Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-01-19-Speech-4-241"
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"en.20060119.30.4-241"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Commission believes it to be essential for all of the signatories to the Geneva Convention on the status of refugees to apply its provisions.
For this reason, it shares the concerns expressed by the delegations of the European Parliament in relation to the tragic issue of the forced evacuation of Sudanese migrants and refugees in Cairo and the imprisonment of many of them.
The Commission supports the initiative aimed at calling upon the Egyptian authorities to release all of the asylum seekers still behind bars. Following the recent release of two hundred and fifty refugees, we do not have any precise information about whether there are still women, children or refugees from the region of Darfur in prisons. All prisoners not accused of criminal acts should of course be released.
We also agree with the demand that the process of expelling Sudanese asylum seekers be suspended and we insist on strict compliance with the principle of non-refoulement. The Commission also supports the request presented to the Egyptian authorities that they establish a public institution in accordance with international standards, which will be responsible for dealing with asylum requests.
Within the framework of the action funded by means of the programme in the budget line relating to cooperation with third countries in the field of migration, since 2004 the Commission has been funding a project worth more than EUR 1 million through the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, with the aim of enhancing protection for asylum seekers and refugees in Egypt.
One of the objectives of this project is to support the creation of a unit responsible for asylum issues within the Egyptian Government. In this regard, the Commission has been informed that the negotiations between the HCR and the Egyptian Government have not been successfully completed. The Commission would like the Egyptian authorities to commit themselves as soon as possible to the actions laid down in the project.
With regard to the responsibility of the HCR, I personally cannot endorse the criticisms expressed by one speaker in this regard. I know that it is extremely difficult for HCR officials to deal with issues of this nature. Through my job, I have very frequent contacts with staff of the HCR and I can tell you that the work of these officials is extremely difficult. They are obliged to respect the rules imposed on them in often extremely sensitive circumstances because, in order to help refugees, they must maintain correct, or at least positive, relations with the different governments. I therefore find that criticism rather excessive. I am not going to pass judgment on what has been said, but I believe it to be premature and, above all, these accusations would have to be verified.
Within the context of the neighbourhood policy, the Commission, with the support of the Presidency and of the secretariat of the Council, is in the process of negotiating an action plan containing a proposal aimed at establishing a dialogue on asylum issues. The negotiations are underway."@en1
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