RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE ELDR CONGRESS
AMSTERDAM 2003

Whereas more and more people from across the world leave their countries to seek asylum in European states, and particularly in the European Union,

whereas several European countries have tightened their rules on asylum as a response to the increasing flow of asylum-seekers, thus risking to compromise on the universal right to seek asylum as set out in the Geneva Convention of 1951,

whereas strict visa requirements and heavy carrier sanctions have made the use of traffickers the only remaining resort for reaching Europe, resulting in serious human tragedies,

whereas seeking asylum currently constitutes the only legal way for immigrants to enter the European Union, thus resulting in wrongful use of the asylum system and irregular immigration,

whereas recent efforts to formulate a European asylum policy have recently focused almost entirely on repressive measures, rather than on safeguarding the right to seek asylum,

The ELDR Party

calls on all European countries to pay full respect to the Geneva Convention of 1951, guaranteeing the universal right to seek asylum and to refrain from any legislation or measures that may restrict the right to asylum or international human rights standards,
calls on the EU to speed up the progress towards a European asylum policy, characterised by true burden-sharing and common minimum standards,

calls on the EU, its Member States and other European countries to refrain from applying carrier sanctions and penalties, forcing transportation companies to act as asylum authorities,

calls on EU to reconsider its current visa requirements applied towards citizens of 130 countries, as the right to travel freely to the EU should be a rule rather than an exception,

calls on European governments not to use measures against traffickers as an instrument to make it even more difficult for asylum-seekers in need of protection to enter their territories,

calls on the European Commission to put forward a proposal for a common European immigration policy, opening up legal channels for labour immigration to the EU and easing the pressure on the asylum system that should be open to people in need of protection.