and 2005 laying down baseline standards to which member states must adhere with respect to asylum seekers. Directives adopted by the Council form part of the body of EU secondary law, which is below the status of treaties, but still binding on member states. 70 However, directives leave the determination of exact implementation methods up to national governments, which can vary from one state to another as long as the required result is ultimately achieved. 71 Three directives comprise the bulk of these standards for national-level asylum policies: the Procedures Directive, 72 the Reception Conditions Directive, 73 and the Qualifications Directive, 74 each adopted by the Council in the course of developing the current embodiment of the CEAS. Together, these instruments establish baseline guarantees regarding the examination of asylum claims, the treatment that individual asylum seekers are granted while they await a determination of their status, and standardized requirements for determining refugee status, that must be provided by nationallevel governments. All member states 75 are required to transpose these provisions into domestic law within a given time frame, usually within about 69. ANDREAS FISCHER-LESCANO & TILLMANN LÖHR, EUROPEAN CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS, BORDER CONTROLS AT SEA: REQUIREMENTS UNDER INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND REFUGEE LAW 21 (2007). 70. TFEU, supra note 13, art Id. 72. Council Directive 2005/85/EC on Minimum Standards on Procedures in Member States for Granting and Withdrawing Refugee Status, 2005 O.J. (L 326) 13. The Procedures Directive lays down basic procedural guarantees for asylum seekers, such as the right to remain in the examining member state pending determination of refugee status, art. 7, legal assistance and representation, art. 15, and provisions for unaccompanied minors, art Council Directive 2003/9/EC Laying Down Minimum Standards for the Reception of Asylum Seekers, 2003 O.J. (L 31) 18. The Reception Conditions Directive establishes baseline standards for the treatment that asylum seekers must be afforded by member states, including documentation identifying the asylum seeker as such, art. 6, the right to residence and freedom of movement while an application is pending (with exceptions for legal reasons or reasons of public order ), art. 7, and access to education for minor children, art Council Directive 2004/83/EC on Minimum Standards for the Qualification and Status of Third Country Nationals or Stateless Persons as Refugees or as Persons who Otherwise Need International Protection and the Content of the Protection Granted, 2004 O.J. (L 304) 12. The Qualifications Directive delineates the elements that qualify a person as a refugee under Union law. Among these are acts constituting persecution for the purpose of qualifying as a refugee, art. 9, factors that exclude an individual from refugee status, art. 12, and qualifications for subsidiary protection, arts There are a few exceptions; for example, Denmark is excepted from the requirements of the Qualifications Directive. Council Directive 2004/83/EC, preamble, para. 40, 2004 O.J. (L 304) 12, 14.16 232 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 two years of their adoption by the Council. 76 Member states are free to adopt legislation that is more favorable to asylum seekers than the directives require, but not less so. 77 This directives framework establishes minimum standards with which member states domestic legislation must comply and also aims to achieve at least some degree of harmonization in asylum policy across the union. 78 Although the directives theoretically help to harmonize treatment of asylum seekers across the EU, each has been subject to robust criticism by the European Commission, rights groups, and legal scholars, among others, for failing to set a high enough bar for minimum standards and thereby contributing to, rather than diminishing, disparities across member states. 79 As a result of these criticisms, recast versions of each directive have been developed to address some of the most egregious deficits; to date, however, only one has actually been adopted by the European Council. 80 Substantial political resistance has hindered the process of adopting additional recast versions, amid claims that the suggested revisions would compromise an individual government s ability to operate a functional and efficient asylum system See, e.g., Council Directive 2004/83/EC, art. 38(1), 2004 O.J. (L 304) 12, 23; Council Directive 2005/85/EC, art. 44, 2005 O.J. (L 326) 13, 32; Council Directive 2003/9/EC, art. 26, 2003 O.J. (L 31) 18, HEMME BATTJES, EUROPEAN ASYLUM LAW AND INTERNATIONAL LAW (2006). 