Interim reply to Recommendation 1237 (1994) on the situation of asylum-seekers whose asylum applications have been rejected

7 December 1994

Doc. 7202

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

Interim reply to Recommendation 1237 (1994) on the situation of asylum-seekers whose asylum applications have been rejected

(adopted by the Committee of Ministers at the 521st meeting of the Ministers' Deputies from 22 to 24 November 1994)

1. The Committee of Ministers wishes to inform the Parliamentary Assembly that its Recommendation 1237 (1994) on the situation of asylum- seekers whose asylum applications have been rejected has been brought to the attention of the governments of the member States as well as to that of the International Organisation on Migration (IOM) and the Office of the United Nation's High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

2. The Committee of Ministers fully shares the concerns expressed by the Assembly with regard to the plight of asylum-seekers whose asylum applications have been rejected. It too is convinced of the need to reinforce the harmonisation of asylum policies and legislation in the spirit of the 1951 Geneva Convention and its 1967 Protocol and the relevant national instruments in the field of humanitarian law.

3. The concerns of the Committee of Ministers in this regard are not new: in particular, it wishes to draw attention to its Recommendations No. R (81) 16 on the harmonisation of national procedures relating to asylum and No. R (94) 5 on guidelines to inspire practices of the member States of the Council of Europe concerning the arrival of asylum-seekers at European airports.

4. In addition, the Committee of Ministers has asked the Ad Hoc Committee of Experts on the Legal Aspects of Territorial Asylum, Refugees and Stateless Persons (CAHAR) to give an opinion on the present Assembly Recommendation as well as on Recommendation 1236 (1994) on the right of asylum, which deals with the question of the right of asylum in the broadest sense of the term.

5. Several issues mentioned in the Assembly Recommendations are currently on the CAHAR's agenda: this applies in particular to the encouragement of voluntary return. Other issues appear on the future work agenda, in particular family unification for refugees and displaced persons, unaccompanied minor asylum-seekers and other vulnerable groups, the right to appeal in the asylum procedure, prevention of the "refugees-in-orbit" phenomenon and the promotion of inter-State co-operation. The Committee of Ministers will not fail to keep the Assembly informed of the progress of the CAHAR's work in the various fields covered by the present Recommendation.

6. Lastly, with regard to Recommendation 1236 (1994) on the right of asylum, the Committee of Ministers wishes to inform the Assembly that it has also asked the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) and the European Committee on Migration (CDMG) to give opinions on this text, which it should receive by the end of 1994. It will not fail, in due course, to address to the Assembly an interim reply on the questions raised by this Recommendation.