EU Commission Vice-President Frattini: Statement for World Refugee Day

World Refugee Day 2006 is of particular relevance to the European Union. Europe's history owes much to people moving to escape persecution and find safety. Out of these movements has grown an especially European humanitarian tradition - of tolerance, welcome and providing shelter and refuge to those who need it.

The contribution of individual refugees to our societies is well documented and the lessons we can learn from those who have faced persecution, torture and serious abuses of their human rights should never be discounted. The integration of refugees into our society is therefore one of the most important and enriching tasks we face and one from which Europe can only benefit.

World Refugee Day 2006 gives us the opportunity to reflect on the part refugees and their journeys have played in shaping our present and to remind ourselves that many in Europe faced similar journeys in the not too distant past. That tradition of tolerance, welcome and shelter was hard fought for and identifies us as Europeans; as much a part of the shared history of all twenty five Member States as any cultural or political characteristic.

The EU has taken on the task of protecting that tradition and of ensuring that it is continued in the face of a rapidly changing world where migration and the movement of people takes place at a much greater rate than ever before and for a greater variety of reasons. The challenge for modern States is to identify those who require protection and to deal fairly and efficiently with those who do not.

Over the last six years the EU has put in place laws which have improved the overall situation in the EU for asylum seekers and refugees by ensuring there are minimum levels of support, procedural guarantees and that Member States take a consistent approach to who should be granted refugee status. We should be ambitious in completing this task and ensure that we build a system worthy of the proud traditions of which we are a part. By 2010 we should have a Common European Asylum System where all asylum seekers will be treated in the same way, with the same guarantees and procedures, wherever in the EU they make their asylum claim. A debate on the future of EU Asylum Policy will be launched next year, and I invite all those active in the field to participate with ideas and suggestions for how to achieve this objective.

I hope that all of us in Europe can support World Refugee Day in some way, whether that is by participating in one of the many activities organised in our countries or by simply remembering the important part that the protection of those fleeing persecution has played in making Europe what it is.

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