25 April 2003
Home Secretary David Blunkett's plans to open offshore 'processing centres' for asylum seekers coming into Europe will not work unless they are accompanied by an overhaul of migration management, a think-tank has reported.
But Demos, the Left-wing organisation that published its report on the issue this week, backs Blunkett's general approach to Europe's asylum-seeking population.
Demos's study, People flow, claims Blunkett's processing centres should be just one part of a system 'designed to assist overall international mobility, but with key conditions attached'.
It urges Europe's ministers to consider a system of registration for everyone – even tourists – entering the continent. Unsuccessful applicants for visas could then be transferred to processing centres.
The study claims unregistered migrants would be attracted to these processing centres 'by the offer of support in making choices about their future, including access to credit facilities… but would also encourage them to consider a return to their country of origin'.
PFapr2003
