Swedish group wants to help refugees avoid the dangerous and expensive journey to Europe
LONDON, Sept 10 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Instead of refugees crossing stormy seas in a dinghy, then burrowing under border fences and dodging hostile guards, a Swedish group wants them to come to Europe in an easier, safer and cheaper way - by plane.
Refugee Air wants to fly people to Sweden directly from countries bordering Syria like Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, where most of the 4 million Syrians who have fled their homes and their country are living. Only a fraction have reached Europe.
"The first flight will be in the air before the first snow falls over Stockholm this winter," the group said in a statement.
People fleeing Syria's civil war spend thousands of dollars on the dangerous journey to Europe, far more than a plane ticket costs, but airlines prevent refugees from boarding flights because of a 2001 EU directive.
The EU "carriers' liability" rule makes airlines responsible for the costs - such as deportation - associated with passengers who seek asylum when they arrive at their destination but have their claims rejected.
This means that even those with strong claims cannot travel by air to European countries which would grant them asylum because airlines do not want to take the risk.
Refugee Air plans to start with a single flight to prove the scheme is possible, then hopes to encourage groups in other European countries to do the same thing, said co-founder Emad Zand, a Swedish businessman.
Many refugees trying to reach Europe by other means have died this year, either on flimsy, overcrowded boats or while travelling overland. Police found a truck in Austria last month which contained the bodies of 71 refugees, many of them Syrian.
"WATCH PEOPLE DIE"
"It's senseless, we can't just sit and watch people die. We're going to show that it doesn't have to be this way," said Zand.
The text of European Council directive 2001/51/EC states that "carriers' liability" should not undermine refugees' right to flee persecution under the United Nations 1951 convention on the status of refugees.
But in practice, governments delegate enforcement of the directive to airlines, which bar people without visas from boarding flights because of the financial risk, said Zand.
"These policies push refugees into the hands of smugglers who take advantage of their desperation," Zand said. He thinks that by taking people with strong asylum claims directly to Sweden, his group can bypass this bureaucratic hurdle.
"There is still enough room in the current legal framework for people to get in by plane."
Around 81,000 people sought asylum in Sweden last year, a bigger proportion of the population than in any other nation in Europe, with Syrians making up the biggest group.
"SLAP IN THE FACE"
Half a million refugees may have arrived in Europe so far this year, European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday. EU officials want to introduce mandatory resettlement quotas, but some member states have resisted this.
Refugee Air says it is working with NGOs to conduct "careful pre-screening" of passengers to ensure travellers have a viable asylum claim in Sweden. The group will take financial responsibility for those whose applications are rejected.
The organisation plans to charge for seats on the plane, noting the cost will be far lower than what refugees would spend on the deadly journey over land and sea, but will provide financial help to those who lack the funds for a ticket.
The group says it has financial backing from private and corporate donors and is hoping to persuade an airline to lend a plane or to charter an aircraft.
Zand and co-founder Susanna Najafi were interviewed on Swedish television on Thursday morning, while Swedish broadcaster Hans Rosling and Angus Macneil, a Scottish nationalist member of Britain's parliament, have supported the campaign on Twitter.
"We want to show our solution works," Zand told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "It's a slap in the face for everyone who says it can't be done."
(Reporting By Joseph D'Urso, editing by Tim Pearce. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit www.trust.org)
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