On 24 March 2020, the European Court of Human Rights delivered a Chamber judgment in the case of Asady and Others v. Slovakia (application no. 24917/15), which concerned the Slovakian police’s expulsion of a group of Afghan nationals to Ukraine after they had been found in the back of a truck. The Court held, by four votes to three, that there had been no violation of Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 (prohibition of collective expulsion of aliens) to the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court examined the complaints of only seven of the 19 applicants, striking the case out of its list in respect of the others. It found in particular that despite short interviews at the police station, they had been given a genuine possibility to draw the authorities’ attention to any issue which could have affected their status and entitled them to remain in Slovakia. Their removal had not been carried out without any examination of their individual circumstances.
Newsletter - March-April 2020
Mandate
The Division on Migration and Refugees (DMR) was created at the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DG1) on 1 February 2025 to follow-up on the action by the former Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees. Its mandate includes suggesting assistance and support to member states, particularly through the Network of Focal Points on Migration, seeking, collecting and analysing information on the human rights situation of migrants and refugees, as well as complementing and co-ordinating activities of other relevant Council of Europe bodies and our action with other international partners, notably the UNHCR, IOM, EU, and its specialised agencies, and other national, regional and international stakeholders, including civil society organisations. The DMR represents the Council of Europe in the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award Selection Committee, as well as in the Consultative Forums of Frontex and of EUAA.