On 21 June 2022, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly´s (PACE) Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons approved a draft resolution based on the report Safe third countries for asylum seekers by Stephanie Krisper (Austria, ALDE). The committee called for greater coherence in assessing which third countries are safe for asylum seekers and encouraged the development of “new and up-to-date criteria” at the Council of Europe level for states to assess the safety of third countries when transferring asylum seekers. Asylum seekers should have “a fair possibility to rebut the presumption of safety”, the parliamentarians said, proposing that procedural requirements could be developed at Council of Europe level. They called for objective and independent monitoring of national law and practice. The report is due to be debated by the Parliamentary Assembly in October.
On 21 June 2022, the PACE Migration Committee adopted a declaration where it expressed serious concern about the new Nationality and Borders Bill put forward by the United Kingdom Government – and passed by Parliament on 27 April 2022 – which would, in effect, “contravene the United Kingdom’s obligations under international law, including the core principles of the 1951 Refugee Convention”. According to the committee, the new Bill will call into question “non-penalisation, non-discrimination, and non-refoulement” and contribute to weakening the very essence of the 1951 Convention.
On 21 June 2022, the PACE Migration Committee unanimously adopted a draft resolution, based on the report prepared by Pierre-Alain Fridez (Switzerland, SOC on Pushbacks on land and sea: illegal measures of migration management. It underscores that Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 4 of its Protocol prohibit State Parties from returning migrants and asylum seekers to another country without an individual assessment as to whether this is safe. Member states are called upon to take a series of measures to prevent pushbacks, to protect the victims of pushbacks, to prosecute those responsible for pushbacks and to improve international co-operation and coordination between border authorities, police, and other bodies in charge of border protection. According to the Committee, the well-functioning independent border monitoring mechanisms at national and European levels is key, and the EU institutions should serve as guarantors of international human rights protection regarding the right to asylum and the prohibition of refoulment. The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), the parliamentarians said, should enhance its capacity to deal with allegations of pushbacks and allow for thorough investigation to bring those responsible for pushbacks to justice. Given that civil society organisations play an important role in documenting cases of pushbacks, states should encourage and support their participation in the independent monitoring mechanisms at national and European levels, the adopted text concludes.
On 17 June 2022, ahead of the World Refugee Day (20 June), Theodoros Rousopoulos (Greece, EPP/CD), Chair of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, made the following statement:
“2022 has seen the largest displacement of persons in Europe since the Second World War. Several million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have fled the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine. The immense humanitarian solidarity and hospitality shown by member States of the Council of Europe and the European Union, local authorities, humanitarian organisations and civil society - including thousands of people across Europe - are an outstanding benchmark of humanity in the face of a brutal, senseless and infernal war. This tragedy should not make us forget the other calamities forcing people across the world to flee their homes. We, the parliamentarians of Europe, must ensure that all persons fleeing war, violence or persecution and seeking refuge in Europe receive international protection, irrespective of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. Parliaments must ensure that their national legislation is in conformity with the European Convention on Human Rights, the 1951 Refugee Convention and other international obligations binding on our member states, as the Assembly underscored in a 2021 resolution. Even more so, parliaments must take the lead in promoting and delivering targeted humanitarian assistance to those in need. We cannot look away from aggression, violence, human suffering, or the natural disasters stemming from climate change, which lead to the forced displacement of so many people in Europe and on other continents. Refugees must not become victims of the brutal power struggles of political leaders. On behalf of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, I pay tribute to all refugees on World Refugee Day 2022.”
On 3 June 2022, PACE Migration Committee expressed its deep concern about the humanitarian consequences caused by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, causing the largest population movement since the Second World War. It commended the solidarity of member states in opening their borders on 24 February and the efforts of Ukraine, which, in addition to defending its territory, has to care for 7 to 9 million displaced persons. In adopting unanimously, a resolution, based on the report by Pierre-Alain Fridez (Switzerland, SOC), PACE underlined the need for “continued, long-term and coordinated support from member States” to ensure that displaced persons and refugees from Ukraine receive all the assistance they need. The adopted text calls for a series of measures based on Council of Europe instruments, for Ukraine and the host countries to address urgent and longer-term needs. In this context, the parliamentarians stressed the need to identify those in vulnerable situations at an early stage, to prevent human trafficking, to protect children from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, to protect people fleeing from Ukraine against xenophobic and racist violence, regardless of their nationality, ethnicity or religion – in particular undocumented Roma. Member states should also consider the situation of LGBTI persons who are still in Ukraine or are fleeing the war. While recognising the primary responsibility of national authorities for coordination, and the key role of local and regional authorities in managing the humanitarian crisis, the Assembly welcomed the essential support of civil society and called on national authorities to treat NGOs and volunteers as full partners. Finally, PACE said that people who have fled the war must find their place in the host society during their stay and encouraged access to employment for refugees from Ukraine, as well as the integration of children into schools in host countries.
On 3 June 2022, the PACE Committee adopted a resolution following the proposals by the rapporteur Mariia Mezentseva (Ukraine, EPP/CD) on Protection and alternative care for unaccompanied and separated migrant and refugee children. The Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine, as well as the increase in arrivals of asylum seekers and migrants across the Mediterranean Sea, have caused rapidly growing numbers of unaccompanied and separated migrant and refugee children in Europe. PACE underlined that the best interests of these children must be guaranteed, irrespective of their migration status and that particular attention should be paid to victims of violence, abuse and human trafficking, as well as to children with special needs, including medical and psychological needs. Member states should adopt alternative care solutions as interim measures, until children can be reunited with their families, in particular kinship care, foster care and family-based care, with supervised and independent living arrangements, the parliamentarians said.