78. Id. 79. See, e.g., European Commission, Rep. from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the Application of Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on Minimum Standards on Procedures in Member States for Granting and Withdrawing Refugee Status, at 15, COM (2010) 465 final (Sep. 8, 2010) [hereinafter European Commission, 2010 Report on Procedures Directive]; European Commission, Rep. from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the Application of Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004 on Minimum Standards for the Qualification and Status of Third Country Nationals or Stateless Persons as Refugees or as Persons who Otherwise Need International Protection and the Content of the Protection, at 15, COM (2010) 314 final (Sep. 8, 2010); Cathryn Costello, The Asylum Procedures Directive and the Proliferation of Safe Country Practices: Deterrence, Deflection and the Dismantling of International Protection?, 7 EUR. J. MIG. & L. 35, (2005) ( [T]he [proposed Procedures] Directive embodies lowest common denominator lawmaking at its worst, as the varied exclusionary procedural practices of the Member States have come to be incorporated for the first time in a legally binding instrument. ). 80. Council Directive 2011/95/EU on Standards for the Qualification of Third Country Nationals or Stateless Persons as Beneficiaries of International Protection, for a Uniform Status for Refugees or for Persons Eligible for Subsidiary Protection, and for the Content of the Protection Granted (Recast), 2011 O.J. (L 337) 9; see also European Commission, Amended Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Common Procedures for Granting and Withdrawing International Protection Status (Recast), COM(2011) 319 final (June 1, 2011); European Commission, Amended Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council Laying Down Standards for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Recast), COM (2011) 320 final (June 1, 2011). 81. The UK, for example, has staunchly resisted adoption of the recast Procedures and Reception Conditions Directives, arguing that [t]he directives would have restricted our ability to run an asylum system which is both fair and efficient and that doing so would sen[d] out the wrong message, encouraging those who do not need our protection to make unfounded asylum claims. Tellingly, in arguing against adoption of the Directives, the UK Immigration Minister flatly stated, [t]his Government does not support a common asylum system in Europe. That is why we have not opted in to these directives and will not opt in to any proposal which would weaken our border. UK will not opt in to EU asylum directives, UK HOME OFFICE, Oct. 13, 2011, EU-asylum.17 2013 / The Other Euro Crisis The ECtHR s Case Law on the Dublin Regulation As explained above, the case law of the ECtHR is a critical piece of the legal puzzle coming to bear on member state action regarding asylum seekers. The court has examined several complaints of Article 3 violations relating to refoulement in recent years, and its standard for what reaches the threshold of violation has evolved somewhat over this time. 82 However, its judgments have made clear that a member state can be held in violation for returning an asylum seeker to any country where she faces a real risk of illtreatment. 83 a. T.I. v. United Kingdom 84 In T.I., the ECtHR ruled on the applicability of the safe third country presumption within the EU, as established by the Dublin Regulation. The case involved the transfer of a Sri Lankan asylum seeker from the UK to Germany in accordance with the Dublin Convention, the predecessor to Dublin II. The applicant claimed that he was at high risk of refoulement if returned to Germany, where his asylum application had previously been rejected on the basis that the ill-treatment he risked was not attributable to the state, but rather to an armed rebel group. 85 Although the Court ultimately ruled the case inadmissible, it did find that a member state cannot rely automatically... on the arrangements made in the Dublin Convention concerning the attribution of responsibility between European countries for deciding asylum claims. 86 It found that the existence of international agreements and cooperative frameworks with implications for fundamental human rights cannot absolve states of their responsibility to ensure that their expulsion of an asylum seeker does not result in a violation of Article Although not directly pertaining to the State of First Arrival rule, this case raised a red flag regarding the feasibility 82. For a more detailed analysis of this evolution, see HURWITZ, supra note 38, at ; see also NUALA MOLE, ASYLUM AND THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS (2010). 