The Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees, Drahoslav Štefánek, represented the Council of Europe at the 72nd session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme in Geneva. As this year marks the 70th anniversary of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, in his address, the Special Representative emphasised its importance in the context of the numerous challenges associated with migration and asylum. He also underlined the complementarity of the Geneva Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights of the Council of Europe. The key message of the Special Representative was to present the Council of Europe Action Plan on Protecting Vulnerable people in the context of Migration and Asylum in Europe (2021-2025), which implementation he is tasked to coordinate. The Action Plan contains 32 actions and is composed of four pillars based on the standards of the Council of Europe: Human Rights, Rule of Law and Democracy. The fourth pillar focuses on co-operation between migration and asylum authorities in Council of Europe member states.
The Special Representative was also invited for an informal exchange of views with the members of the UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The Committee is launching the new General Comment No. 5 (2021) on “migrants´ rights to liberty, freedom from arbitrary detention and their connection with other human rights”, and the aim of the exchange was to find possible ways of co-operation on issues of common interest.
In addition, the Special Representative had a series of meetings, including with UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs, and the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Tatiana Valovaya.
