The European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) has said it is troubled by the European Parliament’s decision to permit the detention of families and children who have illegally entered the bloc.
The European Parliament (EP) recently approved a new version of what is known as the EU Return Regulation (ERR). Simply put, the ERR sets out the legal framework by which non-EU nationals who do not have a legal right to remain in an EU state, can be removed.
The latest ERR widens the grounds on which a person can be detained and increases the length of time for which they can be detained. Safeguards and appeal processes have also been slimmed down and “return hubs” will be established outside of the EU.
In a statement, the EEA said that migration was not a “side issue” and that every person, regardless of background or legal status is made in God’s image.
It said, “We recognise the legitimate duty of governments to manage migration responsibly, secure external borders, and combat human trafficking. None of this stands in tension with our faith; it flows from a proper concern for order and the common good. At the same time, several elements of this Regulation trouble us. Detention will now last longer and can apply to families with children."
The EEA said it was concerned that the return hubs would face little public scrutiny and there was no clear guarantee that good conditions would be maintained in such facilities.
“These changes fall hardest on those whose situations are already difficult to assess," it said.
"Converts are one such group: their claims rest on personal testimony rather than paperwork, and a rushed or opaque process leaves little room to get that assessment right. Victims of trafficking and other vulnerable people face similar risks.”
The EEA said that for the last decade it has developed resources to deal with asylum seekers who claim to be converts to Christianity and to be fleeing persecution.
National security and compassion are not “competing values”, the EEA argued, adding that Europe was “capable of holding both”.
“We therefore ask the European Commission and Member States to preserve genuine access to legal remedies, give particular care to converts and other vulnerable claimants, ensure transparency and independent monitoring wherever return hubs are established, and continue to consult civil society as the rules are implemented," it said.
