Syrian refugees seeking protection in the EU: putting the CEAS to the test? - Madeline Garlick

Summary

Madeleine Garlic discusses the Syrian refugee crisis as a significant challenge to the European asylum system since 1999. She highlights the UNHCR's perspective on the legal protection needs of Syrians under international law and critiques the EU's response, including its resettlement efforts and the uneven distribution of refugees across member states. Garlic poses questions about the effectiveness of the EU's approach and the principle of solidarity in practice, calling for further consideration of long-term strategies to address such crises.

Takeaways

• 🌍 The Syrian conflict has triggered one of the most significant challenges to the European asylum system since its inception in 1999.
• 📉 The number of Syrian refugees in the EU (200,000) is relatively small compared to the total number of Syrian refugees in Iraq alone.
• 🏛️ Despite having extensive legal instruments and resources, the EU's response to Syrian refugees has been less comprehensive than it could have been.
• 👥 The EU is responsible for a large number of Syrian asylum seekers, spread across 28 member states.
• 🔄 The Syrian refugee crisis has led to a significant displacement of people, with many living in poor conditions and lacking access to basic needs.
• 💼 The UNHCR has called for international support to address the humanitarian crisis, with a significant funding gap remaining.
• 📜 Under international refugee law, the majority of Syrian refugees meet the criteria for refugee status due to well-founded fears of persecution.
• 🏢 The EU has shown a varied response to Syrian refugees, with some countries granting high protection rates, while others have been less accommodating.
• 🚫 There have been reports of problematic practices, including denial of access to borders and failure to observe basic standards for the treatment of asylum seekers.
• ❓ The EU's response raises questions about the balance between refugee protection obligations and concerns about security, national politics, and managing refugee numbers.

Q & A

Who is Madeleine Garlic and what are her affiliations?

Madeleine Garlic is a guest researcher at the University Center for Migration Law and a fellow with the Open Society Foundations, working with the Migration Policy Institute. She was also the head of UNHCR's policy and legal support unit at its bureau for Europe in Brussels.

What is the main topic of Madeleine Garlic's speech?

The main topic of her speech is the Syrian refugee crisis and whether it constitutes the greatest challenge that the common European asylum system has faced so far.

Why does the UNHCR consider the Syrian conflict a significant humanitarian crisis?

The UNHCR considers the Syrian conflict a significant humanitarian crisis due to the dramatic displacement it has triggered, with the largest refugee population today being made up of Syrian refugees spread throughout the region and beyond.

How many Syrian refugees are there according to the UNHCR?

The exact number is not specified in the script, but it mentions that as of May 2015, the total is estimated to be close to 3.9 million refugees in neighboring countries.

What is the EU's response to the Syrian refugee crisis in terms of financial aid?

The EU has contributed significantly to the humanitarian aid effort, with some 3.1 billion euros contributed by the EU and its 28 member states, including emergency aid, development assistance, and early recovery support.

What are the challenges faced by the European Union in handling the Syrian refugee crisis?

Challenges include an uneven distribution of refugees among member states, varying recognition rates for refugee status, security concerns, and the lack of a comprehensive and unified response to asylum seekers.

What is the UNHCR's stance on the legal position of Syrians under international refugee law?

The UNHCR concludes that the vast majority of refugees from Syria satisfy the criteria of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, indicating they have a well-founded fear of persecution.

What is the difference between refugee protection and subsidiary protection in the EU context?

Refugee protection is granted to those who meet the criteria of the 1951 Convention. Subsidiary protection is available for people at risk of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, or punishment, or those facing indiscriminate violence, even if they do not meet the refugee criteria.

What is the EU's resettlement commitment for Syrian refugees?

The EU has pledged close to 40,000 resettlement places, made by 15 EU member states and 3 non-EU member states, to prioritize vulnerable individuals such as women, children, survivors of violence, and those with specific medical needs.

Why has the EU not used the Temporary Protection Directive for the Syrian refugee crisis?

The EU has not used the Temporary Protection Directive, designed for mass influx situations, due to concerns that it might create a 'pull factor' attracting more refugees to the EU.

