EU's controversial asylum overhaul could send rejected applicants to third-country hubs
Stuttgart – Cem Özdemir, the Green Party's lead candidate in Baden-Württemberg, has voiced support for processing asylum claims in safe third countries.
"If there is a third country where the rule of law is upheld in asylum procedures—under the guidance of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)—then this is an option that promises greater humanity," Özdemir told the news portal T-Online. He argued that the current asylum system favors the strong, disproportionately disadvantaging women and children, who are particularly vulnerable.
At the end of last year, the European Union laid the groundwork to more easily transfer people to so-called safe third countries outside the EU. This would allow asylum procedures to be conducted in nations where applicants have no prior connection. The plans still require approval from the European Parliament. The new rules would also simplify the establishment of "return hubs" in third countries for rejected asylum seekers—a measure Özdemir opposes.
Read also:
- American teenagers taking up farming roles previously filled by immigrants, a concept revisited from 1965's labor market shift.
- Weekly affairs in the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag)
- Landslide claims seven lives, injures six individuals while they work to restore a water channel in the northern region of Pakistan
- Escalating conflict in Sudan has prompted the United Nations to announce a critical gender crisis, highlighting the disproportionate impact of the ongoing violence on women and girls.
