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Migrants and refugees: a continuing challenge for the
Council of Europe

Recommendation 1917 (2010)1

1.
Migration continues to shape the European economy, culture and
society. Globalisation with its growing disparities and the
recent economic recession have added new challenges that need
to be tackled not only at the European Union level but also by
the 47-member Council of Europe.

2.
The challenges that particularly require the Council of
Europe’s attention range from reinforcing the rights and
protection of migrants, refugees asylum seekers and displaced
persons to contributing to managing migration in a coherent
and co-ordinated approach and developing greater
responsiveness to new emerging trends.

3.       The
Parliamentary Assembly is of the opinion that dealing with
these challenges should be placed much higher on the political
agenda of the Council of Europe and prioritised within the
Council of Europe reform process. The Council of Europe is a
value-based organisation, which was created to protect the
rights of all people within Europe. Migrants, refugees, asylum
seekers and displaced persons are often some of the most
vulnerable people in Europe. There is a need not only to
strengthen their rights but also to monitor that these rights
are guaranteed in practice.

4.       The
Council of Europe should focus on the areas where it can
provide added value at pan-European level. Its major strength
lies in its standards of human rights and the rule of law. It
also has the advantage of combining experiences amongst its
member states, which include countries of origin, transit and
destination. Whereas the European Union is concentrating on
migration processes, the Council of Europe should make it its
explicit priority to concentrate on the people involved in
this process and to examine issues of migration, asylum and
displacement primarily through a human rights prism in the
context of the migration process.

5.       The
Assembly believes that in defining further priorities and
action, the Organisation should refine the priorities
established at the 2005 Warsaw Summit of the Heads of State
and Government of the Council of Europe and the 2008 Kyiv
Conference of Ministers responsible for migration affairs. It
should also take into account the recommendations of the 2005
Global Committee on International Migration (GCIM) and the
provisions of the European Union’s Stockholm Programme
(2010-2014).

6.       The
Assembly deems it important that the Council of Europe
formulates its own medium term strategy on migration, asylum
and displacement in Europe. It needs to bring together the
bulk of work that has been carried out by the various bodies
and sectors of the Organisation and streamline its priorities
aiming at the creation of a Europe-wide area where migrants
and people in need of protection will enjoy a treatment in
line with human rights, the principle of rule of law, access
to basic rights and to legal remedies. More specifically, the
strategy should strengthen the protection of human rights of
migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and displaced persons at
all key stages of movement; promote cultural diversity and
raise the standards of integration of migrants and refugees in
European societies; improve policy development and
implementation in member states to handle the long-term impact
of migration on society; step up activities in the fields of
combating xenophobia, discrimination and trafficking in human
beings and improve the Organisation’s intra-institutional
cohesion and collaboration in the field of migration, asylum
and displacement.

7.
Drawing from the wide experience across all relevant sectors
of the Organisation, the Assembly considers it necessary to
set up a transversal Council of Europe project on migrants,
asylum seekers and displaced persons in Europe, with a key
focus on the protection of their rights and promotion of their
integration.

8.       The
Assembly pays tribute to the European Committee on Migration
(CDMG) and its work on the protection of the human rights and
dignity of vulnerable migrants as well as its work on
empowering migrants and strengthening social cohesion in its
2009-2012 programme of action. It also merits praise for
promoting coherence between migration, development and
integration through encouraging dialogue between the countries
of origin, transit and destination. The Assembly also pays
tribute to the work of the other inter-governmental
committees, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and
monitoring mechanisms that have, in particular, tackled many
important human rights and integration issues. Furthermore the
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights should be
singled out for his principled stand on many migration, asylum
and displacement issues.

9.        The
Assembly also pays tribute to the Committee of Ministers for
taking up many migration, asylum and displacement issues but
regrets that the Committee of Ministers has not yet made
progress on examining calls for the introduction of a
Committee to replace the former Ad hoc Committee of experts on
the legal aspects of territorial asylum, refugees and
stateless persons (CAHAR), which previously provided the
Organisation with valuable expertise on asylum, refugee and
IDP matters. The Assembly notes that the Secretary General of
the Council of Europe has proposed to discontinue, suspend or
significantly reduce the intergovernmental activities in the
area of migration, which could leave a void in the
intergovernmental work on migration, asylum and displacement
issues.

10.       The
Assembly recognises the need for improving the efficiency and
impact of the work accomplished by the Council of Europe
within tightened budgetary constraints; however, this should
not come at the expense of the protection of rights of
migrants, asylum seekers and displaced persons, nor at the
expense of their improved integration to European societies.
The Assembly reasserts its view that the Council of Europe
needs a focused and adequately resourced intergovernmental
body capable of looking at rights based issues affecting
migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and displaced persons.

11.       In
the light of the above, the Assembly recommends that the
Committee of Ministers:

11.1. create a post of migration, asylum
and displacement co-ordinator tasked with preparing a medium
term strategy on migration, asylum and displacement and
implementing a transversal project on migrants,
asylum-seekers and displaced persons in European
societies;

11.2.
establish a new inter-governmental committee with a
permanent mandate to examine asylum, refugee and
displacement issues to replace the Ad hoc Committee of
experts on the legal aspects of territorial asylum, refugees
and stateless persons (CAHAR) or, in the event that the
European Committee on Migration (CDMG) activities are
brought to an end, establish a new single intergovernmental
rights-based committee with a permanent mandate to examine
migration, asylum, refugee and displacement related
issues;

11.3.
support intergovernmental work and the work of other bodies
within the Council of Europe concerning issues relating to
the protection of the rights of those involved in the
migration, asylum and displacement process.

