Newsletter - January 2019
Concrete achievements to ensure the protection of refugee and migrant children
On 16 January 2019, the Special Representative took stock of and published a comprehensive presentation of all concrete actions achieved so far in the implementation of the Council of Europe Action Plan on protecting migrant and refugee children in Europe (2017-2019), including the relevant...
Judgment against Lithuania on pushbacks at the border with Belarus
On 11 December 2018, the European Court of Human Rights handed down a Chamber judgment in the case of M.A. and Others v. Lithuania (application no. 59793/17), concerning a Russian family of seven who, after leaving Chechnya, tried on three separate occasions to seek asylum in Lithuania, but were...
Commissioner urges states to address human suffering at sea
On 9 January 2019, the Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, said that she was relieved to hear that the situation of people on board Sea Watch 3 and Sea Eye was finally resolved. She urged states to address structural issues to prevent further human suffering and hardship by: Closing...
Reports in preparation on crisis prevention, the situation on Greek islands and the role of NGOs
During the Winter Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg (21-25 January 2019), the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons will adopt reports by Petra De Sutter (Belgium) and Pierre-Alain Fridez (Switzerland) on “The Greek Islands: more...
Immigration detention: Council of Europe anti-torture Committee visits Bulgaria
From 10 to 17 December 2018, a delegation of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) carried out an ad hoc visit to Bulgaria. The objective of the visit was to examine the treatment and conditions of detention of...
Council of Europe launches Handbook on child-friendly information for children in migration
On 18 December 2018, the Children´s Rights Division published a Handbook for frontline professionals on how to convey child-friendly information to children in migration aimed at all professionals and volunteers working with children in migration. It contains recommendations from children to...
Legal and practical analysis on effective alternatives to immigration detention
In December 2018, the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) published the “Legal and practical aspects of effective alternatives to detention in the context of migration”. The Analysis aims, inter alia, at: enhancing the understanding of the legal and practical aspects of alternatives to...
Council of Europe Bank loan to Nuremberg for education and refugee integration
On 19 December 2018, in Nuremberg, Germany, the Governor of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), Dr Rolf Wenzel, and the Special Representative of the Secretary General on migration and refugees, Ambassador Tomáš Boček, took part in a signing ceremony between the CEB and the city of...
- Border protection and the rights of young refugees and children in focus
- Spain did not breach the Convention when returning migrants to Morocco at Melilla border
- PACE to discuss violence and discrimination against religious minorities
- New study on gender-based asylum claims and non-refoulement
- Launch of toolkit on academic integration of refugees into higher education
- Taking young refugees seriously: key messages from the conference
- North-South Prize 2019 honours the efforts to support the integration of migrants