On 22 April 2021, the Special Representative on Migration and Refugees, Drahoslav Štefánek, supported launch the updated version of the HELP/UNHCR online course on "Asylum and Human Rights" by the Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) Programme of the Council of Europe.

“I am pleased that the HELP/UNHCR course on Asylum and Human Rights has been updated to reflect the latest developments in that fast-moving field. States face multiple challenges, which can differ from countries of transit or destination and the frontline countries. While states have the right to decide on entry and residence of foreigners, they still need to ensure the respect of human rights of migrants and refugees: their protection from violence and ill-treatment, ensure access to fair procedural safeguards and the right to family life”, said the Special Representative.

On 21 April 2021, the Special Representative participated in a webinar on Statelessness and the Right to Health in times of Covid-19, where he highlighted that the main Council of Europe's reference concerning the fundamental right to health is the European Social Charter. The Charter guarantees a broad range of everyday human rights related to employment, education, social protection, welfare, housing and, of course, health. In his speech, the Special Representative underlined that the Charter lays specific emphasis on the protection of vulnerable persons such as elderly people, children and people with disabilities and to migrants, refugees and stateless persons without discrimination. The Special Representative also pointed out that all migrants should be included in COVID-19 vaccination programmes regardless of their nationality and migration status, as stated in a Guidance Note by human rights experts from the UN, African, European and Inter-American human rights systems. The experts stress that vaccine registration should not be used to collect information about an individual’s migration status and shared with immigration enforcement authorities. The Guidance Note was jointly issued by the UN Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW), the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and regional human rights experts, including Drahoslav Štefánek, Ambassador, Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees.

On 23 April 2021, the Special Representative presented the concluding statement of the Conference "What future for Europe's borders?", organised by the Edinburgh Law School, the Europa Institute of Edinburgh University and the European Policy Centre. In the light of new European initiatives such as the European Commission’s upcoming “Strategy on the Future of Schengen” and the newly proposed Regulation on Border Procedures, the conference aimed at gaining insights into the operation of EU border controls. The event brought together different stakeholders, institutional actors and experts for an exchange around the different challenges in this field. In his speech, the Special Representative emphasized that there are three elements shaping today´s policy in Europe on migration management: the migration crisis 2015-2016, security issues and the Covid-19 pandemic. In this context, he underlined that human rights standards shall be always respected.