Sweeping security measures being proposed at EU border points would unfairly reduce the rights of asylum seekers trying to attain refugee status in Europe, an advocacy group said Wednesday, according to AP. Under U.N. conventions, all 27 European Union nations must temporarily accept immigrants from countries outside the EU while their requests for asylum are considered. But the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, or ECRE, said that proposals from EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini would make it harder for such claimants. The group said extra border restrictions and new sea patrols already are forcing asylum seekers to take more risks in their attempt to get to a safe haven and encouraging them to travel with smuggling rings or other illegal groups to get to Europe. This, the ECRE said, raises the likelihood they will be caught and sent back. «It is worrying that once again the EU has failed to address the universal right to seek asylum,» said Bjarte Vandvik of the rights group, which represents refugee-assisting relief agencies across Europe.