What are the three questions Madeleine Garlic poses for reflection on the EU's response to the Syrian refugee crisis?

The questions are: 1) Whether the EU has managed to reconcile refugee protection obligations with security and political concerns; 2) If the principle of solidarity has been put into practice in the EU's response; 3) If there has been sufficient long-term thinking about how to give the EU the flexibility to deal with sudden crises.

Outlines

00:00

🌐 Syrian Refugees and the European Asylum System

Madeleine Garlic, a guest researcher and fellow with the Open Society Foundations, addresses the Syrian refugee crisis and its impact on the European asylum system. She argues that the conflict in Syria, which began in 2011, has led to the largest humanitarian crisis and the greatest challenge for the European asylum system since its establishment in 1999. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports a significant Syrian refugee population, with the European Union (EU) hosting a relatively small number compared to other regions. Garlic questions the comprehensiveness of the EU's response and the effectiveness of its legal instruments, financial resources, and policies in dealing with the refugee situation. She emphasizes the importance of international and European law, solidarity, and responsibility-sharing in addressing the crisis.

05:02

📊 The Scale and Impact of the Syrian Displacement

This paragraph delves into the evolution of the Syrian conflict and the resulting forced displacement. It describes the initial uprising in 2011, the subsequent government crackdown, and the escalation of violence leading to widespread displacement within Syria and into neighboring countries. The UN and Arab League's failed attempts to resolve the conflict, the use of chemical weapons, and the rise of Daesh (ISIS) are highlighted. The paragraph also details the immense human rights abuses and suffering documented by the UN Human Rights Council. The scale of displacement is quantified, showing a significant increase in refugee numbers from 40,000 in 2012 to an estimated 3.9 million by May 2015, with a focus on the challenges faced by host countries and the international community's efforts to provide humanitarian aid.

10:04

🏛 International Legal Protection for Syrians

The paragraph discusses the international legal framework for protecting Syrian refugees under the 1951 Refugee Convention, as interpreted by the UNHCR. It explains that the majority of Syrian refugees meet the refugee criteria due to well-founded fears of persecution linked to the conflict. The UNHCR's stance on the broad application of refugee criteria is outlined, including the consideration of indirect associations with conflict parties and the potential for persecution based on race, religion, nationality, social group, or political opinion. The paragraph also addresses the exclusion criteria under Article 1F of the 1951 Convention, which may apply to individuals guilty of serious crimes, while emphasizing the need for careful application of these clauses.

15:06

📈 EU's Uneven Response to Syrian Refugees

This section examines the EU's response to Syrian refugees, noting the high and varying protection rates across member states. It points out the uneven distribution of refugees, with a majority of asylum seekers applying in Sweden and Germany, and a smaller number of countries hosting the remaining refugees. The paragraph highlights issues such as backlogs in processing claims, security concerns, and the lack of contingency planning. It also discusses the EU's limited steps to support refugees outside its territory, including resettlement and humanitarian admission programs, which, while significant, fall short of the need and UNHCR's recommendations.

20:06

🚨 Challenges and Questions in the EU's Refugee Policy

The final paragraph presents challenges in the EU's response to the Syrian refugee crisis, such as the overwhelming of Bulgaria's reception capacity and the difficulties faced by sea arrivals. It raises questions about the effectiveness of the EU's reconciliation of refugee protection obligations with security concerns, national politics, and the management of refugee numbers. The paragraph questions the application of the principle of solidarity within and beyond the EU, and the sufficiency of long-term planning to address sudden crises. It concludes with a call for further consideration and work to ensure the EU can meet these challenges effectively.

Keywords

💡Syrian refugees

Syrian refugees refer to individuals who have been forced to flee their country due to the ongoing conflict in Syria. They are a central focus of the video, illustrating the humanitarian crisis and the challenges faced by the international community in providing protection and support. The script mentions that Syrian refugees are spread throughout the region and beyond, highlighting the scale of displacement caused by the conflict.

