EU court strengthens possibility of asylum for stateless Palestinians

DPA
Thu, June 13, 2024 

An EU court has ruled that stateless Palestinians can obtain refugee protection in the European Union more easily, if it is determined that the main aid agency in the Gaza Strip cannot provide a minimum level of security and humane living conditions.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling concerned the grounds for asylum for Gaza refugees and the status of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) which operates in the war-ravaged territory.

Until now, stateless Palestinians in the EU have not been entitled to protection if they already utilize the assistance of UNRWA and are registered with the agency.


Thursday's ruling stemmed from a case in Bulgaria. In 2018, a mother and her underage daughter from Gaza applied for asylum in Bulgaria. They argued that UNRWA no longer offered them protection and that they should therefore be recognized as refugees. Bulgaria asked the ECJ to weigh in.

The judgement by the Luxembourg court said the standard is now whether or now the Palestinian relief organization can offer Gazans decent living conditions and a minimum level of security.

If UNRWA cannot, the court said, stateless Palestinians could be recognized as refugees in the EU.

The Bulgarian court must now decide on the individual case.

However, the ECJ noted that "both the living conditions in the Gaza Strip and UNRWA’s capacity to fulfil its mission have experienced an unprecedented deterioration due to the consequences of the events of October 7, 2023."

Hamas and other Palestinian extremists groups massacred some 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7, which triggered an Israeli air and ground assault on Gaza. Hamas-controlled health authorities say more than 37,000 people have died so far in Gaza.

EU ministers examine protection plans for Ukrainian war refugees

DPA
Thu, June 13, 2024 

Evacuated Ukrainian war refugees arrive at the airport. EU justice and home affairs ministers are to examine plans to extend emergency rules to shelter people who fled the war in Ukraine until at least March 2026, in two days of meetings in Luxembourg starting on 13 June. Bernd Thissen/dpa


EU justice and home affairs ministers are to examine plans to extend emergency rules to shelter people who fled the war in Ukraine until at least March 2026, in two days of meetings in Luxembourg starting on Thursday.

Ukrainians who fled to the European Union after the full-scale invasion of their country by Russia in 2022 were granted immediate protection after EU member states set up a temporary regime designed for cases of mass influxes of people.

The proposal is designed to avoid the lengthy national asylum-seeking procedures required to process large numbers of displaced people. Extensions of the temporary rules are possible for up to one year.

In addition, people under temporary protection are entitled to social benefits, housing, access to education and work permits, among other things.

The existing regime was set to end in March 2025. The European Commission announced the planned extension on Tuesday.

The commission reported almost 4.2 million Ukrainians are currently residing in the EU under these rules, with Germany hosting the most people at 1.2 million.

EU justice and home affairs ministers are also set to examine a strategy from the commission to roll out controversial new migration and asylum rules in the EU.

The commission's strategy is to help the bloc's countries implement the legal system by mid-2026.

A major part of the commission's plan is a large IT system called Eurodac, in which the data of people seeking asylum is to be stored and processed to better monitor applicants between EU countries.

Wars drive number of forcibly displaced people to record high, UN says

Kim Sengupta
Thu, June 13, 2024

Palestinians have fleeing Rafah for weeks (Reuters)

The number of people forcibly displaced in the world through wars, persecution and disasters, natural and man -made, rose to a record 117.3 million last year with the situation likely to get even worse, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has said.

Forced displacement has continued to rise in the first four months of this year, and the total of those affected is expected to reach 120 million in the near future, with no end to global strife in sight.

"These are refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced people, people being forced away by conflict, by persecution, by different and increasingly complex forms of violence," said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

The Israeli offensive in Gaza has led to 80 per cent of the territory’s population, 1.7 million people, to flee, often being driven from one refuge to another as Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has expanded the operation. Those who had fled across the border into Egypt, the UNHCR report said, may find themselves stranded.

"Another refugee crisis outside Gaza would be catastrophic on all levels, including because we have no guarantee that the people will be able to return to Gaza one day," Mr Grandi said.

The civil war in Sudan, which has faded from international focus, has been "one of the most catastrophic ones" unfolding with more that nine million people internally displaced and another two million have fled to neighbouring countries including Chad, Egypt and South Sudan.

While existing conflicts continue, the unstable international geopolitics could lead to more rather than less violence unfolding, says the report. "Unless there is a shift in international geopolitics, unfortunately, I actually see that figure continuing to go up,” Mr Grandi said.