Germany’s Seehofer wants EU’s asylum system overhauled

Brussels (dpa) – German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said the European Union’s handling of refugee arrivals was “not dignified” and urged the bloc to reach an agreement on overhauling its asylum system.

Speaking before a meeting of EU home affairs ministers, the conservative politician said that Italy, Malta, Greece and Spain should not bear the brunt of asylum applications alone.

“We are not only an economic and security community, but also a community of values,” he said.

In recent years, the EU has come under fire for allegedly facilitating push-backs of migrants at sea without giving them access to a proper asylum procedure.

Petra Baeyens, senior legal officer at the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, told dpa that human rights abuses were frequent.

“The order of the day is violence, abuse, push-backs by sea and land and forcing asylum seekers to rely on irregular travel routes and human smugglers – risking their life to access Europe,” she said.

Seehofer has in the past advocated increased EU border patrolling.

Consensus among EU countries has proven to be difficult, with some countries insisting that asylum applications should continue to be dealt with in the country of arrival, while others want them to be redistributed throughout the EU members.

A commission proposal for asylum reform is expected in September. Despite his push for a common asylum approach, Seehofer said he did not expect it to be implemented during Germany’s current European Council presidency, which ends in December.

“I would be satisfied if we reached political consensus in the most important points during our council presidency,” he said.