EU court rules against obligation to issue humanitarian visas

Record ID: 394016

  • Title: EU court rules against obligation to issue humanitarian visas
  • Date: 7th March 2017
  • Summary: LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG (FILE - JANUARY 26, 2017) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE (ECJ) BUILDING ECJ SIGN
  • Embargoed: 21st March 2017 11:20
  • Keywords: EU Court Migrants Refugees Belgium Luxembourg
  • Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM / LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG / CATANIA, ITALY / AT SEA
  • City: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM / LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG / CATANIA, ITALY / AT SEA
  • Country: Luxembourg
  • Topics: European Union,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA00166YNCCN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: European Union member states do not have to issue entry visas to people at risk of torture or inhuman treatment, the EU's top court ruled on Tuesday (March 7), cutting off a possible channel for refugees into the bloc.
    The decision by the European Court of Justice goes against advice from its advocate general, who said last month that such visas had to be issued under EU law.
    The court ruled on a case of a Syrian family from the city of Aleppo who applied for a visa to stay with acquaintances in Belgium in October. Belgian authorities had refused the visa, leading to a court battle.
    Belgium's immigration minister had said at the time that ruling in favour of humanitarian visas would "throw the gates wide open" to asylum-seekers.
    The ruling comes as the EU is trying to curb immigration after taking in some 1.6 million refugees and migrants who arrived across the Mediterranean in 2014-2016.
    There has been 487 migrant deaths in the Mediterranean as of March 2, according to the International Organization for Migration, higher than the 425 during the first two months of last year.
    Boat migrant arrivals in Italy are up more than 57 percent on the same period last year, according to Italian Interior Ministry figures. About half a million have arrived in Italy since the start of 2014, with a record 181,000 arriving in 2016.
    EU states have struggled to accommodate the influx, ensure security screening and agree between themselves on how to share out the responsibility.
    The bloc has also started to arrange treaties with countries south and east of the Mediterranean to have them block people on their way to Europe and be able to send them back more easily.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register