|
 But instead of applying for refugee status in the country where he
landed, as European law dictates, Asefaw made his way to just south
of the Austrian border. He hoped to cross into Austria and travel
through Germany to Sweden, where his brother lives. There, he
planned to identify himself to authorities and request asylum.
(Routes to a better life:
See graphic here
Waiting on a train platform a few days ago, the South Tyrol's
snowcapped peaks shining in the distance, Asefaw said it was easy to
avoid being registered in Italy. "No one forces you to give your
fingerprints," he said, before explaining how he paid people
smugglers more than $5,000 for his journey to Europe. "Surviving the
journey was a miracle."
Asefaw's journey north exposes one of the biggest flaws in Europe's
approach to migrants.
A shipwreck that killed some 800 migrants in April prompted European
Union countries to triple funding for rescue missions in the
Mediterranean to help Greek and Italian authorities cope with
thousands of arrivals each month. To further ease the burden on
southern countries, the 28-nation EU has proposed redistributing
tens of thousands of migrants among its member states.
 But while most of Europe agrees more needs to be done to rescue
people at sea, the EU is deeply at odds over how to cope with them
once they are ashore – a divide that reflects both the difficulties
of European policy making and the rising tide of anti-immigration
sentiment sweeping the continent.
EU asylum rules, known as the Dublin Regulation, were first drafted
in the early 1990s and require people seeking refuge to do so in the
European country where they first set foot. Northern European
countries defend the policy as a way to prevent multiple
applications across the continent. Some are upset with what they see
as Italy's lax attitude to registering asylum seekers. Earlier this
year, French police stopped about 1,000 migrants near the border and
returned them to Italy. Smaller round-ups happen daily in Austria,
with migrants returned to the Italian side of the Brennero pass.
"Some countries do not work very well in registering asylum seekers
and refugees," Stephan Mayer, a conservative German lawmaker who is
part of Germany's parliamentary committee on migrant legislation,
told Reuters.
But Italy, which receives the bulk of seaborne migrants, says the
law is unfair and logistically impossible. It wants a major rethink.
"These rules are not rules that help us tackle the problem, because
they leave Italy isolated," Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said
of the EU asylum regulations on Sunday.
Italian officials say they are stepping up efforts to fingerprint
all migrants and potential asylum seekers, but estimate that between
a quarter and half of all those who land in Italy dodge the rules.
Part of the problem, says Fulvio Coslovi, a secretary for the Coisp
police union in Bolzano, is that it is not a crime in Italy for
migrants to refuse fingerprinting, which is how the EU keeps track
of where someone enters the bloc. Police, therefore, do not
typically force people to register. Coslovi said that the failure to
identify migrants helps Italy.
"Italy would like to rescue the migrants, but not take care of
them," Coslovi said. "In other words, we want them to disappear."
DETENTION, FORCE
In 2014, some 625,000 people sought asylum in the EU, according to
the Eurostat agency. Just under a third, or 200,000, applied in
Germany alone, while Sweden received 81,000 applications, the
highest number as a proportion of population. Sweden has 9.5 million
people, Germany more than 80 million.
Of the more than 170,000 migrants who reached Italy by boat last
year, according to Eurostat, only a third sought asylum there.
Most migrants give their fingerprints only where they want asylum.
In recent years, Syrians and Eritreans – the most likely to be
recognized as refugees in Europe – have either refused to be
fingerprinted in Italy or even burned their fingertips to avoid
identification, according to an Italian police memorandum sent to
local offices last year.
[to top of second column]
|
To try to address the issue, the European Commission recently
proposed that the EU set up and help manage identification centers
in countries such as Italy and Greece, where the bulk of migrants
arrive. The EU plan recommends allowing detention, the use of force,
and ultimately deportation of those who refuse to be fingerprinted -
a sharp contrast to the open immigration centers that currently
shelter almost 80,000 in Italy. EU states are due to discuss the
plan later this month.
Should the EU adopt stricter registration procedures, the number of
people applying for asylum in southern countries would likely rise,
while those applying in northern states should fall. To help balance
the burden, the commission wants to redistribute 40,000 Eritrean and
Syrian asylum seekers in Italy and Greece across the EU over the
next two years.
Some EU members oppose the move. Britain says it will not
participate, while Poland is pushing for a voluntary system.
Italy criticizes the redistribution proposal for being too limited
and temporary.
"The quotas must be only a first step, or it will become only a
stopgap measure," says Italy's undersecretary for immigration,
Domenico Manzione. "Migrants know the rules, and the rules are no
longer viable."
There appears to be little will among northern countries to change
the rules, though the Commission has promised to "evaluate" them
next year.
WELCOME
Every morning, dozens, and sometimes even hundreds of migrants
arrive from Rome and spill out onto the platforms of the Bolzano
train station, in the Adige River valley near the Brennero pass into
Austria.
Bleary-eyed and disheveled, men, women and children are greeted by
volunteers in several languages, including English, Tigrinya and
Arabic.
"Good morning. Welcome," said an Italian volunteer as she directed
migrants one recent morning towards an area with water, sandwiches,
fruit and basic hygienic products like hand wipes provided by a
local non-profit group.
Later that day, Asefaw and his 19-year-old fiancee Nebyat Mengstu
jumped on a tightly packed train to the pass, where they planned to
catch an international service bound for Munich. Migrants filled an
entire carriage and talked in hushed voices as they rattled past the
medieval castles that dot the valley.
Asefaw said he had tried to leave Eritrea once before, in 2010. When
he was caught at the border, he was jailed for six months. He has a
university degree in aquatic agriculture, he said, but was ordered
to teach at school for about $5 per month.
"It's not enough to survive," said Asefaw, who wore a baseball cap
and carried a small backpack. In Sweden, he hoped to find a job and
help his family at home. He also hoped to marry his fiancee.
On the train, the two held hands. "We have shared a lot of
miracles," Asefaw said.
(Edited by Alessandra Galloni and Simon Robinson)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