83. See, e.g., N.A. v. United Kingdom, App. No /07, 109 (Eur. Ct. H.R., July 17, 2008), available at Venkadajalasarma v. The Netherlands, App. No /00 (Eur. Ct. H.R., Feb. 17, 2004), available at Hilal v. the United Kingdom, App. No /99, 59 (Eur. Ct. H.R., Mar. 6, 2001), available at Ahmed v. Austria, 1996-VI Eur. Ct. H.R. 2206, In addition, the Court recently affirmed its earlier conclusion that, in the case of general violence in a destination country, an applicant need not show any special distinguishing feature of his own case when he can show that the general violence is of a sufficient level of intensity to create a real risk that any removal to that country would violate Article 3 of the Convention. Sufi and Elmi v. UK, App. Nos. 8319/07 and 11449/07, 217 (Eur. Ct. H.R., June 28, 2011), available at ECHR/EN/hudoc. 84. T.I. v. United Kingdom, App. No /98, Decision on Admissibility (Eur. Ct. H.R., Mar. 7, 2000), available at 85. Id. at Id. at The Court held that any other finding would be incompatible with the purpose and object of the Convention. Id.18 234 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 of any arrangement that entitles member states to presume the compliance of others with their international and European human rights obligations. b. K.R.S. v. United Kingdom 88 In K.R.S., the applicant was an Iranian national who challenged the UK s decision to return him to Greece, where he originally entered the EU, for asylum processing. Here, the court also ultimately found the complaint to be inadmissible, but it did note the evidence presented by the UNHCR concerning unacceptable conditions for asylum seekers in Greece. In spite of its assertion that the independence, reliability, and objectivity of the UNHCR were beyond doubt, the court found that the agency s concerns about the conditions for asylum seekers in Greece couldn t be used as a basis for preventing the UK s transfer of the applicant to Greece. 89 It justified this conclusion by stating that, since Greece was a member of the EU and party to the Convention, the presumption must be that it was complying with its legal obligations to asylum seekers. 90 In K.R.S., therefore, the court indicated that, without sufficient evidence to the contrary, a member state sending an asylum seeker under the State of First Arrival rule can assume that the receiving state is complying with its Convention obligations. While this decision theoretically bolstered the principle of mutual trust between member states, it may also have fostered a practice of willful ignorance by sending states, a problem that came fully to light three years later in M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece. c. M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece 91 M.S.S. concerned an Afghan national who fled his country and arrived in Europe, claiming that he was at risk of persecution by the Taliban since he had worked as an interpreter for international air force troops in Kabul, and had in fact already survived a murder attempt. 92 He arrived first in Greece, where he was detained for a week and ordered to leave the country, then traveled on to Belgium and immediately applied for asylum. 93 In accordance with Dublin II s State of First Arrival rule, however, and over his persistent objections, he was sent back to Greece to have his claim processed. 94 There he was initially detained in conditions that did not meet the minimum standards laid out by the EU asylum directives; reports from the European Parliament, the UNHCR, and various NGOs at the time confirmed that asylum seekers in Greek detention centers were subjected to 88. K.R.S. v. United Kingdom, App. No /08, Decision on Admissibility (Eur. Ct. H.R., Dec. 2, 2008), available at 89. Id. at Id. at M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece, App. No /09, 53 Eur. H.R. Rep. 2 (2011). 92. Id Id Id19 2013 / The Other Euro Crisis 235 severe overcrowding, complete lack of sanitation, poor ventilation, insufficient and dirty mattresses, lack of access to toilets and other sanitary facilities, and physical violence and racist treatment by guards. 95 Once released, the applicant was forced to live on the street, without any means of subsistence, due to the lack of state-run reception facilities or provisions for asylum seekers. 96 The ECtHR found Greece in violation of its Article 3 obligations due to the inhumane conditions that the applicant faced while in detention as well as to the degrading situation of abject poverty and homelessness that he was required to endure as an asylum seeker once released. 97 In making its determination of what constituted inhumane or degrading treatment for Article 3 purposes, the court gave particular weight to the applicant s situation of special vulnerability as an asylum seeker, given the trauma he had already endured. 