Newsletter on migration and refugees - April 2017
SRSG publishes thematic report on migrant and refugee children
On 22 March 2017, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees (SRSG), Tomáš Boček, published a Thematic Report on migrant and refugee children. Based on the SRSG’s on-the-ground experience and findings*, the report identifies the main challenges and concerns for...
Detention of asylum-seekers and migrants in border zones, migrants subjected to human trafficking and forced labour
The case of K2 v. the United Kingdom, declared inadmissible by the Court in a decision handed down on 9 March 2017, concerned the United Kingdom Government’s decision to deprive the applicant – a Sudanese national who was suspected of taking part in terrorism-related activities in Somalia – of...
Commissioner concerned about detention and lack of integration of migrants and asylum seekers
On 8 March the Commissioner published a statement expressing his deep concern about the approval by the Hungarian parliament of a Bill on border management, which allows for the automatic detention of all asylum seekers, including families with children and unaccompanied minors from the age of...
CPT publishes factsheet on immigration detention
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) publishes a factsheet on immigration detention to present its standards based on hundreds of visits to places of immigration detention. In particular, the CPT’s standards concern: Detention...
Congress adopted resolution and recommendation on migration
On 28 March 2017 the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe adopted, during its 32nd session, Resolution 411 and Recommendation 394 on “From reception to integration: the role of local and regional authorities facing migration”. The Congress analysed the current...
Migration, refugees and displaced persons at the upcoming PACE session
At its spring session (24-28 April 2017), in preparation for its full-day debate on migration on 28 June, the Parliamentary Assembly’s Migration Committee will discuss and adopt two new reports by Susanna Huovinen on “Integration of migrants in times of critical pressure” and Andrea Rigoni on...
Guardianship, age assessment and prevention of sexual exploitation in focus
The Committee of the Parties to the Council of Europe Convention on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (Lanzarote Committee) adopted its special report “protecting children affected by the refugee crisis from sexual exploitation and abuse” on 3 March 2017. The...
First European qualifications passports for refugees issued in Greece
In March 2017, the first European Qualifications Passports for Refugees were issued in Athens. This certificate will help refugees, who had to flee their countries, to continue with their studies or work. Nineteen candidate refugees went through individual interviews with experienced evaluators...
CEB approves new lending projects
The Administrative Council of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) approved 7 new lending projects on 17 March. In particular, one of the projects is a €100 million loan to the German Development Bank Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB), of which around €32 million will part-finance investments...
Reducing migrants’ exposure to risks
On 28 March 2017 in Istanbul, the Council of Europe´s EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement organised a discussion session on “Migration, Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience” focusing on the need for more co-ordinated, integrated and inclusive approaches to disaster risk reduction with regard to...