On 12 March 2018, the Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, published a letter to members of the French National Assembly concerning the draft law on immigration and asylum in France, in which he expressed concern about the risk of violations of the rights of migrants, including asylum seekers, if the draft law is passed as it stands. The Commissioner was particularly concerned about the proposal to reduce the deadline for submitting asylum applications to 90 days. He also considered that the proposal to reduce the deadline for appeals to the National Asylum Court (CNDA) to 15 days cast doubt on the effectiveness of this remedy. The Commissioner was deeply concerned by the proposal to increase the maximum duration of administrative detention, stressing that this constitutes a far-reaching interference with migrants’ right to liberty. He called on members of the National Assembly to take the opportunity of discussing this draft law in order to reform the provisions on the facilitation of unauthorised entry and residence so that there is no longer any deterrent or obstacle to much needed solidarity with migrants.

On 16 February 2018, the Commissioner published a report  on Sweden following his visit to the country in October 2017. While noting the urgency of strengthening European solidarity and creating safe and legal avenues for people seeking protection in Europe, the Commissioner called on Sweden to lift the restrictions on the right to family reunification and to give refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection the same rights in this regard. The Commissioner also called on the authorities to strengthen the support they provide to unaccompanied migrant children and ensure that the best interest of the child is a primary consideration in all decisions relating to asylum and migration. Concerning the particular vulnerability of unaccompanied minors whose asylum claim has been rejected and who face forced return to Afghanistan, the Commissioner reiterated that any decision on return should be based strictly on individual circumstances and that states should not return a child to a country where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she is at risk of irreparable harm.