98 In addition, the court reasoned that, in light of the fact that the conditions the applicant described were consistent with those widely documented by numerous independent sources, there was no need for him to produce individual evidence of his exposure to ill-treatment for an Article 3 violation to be found. 99 In overruling the presumption of Greece s compliance with international obligations that it established in K.R.S., the ECtHR noted that numerous reports and materials ha[d] been added to the information available when it made the K.R.S. decision in Of primary significance to the question of solidarity between EU member states, the court went on to find that Belgium was also in violation of Article 3 of the Convention, since the Belgian authorities knew or ought to have known that the applicant had no guarantee that his asylum application would be seriously examined by the Greek authorities. 101 It based this conclusion on the fact that there existed numerous public sources of information that should have alerted the Belgian authorities to the risk of ill-treatment the applicant would face if transferred to Greece for asylum processing. 102 Furthermore, it stated that the existence of domestic laws, accession to international instruments regarding fundamental human rights, and diplomatic assurances were not enough to allow a state re- 95. Id Id Id , [The Court] considers that, taken together, the feeling of arbitrariness and the feeling of inferiority and anxiety often associated with it, as well as the profound effect such conditions of detention indubitably have on a person s dignity, constitute degrading treatment contrary to Article 3 of the Convention. In addition, the applicant s distress was accentuated by the vulnerability inherent in his situation as an asylum seeker.... There has therefore been a violation of Article 3 of the Convention. Id Id. 255, Id Id Id20 236 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 turning an asylum seeker to the State of First Arrival to assume the latter s compliance with Convention guarantees in the face of ample evidence to the contrary. 103 The M.S.S. decision was the first to directly challenge the assumption that mutual trust between member states meant ignoring obvious violations of the asylum directives and international human rights law. In this way, it raised complicated questions for the principle of solidarity between member states. Requiring states to examine the human rights compliance of fellow EU members hardly seems demonstrative of mutual trust ; yet a government s knowledge that it can be held responsible for another s failings if it declines to undertake such an examination is likely to stifle any feeling of solidarity that a blind presumption might culture. The question of the automatic presumption was addressed directly by the CJEU less than a year later in N.S. 6. The CJEU s Case Law on Dublin II On December 21, 2011, the CJEU followed up on the ECtHR s treatment of Dublin II in in the joined cases of N.S. v. the United Kingdom and M.E. v. Ireland ( N.S. ). 104 N.S. concerned an asylum applicant who fled Afghanistan and lodged an asylum claim in the UK, stating that he feared persecution based on his conversion to Christianity. 105 Although he did not initially mention it, the authorities later discovered that his first point of entry into the EU had been Greece. There he had been kept in an overcrowded detention center for four days and afterwards caught and detained in Turkey for two months before finally making his way to the UK. 106 After the Secretary of State for the Home Department ( SSHD ) determined that, under the Dublin Regulation, Greece was the state responsible for examining the applicant s asylum claim, it prepared to return him there for processing. 107 The applicant appealed for judicial review in August, claiming, among other things, that his return to Greece would put him at risk of ill-treatment due to 1) the poor detention conditions; 2) the lack of adequate procedures or social assistance for asylum seekers; and 3) the danger of onward refoulement from Greece. 108 He claimed that by sending him back to Greece, the UK government would be in breach of its Article Id Joined cases C-411/10, N.S. v. Sec y of State for Home Dep t, and C-493/10, M.E. et al. v. Refugee Appl. Comm r & Min. for Justice, Equality, and Law Reform (Dec. 21, 2011), available at R (on the application of Saeedi) v. Sec y of State for the Home Dep t (SSHD), [2010] EWHC 705 (Admin), [2] [3] R v. SSHD, at [5] [6] The Secretary of State for the Home Department learned of the applicant s presence in Greece through a Eurodac fingerprint match showing he had been there in late September R v. SSHD, at [7] R v. SSHD, at [12]. View more
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