New World Outlook

Guaranteeing access to asylum
procedures in the European Union
(EU) and decent and adequate reception conditions-Guaranteed access helps deter people who need
international protection from opting
for smugglers' assistance to enter
Europe. Standard hygienic and safe
reception environments would lead to
better health conditions and encourage other basic social services while
asylum seekers await their cases.
Increasing placements for resettlement-A solidarity approach helps
relieve the burden from neighboring
and low-income countries that host
large numbers of refugees.
Issuing humanitarian visas-Such
visas help asylum seekers take regular flights, allowing them to travel with
dignity to the EU and then start their
asylum procedures upon arrival.
Suspending visa requirements for
refugees fleeing from areas of war
and dictatorship-This, again, would
enable refugees to take regular flights
and travel safely instead of seeking

out smugglers and taking the dangerous maritime voyage.
Providing more flexible and generous opportunities for family reunification-Offering short duration visits
and lifting requirements that make
family reunification difficult, costly,
and lengthy counteracts the current
process, which undermines the integration of asylum seekers who want
family members to join them.
Mutually recognizing positive
asylum decisions within EU and
Schengen member states-If a person's refugee status from one member state can be recognized in another
one, integration will be more successful, as all benefits, access to labor markets, and other EU protections would
apply. Currently, 26 member states
have signed the agreement forged in
Schengen, Luxembourg, abolishing
passport and all other types of border
control at their mutual borders. The
Schengen area functions as a single
country for international travel purposes, with a common visa policy.

A refugee mother helps her daughter put on dry shoes on a beach near Molyvos, on the Greek
island of Lesbos, October 2015, after they crossed the Aegean Sea from Turkey in a small
overcrowded boat provided by Turkish traffickers to whom the refugees paid huge sums. They
were received in Greece by local and international volunteers, then proceeded on their way
toward western Europe. PHOTO: PAUL JEFFREY

SUMMER 2017

Establishing a fair sharing of responsibility for refugee reception
among EU Member States-An EUsolidarity aspect that accelerates the
processing for asylum claims would
help frontline member states, such
as Greece and Italy, which host large
numbers of asylum seekers.

Learning the CCME Beat

My involvement with CCME as a
GMF has motivated me to put my
faith into action during and after my
service. I like the work and enjoy
doing it because it's helping on some
level to alleviate human suffering.
Interestingly, I do not work because I know the people we are
standing in solidarity with; but rather because of the whole gospel message of Matthew 25:35-40.
I have met lots of interesting
people. Some are happy and some
frustrated with the circumstances
surrounding their daily lives. For instance, during a recent meeting in
Brussels, I met with people who
share my interest on common topics-such as addressing policy issues (invisible walls/policy barriers) to
protect migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers' rights. At these meetings, we drink coffee, laugh, make
new friends, and we are housed in a
decent building, free to move across
borders as many times as we wish,
inside and outside Europe, safely.
By contrast, I visited the
Netherlands and Greece to attend
conferences with CCME executives
and other members who provide services to migrants. In the Netherlands,
protracted asylum seekers we met
there were being assisted by the
Protestant Church of Netherlands,
which was helping them to integrate
and providing other social services,
such as languages courses. One of
our dinners was prepared by some
long-waiting asylum seekers who

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of New World Outlook - Summer 2017 - Open

New World Outlook - Summer 2017 - Open - 9

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of New World Outlook - Summer 2017 - Open