Guaranteeing the right to asylum and access to protection in Europe, strengthening relations with Africa and making investments are among the recommendations made by UNHCR and IOM to Austria for its Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU).
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, and IOM, the UN migration agency, have made several recommendations to Austria for its Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU).
Specifically, they ask Austria to guide and unite EU member states in pursuit of coherent and shared European asylum policies guaranteeing access to the continent and supporting the right to asylum.
UNHCR calls for solidarity and respect for rights
UNHCR recommends, among other things, pursuing ongoing efforts to establish an effective mechanism to relocate asylum-seekers from EU Member States receiving a disproportionate number of asylum claims to other EU Member States as part of the reform of the Dublin Regulation.
Such a mechanism should have a simple and quick activation mechanism according to need and would contribute to ensuring a more manageable and better applicable asylum system.
UNHCR also calls for the advancement of the establishment of a predictable regional mechanism in the Mediterranean for the disembarkation and processing of persons rescued at sea, insisting that they should be taken to safe places quickly. "Solidarity among member states must be accompanied by sure access to the EU asylum system, instead of shifting responsibility and externalizing asylum," said UNHCR's Europe office Pascale Moreau.
IOM calls for focus on Global Compact and relations with Africa
In its document, IOM draws attention to three key areas: Africa border and identity management, the EU's Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF), and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM).
"Our recommendations are rooted in IOM's conviction that better migration governance at all levels - national, regional and global - benefits not only migrants, but also their home countries and the countries of destination, and must be governed with political courage, evidence-based vision, and a human-centred approach," said Eugenio Ambrosi, IOM Regional Director for the European Union, Norway and Switzerland.
The IOM calls on the Austrian EU Presidency to set up a process to prepare for the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and recommends working with African counterparts towards enhancing their border and identity management capacities to benefit African intraregional mobility and to contribute to safe and regular migration to the EU.
Finally, it encourages sound investment in integration, social cohesion, human rights, humanitarian aid and development cooperation, as successful migration policies are a long-term societal ambition.