On 28 June 2021, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees, Ambassador Drahoslav Štefánek, hosted the 3rd meeting of the Network of Focal Points on Migration. More than 40 participants from relevant ministries dealing with migration issues at national level got together to exchange information and discuss Council of Europe activities and national policies related to migration and asylum.
“I am happy that the Network continues to grow and currently 44 member states have designated their Focal Point on Migration. I find it extremely useful to have this opportunity to exchange information and views with you on Council of Europe activities related to migration and asylum, as well as on national challenges, policies and practices”, said Ambassador Štefánek in his opening speech.
During the meeting, the Special Representative presented the new Council of Europe Action Plan on Protecting Vulnerable Persons in the Context of Migration and Asylum in Europe (2021 – 2025), adopted on 5 May 2021 by the Committee of Ministers. Other topics on the agenda included a presentation of the Annex of the Action Plan, which includes themes and issues on which technical assistance and co-operation projects on migration can be developed, in line with action plan priorities, and an update of the relevant case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. In addition, a new interactive website for the Focal Points on Migration was presented, which aims at facilitating communication between the Council of Europe and the members of the Network. Participants raised recent key developments on migration and asylum policies and practices in their member states, and they engaged in a dialogue enabling inter-sectoral and cross-border exchanges.
On 18 June 2021, on the occasion of the World Refugee Day (20 June), the Special Representative Drahoslav Štefánek published a statement with the Director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), Michael O’Flaherty. The statement was made to inform that the Council of Europe and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) are joining forces to strengthen their co-operation on human rights protection at the European borders. As a follow-up to the previous joint Note ‘Fundamental rights of refugees, asylum applicants and migrants at the European borders’, the Council of Europe and FRA are preparing another joint publication on ‘European standards on legal remedies, complaints mechanisms and effective investigations at borders’. The new Note will set out the human rights standards, stemming from both the European Convention on Human Rights and EU law. The publication will focus on effective remedies for human rights violations at the European borders. It will also provide detailed information on complaints mechanisms and the duty to carry out investigations into alleged violations at borders. The joint note will be available shortly.
On 18 June 2021, the Special Representative participated in a webinar hosted by the UK Parliament, which was organised with the aim to inform the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly report on “Voluntary relocations of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in need of humanitarian protection, currently being prepared by Lord Dundee (United Kingdom, EC/DA). The event was organised to mark World Refugee Day and the 70th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention.
Other recent activities included:
- An exchange of views with the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons;
- A webinar on undocumented children “Growing up undocumented in Europe”, organised by PICUM, the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants, and Save the Children Spain;
- The regional conference “Acting together in the face of crisis: protecting children from trafficking and exploitation in the western Balkans”, organised in the framework of the European Union and Council of Europe programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey in 20192022;
- A roundtable with athematic discussion on the situation in the Mediterranean, together with with UNHCR, the city of Strasbourg and SOS Méditerranée.