ASYLUM-SEEKERS will no longer be able to avoid being sent back from the United Kingdom to other European Union countries by claiming that they are “unsafe”, under a common European asylum policy agreed last night.

The agreement aims to stop so-called “asylum shopping” by ensuring that all EU countries use the same legal definition of asylum and provide successful asylum-seekers with the same benefits, such as housing and healthcare.

Under EU law, asylumseekers should be dealt with in the country where they first arrive, but UK courts often prevented asylum-seekers from being returned to France or Germany on the grounds that those countries’ asylum laws were too strict and the asylum- seekers risked being deported back to their country of origin.

The directive means that British courts will no longer be able to block the Government’s attempts to deport asylum-seekers to other EU countries where they first claimed asylum on the ground that their safety cannot be guaranteed.

Refugees will no longer have an incentive to move from one country to another seeking better benefits. All EU states must now give officially recognised refugees access to housing, welfare benefits, the labour market, healthcare and education.

A government spokesman said: “The directive is going to reduce the pull factor of the United Kingdom by bringing the rest of the EU into line with the UK. It’s an example of a common European solution to a common European problem.”

Some countries, in particular France and Germany, had a far stricter definition of asylum than the UK, with the result that if asylum-seekers were unsuccessful there, they would then try a second time in the UK.

Under the new directive agreed by European interior ministers in Brussels last night, France and Germany will bring their definition of asylum into line with that used by the rest of the EU. Both countries had strictly interpreted international conventions and refused to recognise asylum-seekers who were not persecuted by their governments.

Somalis seeking refuge from warlords, or Algerians seeking refuge from Islamic extremists, are routinely refused asylum in Germany because they are not under threat from their governments, although they are often successful in seeking asylum in the UK. Other examples include women seeking refuge from “honour killings” and homosexuals who are at risk of being murdered because of their sexuality.

Two previous European directives on asylum have already been agreed, setting out the types of benefits to be given to asylum-seekers awaiting judgment on their cases, and the right of countries to return asylum-seekers to the first EU state that they arrived in.

The deal failed to reach agreement on another directive on the process of asylum claims, which involved sending some asylum-seekers to camps outside the EU. The measure has been opposed by refugee groups, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Under existing EU law, all countries have a right to a veto on asylum and immigration issues. However, the proposed European constitution would remove the national veto on asylum policies, which would be decided by qualified majority voting.

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