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“When we landed, we were crying with happiness. At last we felt safe”, explained Sara, a 27 year old woman who fled the violence in Syria. Sara put her life in the hands of smugglers to reach safety in Europe. She paid for the crossing of the Mediterranean on a makeshift boat, squeezed with tens of other people. Had the EU a common humanitarian visa in place, Sara would not have been obliged to pay smugglers and risk her life as she did.

Caritas Europa thus calls on the Council of the EU to include the humanitarian visa in the recast of the EU Visa Code, which they will discuss on 8-9 October.

The recast of the EU Visa Code represents a unique opportunity for introducing the humanitarian visa throughout the EU. This visa would give one way towards a safe and legal access to the EU territory, saving thousands of lives and helping put smugglers out of business.

Here are some advantages of the humanitarian visa:

1. Humanitarian visa is not resettlement. Both are needed if Europe is to address the current humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean. The humanitarian visa is a means for an asylum seeker to come to Europe safely and to claim asylum. Resettlement concerns refugees who are in need of international protection, as identified by UNHCR. Considering the current dire situation of asylum seekers in different parts of the world, we believe that humanitarian visas would complement existing instruments, such as resettlement, family reunification and others proposed in our toolbox.
2. The humanitarian visa implies more solidarity among EU Member States. The EU Member State at whose embassy an asylum seeker asks for a humanitarian visa would be responsible for the asylum procedure. This way frontline Member States will not have to cope alone with mass influxes of people at the EU external borders.
3. The humanitarian visa means more security for EU Member States and less profit for criminal smuggling networks. Through prescreening procedures, EU Member States could better control migration movements to Europe and give asylum seekers a safe and legal way to enter, thus reducing reliance on smugglers.
4. There are legal grounds to include the humanitarian visa in the EU Visa Code. The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union gives the EU the competence to regulate short-term visas and the humanitarian visa has a short-term purpose. Only upon arrival to the country of destination will the applicant be able to lodge an asylum application with the responsible authorities and only if this application is accepted will the EU Member State concerned deliver a long-term residence permit. Hence, governments should not fear this visa and instead proceed quickly in its application.

Shannon Pfohman, Head of Advocacy of Caritas Europa said “If the EU is to survive this so-called crisis, it is necessary to enhance the solidarity principle. For Caritas Europa, solidarity means responding to the most urgent needs of the people risking their lives to flee conflicts, wars and poverty. We urge Member States to apply this same understanding of solidarity and act quickly to save lives”.

Full article.