La Strada Documentation Center

World Refugee Survey 2009

Document number
2379
Date
2009
Title
World Refugee Survey 2009
Author/publisher
US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI)
Availability
LSI library
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Violence, Human rights violation, Crime against humanity, War crime, Armed conflict, Post-conflict situation,
Summary
This report maintains that European countries have crafted policies that essentially deny access by making it as difficult as possible to enter their territory. European countries also forcibly returned failed asylum seekers to manifestly dangerous situations: France returned a Chadian asylum seeker who was immediately detained and forcibly interrogated; Sweden deported an Iraqi directly to Baghdad; and the Greek coast guard forced boats full of potential asylum seekers back into Turkish waters, even attempting to swamp them with waves to prevent them from returning to Greek waters. The European Union requires asylum seekers to file their claims in the first European country they enter, meaning that most had to be filed in countries like Greece, Ukraine, Poland, and Slovenia, which denied asylum at rates far greater than other European countries. These revelations may come as a shock for some concerning EU (European Union) countries, which are often applauded for their progressive stances and policies on social democracy, free education and health care, equality, the abolishment of the death penalty, and advancements in human rights. This survey can be accessed here.
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