By Ilgin Karlidag
BRUSSELS
The European Union could detain and forcefully obtain the fingerprints of asylum seekers and irregular migrants entering Europe under plans being discussed by bloc officials, a British human rights organization has warned.
Non-profit organization Statewatch reported on Tuesday that, because of increasing numbers of people seeking to enter the EU, some member states were unable to meet the legal requirement of fingerprinting them in their country of arrival.
Statewatch said in its report: "In response, the European Commission and (EU) member states are now discussing, in secret, a set of best practices for member states to follow."
It said the practices include; "fingerprinting [with] the use of a proportionate degree of coercion" including on "vulnerable persons, such as minors or pregnant women".
Rules on the use of force and coercion against asylum seekers differ from one EU member state to another.
'Inappropriate force'
The European Commission requested in July 2014 that a survey be undertaken by EU member states to find out what laws and practices each member state had in terms of taking fingerprints.
Almost half of the responding 25 member states said they allowed authorities to use force, while the other half said they did not.
Austria, Belgium, Estonia and Finland consider forcing an asylum seeker to be fingerprinted as being "inappropriate" and in Bulgaria the use of force required "the authorization of a judicial authority", according to Statewatch.
The report comes less than a month after Amnesty International accused the European Union of failing to sufficiently fund a mission dealing with rising numbers of migrants crossing Mediterranean.
It criticized the EU after the bloc extended the controversial Frontex Joint Operation Triton rescue mission off of Italy as the numbers of migrants trying to reach Europe continues to increase.
EU’s Frontex operation has failed to provide an adequate replacement of the Mare Nostrum program previously run by Italy, according to Amnesty.
