Caritas Europa: Europe must redeem itself – vote for the common humanitarian visa

“I fled the war in Syria with my mother, father and two brothers. We had no other choice than to pay smugglers. We went first to Lebanon and then to Tripoli (Libya) – there were people from all parts of the world. The smugglers left us to sleep in a tent for three nights, and then we embarked on a small boat. It was so scary and dark. The boat sank and we ended up alone, swimming in the open sea. My father saved me from drowning, but he couldn’t save my mum and brothers – they died before we were rescued,” remembers Amira, a Syrian refugee who made it to safety in Sweden.

Caritas Europa calls on the European Parliament to vote at the LIBE (Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs) committee meeting of 16 March 2016 in favour of amendments which would include the humanitarian visa in the recast of the EU Visa Code.

The recast of the EU Visa Code represents a unique opportunity for introducing the humanitarian visa throughout the EU. This visa would be a step in creating safe and legal ways to access 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 to claim asylum. Resettlement concerns refugees who are in need of international protection, as identified by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Considering the current dire situation of asylum seekers in different parts of the world, Caritas Europa believes that humanitarian visas would complement existing instruments, such as resettlement, family reunification and others proposed in Caritas Europa’s 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 pre-screening 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.

Jorge Nuño Mayer, Secretary-General of Caritas Europa said, “There is no end in sight for the ongoing crises and people will continue to seek refuge in Europe. They will continue risking their lives, unless we provide them with safe and legal routes. The humanitarian visa is one obvious answer. Our political leaders should show solidarity instead of standing by and watching more lives being destroyed unnecessarily.”

Full article.