The European Commission has unveiled a list of seven countries which it considers safe enough for Member States to potentially fast-track and reject asylum seeking applications.
The countries within the proposed list are Kosovo, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Morocco and Tunisia.
While some Member States already have a national list of safe countries of origin, this proposed EU list would support a more uniform application of the concept, the Commission explained in a press release on Wednesday.
The list of countries would allow Member States to process asylum applications from nationals of these countries under an accelerated procedure, on the grounds that these applications are unlikely to be successful.
The Commission's proposal is based on an analysis by the EU Asylum Agency and other sources, including information from the Member States, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the European External Action Service.
