Expulsions of migrants born or brought up in the receiving country

Expulsions of migrants born or brought up in the receiving country

Doc. 7601

28 June 1996

MOTION FOR A RECOMMENDATION

presented by Mrs AGUIAR and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1.         The Assembly expresses its concern that migrants lawfully resident in the receiving country where they were born or brought up are being expelled after their conviction in criminal proceedings.

2.         The Assembly regards these expulsions as utterly disproportionate sanctions which may have irreversible repercussions.

3.         They are to be condemned because the family, occupational, cultural and linguistic ties of the expellees with their countries of origin are already seriously weakened or even non-existent. Indeed, their degree of integration is such that they identify completely with the receiving country where they have spent their childhood and adolescence.

4.         Expulsion orders against these migrants should be made only in exceptional cases, for instance where the acts committed imperil the security of the receiving state. At all events, the persons concerned should have the possibility of appeal before an independent body.

5.         Consequently, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers:

            - ask the competent bodies of the Council of Europe to make a study of the problems which could lead to the adoption of a Committee of Ministers recommendation;

            - invite member states to ratify, if they have not yet done so, the international legal instruments intended to safeguard the rights of migrants and their families.

Signed[1]:

Aguiar, Portugal, LDR

Arnold, Denmark, LDR

Brasseur, Luxembourg, LDR

Din�er, Turkey, SOC

Fehr, Switzerland, LDR

Filimonov, Russia, UEL

Ghesqui�re, Belgium, EPP

Golu, Romania, SOC

Gross, Switzerland, SOC

Guirado, Spain, SOC

Laakso, Finland, UEL

Mota Amaral, Portugal, LDR

Rakhansky, Ukraine, UEL

Volodin, Russia, UEL

[1]        SOC : Socialist Group

            EPP : Group of the European People's Party

            EDG : European Democratic Group

            LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group

            UEL : Group of the Unified European Left