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Recommendation 2141 (2018)
Family reunification of refugees and migrants in the Council of Europe member States
1. Referring to its Resolution 2243 (2018),
the Parliamentary Assembly emphasises the importance of protecting
family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human
Rights (ETS No. 5) and recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
1.1. draw up guidelines for the application
of the right to family reunification of refugees and migrants as
well as for mutual legal assistance and administrative co-operation
between member States and with third countries in this field;
1.2. invite member States to establish bilateral arrangements
so they can represent each other when receiving visa applications
and issuing visas;
1.3. invite the member States that have not yet done so to
join, or co-operate with, the European Union Schengen Visa Information
System with a view to exchanging the data necessary for enabling family
reunification;
1.4. co-operate with the International Committee of the Red
Cross in promoting mechanisms and action for finding missing family
members of refugees, in co-operation with national Red Cross and
Red Crescent societies and national parliaments;
1.5. reinforce Council of Europe action on combating trafficking
of child refugees, ensuring that unaccompanied child refugees are
reunited with their parents, unless this is against the best interests
of a child, for example if parents have participated in the trafficking
of this child.