25 September 2015

ECRE’s Secretary General, Michael Diedring, spoke on Wednesday 23 September at the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) Conference in Valletta, “5 years of EASO and the CEAS; results and perspectives”. The full day general conference was organised to bid farewell to the Agency’s first Executive Director, Dr. Robert K. Visser, who since 2010 has been responsible for setting up the EASO Agency.

Mr. Diedring underlined how the number of asylum applications in European countries has increased considerably over a very short period of time, even though it remains at a very modest level compared to many other regions in the world. Even in the context of a European perspective, current projections foresee another substantial increase in applications. One can speak of a very challenging refugee influx – though the crisis is one of European solidarity, Mr. Diedring said.

He recalled the important role of EASO in the past five years, and reminded how the Agency will have to continue to be a key actor in building trust and solidarity, as much more needs to be done in relation to the implementation of existing standards and the building of capacities in particular Member States.

“As a five year old, EASO has taken huge steps and shows future promise. The challenges, however, are enormous and fundamental to the European project. In responding to these challenges, we should never forget that inaction or the lack of a common system will have a direct, daily, hourly impact on human lives and human suffering.”


For further information:


 


This article appeared in the ECRE Weekly Bulletin of 25 September 2015. You can subscribe to the Weekly Bulletin here.