💡Common European Asylum System

The Common European Asylum System is a set of legal instruments and policies within the European Union designed to manage asylum applications and provide protection to those in need. The video discusses whether the influx of Syrian refugees represents the greatest challenge to this system since its inception in 1999, indicating the strain on the EU's capacity to handle large-scale asylum claims.

💡UNHCR

The UNHCR, or United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, is an agency that leads international action to protect and support refugees. In the script, UNHCR is mentioned as declaring the Syria conflict a dramatic humanitarian crisis and is involved in assessing the legal position of Syrians under international refugee law, emphasizing its role in shaping the global response to the refugee crisis.

💡Forced displacement

Forced displacement is the involuntary movement of people from their homes due to conflict, persecution, or other threats. The video script describes the Syria conflict as triggering significant forced displacement, leading to a large refugee population and highlighting the urgency of international protection needs.

💡International refugee law

International refugee law encompasses the legal framework that governs the treatment of refugees, including the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. The script discusses how the majority of Syrian refugees meet the criteria for refugee status under this law, underscoring the legal obligations of countries to protect them.

💡Solidarity and responsibility sharing

Solidarity and responsibility sharing are principles emphasized in the video, referring to the commitment of the European Union to support countries bearing the brunt of the refugee crisis. The script questions whether the EU's actions have lived up to these principles, suggesting a need for a more comprehensive and equitable response to the crisis.

💡Resettlement

Resettlement is a process where a country admits refugees from a third country for the purpose of providing them with protection and a new place to live. The video mentions the EU's commitment to resettle Syrian refugees, indicating a specific action taken by the EU to address the crisis, though it notes that the scale of resettlement is small compared to the overall need.

💡Humanitarian admission

Humanitarian admission is a temporary right to stay granted to individuals in need of international protection. The script contrasts this with resettlement and notes that some EU member states practice it, highlighting the different approaches to providing protection to Syrian refugees.

💡Temporary Protection Directive

The Temporary Protection Directive is a legal instrument adopted by the EU to provide swift protection to refugees in the event of a mass influx. The video discusses the EU's reluctance to use this directive for the Syrian refugee crisis, suggesting concerns about a potential 'pull factor' attracting more refugees.

💡Asylum seekers

Asylum seekers are individuals who have applied for asylum, seeking international protection. The script provides statistics on the number of Syrian asylum seekers in the EU and discusses the varying recognition rates and protection statuses granted to them, indicating the complexity and diversity of responses within the EU.

💡Refugee protection obligations

Refugee protection obligations refer to the legal duties of states to protect refugees under international law. The video raises questions about how the EU has balanced these obligations with other concerns, such as security and national politics, reflecting on the challenges of reconciling different priorities in the response to the Syrian refugee crisis.

Highlights

Madeleine Garlic is a guest researcher at the University Center for Migration Law and a fellow with the Open Society Foundations.

The Syrian conflict has triggered the most significant challenge to the European asylum system since 1999.

UNHCR considers the Syria conflict the most dramatic humanitarian crisis of modern times.

European Union has only received 200,000 Syrian asylum seekers, a smaller number than Syrian refugees in Iraq alone.

EU member states have a wide range of legal instruments and financial resources to deal with refugees.

The response of the European Union to Syrian refugees has been less comprehensive than it could have been.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman emphasized the burden of hosting 1.2 million Syrian refugees in a country of 4 million.

Former European Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva called for open hearts, wallets, and borders for refugees.

The Syrian uprising began in March 2011, leading to significant displacement within Syria and neighboring countries.

UN-led peace talks failed, and violence escalated with the involvement of Daesh in 2014.

The UN documented immeasurable suffering among the Syrian population due to gross human rights violations.

Displacement has mounted, with approximately 3.9 million refugees in neighboring countries as of May 2015.

UN agencies and humanitarian organizations have requested donor support, but only 19% of needs have been funded.

The EU has contributed 3.1 billion euros in humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees.

UNHCR concludes that the majority of Syrian refugees meet the criteria for refugee status under international law.

