Asylum: ECJ ruling on safe countries of origin
The European Court of Justice has tightened the requirements for authorities in accelerated asylum procedures. In future, the governments of EU countries must disclose which sources their classification of a country as a "safe country of origin" is based on. The court also ruled that for a country to receive this designation its entire population, including groups such as homosexuals, must be deemed to be safe there.
A warning to Berlin
The German government should also soften its hard line, writes the Frankfurter Rundschau:
“The German list of supposedly 'safe' countries also includes dubious candidates such as Georgia and Moldova. Their removal from this list in line with the recommendations of human rights organisations and, most recently, German courts, is a long overdue step. Georgia's government is cracking down hard on NGOs, the LGBTQ+ community and mass protests. The central government in Moldova has no control over the Transnistria region, where pro-Russian separatists rule with an iron fist. Both countries contradict what the European Court of Justice has now underscored with reference to current EU law: countries where certain groups are not safe cannot be classified as 'safe'.”
Judges blind to reality
The daily Die Welt says European jurisdiction has lost its way:
“Increasingly, courts are restricting politicians' room for manoeuvre in a way that ultimately prevents even the basic principles of the rule of law from being enforced. One example is the restrictions on illegal mass immigration. ... The rights of all non-EU citizens are being defended to the max. ... By contrast, the right of EU citizens to security, a functioning welfare state, an intact education system and prospects for their own children is not being taken into account by the judges. ... They are clearly blind to the realities of the continent whose legal reality they are shaping.”