LONDON: European visa systems in the Schengen area are prohibitively strict for human rights figures seeking to enter the continent from impoverished and dangerous parts of the world, Amnesty International has said.
In a report, the organization called on Schenghen states to close the obstacles to rights and values that they claim to uphold.
The report identified 104 visa-restricted countries — mainly in South Asia, Africa and the Middle East — where human rights figures face substantial difficulty in accessing short-term European visas.
The applicants intend to travel to the 29 Schengen states in Europe for advocacy, networking, or to flee danger in their home countries, Amnesty said.
But through Schengen policies, they face “indirect discrimination” and are racialized as Black, Asian and Muslim, resulting in negative impacts on their mobility.
Erika Guevara Rosas, senior director for research, advocacy, policy and campaigns at Amnesty, said: “The inability to access Schengen visas means that the voices and testimonies of human rights defenders from countries in the Global South are excluded from forums where decisions that deeply affect their lives are made.
“While Schengen states are entitled to decide who enters their territory, the impact of their visa systems on human rights defenders from 104 countries represents a clear disconnect between what they have committed to, through their guidelines and other commitments to protect human rights defenders, and what they actually do.”
Amnesty identified key barriers to entry for applicants seeking visas from the 104 countries. The first is deciding where to submit a visa application; many Schengen states lack diplomatic representations or agreements with the visa-restricted countries, meaning applicants must travel abroad to file their documents, the organization said.
Supporting documents also present another hurdle, as many applicants are from marginalized groups and lack the appropriate financial and employment statements, Amnesty added.
Schengen states can turn to the revised version of the EU Visa Handbook, published by the European Commission last year, for welcome changes to visa policy, Amnesty said.
The updated guidelines include practical examples of how Schengen states can aid visa applications by human rights figures.
The handbook should be “well disseminated and fully implemented,” including among visa officers outside Europe, the organization said.
Amnesty also called for the creation of a fast-track visa system designed for human rights activists outside Europe.
Rosas said: “Ensuring that human rights defenders have access to short-stay Schengen visas in a reliable, predictable, transparent and timely manner is indispensable to realize their right to defend rights without discrimination.”
In its report, Amnesty spoke to 42 international organizations, within and outside Europe, which have facilitated the journeys of hundreds of human rights figures to the Schengen area.
It also gathered testimonies from 32 human rights activists with firsthand experience of European visa processes.
