PACE Rapporteur Birgir Thórarinsson (Iceland, EPP/CD) urged member States to step up external action in support to Afghan refugees and to first reception countries as recommended in Resolution 2522 (2023). He recalled the Assembly’s unanimous decision that “deportations to Afghanistan are not acceptable under the current circumstances and that forced removals should be immediately halted.”

“Millions of Afghans, among them women and children, as well as people on the Taliban’ wanting list are being forced out because of their lack of valid administrative status in Pakistan even though most of the newly arrived Afghans have been unable or faced obstacles to register their presence since 2021,” he underlined.

The rapporteur also expressed its deep concerns at reports of registered refugees, refugees awaiting resettlement and Afghans with a valid residence permit being pressurised into leaving their country of residence.

In October 2023, the Parliamentary Assembly called on member States’ external representations to Pakistan and Iran to coordinate in the examination of visa requests and resettlement processes, alongside a number of other concrete recommendations. It also called on member States to consider resuming their consular services in Kabul with a view to facilitating access to protection for Afghans most at risk and to enhancing support to Afghan civil society especially in support of women and girls.

“Ahead of the Global Refugee Forum in December 2023 and the Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement in 2024, I call for interparliamentary initiatives to reflect on ways for our institutions to help build up and materialise political leadership to address one of the most severe refugee crises in the world,” Mr Thórarinsson concluded.

PACE rapporteur Paul Galles (Luxembourg, EPP/CD) on “Addressing the specific challenges faced by the Belarusians in exile” argued that, amidst the tragedies happening around the planet, the fight for a democratic and free Belarus must remain high on the agenda. In this context, he welcomed the setting up of the international parliamentary Alliance for Democratic Belarus in Berlin on 7 November 2023 as this will allow a powerful support of the Belarus democratic forces by the parliaments of Europe and the world.

He is convinced that one of the first tasks of the international parliamentary Alliance for Democratic Belarus should be to look into areas in which it can have a tangible influence and impact, and one of them would be to see how national parliaments can support the implementation of Resolution 2499 (2023) on “Addressing the specific challenges faced by the Belarusians in exile”.

The rapporteur recalled that in June 2023, the Assembly strongly encouraged “the parliaments of those member States which have not yet done so, to establish a parliamentary friendship group to create a network to share the best measures to support Belarusians in exile [as it was] convinced that such a network would also facilitate the dialogue with the Belarusian democratic forces in exile, including the Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the United Transition Cabinet of Belarus and the Coordination Council.”

“We must not forget the Belarusian people are not the same as the Lukashenka regime and should not be treated in a discriminatory fashion because of the regime’s participation in the war against Ukraine,” Mr Galles concluded.

On 9 October 2023, The Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons of the Paraliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe stated: “Between 15 and 17 September 2023, approximately 8,500 migrants landed on Lampedusa. Most European countries stated their refusal to honour their shared responsibility to receive these people, with the French authorities, for example, saying that they would not accept anyone. Some political groups have described this arrival as a “flood” or even an “invasion”, although 10,000 migrant arrivals represents only 0.002% of the total population of Europe. The large number of asylum seekers on the island has created major logistical and humanitarian difficulties for Italy, with these people living in undignified conditions. In Recommendation 2248 (2023), the Assembly called for “concrete action by the Council of Europe to provide humanitarian assistance to member States in which high numbers of people have found asylum or international protection, or are displaced”. The lack of European solidarity is incompatible with the humanist necessity of receiving displaced persons and refugees with dignity. No irregular entry may be considered unlawful until each situation has been properly examined, in accordance with the right of asylum. A lack of human and material resources to fulfil this obligation of individual examination and dignified reception may infringe the rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights.

Member States must act together to provide the necessary resources to ensure that the law is upheld in the interests of both those concerned and the authorities. The Committee is alarmed by the racist and xenophobic statements made by several political figures in response to this event. It wishes to draw attention to the sobering truth that 27,364 people have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean since 2014. Everyone has the right to respect for their fundamental rights and dignity and going into exile means being uprooted for those concerned, whatever the circumstances.”

On the eve of European Anti-trafficking Day (18 October), Theodoros Rousopoulos (Greece, EPP/CD), Chairperson of PACE’s Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons made the following statement:

“As we mark the 15th anniversary of the entry into force of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, legislators have an essential role in monitoring the progress made by member states in implementing the Convention and ensuring that sanctions but also prevention mechanisms are in place to tackle this horrendous crime.

