Europe Fingerprints Against Fraud

A Europe-wide fingerprinting system aimed at controlling asylum-seekers could be a dangerous first step in a further erosion of civil rights, human rights organizations said Wednesday.

The 3.7 million euro Eurodac system, which goes into effect Wednesday, creates a central computer database which will crunch the fingerprints of every person at least 14-years-old who is seeking asylum in one of the 15 EU countries, save Denmark. The EU Commission says the system, which will also be used in non-EU countries Norway and Iceland, is guaranteed to prevent refugees from applying in more than one country.

Each refugee will be fingerprinted the moment he or she passes through EU borders. Whatever country they land in will be the country in which they apply for asylum.

The commission maintains that 10-20 percent of the round 400,000 applicants each year apply in more than one country. The practice improves the chances of finding a home somewhere in Europe, but adds confusion and costs to an already cumbersome process in many countries.

The new system would deter such “asylum shopping,” UK Home Affairs Minister Beverley Hughes said recently.

Taking steps in the wrong order

Europe, destination to hundreds of thousands of desperate immigrants from developing nations around the world, has been struggling to find a common line on the touchy subject since the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997. Countries such as the UK and Germany, who have led the EU in asylum applications for the past few years, see themselves as the chief victims of “asylum shopping.”

By fingerprinting every applicant the moment they enter an EU country, the burden will most likely shift to southern countries like Italy, Greece and Spain, on whose shores the majority of refugees arrive.

Human rights organizations have been quick to criticize the new system. ProAsyl, a German asylum-rights organization, says the EU is introducing a Europe-wide computer system before the region passes a unified policy on asylum-seekers.

“They’ve taken a second, erroneous step before they’ve taken the first step,” said Karl Kopp, ProAsyl’s European director.

Slipping down a slope

More troubling to Kopp is the potential slippery slope the EU is embarking on. Kopp says it won’t be long before law enforcement gain access to such a database, which would amount to a egregious violation of civil rights. German Interior Minister Otto Schily has already called for such access, said Kopp.

The Commission, seeking to assuage such fears, said that the only data collected would be the biometric fingerprint and that only selected immigration officials in each country will have access. The statement hasn't pacified rights groups.

“We want a system that it’s integral and provides protection for asylum seekers,” said Kopp, who noted that many refugees apply for asylum in countries where they have some familial, cultural or religious connection, not where they have the best shot at being accepted. “We don’t need a technocratic, expensive solution. We need a solution that’s fair and effective.”