Background Briefing

IV. Recommendations

To EU Member States

  • Ensure that any national measures to prevent unauthorized entry and residence and to facilitate the removal of undocumented residents from the territory of the European Union fully respect human rights and refugee law.

  • Refrain from sending asylum seekers and migrants to countries such as Ukraine and Libya until those countries have fair and efficient asylum processes. 

  • To the Justice and Home Affairs Council

  • Ensure that EU migration control measures, including the draft directive on common standards for the return of irregular migrants and the regulation establishing a Community Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders, include adequate safeguards to ensure effective protection for refugees and respect for the human rights of migrants. In particular, procedural safeguards during deportation should be an essential element of an EU returns policy.

  • Ensure that EU returns policy includes accountability for law enforcement and immigration officials who violate any safeguards aimed at preserving returnees’ rights, particularly those established under Article 3 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Convention against Torture (CAT).

  • Ensure that the EU through the European Neighbourhood Policy prioritizes improvement of refugee and human rights protection by helping participating countries, including Ukraine, upgrade their reception and detention conditions and develop effective asylum laws, procedures, and infrastructure.

  • To the European Commission

  • Encourage independent monitoring of the points of entry into the EU (border checkpoints, temporary reception centers, detention facilities for asylum seekers and migrants) in order to guarantee that the right to seek asylum is respected.

  • Create an institutional mechanism to review the human rights impact of readmission agreements.

  • Ensure that the rights of migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees are consistently prioritized within the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy.

  • Create a Plan of Action to ensure respect for human rights prior, during, and after returns as a complement to the proposed readmission agreement with Ukraine, and any similar readmission agreements, which should include implementation of a tracking mechanism for the returns, a complaints mechanism, and a practical guide for the implementation of the returns.

  • Include a transition or suspension clause in the proposed readmission agreement with Ukraine that will delay the return of third country nationals from EU territory to Ukraine until such time as legislative improvements and the upgrading of reception and detention conditions in Ukraine meet international human rights and refugee protection standards.

  • Invite representatives of nongovernmental organizations, UNHCR and the Ukrainian Ombudsman’s office to participate in the Committee of Experts, when it is established, to monitor the application and interpretation of the proposed readmission agreement with Ukraine. Take a similar approach in any other readmission agreement.

  • Ensure that the dialogue on migration between the EU and Ukraine includes all stakeholders (international organizations, refugees, communities representing migrants and asylum seekers, domestic and international nongovernmental organizations).

  • Display greater transparency in negotiations with Libya on all matters relating to migration and border controls.

  • Consistently emphasize the rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, and access to protection, in all EU relations with Libya on migration matters (including any cooperation on border controls).

  • To the European Parliament

  • Ensure under co-decision procedures that EU immigration control measures, including the draft directive on common standards for the return of irregular migrants and the regulation establishing a Community Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders, include safeguards to ensure effective protection for asylum seekers and respect for the human rights of migrants. In particular, procedural safeguards during deportation should be an essential element of an EU returns policy.

  • Ensure that the rights of migrants and refugees are consistently prioritized within the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy.

  • Denounce any collective expulsions of foreigners from European Union states as breaches of the principle of non-refoulement and in violation of the right to protection from collective expulsion.

  • Ensure that the EU consistently emphasizes the rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, and access to protection, in all EU relations with Libya on migration matters (including any cooperation on border controls).

  • To the External Border Agency

  • The European Agency for the Management of Operation Cooperation at External Borders (European Border Agency/FRONTEX) should coordinate common training for national border guards and develop a practical guide for the implementation of returns that spells out the human rights standards applicable to each stage of the returns procedure.

  •