The European Union (EU) has reportedly listed Bangladesh and six other countries as 'safe', according to German-based media outlet Deutsche Welle.
The list, published on Wednesday (April 16th), aims to make it more difficult for citizens of these countries to gain asylum in the EU and to expedite their return to their home countries. However, human rights organizations have criticized the move.
According to the Deutsche Welle report, the other countries on the list besides Bangladesh are Kosovo, Colombia, Egypt, India, Morocco, and Tunisia. The list needs to be approved by the European Parliament and member states before it comes into effect.
The report states that the publication of this list will allow EU member states to quickly finalize the assessment of asylum applications from citizens of these countries, considering the presumption that the applications lack grounds.
The Immigration Commission stated that the list published on Wednesday may be expanded or reviewed over time. It was created based on countries from which a significant number of applicants currently come. Member states will be able to add other countries to this list but will not be able to remove any.
Regarding this, EU Commissioner for Migration, Ylva Johansson (referred to as Magner Brunner in the translated text), said that many member states are facing significant backlogs in processing asylum applications. Therefore, what they can do now is support the rapid decision-making on asylum issues, which is extremely necessary.
Meanwhile, the EU is under pressure to be stricter on illegal entrants and their return to their home countries, as several countries have seen far-right parties, capitalizing on anti-immigrant sentiment, achieve strong results in elections.
On the other hand, the Immigration Commission has stated that EU candidate countries must also meet the 'safe country' criteria. However, the commission stated that exceptions may apply in cases of conflict, citing Ukraine as an example.
Earlier, in 2015, the European Commission had put forward a similar list. However, the plan was dropped after intense debate over whether to include Turkey, which is an EU candidate country, on the list.
