The Committee of Experts on combatting the smuggling of migrants (PC-TM) held its first meeting on 28-29 April 2026 in hybrid form, marked the start of work on drafting of a Recommendation on deterring and fighting the smuggling of migrants (SoM), through legal means and other actions, and on international cooperation, taking into account the CDPC Report on the need for and feasibility of a feasibility of a possible new Council of Europe Instrument on the SoM, with full respect for their human rights. The CDPC is the Council of Europe Committee on Crime Problems, under which the PC-TM operates.
The Committee took note of the relevant work previously caried out through different Council of Europe workstreams, including work carried out by the Committee on Crime Problems, the Human Rights Intergovernmental Co-operation Division (CDDH), the Division on Migration and Refugees (DMR) and the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA).
The PC-TM discussed the preliminary outline of the draft Recommendation prepared by two independent experts, the structure of the future Recommendation and agreed on its workplan. It elected Mr Klemen Princes (Slovenia) as its President, and Mr Temur Tsindeliani (Georgia) as Vice-President.
Discussions focused on key legal, operational, and policy aspects related to combatting the smuggling of migrants, including the elements which could constitute the crime of migrant smuggling, the protection of migrants’ human rights and the importance of international cooperation, as well as the digitalisation of migrant smuggling and the importance of financial investigative approaches to break the business model of migrant smuggling.
In his closing remarks, Gianluca Esposito, Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law, reiterated that being a migrant is not a crime and recalled that our focus must remain on prosecuting smugglers, emphasising the need to leverage the Council of Europe Conventions relevant to address the criminal aspects of this phenomenon in the fields of mutual legal assistance, extradition, cybercrime, money laundering or corruption.
The next meeting of the PC-TM will take place in autumn 2026.
