Status: 04/07/2022 4:29 p.m
The Council of Europe has denounced the increase in illegal refusals of asylum seekers at Europe’s external borders. These pushbacks happened systematically and across Europe. The countries should clearly speak out against it.
The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights has warned that the illegal refusal of those seeking protection at Europe’s external borders threatens to become entrenched. Current challenges are accelerating this trend, Dunja Mijatović wrote in a report. The illegal rejection of asylum seekers has become a “systematic, pan-European problem”.
It is therefore high time that European countries acted individually and collectively. “States can no longer afford to carry out these violations, to deny documented incidents and misconduct by police and border guards, and to condone the normalization of unlawful practices by others,” says the Council of Europe report.
Danger of double standards in asylum law
Mijatović recommended that countries should refocus on implementing their human rights obligations. “The friendly and open response to Ukrainians stands in stark contrast to widespread human rights violations against refugees, asylum seekers and migrants from all parts of the world,” wrote Mijatović, particularly through pushbacks. But human rights should protect everyone equally. There should also be no double standards in asylum law.
Border guard authorities should be given clear and binding guidelines. States should also refrain from turning away people without a procedure or even enshrining this possibility in laws.
Acknowledge pushbacks as a pan-European problem
In addition to more transparency through independent observatories, Mijatović also called for countries to hold each other accountable. Pushbacks should be recognized as a pan-European problem. Governments should speak out loud and clear against it.
According to Mijatović, illegal rejections of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants at European sea and land borders are now widespread and well documented. She referred to numerous cases documented by non-governmental organizations.
Violations in several EU countries
The report accuses many EU countries of practices that violate human rights: Croatia, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, France and Spain, but also non-EU countries such as Turkey. The “serious human rights violations” have become an “essential part of the border control methods of the member states” of the Council of Europe, explained Mijatovic.
The approach is partly official policy and in some cases enshrined in national legislation; in other states, despite official denials, there is “consistent and credible evidence for pushbacks as a common practice,” the report says.
Council of Europe responsible for respecting human rights
The tacit connivance of these practices by other states undermines the rule of law in Europe and jeopardizes the protection of human rights for all citizens, Mijatović warned.
The Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, France, together with its Court of Justice, is responsible for the protection of human rights in the 46 member states. It is not an organ of the European Union.