1.

To what extent would the increased efficiency of asylum systems provided by the
proposed SCO list, compensate for potential breaches of asylum-seekers rights?
Though it is true that once the concept of the "safe country of origin" list is set in motion asylum
seekers from "safe country of origin" list will have lower chances of being granted asylum, it
should be emphasized that designating a county as a 'sage country of origin does not mean that
all asylum applications from that country`s citizens will be refused. There will be NO automatic
rejections, applications will be continued to be assessed on individual, case-by-case basis. The
"Safe country of origin list" creates a only presumption of safety, which though quite reputable
but would be applied ONLY if the asylum-seeker 'has not submitted any serious grounds for
considering the country not to be a safe country of origin".
For example, though Turkey is designated as a "safe country of origin" discriminations are
human rights violations of people belonging to minorities still exist. And applicants who belong
to these minorities and/or whose rights were violated can still apply and be granted asylum,
because the right to asylum is the rights of each individual.
So, all mentioned above in combination with other safeguard mechanisms( such as the right to
appeal the asylum decision or personal interview) will reduce the potential breaches of asylumseekers rights to the minimum.
2. Would the suggested list improve the situation with the large influx of refugees via the
Western Balkan route and, if yes, in what ways?
The suggested common list of safe countries of origin(which includes Albania, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo , Montenegro, Serbia and
Turkey) will help to improve the situation with the large influx of refugees via the Western
Balkan route by helping to allocate the financial resources of Member States more rationally, to
people who are truly in need.
Applications from nationals of countries of the Safe list will be fast-tracked allowing for faster
returns if the individual assessments of the applications confirm no right of asylum. Thus "the
safe country of origin" list will increase the efficiency of asylum systems of member states and
will guarantee that the resources of the Member states are allocated to people(refugees) who are
really in need. For instance, Balkan countries are in this list of safe country of origin. Citizens of
Balkan countries apply for asylum in great numbers to EU states, in fact today Balkan citizens
make 17% of total asylum requests and only 2% of these applications are approved. So, it is clear
that the majority of these people are not applicable to the definition of a refugee(asylum-seeker),
and are just seeking higher standards of living. The ' safe country of origin' concept will allow to
spend less time on those kind of applications and concentrate on asylum-seekers who truly need
help.

So, the concept of the "safe country of origin" will help to grant asylum to applicants with
genuine needs and will significantly improve the situation with the large influx of refugees
via the Western Balkan route.
3.Given the often unstable and insecure in Turkey, should this country qualify as a SCO?
The topic of including Turkey in the "Safe country of origin "is still quite controversial. As it
was already mentioned that designating a county as a 'safe country of origin' does not mean
that all asylum applications from that county`s citizens are automatically refused. There are
no automatic rejections, so any citizen has the rights to apply for asylum and the applications
will be assessed individually on a case-by-case basis. Moreover, the applicant from a country
which is included in the "Safe country of origin list" can still appeal the asylum granting
decision. For example, in 2014 Member states considered that 23.15 of asylum applications
of citizens of Turkey were well-founded.
In Turkey although discrimination and human rights violations of persons belonging to
vulnerable groups(such as ethnic Kurds, or members of the LGBT community) exist
Turkey`s membership of the European Convention on Human Rights enables the European
Court of Human Rights to be a safeguard and guarantee the effectiveness of the system of
remedies against such human rights violations. Furthermore, Turkey is an EU candidate
country. When EU member states decide to make a country a candidate for EU membership,
they check that the country fulfill the 'Copenhagen Criteria' of guaranteeing democracy, the
rule of law, human rights and protection of minorities. Thus, Turkey, being an EU candidate
country can be considered relatively safe.
References:
Meijers Committee, Standing Committee of Experts of International Immigration, Refugee
And Criminal Law (5 October 2015). Note on an EU list of safe countries of origin,
Recommendations and amendments.
Steve Peers (14 September 2015).'Safe countries of origin': Assessing the new proposal.
Retrieved from. http://eulawanalysis.blogspot.am/2015/09/safe-countries-of-origin-assessingnew.html
Julie Levy-Abengnoli(17 September 2015) Juncker`s EU common list of safe countries of
origin raises questions. Retrieved from.
https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/articles/news/junckers-eu-common-list-safecountries-origin-raises-questions
European Commission (9.9.2015) Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL. Establishing an EU common list of safe countries
of origin for the purposes of Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the
Council on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection, and
amending Directive 2013/32/EU

European Commission. Summary of European Commission's proposal for a 'safe country of

origin' list