Migrants: Brunner says ‘no absolute guarantee of safety for all from safe third countries list’

Brussels – Third countries are “safe” in principle, but not always in all respects. There is always a possibility that, for some individuals, returning to the country from which they fled may entail risks. That is why it is up to governments and national authorities handling applications for international protection to make the appropriate checks. The EU Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, tries to shed light on a very sensitive issue and one that has already been the subject of warnings by the Court of Justice of the EU, which, on this issue, has attributed to member states the responsibility of designating which non-EU states are safe. 

“The fact that a third country is included in the proposed list of safe countries of origin does not establish an absolute guarantee of safety for all nationals of that country,” said Brunner, responding to a question on why Colombia is on the list of safe third countries. According to the signatory of the question, Pernando Barrena Arza (The Left), there are no conditions to consider the South American country as “safe.” “The Commission’s proposal includes countries where there is, in general, no risk of persecution or serious harm,” the commissioner continues, going on to admit that, specifically, the EU executive “acknowledges that certain groups of individuals face specific challenges in the third countries concerned.”

Colombia, then, cannot be considered fully safe — at least not entirely. There is some risk of treatment that justifies not repatriating them, an assessment that is, however, up to the EU Member States. Brunner puts this in black and white when he points out that “the situation of human rights defenders in Colombia is specifically mentioned” in the Brussels report. For this reason, “Member States need to pay special attention to applicants who are in a specific situation in those countries when assessing their applications.”​