12.       The
Assembly recommends that in devising a medium term strategy on
migration, asylum and displacement, the Committee of Ministers
takes into account the following priority issues and the
need to:

12.1.
sign, ratify and implement all Council of Europe Conventions
affecting migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and displaced
persons, including, inter alia, the the European
Convention on Human Rights (ETS No.5), the Framework
Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (ETS No.
157), the Council of Europe Convention on the Legal Status of
Migrant Workers (ETS No. 93), the European Convention on the
Participation of Foreigners in Public Life at Local Level (ETS
No.144), the European Convention on Nationality (ETS No. 166),
The Council of Europe Convention on the avoidance of
Statelessness in relation to State Succession (CETS No. 200),
and the Council of Europe Convention on Action against
Trafficking in Human Beings (CETS No. 197). In appropriate
circumstances the Committee of Ministers should consider
revising Conventions where too few states are prepared to sign
and ratify these;

12.2.
fill the gaps in current Council of Europe legal standards
through developing further hard and soft law instruments and
practical activities pertaining to migrants, asylum seekers,
refugees and displaced persons. In this respect the Committee
of Ministers is encouraged to take into account, inter
alia, the following specific issues, some of which are the
subjects of past Assembly recommendations:

12.2.1. including the right to apply
for asylum in the European Convention of Human
Rights;

12.2.2. revising the European Social
Charter to ensure that all regular migrants come within
its scope of application and that at least minimum
rights guaranteeing human dignity are included for
irregular migrants;

12.2.3. elaborating further standards
and guidelines on the integration of migrants in
European societies;

12.2.4. working towards common
standards in providing minimum rights for irregular
migrants and providing strategies for dealing with
irregular migrants who cannot or will not be
returned;

12.2.5. supplementing the European
Prison Rules with European rules on detention centres
for migrants and asylum seekers;

12.2.6. elaborating guidelines on
alternatives to detention of irregular migrants and
asylum seekers;

12.2.7. considering the need for
guidelines on « non refoulement » in the light
of growing numbers of cases concerning expulsion before
the European Court of Human Rights and problems linked
to interventions at sea;

12.2.8. considering the need for
monitoring the quality and consistency of asylum
decisions in Europe;

12.2.9. preparing guidelines on
voluntary return to supplement the Committee of
Ministers’ Guidelines on Forced Returns as well as
guidelines on implementation of readmission
agreements;

12.2.10. preparing guidelines on
reintegration of people returning to their countries of
origin whether voluntarily or forced;

12.2.11. finding sustainable solutions
for the return, local integration or resettlement of
displaced persons and guaranteeing the protection of
their rights;

12.3.
promote closer European and international co-operation
involving countries of origin, transit and destination;

12.4. strengthen co-operation and
assistance in the field of migration, asylum and
displacement by :

12.4.1. supporting an assistance
programme for member states, funded by voluntary
contributions, to strengthen capacity in the area of
migration policy and planning, in particular for countries
of origin and transit in Europe which are not members of
the European Union;

12.4.2. supporting an assistance
programme, funded by voluntary contributions, to allow
member states, countries of destination, to benefit from
the experience of other member states in tackling the
difficult issue of integration;

12.4.3. strengthening co-operation with
key actors in the field of migration and asylum, notably
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), the International Organisation for Migration
(IOM), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and
international and national non-governmental
organisations;

12.4.4. strengthening co-operation with
the European Union, in particular in the light of the
recently adopted Stockholm Programme and the work of
agencies such as Frontex, the Fundamental Rights Agency
and the soon to be established European Asylum Support
Office;

12.5. step up efforts of helping migrants
to understand not only their rights but also their
obligations in order to assure a better integration and
acceptance by the host society;

12.6. enhance the impact and visibility of
the work of the Council of Europe on the rights of migrants,
asylum-seekers, refugees and displaced persons by:

12.6.1. publishing a compendium of the
human rights standards of the Council of Europe
applicable to migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and
displaced persons;

12.6.2. providing support for an
interactive migration and asylum website shared by the
different sectors of the Council of Europe working on
the issue;

12.6.3. support and strengthen the work
of the informal internal Council of Europe Task Force on
Migration, which is a liaison mechanism within different
sectors of the organisation involved in migration as
well as asylum issues.

13.       The
Assembly encourages the Council of Europe Commissioner for
Human Rights to continue to give priority to the issue of
rights of migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and displaced
persons in his work.

14.       The
Assembly invites the Committee of Ministers to report back to
the Assembly within two years on the progress made in
implementing this Recommendation.

1 Assembly debate on 30 April
2010 (18th Sitting) (see Doc.
12201, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Population, rapporteur: Mrs Fiala, and Doc.
12220, opinion of the Committee on Culture, Science and
Education, rapporteur: Mr Olsson). Text adopted by the
Assembly on 30 April 2010 (18th Sitting).

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