EU member states have shown varied responses to Syrians seeking protection, with different protection rates and practices.

The EU has committed to resettlement and humanitarian admission for some Syrians, but the numbers are small compared to needs.

The EU has not used the Temporary Protection Directive, designed for mass influx situations, due to concerns of a pull factor.

Garlic poses questions about the EU's ability to reconcile refugee protection with security and political concerns, and the practice of solidarity.

The EU needs long-term thinking to deal with sudden crises on the scale of the Syrian refugee situation.

Transcripts

hello my name is Madeleine garlic I am a

guest researcher at the no Megan

University Center for migration law I'm

also a fellow with the Open Society

Foundations working with the migration

policy institute and for many years I

was head of UNHCR's policy and legal

support unit at its bureau for Europe in

Brussels I'm going to speak to you today

about Syrian refugees and ask the

question whether this constitutes the

greatest challenge that the common

European asylum system has faced until

now i believe it's strongly arguable

that the Syria conflict and the related

forced displacement it has triggered

constitutes the most significant

challenge that the e used common

European asylum system has faced since

its inception in 1999 the united nations

high commissioner for refugees has

called the Syria conflict the most

dramatic humanitarian crisis the world

has seen in modern times unhcr's largest

refugee population today as made up of

Syrian refugees spread throughout the

region and further afield if the

European Union has only 200,000 Syrian

asylum seekers who have claimed

protection in its territory to date

that's a larger number which is smaller

from the total number of Syrian refugees

in Iraq alone and these are people

spread across 28 wealthy EU member

states who have today at their disposal

arguably the largest range of legal

instruments financial resources and

institutional tools and policies at

their disposal to deal with refugees

than they have ever had in their history

I will last today asked the question as

to why the europeans was a union's

response has been less comprehensive

than it could have been and what could

and should be done to improve it I

believe this is crucial as a matter of

international and european law and also

to ensure fulfillment of the principle

of solidarity and responsibility sharing

to which the european union has

expressed a repeated commitment in the

refugee and asylum context i'd like to

start today by quoting the former

lebanese president michel suleiman

who in 2013 said and I quote that these

numbers are more than the capacity of

any country to bear he said the world

should think about how to alleviate this

burden because for humanitarian reasons

we cannot turn back any refugee who is

hungry wounded frightened or persecuted

he was president of a country which

today hosts the largest per capita

refugee population in the world with

approximately 1.2 million Syrian

refugees in a country with a population

of 4 million this is equivalent to 20

million Syrian refugees in Germany or

the entire population of Germany seeking

protection in the United States it's

interesting to cast to contrast this

generous response with that of the

European Union just a few months later

in late 2013 the former European

Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs

mrs. Kristalina Georgieva was quoted as

saying that European countries must not

only keep our hearts and our wallets

open but also our borders significantly

however she was not responsible at the

time for the EU s refugee and border

policies and today she is no longer

dealing with humanitarian aid today I'd

like to touch upon four topics first of

all the evolution of the conflict and

forced displacement secondly the

international protection needs of

Syrians in legal terms under

international refugee law thirdly I will

examine the Europeans Pont responses to

Syrian refugees today and finally pose

some questions for reflection around

whether the e use common policy on

asylum has met its challenge firstly on

the evolution of the conflict and forced

displacement until now it was March 2011

when the Syrian uprising began and the

government deployed tanks and military

forces to quell opposition in the

streets at the time despite US and EU

sanctions that repression continued and

significant displacement began within

Syria itself and into neighboring

countries the following year in 2012 the

UN and Arab League together deployed

invoice to try and resolve the conflict

unsuccessfully

violence continued and escalated and

chemical weapons were reported to have

been used in august 2013 although a deal

was later done on discontinuing use of

those weapons conventional weapons

continued to be used with devastating

consequences for the syrian civilian

population in februari 2014 un-led peace

talks collapsed the UN adopted a series

of resolutions calling upon the parties

to the conflict to allow access for

humanitarian agencies to civilians

without success and by mid-august 2014

we saw the entry onto the scene of daesh

