Newsletter - July 2017
New online resources for professionals working with young refugees and asylum-seekers
The Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of youth is currently finalising new resources for professionals working with young refugees and asylum-seekers. A youth knowledge book will reflect research on how to improve the work with young refugees. A...
Prevention and international co-operation in the fight against smuggling of migrants
On 20 - 22 June 2018, in Paris, the Council of Europe organised a meeting to discuss concrete tools to prevent and combat the smuggling of migrants. Two Working Groups focused on best practices and effective measures to prevent and combat the smuggling of migrants and to foster international...
CEB approves new lending projects
On 15 June 2018, the Administrative Council of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) approved 11 new lending projects. In particular, one of the projects is a €7 million loan to Per Micro Spa to part-finance sub-projects within two microcredit products: 1) business lending to support...
HELP annual Network Conference 2018
On 21-22 June 2018, the European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) of the Council of Europe gathered representatives from Judiciary Schools and Bar Councils from member States for its 2018 Annual conference ‘Good training for good judgments’. Highlights and...
New phase “European Qualifications Passport for Refugees”: assessment sessions in Greece and Italy
On 11-15 June 2018, in Athens, Greece, in the context of the new phase (2018-2020) of the project “European Qualifications Passport for Refugees” (EQPR), 48 refugees, from 12 different countries, had their qualifications assessed during the first evaluation session. The refugees were interviewed...
Lanzarote Committee Declaration on events at the US/Mexican border and child consultations on age assessment procedures
On 28 June 2018, concerned by events related to the management of the arrival of migrant and refugee children in Council of Europe member and observer states, the Committee of the Parties to the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual...
Unrelenting rise in xenophobic populism, resentment, hate speech in Europe in 2017
On 22 June 2018, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published its annual report. Xenophobic populism and hate speech have continued to be on the rise in 2017, coupled with high levels of migration and challenges of integration, religious extremism, terrorist attacks and...
PACE summer session, Campaign to end immigration detention and European Diaspora Prize
On 26 and 27 June 2018, during it summer part-session, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted three resolutions and two recommendations proposed by the Committee on “Humanitarian situation in the Countries neighbouring Syria” (rapporteur Manlio Di Stefano, NR) “Human...
GRETA publishes reports on Spain and Estonia
On 20 June 2018, the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) published its second evaluation report on Spain. In the report, GRETA welcomed progress made in developing the legislative, institutional and policy framework against trafficking in...
CPT publishes factsheet on transport of detainees
On 22 June 2018, the Council of Europe´s anti-torture committee (CPT) published a new factsheet on transport of detainees. During its fact-finding missions, CPT delegations have inspected vehicles intended for the transport of detainees, such as road and railway vehicles. Persons deprived of...
Letter to Belgium, visit to Greece and a statement on migration policies in Europe
On 5 July 2018, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, issued a statement, where she called on European states to put human rights at the centre of their migration policies. “European states’ current approach to the arrivals of refugees and migrants has transformed...
World Refugee Day, call for good practices on child-friendly procedures and meetings with EU Commission and Greek Minister for Migration Policy
On 2 July 2018, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on migration and refugees (SRSG) met with Simon Mordue, Deputy Director-General for Migration, DG HOME together with his team, to discuss human rights implications in the aftermath of the European Council conclusions on 28 June...
Mission to Serbia and the transit zones in Hungary, and synergies with CoE standard-setting bodies
From 12 to 16 June 2017, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees, Tomáš Boček, conducted his fifth fact-finding mission to Serbia and two transit zones in Hungary. In Serbia he visited a number of temporary reception centres (in Adaševci, Principovac,...
PACE: Sweden’s Justice and Migration Minister and Mayor of Athens take part in the Migration Day debate
On 28 June 2017, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) devoted a full day of its summer plenary part-session to migration, with the adoption of four resolutions and two recommendations on comprehensive solutions to the refugee crisis (rapporteur: Duarte Marques, EPP/CD; see...
Commissioner: Issue paper on family reunification, visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina and PACE debate
On 19 June 2017 the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, published an Issue Paper on “realising the right to family reunification of refugees in Europe”, its aim being to help member states adopt a more humane and human-rights-oriented policy on family reunification...
CPT visited Italy to examine the situation of persons in immigration detention
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 Italy from 7 to 13 June 2017. The purpose of the visit was to examine the situation of persons held in immigration detention in...
Conference on smuggling of migrants
On 23 June 2017, the Council of Europe organised, in Strasbourg, an International Conference on Smuggling of Migrants. The Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, opened the event, which brought together experts and high-level representatives from member and observer States of the Council of...
Two rulings in deportation cases
On 20 June 2017 the European Court of Human Rights handed down a Chamber judgment in the case of M.O. v. Switzerland (application no. 41282/16), which concerned the complaint brought by an Eritrean asylum seeker that he would be at risk of ill-treatment if deported from Switzerland to his country...
Italy contributes € 3 million to the CEB’s Migrant and Refugee Fund
Italy, one of the eight founding member countries of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), contributed € 3 million to the Migrant and Refugee Fund (MRF). This contribution brought the total amount committed to the MRF to almost € 24 million. The MRF is a grant-based facility established...
The linguistic integration of adult migrants: lessons from research
The Council of Europe has recently released a report on “The linguistic integration of adult migrants: lessons from research”, which examines how scientific evidence can inform the development and implementation of policy and practice designed to support the linguistic integration of adult...
- Mission to Serbia and the transit zones in Hungary, and synergies with CoE standard-setting bodies
- PACE: Sweden’s Justice and Migration Minister and Mayor of Athens take part in the Migration Day debate
- Commissioner: Issue paper on family reunification, visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina and PACE debate
- Commissioner: Issue paper on family reunification, visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina and PACE debate
- CPT visited Italy to examine the situation of persons in immigration detention
- Conference on smuggling of migrants
- Two rulings in deportation cases
- Italy contributes € 3 million to the CEB’s Migrant and Refugee Fund
- The linguistic integration of adult migrants: lessons from research
- Administrative detention of migrants
- Migrants and Disaster Risk Reduction