Voluntary relocation of migrants in need of humanitarian protection and voluntary resettlement of refugees
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Text
adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of
the Assembly, on 26 November 2021 (see Doc. 15401, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Displaced Persons, rapporteur: Lord Alexander Dundee).
1. Seventy years after the opening
for signature of the United Nations Convention relating to the Status
of Refugees (1951 Refugee Convention), the Parliamentary Assembly
calls on Council of Europe member States and the European Union
to strengthen and increase the voluntary transfer of migrants in
need of humanitarian protection and asylum seekers to third countries
for determination of their migration status (hereinafter: relocation),
as well as the voluntary transfer of recognised refugees to a third
country which will give them international protection (hereinafter:
resettlement), when countries of first arrival are unable to accommodate them
or process their asylum applications, for instance because of an
overwhelmingly large number of arrivals.
2. The Assembly welcomes the emergency programme of the European
Commission for the voluntary relocation of asylum seekers from Greece
to other European countries. This programme was established in April
2020, at a time when Greece was faced with large-scale arrivals
of migrants from Turkey, its reception centres were already overcrowded
and its largest, on the island of Lesbos, had been destroyed by
arson. The initial aim of the programme was the voluntary relocation
of 1 600 unaccompanied children and families. The programme managed
to relocate within twelve months 3 914 persons selected by the Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the European
Asylum Support Office of the European Union (EASO), mostly to Germany
and other EU countries as well as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
3. In the light of the success of this programme and aware of
the dramatic increase in arrivals of migrants in Italy and Spain
since the beginning of 2021, as well as the proportionally high
numbers of arrivals in Cyprus and Malta and the ensuing overcrowding
of reception centres there, the Assembly calls on all Council of
Europe member States and the European Union to consider voluntarily
relocating vulnerable persons also from Cyprus, Italy, Malta and
Spain.
4. Aware of the thousands of undocumented migrants sleeping rough
at the external borders of the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina
as well as in Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and now on the border
with Belarus, the Assembly calls on member States to register them,
provide shelter and necessary services, take note of any asylum
applications and seek possibilities for voluntary relocation or
resettlement to other countries when humanitarian emergencies so
dictate. All member States should offer assistance to these countries
when such emergencies arise, in a spirit of solidarity.
5. Welcoming Resolution 432 (2018) on border regions facing the
migration phenomenon, adopted by the Congress of Local and Regional
Authorities of the Council of Europe, the Assembly invites the Congress
to follow up with related action. As migrants and asylum seekers
typically arrive in border cities, which tend to be overwhelmed
by the numbers of arrivals, the Assembly invites the countries where
these arrivals occur to consider assisting these cities by relocating
these persons, on a voluntary basis, to other cities within their national
borders. European solidarity should also be shown by all member
States by providing technical and humanitarian assistance to these
cities.
6. Noting with regret that fewer refugees were resettled voluntarily
to third countries due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in
2020, the Assembly welcomes the outcome of the High-Level Forum
on Resettlement hosted by the European Commission on 9 July 2021
and calls on member States to support the Three-Year Strategy (2019-2021)
on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways of the UNHCR. There is
an urgent need to resettle many more refugees faced with humanitarian
emergencies in host countries, especially outside Europe.
7. Welcoming the voluntary resettlement of refugees, under a
private sponsorship programme, to Canada, which has observer status
with the Council of Europe, as well as to a few member States, the
Assembly invites all member States to provide for the possibility
of private sponsorship of voluntary resettlements. While private sponsors
should be able to receive and take care of resettled refugees, member
States remain responsible for ensuring their international protection
as well as their protection against neglect or abuse by private
sponsors.
8. Voluntary relocations and resettlements should respect the
following requirements:
8.1 all
migrants, asylum seekers and refugees should be identified and registered
and provided with basic services upon arrival, before their relocation
or resettlement, in order to identify their specific vulnerabilities;
the situation in which undocumented migrants sleep rough should
be avoided under all circumstances, given their high risk of being
exposed to violence, abuse and human trafficking;
8.2 all relocations and resettlements should be made voluntarily,
namely, the wishes of the persons to be relocated or resettled should
be taken into account; nobody should be relocated or resettled to
a country against their will; mandatory evacuations should only
be made when emergencies so require;
8.3 under Article 26 of the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugees
lawfully in the territory of a member State have the right to choose
their place of residence and to move freely within its territory,
subject to any regulations applicable to aliens generally in the
same circumstances; Article 5 of the European Convention on Human
Rights (ETS No. 5) and Article 2 of its Protocol No. 4 (ETS No.
46) apply equally to refugees;
8.4 unaccompanied child refugees and refugees with medical
needs should be given priority for relocation or resettlement where
this transfer is in their best interest in accordance with the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child; the evaluation to relocate
or resettle should be made in co-operation with the persons concerned
and, where appointed or acknowledged, their legal guardians; families
should not be separated by relocations or resettlements and the
parents of unaccompanied children should be searched for and contacted
where possible; in this context, the Assembly refers to its
Resolution 2195 (2017) “Child-friendly age assessment for
unaccompanied migrant children”,
Resolution 2354 (2020) “Effective
guardianship for unaccompanied and separated migrant children” and the
Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children Against
Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201);
8.5 refugees who are victims of human trafficking should be
prioritised for relocation or resettlement where such transfer can
protect them against being exposed to further exploitation or abuse
and where their medical or psychological treatment so requires;
these relocations should not be made along routes of smuggling and
trafficking, in order to prevent organised crime further exploiting
such relocations; in this context, the Assembly refers to the Council
of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings
(CETS No. 197);
8.6 recalling
Resolution
2379 (2021) “Role of parliaments in implementing the
United Nations global compacts for migrants and refugees”, responsibility
sharing should be expanded by voluntary relocation and resettlement
as well as complementary pathways.
9. In
Resolution 2380
(2021) “Humanitarian action for refugees and migrants
in countries in North Africa and the Middle East” and
Resolution 2227 (2018) “Extra-territorial
processing of asylum claims and the creation of safe refugee shelters
abroad”, the Assembly emphasised the need to support countries of
origin and transit countries also outside Europe and to allow persons
to apply for asylum there before embarking on dangerous routes,
for instance across the Mediterranean Sea. Welcoming targeted UNHCR
action for the registration and identification of refugees in those
countries, member States should give priority to granting humanitarian
visas and providing resettlements and complementary pathways.
10. Recalling
Resolution
2243 (2018) “Family reunification of refugees and migrants
in the Council of Europe member States”, the Assembly invites all
member States to relocate or resettle unaccompanied children, on
a voluntary basis, for the purpose of family reunification, where
a mandatory scheme does not exist, such as that under the Dublin
Regulation of the European Union. For this purpose, member States
should consider concluding bilateral agreements establishing the
procedure for these voluntary relocations or resettlements of unaccompanied
children.
11. Aware that the majority of migrants in Europe are not eligible
for international protection under national law, the Assembly welcomes
the assisted voluntary return and reintegration programmes of the
IOM and the European Union, which offer humanitarian assistance
to rejected asylum seekers and irregular migrants in need of such
assistance. All member States should support these programmes, including
financially, so as to avoid humanitarian hardship and human suffering
of those not relocated.
12. The Assembly calls on parliaments of member States, observer
States and States with partner for democracy status to raise awareness
of the need for voluntary relocations and resettlements and to co-operate to
achieve such relocations and resettlements. In this context, the
Assembly invites the Special Representative of the Secretary General
on Migration and Refugees to assist in this action.