or the islamic state which loaded by

late 2014 was controlling main Syrian

oil and gas fields in strategic

locations in August 2014 the UN

secretary-general stated that the

conflict continues to be carried raised

by horrendous violations of

international humanitarian law and human

rights abuses with total disregard for

Humanity by the end of 2014 the UN

Security Council had noted that an

estimated 190,000 people had died in the

conflict thus far including 10,000

children the UN Human Rights Council

convened an independent international

commission of inquiry on Syria which is

produced several reports over recent

years in August 2014 its report

documented and i quote immeasurable

suffering amongst the syrian population

noting that government and

pro-government forces as well in

increasing in terms of the islamic state

also were engaged in committing murder

torture rape forced disappearance

recruiting children for hostilities

targeting civilians massacres and

hostage-taking noting that these

together amounted to gross human rights

violations war crimes crimes against

humanity and violations of international

humanitarian law at the same time

displacement continued to mount the main

cases jump into the neighboring

countries in March 2012 a year after the

conflict again some 40,000 people were

i mated to have fled to neighboring

countries notably Iraq Jordan Lebanon

and Turkey by November of that same year

some seven months later four hundred

thousand refugees were in the

neighboring countries by March 2013 that

had risen 2 1,000,000 and by March 2014

1 year thereafter 2.5 million refugees

were recorded in the neighboring

countries as well as 6.5 million

internally displaced today as of may

2015 the total is estimated it close to

3.9 million refugees in the neighboring

countries this has broken down into 1.7

million hosted by Turkey and registered

by the government there Lebanon with

some 1.2 million refugees Jordan with

six hundred and twenty-eight thousand

Iraq with close to 250,000 Egypt hosting

133,000 and several North African

countries together with 24 thousand

refugees of this refugee population

approximately half in the region are

below 18 thousands of those children

lack access to schooling some

seventy-five percent of registered

refugees liver outside camps some in

host families but many others on the

rental market where prices have risen to

very difficult levels for many 38 /

Center in substandard accommodation half

of the refugees borrow money to survive

many are destitute in Lebanon it's noted

that some half of the refugee population

is living below the poverty line on less

than US dollar for u.s. dollars per day

so what is the international community

doing to seek to address this well a

number of UN agencies and other

humanitarian organizations have put

together several successive plans

calling for donor support to allow them

to address these needs the most recent

being the regional resilience and a

refugee and resilience plan the

so-called 3rp that was released in

December 2014 that plan calls for some

us 5.5 billion dollars to support a

projected 4.3 million refugees by the

end of this year so you can to bring

together

support and development assistance to

assist also some 1.7 million host

community members in countries in the

region around Syria that appeal was

funded at nineteen percent as of the

middle of May meaning that some eighty

percent of the needs projected so far

remain to be addressed the European

Union has made a significant

contribution to the humanitarian aid

effort with some 3.1 billion euros

contributed thus far by the EU and it's

28 member states together this is

included emergency aid as well as

development assistance and early

recovery support providing for food

assistance safe water supplies emergency

medical assistance shelter and cash for

subsistence so the EU has been quite

generous in financial turns to Syrian

refugees but has this commitment being

matched by its action to provide

protection directly to refugees at its

doorstep and in its territory before

examining the e u--'s response to asylum

seekers I'd like to recall un the UNHCR

s most recent analysis of the legal

position of Syrians under international

refugee law UNHCR has issued a series of

protection consideration documents

including the most recently of October

2014 which document the international

protection needs of Syrians in life of

international refugee law criteria and

standards from UNHCR's point of view

UNHCR has concluded that the vast

majority of refugees from Syria do

satisfy the criteria of article 1 a of

the 1951 convention relating to the

status of refugees in other words they

satisfy the definition of a refugee that

binds some 167 countries and is included

in the international law of many of

those it finds that most of those people

do need refugee protection because they

have a well-founded fear of persecution

that is directly linked to one of the 19

51 convention grounds this link to the

convention may lie in either direct or

indirect as well as a real or perceived

association with a party to the conflict

in addition to other characteristics of

the person in question relating to their

