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Let Britain Decide Which Migrants We Take In
Strasbourg, 15 September 2009
Timothy, in his role as Conservative Spokesman on Civil Liberties in the European Parliament, defended Britain's right to choose who it allows within its borders. Under the Swedish Presidency of the EU a draft proposal means Britain, and other EU Member States, could be forced to take in a certain number of economic migrants or asylum seekers.
In a European Parliament debate this morning, Timothy said he believed cooperation between EU countries was a 'noble' aim, but he voiced his fears over its implementation. Timothy considers the key issues in this debate to be how the EU distinguishes migrants.
During the speech Timothy said:
"FRONTEX, the Commission's the 'joint EU resettlement programme', has noble ambitions which aim to encourage greater co-operation between national governments regarding the resettlement of refugees and asylum seekers. However, as a British Conservative, I remain worried about its implementation.
"We do not want to see the continuation of problems of Sangatte.
"Co-operation and solidarity across the European Union is of course important when discussing the burdens that EU border countries face but we must better distinguish economic migrants from asylum seekers who have the right to seek sanctuary in the European Union.
"Meanwhile a major priority should be on securing the southern borders. Frontex must play a more prominent role in this regard, in order to act as a strong deterrent to economic migrants wishing to make the hazardous trip across the Mediterranean and we must act strongly against those countries that irresponsibly encourage such activities.
"The European Commission says that it will be national governments that ultimately decide the number of people they accept, that Britain and other countries will not be forced to accept large numbers of economic migrants that it cannot cope with or support in these economically challenging times. That is necessary and right.
"Countries like Britain need guarantees that our asylum and immigration policy remains for us to decide and guarantees that the EU's approach will be one of open co-operation, and not one of compulsion."
ENDS
