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Recommendation 2161 (2019)
Pushback policies and practice in Council of Europe member States
1. The Parliamentary Assembly refers
to its Resolution 2299
(2019) on pushback policies and practice in Council of
Europe member States.
2. The Assembly is concerned about the persistent and increasing
practice and policies of pushbacks, which are in clear violation
of the rights of asylum seekers and refugees, including the right
to (seek) asylum and the right to protection against refoulement, which are at the core
of international refugee and human rights law.
3. In view of the gravity of the human rights violations involved,
the Assembly urges the governments of member States to provide adequate
protection to asylum seekers, refugees and migrants arriving at
their borders, and thus to refrain from any pushbacks, to allow
for independent monitoring, and to fully investigate all allegations
of pushbacks. There are persistent reports and evidence of inhuman
and degrading treatment of migrants by member States and their agencies
in the framework of those pushbacks, through intimidation, confiscation
or destruction of belongings, and even through violence and deprivation
of food and basic services.
4. The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
4.1. exhort the governments of all
member States to reject and prevent any form of pushback policy and
action;
4.2. promote the reconsideration of any bilateral agreements
between member States on controlling borders between neighbouring
countries which jeopardise the human rights of migrants, refugees
and asylum seekers arriving at their borders or trying to arrive
there;
4.3. ensure the swift execution of the relevant judgments of
the European Court of Human Rights, including the implementation
of interim measures;
4.4. promote the work of national and international non-governmental
organisations (NGOs and INGOs) as partners, refraining from action
that undermines their legitimate activities aimed at saving human
lives; refrain from using stigmatising rhetoric against NGOs assisting
migrants; and invite the Council of Europe Conference of INGOs to
work on recommendations in this area for national NGOs;
4.5. consider drafting guidelines for border policing practices
along the lines of the “Intercultural Cities Manual on Intercultural
Community Policing” of the Council of Europe Intercultural Cities
Programme; and examine how this programme could be used as a model;
4.6. consider inviting the relevant Council of Europe committee
to work on guidelines on ensuring access to rights for migrants
arriving at borders or attempting to arrive there, including aspects
such as access to complete and comprehensible information, to translation
and interpretation services, to legal assistance at all stages of
reception and asylum processes, to continued and child- and gender-sensitive medical,
social and psychological services, and to decent accommodation,
prohibiting inhuman and degrading treatment in violation of Council
of Europe and other international conventions.
5. Finally, the Assembly also asks the Committee of Ministers
to formally encourage European Union member States to accelerate
their work on an improved, revised Dublin Regulation in a way that
furthers equal responsibility-sharing in order to relieve the burden
for frontline States and in the interest of asylum seekers themselves.
Meanwhile, the Committee of Ministers should encourage more efficient
relocation programmes, to ease the pressure on Europe’s external
borders, which can lead to pushbacks.