race religion nationality membership of

a social group or political opinion

UNHCR maintains that there should be no

requirement of having been individually

targeted in the sense of being singled

out for persecution on the part of

refugees this means that in unhcr's

views Syrians may be at risk due to

their imputed political opinion they may

be considered to have aligned themselves

with one or other party to the conflict

simply because they were residing in a

neighborhood or a village that was held

by one of those parties at a particular

time or because they railed occluded

actively to resist an occupying force if

they belong to a religious or ethnic

minority they may also have a particular

political view affiliate attributed to

them which may provide the pretext for

persecution on the part of one of those

parties involved in the conflict UNHCR

also considers in the increasingly

exceptional cases where the 1951

convention criteria are not messed that

states must give consideration to

applying broader refugee criteria this

means the criteria that are enshrined in

other regional refugee instruments

beyond the Refugee Convention and in the

EU context for example subsidiary

protection which is available for people

who are at risk of torture inhuman or

degrading treatment or punishment or an

individual threat in situations of

indiscriminate violence it also means

they should be considered in hcs view if

not fun to be refugees for national

forms of protection UNHCR acknowledges

that exclusion criteria may apply this

means that some Syrians seeking refuge

may be found to fall within the criteria

of article 1 f of the 1951 convention

because they are guilty of committing

war crimes crimes against humanity or

acts contrary to the purposes and

principles of the United Nations this

could arise based on

unlawful on tax on civilians based on

murder torture or other serious rights

violations they may have committed

participation in activities leading to

force displacement or rape and other

forms of sexual or gender based violence

however HCR has cautioned that exclusion

clauses must be play applied with great

care and the individual responsibility

must be found on the part of the person

concerned before they can be excluded

from refugee protection I'd like to move

now to the third part of my presentation

relating to the EU responses to Syrians

seeking protection thus far the total

number of asylum seekers in the EU plus

Norway Liechtenstein Sweden and Monaco

to end of may 2015 is approximately two

hundred and ten thousand many of those

who have applied are refugees or plus

meaning that they may have left Syria

before or for reasons unrelated to the

conflict but they have become unable to

return because of the risk of

persecution that would face them some

sixty percent of those who have applied

for protection in me you have done so in

sweden and germany there is also another

group of five states who accommodate

approximately a quarter being the

Netherlands Austria Bulgaria Denmark and

Hungary and the result is this of this

is that some 23 European countries host

the remaining twenty percent of the

Syrian refugee caseload clearly a highly

uneven distribution of the challenges

and demands that are generated by the

Syrian refugee population a leading a

member of the European Parliament in

December 2012 has characterized the

European Union's response so far as

somehow contradictory noting that a very

small percentage of Syrian refugees are

nau Europe primarily in 22 northern

countries she has noted that the EU is

and I quote asking Syria's neighbors to

open their borders but we are refraining

from doing the same it's not worthy to

see that at this stage most countries in

the EU are generally grunting high

protection rates to

syrians some 91% today receive

protection and united states where they

apply but this has not always been the

case and up until late 2014 we were

seeing recognition rates varying between

zero to ninety nine percent we still see

extremely different approaches taken by

member states to the criteria for

protection some member states giving

overwhelmingly refugee protection in

line with unhcr's recommendations but a

number of others who are giving

subsidiary protection in most cases with

lesser rights associated with that's

that status others are giving national

forms of status which with yet lower

levels of entitlements as well there's

also been a number of problematic

practices documented over the years

backlogs allowed to develop despite the

fact that these claims by and large

should be granted speedily lack of

contingency planning to enable swift

access to reception conditions into

entitlements a particularly intense

focus on security concerns and risks of

extremism as they are perceived on the

part of syrian refugees in some cases

we've also seen problematic reports of

denials of access for syrians to borders

and in some places failure to observe

basic standards for treatments of asylum

seekers which means that syrians in many

cases have chosen to move on either

feeling unable to pursue their refugee

claim in some of the first countries in

which they've arrived or driven by the

