Human rights alert over EU asylum plan

Earlier this week the UN independent expert on the human rights situation in Somalia, Mona Rishmawi, called on EU member states not to adopt a proposed asylum policy that “could put the human rights and fundamental liberties of Somalis further under jeopardy”. Rishmawi expressed alarm at a draft plan that would make it difficult for Somalis to seek asylum in the EU, a UNHCHR press release stated on Tuesday. Though recognising that there was “no national guarantee for protection of human rights”, he recommended that the EU enter into “constructive dialogue” with the authorities in more peaceful regions, particularly in the north, “to agree on arrangements for identification and documentation of returnees,” the UNHCHR release said. The plan would not grant recognition of these areas, it added.