,
the Parliamentary Assembly emphasises the importance of protecting
family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human
Rights (ETS No. 5) and recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
1.1 draw up guidelines for the application
of the right to family reunification of refugees and migrants as
well as for mutual legal assistance and administrative co-operation
between member States and with third countries in this field;
1.2 invite member States to establish bilateral arrangements
so they can represent each other when receiving visa applications
and issuing visas;
1.3 invite the member States that have not yet done so to
join, or co-operate with, the European Union Schengen Visa Information
System with a view to exchanging the data necessary for enabling family
reunification;
1.4 co-operate with the International Committee of the Red
Cross in promoting mechanisms and action for finding missing family
members of refugees, in co-operation with national Red Cross and
Red Crescent societies and national parliaments;
1.5 reinforce Council of Europe action on combating trafficking
of child refugees, ensuring that unaccompanied child refugees are
reunited with their parents, unless this is against the best interests
of a child, for example if parents have participated in the trafficking
of this child.
