B Explanatory memorandum
by Lord Alexander Dundee, rapporteur
1 Introduction
1. In 2020, 416 600 first-time
asylum seekers applied for international protection in the member
States of the European Union.
Note The Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) counted 95 031 migrants and
asylum seekers who arrived in the European Union in 2020 by boat
or across land borders at the Mediterranean Sea.
Note Behind these figures, there are men,
women and children who have left their homes in despair, transited
often dangerous countries and the Mediterranean Sea or Atlantic
Ocean, many fell prey to smugglers and human traffickers, and risked
their lives.
2. Nations in Europe must not remain indifferent to such human
tragedies but develop co-ordinated strategies for maintaining the
highest humanitarian standards. Asylum applications and arrivals
in Europe take place in very large numbers in a few countries. These
countries are often overwhelmed with the task of taking care of
such a quantity of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. It is
therefore necessary to give proof of European solidarity and co-operation.
3. This report deals with the voluntary transfer of migrants
in need of humanitarian protection and asylum seekers to third countries
for determining their migration status (hereinafter: relocation)
as well as the voluntary transfer of recognised refugees to a third
country giving them international protection (hereinafter: resettlement).
It calls for greater relocation and resettlement of vulnerable persons
in need of international protection and for more humanitarian solidarity.
The term “voluntary” signifies that member States act, although they
do not have a legal obligation to relocate. They do this for humanitarian
solidarity and in a determination to save lives.
4. The fundamental yardstick for refugee rights is the Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951 and its 1967
Protocol. However, both treaties do not contain provisions for the
humanitarian relocation of refugees.
5. Since I tabled the motion for a resolution on voluntary relocation
of migrants in need of humanitarian protection in February 2020
(
Doc. 15082), this subject has become of particular urgency due
to two events: the first was a global pandemic with lockdowns or
other restrictions imposed in European and other countries due to
the effects of Covid-19. The second was the devastation by arson
of the Reception and Identification Centre at Moria on the Greek
island of Lesbos, destroying the accommodation and the belongings
of nearly 12 000 migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in the camp.
Both, the global pandemic as well as the local humanitarian crisis
for the inhabitants of the destroyed camp at Moria have been extraordinary
hardships which amplified the need for humanitarian assistance,
including the relocating of the most vulnerable.
6. The relocation or resettlement of asylum seekers and refugees
is currently a subject which receives much attention in Europe and
in particular among member States of the European Union. One of
the reasons for such relocations is to avoid that vulnerable persons
become victims of smugglers and human traffickers, who exploit their
vulnerability. Nevertheless, voluntary relocation of migrants, refugees
and asylum seekers are unfortunately rare.
7. While the notion of relocation in Europe is discussed largely
in the context of the European Union, where it covers the transfer
of persons who are in clear need of international protection from
one EU member State to another EU member State, it can and should
be applied across Europe and elsewhere. Therefore, this report does
not limit itself to the situation only in the European Union, but
goes beyond.
8. On 19 June 2020, the United Kingdom Parliament hosted a web
conference on voluntary relocation of child refugees and concerted
action against human trafficking.
Note Our committee and the ad hoc Committee
on Migration of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for
Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) participated in this
event along with the Presidents of the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly as well
as the chairperson of the Committee of Ministers.
Note In order to raise awareness and promote
action, this conference was followed up by two more conferences
hosted by the UK Parliament on 4 December 2020 and 5 March 2021.
9. Voluntary relocation or resettlement is not the only option
open. Complementary and alternative measures helping migrants and
refugees with humanitarian needs can comprise resettlement of asylum seekers
from dangerous transit countries, family reunification of unaccompanied
children, readmission of asylum seekers and migrants, and voluntary
return assistance for rejected asylum seekers and other migrants. Furthermore,
voluntary relocation and resettlement can have limits and cannot
address all situations. For example, the necessary requirement for
the transfer of unaccompanied minors is obviously the determination whether
it is in their best interest to be transferred abroad.
2 Examples of voluntary relocations in
Europe
10. From 1938 to 1940, families
in the United Kingdom received nearly 10 000 children from Germany
as well as Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland under a voluntary
relocation scheme which became known as the “Kindertransport”. Most
of these children had faced ethnic hatred and persecution before
their relocation and would likely have perished in the Holocaust.
11. This historic example of humanitarian relocation of vulnerable
persons in need of protection served as a precedent for the United
Kingdom to pass legislation in 2016, which enabled approximately
480 unaccompanied children to be relocated from Greece, France and
Italy to the United Kingdom, following the numerous arrivals of
migrants, asylum seekers and refugees to the European Union in 2015.
UNHCR estimated that approximately 800 000 migrants arrived and
transited through Greece in 2015/16. A number of other member States
also took similar measures and relocated refugees and vulnerable
persons, including children.
