Migrations Programme - [06/23/2009]

The chiaroscuros of a reform bill: Spain's new legislation on asylum under debate

On the occasion of World Refugee Day, the CIDOB Foundation hosted a debate session in which participants offered a critical review of the bill, which is currently going through parliament.

To commemorate World Refugee Day (20 June), the Catalan Refugee Aid Commission, the Catalan Committee of the UNHCR, the ACSAR Foundation and the CIDOB Foundation organised a debate workshop on Spain's reform bill on asylum, which is currently going through parliament. The workshop featured addresses by Maricela Daniel, the UNHCR representative in Spain, Alfredo Abad, the Secretary General of the Spanish Refugee Aid Commission (CEAR), and Professor Ángeles Solanes from the Institute of Human Rights of the University of Valencia. The workshop also included the participation of some 20 experts, academics and practitioners on the subject of asylum.

During the course of the debate, concern was voiced over some of the modifications that have been incorporated into the bill, which will mean a reduction or a hampering of guarantees of protection for asylum seekers. Maricela Daniel claimed that one of the UNHCR's main concerns was with article 8 of the bill, on the causes of exclusion from the right to asylum, while Alfredo Abad stressed that in the revised text, restrictive elements have been incorporated that could hamper the processing of asylum applications. Ángeles Solanes analysed different aspects of the draft bill, from which it was concluded that an opportunity has been lost to improve existing laws, given that the very institution of asylum is devalued, and is apparently being turned into an instrument of immigration policy.

The participants agreed that Europe's asylum policy is being constructed on minimum requirements that should not be accepted by the States if they already apply more favourable regulations. The common system of European asylum is based on the application of the Geneva Convention, and all the participants agreed on the importance of recalling the meaning of the right to asylum as an instrument for protecting lives and fundamental rights.

>> PROYECTO DE LEY. Proyecto de Ley reguladora del derecho de asilo y de la protección subsidiaria (pdf 146kB)

>> ENMIENDAS. Proyecto de Ley reguladora del derecho de asilo y de la protección subsidiaria (pdf 553kB)