Joint statement: EU 'safe country' and return proposals would seriously undermine protection and human dignity

Following the release of the EU’s ‘safe country’ and returns proposals, 52 civil society organisations are together calling for the EU and its member states to firmly reject any attempts to weaken protection for asylum seekers.

The raft of recent proposals have raised alarm among NGOs - paving the way for the EU to curtail asylum processes for people seeking asylum from certain countries, make it easier to deport people to countries they have never set foot in, and create so-called ‘return hubs’ outside of EU territory where people could be at risk of human rights violations.

The signatories to the statement - including the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Amnesty International and the Danish Refugee Council - state that “the EU seems to be seeking to shift responsibility for refugee protection onto countries outside its borders and sidestep its legal obligations under the Refugee Convention and EU law”.

They warn that the EU’s new proposals are interconnected parts of a broader strategy to externalise the bloc’s migration management - appearing to signal a retreat from Europe’s commitment to asylum, and risk contributing to a worrying erosion of refugee protection globally.