12. When many migrants approached the Greek borders from Turkey
in 2020, and violence erupted, the European Union Commission, in
April 2020, set up a project funded by an emergency assistance programme to
voluntarily relocate vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers from
the already overcrowded camps in Greece, and in particular from
the island camps. This issue was addressed in
Resolution 2280 (2019) “The situation of migrants and refugees on the Greek
islands
: more needs to be done”.
13. The EU project ran until 30 April 2021 and aimed to relocate
1 600 unaccompanied migrant children who were applicants and beneficiaries
of international protection, including children with severe medical
conditions or other vulnerabilities who were accompanied by their
family members. The project was built on various pillars: the European
Union provided funding for the vulnerability assessment of asylum
seekers and refugees and for the transport of those selected, the
European Asylum Support Office (EASO) together with the UNHCR, UNICEF
and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as well as
local NGOs assisted in practical terms, and the Greek Government
together with the governments of the receiving countries arranged
for the actual relocation.
Note
14. The EU Court of Auditors had found in November 2019 that temporary
emergency schemes for humanitarian relocation of asylum seekers
and refugees had not worked effectively within the EU in the past.
Note In contrast, this EU project has
been a great success despite the Covid-19 pandemic starting in early
2020. Although borders were
de facto closed
and quarantine requirements were imposed for public health protection reasons
throughout Europe and beyond, the originally planned number of 1
600 persons to be relocated voluntarily was exceeded and, finally,
3 654 relocations were achieved to 13 EU member States as well as
to Iceland, Norway and Switzerland by 31 March 2021.
Note
15. Although these numbers are small compared to the number of
new arrivals of migrants and asylum seekers in Europe, Greece was
able to report that the number of arrivals was lower than the number
of departures in the first quarter of 2021.
Note
16. Besides Greece, other countries experience high numbers of
arrivals. Currently, Spain and Italy see the largest increase in
migrant arrivals across the Mediterranean Sea and towards the Canary
Islands of Spain. Kent in the United Kingdom has hosted an increasingly
high number of boat migrants across the Channel. Cyprus and Malta
have the highest numbers of boat arrivals per capita of their population.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has thousands of irregular migrants. Germany
has the highest number of asylum applications in absolute numbers
in Europe. Turkey hosts the largest number of persons with international
protection needs in Europe, the majority of whom are from Syria.
17. The positive example of the Greek-European Union relocation
project could therefore provide impetus for similar projects for
refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in other European countries
which are overwhelmed by the necessity to provide humanitarian assistance
and adequate asylum procedures.
18. The New pact on Migration and Asylum presented by the European
Commission on 23 September 2020 proposes that EU member States agree
on a “solidarity mechanism” which includes, firstly, the relocation
of asylum applicants rescued by search and rescue operations at
sea who are not yet in asylum procedures; secondly, the relocation
of beneficiaries of international protection when an EU member State
which recognised them is in a situation of pressure; and, thirdly,
the relocation of asylum seekers, beneficiaries of international
protection as well as irregular migrants when an EU member State
is in a crisis situation. In addition, a dedicated solidarity mechanism
is proposed for vulnerable persons, when an EU member State faces
challenges arising from the presence of such persons.
Note
19. This new Pact is only a proposal and still requires acceptance
by the European Council and Parliament as well as ratification at
national level in order to become legally binding. However, the
proposed humanitarian action and solidarity could also guide action
by all member States of the Council of Europe. I wish to recall
that Iceland, Norway and Switzerland participated in the EU project
of relocations from Greece.
3 Voluntary
resettlement
20. Voluntary resettlements are
transfers from transit countries or countries of origin. Such resettlements
are important for asylum seekers to have access to international
protection without having recourse to migrant smugglers and being
obliged, for example, to cross the Mediterranean Sea on inadequate
boats with a high death toll.
21. This was the conclusion of a summit meeting in Paris during
the French EU Presidency in 2017.
Note In this context, the initiative by
the French Government stood out positively to voluntarily resettle
thousands of vulnerable refugees from Africa in 2017.
Note
22. At the conference of the UK Parliament on 4 December 2020,
the Italian Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs reported about the
resettlement of asylum seekers from Libya to Italy, which started
during the conflict and was assisted by UNHCR.
Note
23. I had the honour to participate in the EU High-Level Forum
on Resettlement, which was held online on 9 July 2021 and was chaired
by the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson.
Note All participants including the US
Government agreed that the numbers of resettlements in 2020 had
been very low and more resettlements were needed in order to protect
refugees and assist transit countries. At this Forum, the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, called for the implementation
of the UNHCR Three-Year Strategy on Resettlement and Complementary
Pathways.
Note
24. The armed conflict and the poor humanitarian situation in
Afghanistan in 2021 intensified migratory pressure on Afghan people,
some of whom tried to flee to neighbouring countries. Others were
flown out of Afghanistan by NATO members and wait for processing
of their migration status in third countries. Resettlements would
be a strong means of helping Afghan refugees and transit countries.
