February 2009

MEPs across the political spectrum are set to unite in a call on EU Member States to resettle some former Guantanamo Bay detainees. There are 62 men cleared for release but unable to return to their own countries because they are stateless or would be persecuted in their home countries.

Liberal Democrat European justice & human rights spokeswoman and co-sponsor of the resolution Sarah Ludford MEP said:

"The main responsibility for Guantanamo Bay closure and the resettlement of its detainees undoubtedly lies with the US government. But Europe needs to recognise the political reality that the US cannot manage this alone. We must accompany our goodwill towards President Obama and commitment to transatlantic relations with some practical assistance."

Mr President Mr Guardans Cambó and others such as Mr Karim and Mrs Mann have illustrated the gap between rhetoric and reality. We cannot even actually agree on what Article 20 means. The minister speaking in English said that it was only an 'entitlement' and not a right whereas Mrs Roure cited the French which says 'un droit '. But it is certainly in the Charter of Fundamental Rights where it is enshrined as a right.

We will surely not make progress unless it is legally confirmed that it is a right with binding EU decisions and common standards and the right to challenge a refusal of protection in the courts.

In a debate in the European Parliament MEPs have called EU governments and the European Commission to account for their failure to make a reality of the promise of 'European citizenship' through consular protection for all EU citizens who get into trouble or a crisis abroad.

EU law says a passport-holder of any EU country such as the UK is entitled to go for help to the embassy or consulate of any other EU state if their own authorities are not represented there. But as the experience of MEPs caught up in the horrific terrorist violence in Mumbai last November showed the practical implementation of this promise is at best patchy.

In a response to a question from MEPs including London Liberal Democrat MEP Sarah Ludford the European Commission has affirmed that persecution on grounds of sexual orientation is a legitimate justification for an asylum claim. The question was prompted by an initial rejection in Cyprus of a claim by a gay Iranian asylum seeker a rejection which was later overturned and the claim granted.

The Commission repeats that there is 'an obligation on Member States to grant refugee status to persons who.... are found to have a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of membership of a particular social group including a group based on a common characteristic of sexual orientation.'

Sarah Ludford who is Liberal Democrat European justice & human rights spokeswoman said: