MEP Simon Busuttil chaired a panel debate on resettlement of asylum seekers from North Africa.

The debate took place in light of the slow process of resettlement of North African refugees in the EU, as indicated in a letter written by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Only 17% of the total number of refugees referred for resettlement have actually been resettled. This slow process of resettlement has created a greater emphasis on the need for emergency response instruments.

Dr Busuttil had witnessed first-hand the difficult conditions experienced at the refugee camps on the Libyan border with Tunisia when he led a delegation of MEPs to the region in July 2011. The delegation had found 5,000 refugees stranded in desert camps after they fled civil strife in Libya, with no country to go to.

“Despite the positive effects of the Arab Spring in North Africa, its negative side-effects – a surge of refugees – required an increased call for assistance from the US and the EU. But only the US responded,” Dr Busuttil said.

Dr Busuttil chaired a debate on the resettlement of refugees in the EU and North Africa, as part of a seminar on the issue of EU Resettlement at the European Parliament. The two speakers were Charlotte Phillips from Amnesty International in London and Ewout Adriaens from the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) in Belgium. The seminar was held on 7 February which marked the Resettlement Awareness Day.

Dr Busuttil is Coordinator of the EPP Group on Justice and Home Affairs.