United Nations Radio

The United Nations refugee agency has expressed concern about a controversial directive on asylum procedures that has been adopted by the twenty five members of the European Union without discussion.

The agency is particularly concerned about rules allowing states to designate so-called safe third countries outside the European Union to which asylum seekers can be turned back without even having heard their claims. UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond says the directive allows states to restrict applications for asylum in European Union countries.

"The directive also fails to spell out clearly that asylum seekers cannot be sent back to their countries of origin while waiting for the outcome of their appeals, thus removing the right to an effective remedy in an event that an error has been made."

The UN refugee agency has called on European Union member states to ensure that their national laws provide adequate safeguards and high standards of protection for refugees.