Summary
The objectives of the delegation of migration procedures to
countries outside the European Union’s borders are, among others,
to ease the migratory pressure on member States at the EU’s borders
and to reduce migrants’ need to undertake potentially fatal land
and sea journeys. Onward resettlement throughout Europe should then
facilitate a more regular influx into the continent. However, the
shifting of responsibilities and the enlistment of third countries
to reinforce EU border controls entails serious human rights risks.
It increases the risk of migrants being “stranded” in transit countries
through readmission and greater use of punitive and restrictive
measures such as refoulement,
arbitrary detention and ill-treatment. It is also a way for many European
Union member States to distance themselves from the politically
divisive issue of assisting and integrating refugees.
This report urges member States to work together to ensure
that the growing focus on deterrence policies does not detract from
European States’ duty to respect and defend human rights globally,
and to refrain from externalising migration control to countries
in which legislation, policies and practice do not meet the standards of
the European Convention on Human Rights and the United Nations Convention
relating to the Status of Refugees.
