On 24 April 2019, the Special Representative on migration and refugees (SRSG), Ambassador Tomáš Boček, published a report on his fact-finding mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. While commending Bosnia and Herzegovina for its efforts to provide shelter and basic services to the high number of arrivals of refugees and migrants, he stressed that authorities should better coordinate assistance for them and implement standards for adapted and safe reception facilities for women and children, especially unaccompanied children. On Croatia, he noted that the country is another example of the continued migratory pressure on European Union external borders. “It is important that border management operations are human-rights compliant and do not prevent the identification of people in need of international protection. Croatia should set up credible complaint mechanisms and investigations to address the allegations of ill-treatment at the border”, he recommended. Furthermore, in its conclusions, the report encouraged both countries to develop alternatives to immigration detention. The report is based on fact-finding missions to Bosnia and Herzegovina and to Croatia on 24-27 July and 26-30 November 2018. These missions concluded visits to states along the Western Balkan route.

On 30 April 2019 in Baku, in the framework of the IOM workshop on international migration law in Azerbaijan, the Office of the Special Representative on migration and refugees presented an analysis of ECHR case-law and Council of Europe Action Plan on refugee and migrant children to legal professionals.

On 30 April 2019, Ambassador Tomáš Boček completed his mandate as the Secretary General’s Special Representative on migration and refugees. Since his appointment in January 2016, he has contributed extensively to the Council of Europe’s visibility in the field of migration with regular updates derived from eight fact-finding missions across eleven member states, through thematic debates in the Committee of Ministers, and in exchanges of views with Council of Europe monitoring bodies and intergovernmental committees. On 1 May 2019, Tomáš Boček took up his duties as the new Vice-Governor of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) for Target Group Countries in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, for which the Bank provides increased support. The Director of the Private Office of the Secretary General will act as Special Representative on migration and refugees ad interim.