Concerns that terrorists are trying to enter countries posing as refugees are unfounded, the United Nations refugee chief said on Wednesday. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said checks made it impossible for terrorists to pose as asylum seekers without scrutiny from national authorities and urged people not to associate terrorists with refugees.
The July 7 attacks in London, which killed more than 50 people, have raised fears of a backlash against immigrant communities in the European Union, including asylum seekers.
"Let's be clear. If one wants to be a terrorist and make a terrorist attack in one country, the worst possible way to try to do this is to seek asylum," Guterres told reporters after meeting EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini.
"Because if you seek asylum in some countries of the world, you will be put in jail first, under investigation," he said.
To boost the 25-nation bloc's fight against terror, some EU states like Germany have proposed that police should be allowed to access data in the Eurodac system, which holds fingerprints and other information about asylum seekers inside the EU.
Because of Europe's tough data protection rules, access to Eurodac data is tightly regulated.