desire to reunite with family consistent

with the european and international

human rights apart from its varied

response to syrians within its territory

the EU has also sought to take a number

of steps albeit limited so far for

refugees beyond its territory who are in

need of protection as a gesture of

solidarity and burden sharing with some

of those countries that are hosting the

largest numbers the EU has committed

itself to undertake resettlement and

humanitarian admission for some of the

syrians in particularly Lebanon Turkey

and Jordan resettlement involves the

selection and transfer over

geez from a third state to another which

agrees to admit them as refugees and to

give them long-term protection rights

humanitarian admission is a similar

process than a number of EU member

states are practicing which involves in

principle a temporary right to stay it's

noteworthy however that the states that

have practiced humanitarian admission so

far Annie you are very positively

committed to refrain from returning

people until such time as return to

Syria and safety and dignity as possible

resettlement enables countries offering

protection to prioritize vulnerable

people in particular women and girls at

risk survivors of torture and violence

those with specific medical needs that

can't be matched in their first country

of asylum as well as older vulnerable

adults and separated family members it's

also includes refugees facing serious

threats to their physical security where

they are the EU until now has pred

pledged close to 40,000 places

altogether and this is the commitment

made by 15 EU member states as well as 3

non EU member states notably

Liechtenstein norway and switzerland

this number is a significant increase on

the amount of resettlement the EU has

been prepared to do in the past but it

remains small compared to the numbers of

refugees in need of protection in the

region and also she falls far short of

UNHCR score for a hundred thousand

resettlement places by the end of 2016

what's been noteworthy also around the e

u--'s response is its unwillingness the

sphere far to use a legal instrument

that arguably was adopted specifically

for the purpose of dealing with the

emergency of this kind the e used

temporary protection directive adopted

in 2001 falls provides a framework for

the EU to admit swiftly and provide

protection to refugees who might arrive

in a so-called mass influx this

instrument designed to deal with the

situation like that seen during the Wars

of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s

has never been used until now and

although it wouldn't able lead to

respond very swiftly to those arriving

at

supporters it's not been used to date

largely because of the perception that

this would lead to a so-called pull

factor attracting many more refugees

from the region to the EU I'd like to

highlight two cases in point would

demonstrate the problematic shortfalls

in the EU's response until now firstly

that of Bulgaria a country which

received less than a thousand asylum

claims per year until 2013 when a sudden

increase came in the form of some seven

thousand Syrians seeking protection in

its territory both areas reception

capacity was swiftly overwhelmed it was

unable to accommodate register or

process the asylum claims of those

people seeking its protection UNHCR the

European Commission and the European

Asylum support office mobilized a number

of programs and assistance measures to

help it to respond but Bulgaria remains

unable to provide standard the

protection and entitlements of an

adequate standard to meet EU norms for

many of those arriving another clear

case of challenges the EU has not been

able to address adequately is that of

sea arrivals some two hundred and

nineteen thousand people arrived in the

ubc in 2014 over half were obtained from

Syria and Eritrea it's clear that the

reception capacity in countries where

they have arrived in the largest number

has swiftly been overwhelmed and yet the

EU has been unable until now to put in

place capacity to ensure that people can

be rescued where they enter to get into

distressed situations at sea and swiftly

receive protection in cases where this

is Mary Lou 'this is merited against

this background I'd like to post three

questions about the US response so far

first of all could we really say that

States responses to Syrian displacement

in the EU so far have managed to

effectively reconcile refugee protection

obligations on the one hand with

concerns about security national

politics and the desire to keep refugee

numbers to manageable levels on the

other secondly can we say that the

principle of solidarity both

then and beyond the EU that the European

Union member states have continuously

expressed has been put into practice in

this area response and thirdly whether

or not there's been sufficient long-term

thinking about how to give the EU the

flexibility it needs to deal with sudden

crisis on the scale we have seen think

it's clear that these all need further

consideration and work before the you

can be said satisfactorily to have met

these challenges thank you very much and

I wish you all the best with your work