Newsletter - November 2021
Statement on new Lipa camp, study visit of FRONTEX, and financial contribution for the Action plan on vulnerable migrants
On 19 November 2021, the Special Representative on Migration and Refugees, Ambassador Drahoslav Štefánek, welcomed the opening of new Temporary Reception Centre LIPA in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The centre can host up to 1,500 migrants, including families with children as well as unaccompanied...
Recent migration-related court judgments and decisions
On 18 November 2021, the European Court of Human Rights held down a Chamber judgement in the case of M.H. and Others v. Croatia (applications nos. 15670/18 and 43115/18). The case concerned the death of a six-year-old Afghan child, MAD.H., who was hit by a train after allegedly having been denied...
Implementing ECtHR judgments: New factsheet on migration and asylum
On 9 November 2021, the Council of Europe’s Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights published a new thematic factsheet on cases related to migration and asylum. The factsheet summarises measures reported by 23 member states to protect and further strengthen...
Poland’s border with Belarus: Commissioner calls for immediate access of international and national human rights actors and media
On 19 November 2021, following her 4-day mission to Poland, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, said that “The humanitarian and human rights situation along Poland’s border with Belarus is alarming. Urgent action is needed to protect the lives of people stranded...
Call on States to support UN and CoE initiatives for the protection of refugees and asylum seekers
On 25-26 November 2021, the Parliamentary Assembly´s (PACE) Standing Committee met in Rome as Italy took up the six-month Presidency of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers. Concerned about the frequency of expulsions and pushbacks of refugees and asylum seekers at Europe's borders, the...
Congress: “The stand-off on the Poland-Belarus border puts the lives of migrants in danger”
On 23 November 2021, the Chair of the Congress Current Affairs Committee, Thomas Andersson (Sweden, ILDG), published a statement about the situation at the Poland-Belarus border. “The stand-off on the Poland-Belarus border puts the lives of migrants in danger and the local populations and their...
Adoption of draft Recommendation on protecting the rights of migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women and girls
From 23 to 25 November 2021, the Gender Equality Commission (GEC) held its 20th meeting online and in Strasbourg. After two-years of preparations and negations within the Drafting Committee on Migrant Women (GEC-MIG), the GEC discussed a draft Recommendation on protecting the rights of migrant,...