DOCUMENTS AND PUBLICATIONS
Europol Convention:
- Übereinkommen über die Errichtung eines europäischen Polizeiamtes (Europol-Übereinkommen), Entwurf, Brussels, 16.6.95, 7037/2/95 Rev 2 limite, including changes as adopted at the meeting of the JHA
Council on 20.6.95, in Luxembourg; in German.
Version provisoire du projet de Convention portant sur la création d'Europol, Brussels, 26.4.95, 10324/4/94, limite, with the changes proposed by the French Presidency and reservations made by various member states; in French.
Konvention om oprettelse af en europaeisk politienhed (Europol), udkast, Brussels, 29.5.95, (no reference no.); in Danish.
Draft Resolution on minimum guarantees for asylum procedures, European Council, Brussels, 14.3.95, 5585/95 limite, ASIM 78, in English. Adopted by the JHA Council on 20.6.95, in Luxembourg.
Spotlight on - Human Rights Violations in Times of Armed Conflict, The Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), Belgrade, 1995, Editor: Natasa Kandic; ISBN 86-82599-02-3.
This paperback contains the 15 "spotlight reports" published by the HFECLin 1993 and 1994, on the human rights situation in the FRY (Serbia and Montenegro).
AHASVEROS, periodical published by FARR's Country Committee on the former Yugoslavia. Editor: Poul Sanver; in Swedish.
Comprehensive background information on political developments in Yugoslavia and the role of western European countries, with a particular focus on the situation of war resisters, displaced persons and refugees. 10 issues per year. 1 year subscription:
Order at: Sanver, Distansgatan 35, S-502 46 Borås, Tel/Fax: +46/33 131578; e-mail: ahasveros@nn.apc.orgIntergovernmental Co-operation on Immigration and Asylum, by Tony Bunyan and Frances Webber, Churches Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME), Briefing Paper no. 19., 33 p., in English. Price: 6 ecu.
A useful overview by two competent authors. Tony Bunyan is the editor of Statewatch bulletin, which monitors civil liberties in Europe. Frances Webber is a barrister specialising in immigration and refugee and was prosecutor in the Basso Tribunal on the Right to Asylum, Berlin, December 1994.
The 1996 Intergovernmental Conference and the Future of the Third Pillar, by Simon Hix, CCME Briefing Paper no. 20), 36 p., in English.
This Briefing paper contributes to the debate on the 1996 IGC. The Annex to the paper contains five concrete proposals for amendments to the Treaty on European Union.
Available at: CCME, 174, rue Joseph II, B-1040 Brussels; Tel: +32/2 2308512, Fax: +32/2/ 231 1413.Asylum applications and the entry into force of the Schengen Implementation Agreement: Some observations of the UNHCR, UNHCR Regional Office for the Benelux Countries and the European Institutions, Brussels, March 1995.
This document deals with possible effects of the implementation of the Schengen Agreement on the situation of asylum-seekers. Inter alia, the UNHCR warns against the risk of violations of the principle of non-refoulement as a result of Schengen visa policies and other border-control measures. With regard to carrier sanctions as provided for in the Schengen Agreement, the UNHCR recommends that "States should enforce sanctions only in the event that they can establish that carriers have been negligent in checking documents and knowingly brought into a State a person who did not possess a valid entry document. This puts the burden of proof on the State, in recognition of the fact that States, not carrier personnel, have appropriate training and authority to identify potential refugees". Implicitly referring to the fact that some member states are fining carriers even for transporting insufficiently documented person who are later granted refugee status, the UNHCR suggests that States should exempt carriers from liability if the person is admitted under the asylum procedure.
The compatibility of the Schengen Agreement with the "safe third country" concept remains unclear, the UNHCR further remarks, particularly since the application of this concept is normally the responsibility of border officials who can send back asylum-seekers immediately at the border, in some Schengen State, without the interference of the central authorities responsible for the implementation of the Agreement.