On 27 January 2022, the Council of Europe free online UNHCR HELP course on Asylum and Human Rights was presented to more than 300 justice professionals in the Western Balkans. The group was welcomed by Kay Binder - Policy Officer of the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR European Commission), Andreas Wissner - UNHCR Representative to the European Institutions in Strasbourg, Carolina Lasen Diaz – Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on Migration and Refugees, as well as by Eva Pastrana - Head of Justice and Human Rights Training Division, Council of Europe.
The programme included presentations on the situation of refugees and asylum seekers in the Western Balkans, a presentation of the Council of Europe Action Plan on Protecting Vulnerable Persons in the Context of Migration and Asylum (2021-2025) and past and future capacity building activities for third countries.
On 5 January 2022, the UNHCR/HELP Asylum and Human Rights course was launched for Lithuanian judges. The online launching event included presentations on asylum-related challenges and perspectives, the work of the Council of Europe in protecting the rights of asylum seekers and refugees and the implementation of the course on national level.
The Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) course “Asylum and Human Rights” covers in an interactive way the key concepts, the international and European (UN, CoE and EU) framework related to asylum and the impressive body of case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). One of the key reference materials to develop this course has been the Handbook on European law relating to asylum, borders and immigration, developed jointly by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency and the European Court of Human Rights. The course consists of an introductory module, as well as 4 specific modules addressing the main aspects related to asylum: non-refoulement; the right to life and prohibition of ill-treatment; detention and reception; family life and effective remedies.
The HELP online course on Asylum and Human Rights is also available in a self-learning format on the HELP e-learning platform to any legal professional interested in the topic. It can be followed in English and French as well as Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Greek, Flemish, Italian, Georgian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, and Turkish. Those who complete it in self-learning mode can obtain an electronic ‘Statement of accomplishment’.
On 20-21 January 2022, the HELP in the EU Contact Points Meeting, organised online under the European Union-Council of Europe ‘HELP in the EU II’ project, gathered over 80 members of the HELP Network, representatives of National Training Institutions for judges, prosecutors as well as of National Bar Associations from EU Member States, HELP tutors and key stakeholders at EU level, and beyond.