The crime of trafficking in human beings does not necessarily involve the crossing of borders. However, as underlined in a number of reports by the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), men, women and children on the move, including people in need of international protection, are particularly exposed to the risk of exploitation due to their travelling, living and working conditions, which are often precarious.

The lack of safe migration channels, limited awareness of their human rights, de facto situations of deprivation of liberty or limited freedom of movement – especially in the working environment – and lack of access to support networks, including social or legal counsellors, are all factors that contribute to their vulnerability.

As Simon Russell (United Kingdom, EC/DA), Vice-Chair of the Sub-Committee on Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking in Human Beings, has emphasised, ‘the role of GRETA is essential in supporting States parties to the Convention to assess their legislation and to find solutions that are centred on victims and their rights in order to live up to the ambition of this core document’.

Over the past year, the adoption of the Reykjavik Declaration at the Fourth Summit of Council of Europe Heads of State and Government in May 2023, and of the Recommendation on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings for the purpose of labour exploitation by the Committee of Ministers in September 2022, are clear markers that pan-European co-operation remains of the highest importance to effectively address and stop trafficking in human beings.

To this end, the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, including through the work of its Sub-Committee on Smuggling and Trafficking in Human Beings, is fully committed to enhancing parliamentary oversight over such commitments.

In December 2023 the committee will consider a report by Diana Stoica (Romania, ALDE) on ‘Precarious and irregular work situations of migrant seasonal workers and domestic migrant workers’ for adoption.”

The ad hoc Sub-Committee visited Calais as well as the Calaisis and Dunkerque areas on 25 and 26 October, with the aim to look into the situation of asylum seekers and migrants. It noted a very tense humanitarian situation for migrants, as well as challenges regarding the role of different public and private actors in migration management.

The delegation met with the Sub-Prefect of Calais, the Divisional Commissioner and Interdepartmental Director of the Border Police, as part of a visit to the Coquelles administrative detention centre; the Departmental Director of Employment, Labour and Solidarity and local elected representatives, in particular as part of a visit to the shelter, the recycling centre, the shower and meal preparation areas; representatives of associations from the Migrant Support Platform (PSM) in particular; as well as a large number of migrants through a series of visits of their living areas.

The chairperson of the Sub-Committee, Ms Stephanie Krisper (Austria, ALDE) will present her conclusions to the Committee at its meeting in Paris on 8 December.

PACE has called on Azerbaijan to “create a climate of trust and the material conditions” for Armenians from the Karabakh region to be able to return to their homeland – including active steps to encourage and reassure them to do so.

In a resolution based on a report by Domagoj Hajduković (Croatia, SOC) following an urgent debate, the Assembly regretted the “long-standing and continuing failure on the part of the authorities of Azerbaijan to reassure the Armenian population of the region of their safety and the full respect of their rights”.

Almost the entire Armenian population of the region had left their ancestral homeland and fled to Armenia “out of a genuine threat of physical extinction, a long-standing policy of hatred in Azerbaijan towards Armenians, and a lack of trust in their future treatment”, the parliamentarians pointed out.

“It is not too late for Azerbaijan to redress the situation and prove its goodwill,” they said, noting Azerbaijan’s promises that the rights and freedoms of Armenian residents will be ensured, and its plans with respect to the reintegration of Armenian residents.

The Assembly also said the massive exodus of almost the entire Armenian population from the region had led to “allegations and reasonable suspicion that this can amount to ethnic cleansing”. Noting Azerbaijan’s strong statements refuting such allegations and suspicions, it called on the authorities to “spare no efforts in proving in deeds and words that this is not the case”.

It asked the Azerbaijani authorities to provide full and detailed information on the measures which have already been taken, and that are planned, to protect and enhance the rights and freedoms of the Armenians from this region under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Among other things, the Assembly also called on Azerbaijan to avoid expressions of intolerance or revenge for past events, to protect the Armenian cultural heritage of the region, to release all detained representatives of the Karabakh as well as all Armenian prisoners of war currently held in Azerbaijan, and to allow access to the region for Council of Europe institutions and bodies.

Should Azerbaijan fail to fulfil its obligations, the Assembly said it would have “no other alternative than to call for the initiation of a complementary joint procedure between the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly in response to a serious violation by Azerbaijan of its statutory obligations, and challenge the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation at its first part-session of 2024”.