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Recommendation 2047 (2014) Final version
The large-scale arrival of mixed migratory flows on Italian shores
1. The Parliamentary Assembly refers
to its Resolution 2000
(2014) on the large-scale arrival of mixed migratory
flows on Italian shores.
2. It considers that the Council of Europe has an important role
to play in assisting Italy and other member States in dealing with
the human rights challenges of mixed migration flows across the
Mediterranean, including the respect of non-refoulement,
as has been highlighted by the Assembly recently in Recommendation 2010 (2013) “Migration
and asylum: mounting tensions in the eastern Mediterranean”.
3. The recent tragic events off the coast of Lampedusa and in
particular one incident in October 2013, in which well over 350
people drowned within sight of land, as well as other incidents
in April-May 2014, have underscored the urgent need for increased
efforts to prevent these humanitarian tragedies.
4. The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers
make use of the expertise of the Council of Europe to help tackle
the human rights challenges arising from these mixed migration flows.
It recommends in particular that the Committee of Ministers:
4.1. launch a reflection on how best
to introduce a new international crime, whether or not defined as a
crime against humanity, when a person receives a financial benefit,
directly or indirectly, for transporting people in a vessel which
is unsafe for the purpose and which may endanger life or cause death
or injury at sea;
4.2. open negotiations to ensure that migrants who are intercepted
within the territorial waters of a non-European Union country can
be returned automatically to that country;
4.3. encourage the authorities of the countries concerned to
open negotiations on the modalities and conditions of return to
countries of embarkation of migrants intercepted in international
waters;
4.4. make it a top priority in the coming year to find solutions
to the issues arising from the judgment of the European Court of
Human Rights in the case of Hirsi Jamaa
and Others v. Italy (judgment of 23 February 2012, Application
No. 27765/09) and make this judgment compatible with the established principle
that each member country of the Council of Europe is entitled to
maintain control over its own borders and to grant asylum or a lesser
form of international protection to those who meet the necessary requirements;
4.5. consider the need for an extensive review of the Council
of the European Union Regulation establishing the criteria and mechanisms
for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum
application lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country
national, also known as the “Dublin Regulation”, and its implementation.