"The EU has a moral responsibility to protect refugees"

Some 60 ministers from European and African nations met this week in Rabat, Morocco to discuss immigration policy and seek solutions to illegal immigration. Representatives from 20 international organizations also participated, including the United Nations Refugee Agency. William Spindler, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), shared his perspective with DW-WORLD.DE.

DW-WORLD.DE: What role did the UNHCR play at the conference?

William Spindler: UNHCR's point of view is that it is absolutely necessary to ensure the rights of refugees and to take asylum migration into account. Most of the people trying to make their way to Europe are economic migrants. But a number of them are fleeing conflict or even execution.

Any measures put into effect need to respect the rights of the refugees, especially the right to claim asylum. Immigrants and people seeking asylum are in two different situations: Immigrants are fleeing poverty and hunger and looking for a better life, while refugees are facing prosecution and human rights violations. Their motives are different, so our approach should be different too.

How would you assess the EU's current approach to migration?

UNHCR is not directly involved in migration as such. However, I think the EU should start looking at the benefits of migration and not just the problems. As long as there is poverty, there will be people trying to flee countries. The answer is to look into the causes of migration and try to help develop the countries that people are fleeing from.

Concretely speaking, how can the EU do this?

It should take all the different aspects of migration into account. What are the causes of emigration in the countries of origin? And what about transit countries, such as those in northern Africa, which are also poor countries needing help? The EU should look at itself: The reason so many people come to Europe is the demand for labour. Also, the EU needs to have realistic development policies in Africa.

UNHCR focuses on refugees -- women, children and men who cannot go back to their countries because they would face human rights violations, torture or even death. These people should be able to find protection in the EU and the EU has the legal and moral responsibility to provide protection.

The EU should take our concerns into account and sign policies that categorize people according to those their needs, so that those who need protection can receive it. Others seeking a better life can be channelled in an appropriate way.

I'm not saying that the EU should allow everybody to come here to live and work. There are people who want to come to Europe due to economic reasons and they need to comply with the existing laws.

There are also people who want to come to Europe because to escape persecution. In their case, EU has no choice. It has a legal obligation to let the people in and make sure that human rights are respected.

Are there alternatives to fleeing?

In some cases there are. If we are talking about people facing prosecution, there are sometimes possibilities within the country to ensure that human rights are respected. But as we know, there are many parts of the world where human rights are constantly being violated and where people are persecuted because of their beliefs, religion or ethnic group.

In many cases people cannot receive the protection that they need in their home countries so they are forced to flee overseas. Other countries have an obligation to receive them. That is the basis of international refugee law.

How many people flee Africa to come to Europe?

We are talking about a relatively small number of people -- a number that is constantly declining. There are three million migrants in Africa. In comparison, 238,000 people from around the world seek asylum in Europe, about 11 percent of which come from Sub-Saharan countries.

The number of asylum seekers in Europe is the lowest it's been in 25 years. There is no asylum problem in Europe; rather, there is a problem of perception. People say that the number of asylum seekers is increasing, but that's not true. We must develop a realistic policy that observes human rights.