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Resolution 1768 (2010)1

Roma asylum seekers in Europe

1. In the last few years, Roma in a number of
member states of the Council of Europe have been the target of
racist attacks resulting in at least nine deaths, many
injuries and the destruction of property. This wave of
violence follows an upsurge in the visibility and activity of
neo-Nazi groups.

2. The Parliamentary Assembly is concerned to
note that the perpetrators have rarely been brought to justice
and is particularly worried by the fact that, due to fear,
threats and the lack of adequate reaction by the authorities,
several thousand Roma have left their countries to seek
asylum.

3. Whereas hundreds of Roma from the Czech
Republic and Hungary have been granted refugee status in
Canada, applications for asylum in European Union countries
have automatically been rejected on the basis of European
Union legislation, which provides that all European Union
member states shall be considered “safe countries of origin”
with regard to asylum applications from citizens of these
countries.

4. If a citizen of a member state of the
European Union wishes to stay in the territory of another
European Union member state for longer than three months, he
or she is obliged to show proof of having sufficient financial
means or having a job in the country. Since many Roma from
European Union countries cannot satisfy these requirements,
they can neither claim asylum in another European Union
country nor reside longer than three months in another member
state. Their remaining options are to seek asylum in a country
outside the European Union, become irregular migrants or go
back to their country of origin and risk persecution. All
these options are highly undesirable.

5. There are also a large number of Roma
asylum seekers living in Council of Europe member states who
have been displaced for a number of years following the
conflicts in the Balkans and who are now facing forced return
to Kosovo.2
As a result of the conflict in Kosovo about 120 000 Roma
were forced to leave Kosovo and apply for asylum in other
European countries. Many applications were rejected, but
approximately 50 000 Roma from Kosovo still live in
western European countries, and another 50 000 in
neighbouring countries, where they have some form of temporary
protection or are simply “tolerated”.

6. Member states have taken steps preparing
for the return of sizeable numbers of these Roma, despite
strong warnings by the Council of Europe Commissioner for
Human Rights that these people will face an unsustainable
social situation with little chance of reintegration upon
return, as well as serious threats to their personal security.
Many of these Roma have children who were born, or have lived
all their lives, in the countries from which they are being
returned. As at May 2010, in Germany alone, around 10 000
Roma from Kosovo were facing return. Half of this group
consists of people under the age of 18.

7. The Council of Europe Commissioner for
Human Rights has stated that of those Roma forcibly returned
to Kosovo, between 70% and 75% have been unable to reintegrate
and have undertaken secondary movement or gone back to the
deporting countries. Enforcing returns is thus not only
producing great human suffering, but is also wasting economic
resources.

8. Returning countries should realise that
Kosovo will not be able to reintegrate a large number of
returnees. Such a situation may lead to social unrest, which
will hit Roma first and hardest. Kosovo is still fragile and
the authorities lack sufficient resources.

9. Furthermore, the Assembly rejects the view
that Roma and related groups need to be returned to Kosovo in
order to achieve or to reinstate ethnic pluralism. Whereas
ethnic pluralism may be in itself something positive, which
should be promoted by giving Roma originating from Kosovo a
real and sustainable possibility to return, it is best
achieved on a voluntary basis, or not at all if it jeopardises
the security and human rights of the individuals concerned.

10. In order to successfully address the
issue of Roma from Kosovo in Council of Europe member states,
a holistic approach will be necessary, taking into account the
rights and responsibilities of the Roma, involving all the
countries in the region, the European Union, the Council of
Europe and civil society. It will also be necessary to have a
common strategy at European Union and Council of Europe
levels. Civil society should be invited to play a greater role
in the reintegration process.

11. It is promising that the authorities in
the countries of the former Yugoslavia are co-operating in
order to find durable solutions for displaced Roma and to
ensure that they have effective access to adequate personal
documents, so as to clarify their status and gain access to
their rights and benefits, and also, where relevant, apply for
long-term residence or citizenship. The Assembly supports this
process, in which Kosovo should be included, and encourages
the countries of the former Yugoslavia to continue addressing
these issues until satisfactory solutions have been found. It
urges them not to return Roma to Kosovo until and unless
genuine durable solutions have been found.

