Management of mixed migration and asylum challenges beyond the European Union's eastern border
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 25 April 2013 (17th Sitting) (see Doc. 13163, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Displaced Persons, rapporteur: Mr Rigoni). Text
adopted by the Assembly on 25 April 2013 (17th Sitting).
1. The mixed flow of migrants, asylum
seekers and refugees increasingly takes place in the countries beyond
the European Union’s eastern border. As routes of irregular migration,
smuggling and trafficking are closed down, new ones open up, testing
borders and the capacity of States to deal with these flows.
2. Turkey is the country beyond the eastern border of the European
Union that is currently under the most pressure. This is not simply
because of the influx of refugees from Syria, but because Turkey
is seen as a stepping stone for refugees and migrants from Asia
and Africa to enter into Greece and from there into other European
Union member States. Turkey is not, however, alone in this, as countries
in the Balkans are seeing a growth in mixed migration flows, which
are also affecting Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Russia.
3. The European Union and its member States have a direct interest
in keeping these mixed migration flows out of the European Union
and returning persons who have entered the European Union without authorisation
to the countries from which they have come. At the same time, they
are responsible for respecting their obligations under international
law.
4. The countries beyond the external borders of the European
Union are increasingly in the position of having to take responsibility
for persons who want to enter the European Union but cannot. They
are thus becoming not only countries of transit but also de facto countries of destination.
5. While it is clear that the European Union is taking steps
to help these countries to deal with these mixed flows, some, if
not most, of the countries are not in a position to cope. Evidence
of this comes from the countries themselves, which have launched
appeals for assistance. Furthermore, institutions such as the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the European
Court of Human Rights have indicated on various occasions that it
is not safe to send certain persons back to these countries.
6. Many people sent back to these countries are returned using
readmission agreements negotiated between the European Union and
the countries concerned. The problems in using these agreements
have been highlighted by the Parliamentary Assembly in its
Resolution 1741 (2010) on
readmission agreements: a mechanism for returning irregular migrants.
There are particular concerns about provisions that require readmitting
countries to take back not only their own nationals, but also third-country
nationals.
7. The Assembly recognises that the European Union and its member
States have a right to control their borders. However, the burden
and responsibility for dealing with these mixed migratory flows,
primarily destined for the European Union, should not be shifted
to neighbouring countries. On the one hand, it is a question of
fairness as the problem stems from the European Union itself being
the magnet for these mixed flows. On the other hand, it is a question
of commitment to protection of human rights at an international
level. The countries that deal with the consequences of closed EU
borders must be in a position to guarantee the rights of those entering
their territory or being returned to their territory.
8. The Assembly therefore considers that much more needs to be
done in the spirit of international co-operation and burden sharing
by the European Union and its member States to assist the countries
beyond their eastern borders to deal with these migratory pressures
and to make sure that persons involved in these mixed flows are
treated humanely and that their human rights and international protection
needs, including the right to asylum, are respected.
9. The Assembly therefore calls on the European Union and its
member States to:
9.1 increase
substantially support to their eastern neighbours, to:
9.1.1 provide
countries beyond the European Union's eastern borders with concrete assistance
programmes with regard to burden-sharing responsibilities, including
financial and cost-sharing schemes;
9.1.2 ensure that all necessary steps are taken to guarantee
the rights of those with international protection needs, including
the right to asylum, which is also protected in the Charter of Fundamental
Rights of the European Union;
9.1.3 provide adequate reception facilities for mixed flows
of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, and where migrants or
asylum seekers are detained in line with international standards, and
where alternatives to detention are not possible, ensure that detention
facilities comply with human rights and humanitarian standards;
9.2 respect their obligations under international law, including
most importantly the principle of
non-refoulement,
which also applies at borders and prohibits indirect
refoulement; and refrain from returning third-country
nationals when it is clear that the readmitting countries either
cannot cope or cannot guarantee fundamental rights. Furthermore,
readmission agreements should be revised to ensure that they:
9.2.1 contain adequate safeguards to guarantee returned asylum
seekers effective access to the asylum procedure;
9.2.2 contain suspension clauses to be activated in case of
persistent violations of human rights in the countries concerned;
9.2.3 regulate what happens at borders, guarding against automatic
or semi-automatic returns without a proper examination of an individual’s
situation;
9.2.4 provide for adequate monitoring of the application of
the agreements and the situation of persons following their return.
10. The Assembly calls on countries beyond the European Union’s
eastern border to:
10.1 enhance
intra-regional and cross-regional co-operation and develop comprehensive
and protection sensitive strategies to address mixed flows, based
on the UNHCR’s 10 Point Plan of Action on Refugee Protection and
Mixed Migration;
10.2 improve their capacity to deal with asylum claims, in
particular by:
10.2.1 putting in place fair and effective
asylum systems accessible to asylum seekers;
10.2.2 strengthening their structures and human resources for
dealing with asylum claims and providing training for those involved
in the asylum process;
10.2.3 enhancing the capacity of border guards to identify refugees
and persons with specific needs and referring them to competent
authorities for appropriate follow-up;
10.2.4 ensuring that persons with international protection needs
obtain legal advice and assistance, particularly when held in detention;
10.2.5 paying attention to asylum seekers with specific needs;
10.2.6 training judges on relevant international standards relating
to asylum and international protection;
10.2.7 guaranteeing the quality and consistency of asylum decisions
in line with Parliamentary Assembly
Resolution 1695 (2009) on improving
the quality and consistency of asylum decisions in the Council of
Europe member States;
10.2.8 complying with all judgments and interim measures indicated
by the European Court of Human Rights;
10.2.9 improving their capacity to ensure that minimum social
rights, such as means of subsistence, free health services and accommodation,
are provided;
10.2.10 increasing reception capacities and ensuring that reception
centres for asylum seekers comply with international standards;
10.2.11 ensuring that asylum seekers are made aware of the dangers
of traffickers and smugglers who may try to make contact with them;
10.3 improve their capacity to deal with the reception and
detention of irregular migrants, notably by:
10.3.1 limiting
the use of detention and the periods for which it is authorised,
and looking for alternatives to detention;
10.3.2 transferring the management of detention centres away
from the police or the military to authorities better able to cope
with persons who have not committed any crimes;
10.3.3 ensuring access to asylum, the ability to challenge detention,
and other legal rights with regard to detention;
10.3.4 refraining from detaining children and other persons with
specific needs, keeping in mind that unaccompanied and/or separated
children should never be detained;
10.3.5 guaranteeing detainees access to lawyers and members of
their family, and also guaranteeing them access to health care;
10.3.6 opening places of detention up to monitoring by national
and international bodies for the sake of transparency, and ensuring
that parliamentarians are given the right to visit places of detention
and are encouraged to use this right;
10.3.7 ensuring that sub-standard detention facilities are closed
down and that they use only centres that can guarantee humane conditions
of detention with access to health care, adequate activities, etc.
