The Council of Europe and UNHCR conducted a joint workshop on Protection of asylum-seekers, refugees, and migrants in line with European and international human rights standards. The event gathered middle and senior level officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the People’s Advocate Office, the General Inspectorate for Migration, the General Police Inspectorate as well as the General Inspectorate of Border Police.

The aim of the event was to provide a deeper understanding of the Council of Europe standards, with a focus on the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, and the United Nations standards to showcase the complementarity of the two systems.

In her opening remarks, Lilja Gretarsdottir, Head of Co-operation Programmes Division, Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe, recalled the importance of the European Convention on Human Rights, which has been further developed through the evolving jurisprudence of the Strasbourg Court, stressing that the “Convention truly becomes effective as a crucial human rights protection mechanism when it is properly implemented “at home” by the national authorities and national courts.”

The productive workshop was delivered by two lawyers from the European Court of Human Rights and the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the Court, as well as by UNHCR experts.

The event also provided an excellent opportunity for valuable exchange of views on the application of European and international standards in the field of migration and asylum in national legislation and their effective implementation.

“Today’s workshop is an example of partnership that we would like to see more often in the Republic of Moldova, a partnership between the international organisations that are at the forefront of developing and monitoring protection standards of the migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers”, stated Jana Costachi, State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The event was co-organised by the Council of Europe Project "Strengthening the human rights protection of refugees and migrants in the Republic of Moldova", and UNHCR.