25. At the same time, the situation in Syria has deteriorated
in 2021. At the session of the UN Security Council on 24 August
2021, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency
Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths reported about the ongoing hostilities,
the economic crisis, water shortages and the Covid-19 situation
in Syria which have increased the humanitarian needs to their highest
levels since the start of the conflict.
Note While most Syrians remained internally
displaced inside Syria, resettlement of Syrian refugees who are
living in vulnerable situations in other countries should be considered.
4 Complementary
humanitarian action
4.1 Family
reunification
26. Resolution 2243 (2018) “Family reunification of refugees and migrants in the
Council of Europe member States” dealt with this legal pathway of
relocating unaccompanied minors.
27. Within the EU, the Dublin III Regulation (No 604/2013) establishes
a legal framework for family reunification of asylum seekers and
determines which EU member State is responsible for examining an application
for international protection. Besides the 27 EU member States, the
Dublin III Regulation is applied by Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway
and Switzerland. My own country, the United Kingdom, stopped applying
the Dublin III Regulation as from 1 January 2021.
Note Such relocations are not voluntary
but follow agreed legal standards and practice. It seems important
to look at extending beyond the EU the geographical reach of relocations
for the purpose of family reunification as required under the Dublin
III Regulation.
4.2 Assisted
voluntary return
28. The UNHCR recorded from January
2020 to March 2021 the following arrivals to Europe via the dangerous
route across the Mediterranean Sea and land arrivals.
Note On 31 March 2021, the data were as follows:
|
Country of origin
|
Share of total arrivals
|
Number of arrivals
|
|
Tunisia
|
19.1%
|
14 351
|
|
Algeria
|
12.6%
|
9 426
|
|
Morocco
|
7.0%
|
5 282
|
|
Bangladesh
|
6.9%
|
5 215
|
|
Syrian Arab Republic
|
6.4%
|
4 826
|
|
Afghanistan
|
6.0%
|
4 502
|
|
Côte d'Ivoire
|
5.9%
|
4 411
|
|
Others
|
4.7%
|
3 535
|
|
Mali
|
4.5%
|
3 401
|
|
Guinea
|
4.1%
|
3 041
|
29. Given their nationalities,
many of these migrants will not obtain refugee status. While some
may qualify for humanitarian visas, most will face deportation or
return orders by national authorities. In such circumstances, it
is indispensable that those migrants can return in safety and dignity
and receive assistance for their reintegration.
30. The assisted voluntary return and reintegration programme
of the IOM has operated with success and helped thousands of migrants
who otherwise would have been forcibly returned without help.
Note From Greece, for instance, since
2010, more than 50 000 migrants made use of this IOM programme.
Note
5 Conclusions
31. The humanitarian situation
of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants has been exacerbated by situations
of violence and conflict in transit countries and by overcrowded
refugee camps in some European countries. Their human suffering
compels us to provide humanitarian solidarity for those in need.
32. While all refugees, asylum seekers and migrants deserve humanitarian
support, it may be a matter of humanitarian urgency for the most
vulnerable to be relocated or resettled. Unaccompanied minors, persons with
medical needs and victims of human trafficking should receive particular
attention. Member States should collect and regularly assess data
on the vulnerability of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, and
evaluate how far European solidarity through voluntary relocations
or resettlements could help deal with the situation.
33. The success of the EU project for voluntary relocations from
Greece must be an encouragement to maintain this action and extend
it to other EU member States with high numbers of arrivals of asylum
seekers and migrants. In addition, non-EU States should be included
in EU projects as well as organise voluntary relocations among non-EU
States.
34. Voluntary humanitarian action by member States is best encouraged
by raising awareness of the severe humanitarian hardship otherwise
at stake. Parliaments can and should play a decisive role in this
regard. The experience of the web-conferences hosted by the UK Parliament,
which raised awareness of the plight of these persons who need relocation,
could be an example for other parliaments and the Assembly.
35. The current discussion on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum
of the EU should be pursued, taking account of the success of the
EU project for voluntary relocations from Greece. The future report
of my colleague Mr Oleksii Goncharenko (Ukraine, EC/DA) will analyse
the pact from a human rights perspective.
36. The United Nations should be provided with the budget necessary
for voluntary relocations and resettlements and related humanitarian
action, in particular through the UNHCR, the IOM, UNICEF and the United
Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN
OCHA). National parliaments decide on national budgets and should
foresee such humanitarian funds. The UNHCR, the IOM, UNICEF, the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and relevant NGOs could be invited
to regularly alert national parliaments and the Assembly about humanitarian
needs for voluntary relocations and resettlements and related action.
37. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe’s Special Representative
for Migration and Refugees could play a role in assisting member
States on this issue.
