Asylum (First List of Safe Countries) (Amendment) Order 2006

My Lords, I thank the noble Viscount, Lord Bridgeman, and the noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, for engaging in a serious discussion and debate on the issues and for responding to my opening remarks in a constructive way. I pay tribute to them for that. I thank the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, for his contribution as well. Although there are obviously critical questions behind what we propose, there is an acceptance in your Lordships’ House of the importance of these issues and of trying to get them right. Obviously, at different stages, there will not always be entire satisfaction and agreement on the nature of the measures that the Government have to take in this field, which we all accept and acknowledge is not an easy one. In seeking to add Bulgaria and Romania to the list of safe third countries, we are taking the right step to acknowledge the accession of Bulgaria and Romania and, in particular, participation in the Dublin II arrangements. It is important to remember that this provision is not about sending people back to a country of origin, but to a country that we believeis better placed to deal with the claim under international law. The asylum systems in Bulgaria and Romania have been through a process of scrutiny, which is right. That has been undertaken, in essence, by the European Commission as part of the accession process. They were not found wanting in that assessment. I understand the concerns that have been raised about some of the treatment of minorities that is felt to have been adverse, particularly so far as the Roma are concerned. But we have to play by the rules, and the rules are set out in the accession process. We have to use that process to measure how things are and how things have changed in the past. That is an important part of a country going through the accession process and conforming to standards of which we are rightly proud. It is fair to say that the Commission assessed both countries against the requirements of the acquis on asylum, the common European asylum system, to make that approval of accession. Their assessed suitability for joining the EU is an important factor, reflecting the standards of protection for asylum seekers. The Home Office has undertaken research from a variety of sources to satisfy ourselves that Bulgaria and Romania have procedures in place to ensure that an individual will not be exposed to persecution either in that safe third country or by refoulement to the country of origin in breach of the refugee convention. What sources did we use? We used, for example, the European Commission monitoring reports on accession, the UNHCR reports, the US Department of State reports on human rights practices and our own country research. The noble Viscount, Lord Bridgeman, raised the concern about what the Commission said about the asylum systems in Bulgaria and Romania. We acknowledge that initially there were some concerns, but the format of the Commission’s monitoring reports is to comment on any areas where matters were outstanding from previous reports and where further work would be of benefit. In the final report of September 2006—the monitoring report relating to accession on 1 January 2007—the Commission did not detail any remaining concerns about either country meeting the justice and human affairs asylum acquis. So the Commission was satisfied that those standards had been reached. The only comment on asylum was a reference on page 26 of the September 2006 monitoring report to the fact that in Bulgaria the administrative capacity of the agency for refugees had been adequately strengthened. We play by the rules and the judgments that are made on these matters; and the judgments were not found wanting—indeed, there was active support for measures that had been taken to remedy what had been seen at an earlier stage as defects. The noble Viscount, Lord Bridgeman, raised concerns about Roma. The order concerns essentially the removal of third country nationals, not the removal of Roma. The noble Viscount has used this opportunity to raise that issue and, of course, we have in the past expressed our concern, but we do not believe that that is an issue at present. We think that progress has been made by bringing Bulgaria and Romania into the fold of the European Union. We acknowledge the history of Roma and where they have come from but we know that these issues have been of concern. The noble Viscount also asked what representations had been made with regard to the penal code. The points made in the September 2006 monitoring report do not concern the application of the asylum law. Concerns have been raised regarding corruption and organised crime but those are not covered by that report. We have not made independent representations on those issues. It is not possible to make precise predictions regarding the future, but if a state’s processes and structures began to deteriorate to a point where, in general, international obligations were no longer being met, of course we would want to take steps and make representations. However, we would expect that steps would have been taken in any event to address any concerns expressed at Community level, given that the countries concerned would not have met EU standards. All members of the EU have to be bound by EU asylum instruments. The noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, raised the issue of people who are trafficked and retrafficked. Again, the order concerns asylum seekers, not victims of trafficking. We are concerned about this issue and the noble Earl has taken part in debates on it with myself and others representing the Government on a number of occasions. We clearly need to work with our EU partners on this issue. We believe that both Bulgaria and Romania are safe for refugee convention purposes but that such issues could be raised in human rights claims and considered in the normal way. I thank the noble Earl for raising the issue, but this is not the most appropriate forum to discuss it.