Carsten Jensen, Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen and Gregor Noll shared their perspectives on the state of asylum in the Nordics during the Almedalen week.© UNHCR

News Story, 8 July 2010

UNHCR puts asylum on Almedalen agenda

In an election year most of the focus is on domestic policies. But as in other areas, asylum and refugee policies are influenced by developments outside. With its Almedalen seminar on 5 July, UNHCR aimed to widen the perspective. There is much attention given to the EU-orchestrated harmonization. An increasingly apparent trend, however, is the political and practical cooperation among the Nordic countries.

To shed light on the current standing of the asylum right in the Nordics, UNHCR and its co-organisers Amnesty Intl Sweden, Swedish Church and the Swedish Red Cross, had invited Danish author and columnist and Palme Prize winner Carsten Jensen, Norwegian former politician and head of the Directorate of Immigration Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen, and professor of International Law at Lund’s University, Sweden, Gregor Noll.

We had hoped for a dialogue on asylum in the Nordics that would unveil moral, legal and practical aspects - and got more than we asked for. Because the question posed in the seminar’s topic: ‘Where is the boundary, where do we draw the line’ (”Var går gränsen? Nordiska förhållningssätt till asylrätten”) can be answered via the geographical dimension – the nation state, the Nordics, the EU, and beyond. It can be attempted pinpointed along the asylum – migration axis. And it plays out between the letter of the law and the pragmatism of politics. Add to that the role of the media and public opinion.

	The Almedalen seminar was held in Visby Methodist church. © UNHCR

Gregor Noll described how over the last 20 years, step by step, the responsibility for asylum has been pushed south and eastwards in Europe. In response, as a silent protest, the countries along European outer border have refused to build the necessary reception capacity. And the push-back pressure continues over the Mediterranean and into for instance Libya. So what’s the role of the nation state in all this? What are the democratic and moral implications?

Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen highlighted that in the big scheme of things Europe – and Norway – hosts a fraction of the world’s displaced. The boundary of asylum is really not difficult to define; it has been done through the 1951 Refugee Convention. And in Norway politicians do want to find good solutions and pursue a decent policy. But the worst thing for a government is to be seen as naïve, to be taken for a ride. And generous policies come with a price tag. Then it becomes comfortable – if not cynical - to hide behind Schengen and Dublin II. Maybe part of the solution to preserving the asylum channel is a more concretely defined labor migration channel. For sure, it will become increasingly difficult to distinguish among the reasons why persons are on the move – persecution, poverty, climate change, natural disasters etc.

Carsten Jensen painted a picture of a Denmark where human rights are ignored and those that stand up for them are seen as enemies. Asylum and integration policies have been tightened repeatedly since 2001. The rhetoric is harsh and the welfare state is being portrayed as under threat from non-Danes. So be it that persons are drowning trying to get here. Danes have lost the ability to imagine the harm that is being done upon others. It can seem hopeless to speak up against these developments, but one has to do it for one’s conscience sake and to keep up the faith in the power of words.

The conversation between the three panellists illuminated the complex challenges the asylum right is faced with at many levels, and not the least the moral erosion that is taking place.

And on Friday 9 July, UNHCR’s Regional Representative Hans ten Feld and the European Commission’s Representative in Sweden Pierre Schellekens will discuss asylum developments in the European Union.

	Hectic networking and campaigning during the 2010 Almedalen week in Visby. © UNHCR

This year the political week at Almedalen, Gotland, featured nearly 1400 seminars and events. Several had unaccompanied asylum-seeking children as topic, and integration and multiculturalism was also debated.

UNHCR is satisfied that it together with its NGO partners and the EC also ensured that asylum was on the agenda.