12. Against the backdrop of these issues, and
drawing attention to its
Resolution 1740 (2010) on the situation of Roma in Europe
and relevant activities of the Council of Europe, the Assembly
urges the member states of the Council of Europe to:

12.1. ensure that all asylum applications are
considered on the basis of their individual merits according
to fair and efficient refugee status determination
procedures;

12.2. consider the plight of Roma
sympathetically and seek ways in which to accommodate those
who are citizens of one European Union member state and who
are refused asylum in another European Union member state;

12.3. comply fully with their obligations
under international human rights law, including the European
Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5), by preventing attacks
on Roma, and eradicating practical impunity by effectively and
promptly investigating all crimes against Roma. This includes
examining whether the crimes have racist motivations, bringing
the perpetrators to justice and, if found guilty, punishing
them;

12.4. improve the safety and security of Roma
and do their utmost to eradicate racism and xenophobia by
working actively and persistently at national and local levels
in order to enhance understanding and communication between
Roma and non-Roma in society. To do this, member states should
use, inter alia, the toolkit of the Council of Europe
Dosta! Campaign “Dosta! Enough! Go beyond prejudice, discover
the Roma!”;

12.5. ensure that, within the limits of the
right to freedom of expression enshrined in Article 10 of the
European Convention on Human Rights, as interpreted by the
European Court of Human Rights, the media refrain from
disseminating hate speech or from the demonisation of Roma
migrants or asylum seekers.

13. The Assembly calls upon all politicians
in member states to strongly and publicly condemn all forms of
racism and stigmatisation of Roma.

14. The Assembly calls on the European Union
to reconsider its rules on asylum seekers who are citizens of
one European Union member state and who lodge their
applications in another, and to ensure that the legislation
and practice in its member states provide for the opportunity
to rebut the presumption of safety, also in cases of flight
within the European Union, in order to ensure that Roma asylum
seekers and other asylum seekers from European Union member
states do not find themselves in a state of limbo.

15. Recalling its
Recommendation 1923 (2010) on the situation in Kosovo and
the role of the Council of Europe, the Assembly furthermore
calls on member states to:

15.1. reconsider their return policies with
regard to rejected Roma asylum seekers from Kosovo and to
consider offering them the possibility of local integration,
including naturalisation options, taking into account their
ties with their host country and the duration of their
displacement;

15.2. respond sensitively to the return of
Roma to Kosovo, in order to ensure that their human rights are
fully safeguarded, that the return is staged in a sustainable
way and that the merits of each individual case are examined,
including the ties which have been established with the host
country.

16. As and when returns of Roma to Kosovo
take place, the Assembly urges the authorities of member
states and organisations involved in the returns to take all
appropriate measures to ensure that:

16.1. all concerned have an effective
opportunity to have their international protection needs
assessed prior to return;

16.2. returns are conducted in an orderly,
gradual and dignified manner, and in co-operation with the
relevant authorities;

16.3. returns are co-ordinated to avoid
problems of capacity for reception and integration and that
information on vulnerable returnees is provided to the
authorities in Kosovo;

16.4. where returns of Roma to Kosovo are
enforced on the basis of readmission agreements, these are
conducted with transparency and in compliance with
international refugee law and human rights standards;

16.5. the Council of Europe’s 20 guidelines
on forced return are complied with.

17. The Assembly calls on the authorities in
Kosovo and the international stakeholders to step up their
efforts to fully integrate Roma who are returned to Kosovo, to
ensure that their human rights are respected and protected,
and that they have access to justice.

18. The Assembly invites the Commissioner for
Human Rights to continue monitoring the situation of racist
violence against Roma in Council of Europe member states, as
well as the problems associated with Roma returns to Kosovo
and the compatibility of such returns with relevant Council of
Europe standards.

19. The Assembly invites the European
Commission against Racism and Intolerance to:

19.1. give priority attention in its
country-by-country work to the issue of racist violence
causing Roma to go abroad and claim asylum;

19.2. make policy recommendations to member
states on how to deal with anti-Gypsyism.

1. Text adopted by the
Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on
12 November 2010 (see Doc.
12393, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Population, rapporteur: Mr Pupovac). See also
Recommendation 1941 (2010).

2. All references to Kosovo in
this text, whether to the territory, institutions or people,
shall be understood in full compliance with the United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the
status of Kosovo.

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