Newsletter - October 2021
Webinar with Croatian authorities and speeches at the UNHCR ExCom and CoE Congress
On 1 October 2021, the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on Migration and Refugees, Ambassador Drahoslav Štefánek, hosted a webinar with Terezija Gras, State Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Croatia. The aim of the webinar was to address Council of Europe...
Recent migration-related court judgments and decisions
On 7 October 2021, the European Court of Human Rights held down a chamber judgment in the case of Zoletic and Others v. Azerbaijan (no. 20116/12). The case concerns 33 nationals of Bosnia and Herzegovina who were recruited as temporary construction workers in Azerbaijan. Their complaint concerns...
Statement on pushbacks and country visit to Malta
On 21 October 2021, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović published a statement, where she urged member states to take a stand against pushbacks at borders and clearly oppose attempts to legalise this illegal practice. Human rights violations against refugees, asylum...
CPT President met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior of Croatia on migration issues
On 18 October 2021, the President of the Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT), Alan Mitchell, met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Davor Božinović, in Zagreb to discuss the treatment of migrants deprived of their liberty. There was mutual recognition that there...
Migration: Developing long term solutions with local and regional authorities
On 26 October 2021, during its 41st session, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities examined the challenges posed by migration for cities and regions in a debate with the participation of Ambassador Drahoslav Štefánek, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of...
Agreement reached on draft Recommendation on the human rights of migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women and girls
On 1 October 2021, the draft Recommendation on the human rights of migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women and girls was agreed upon by the Council of Europe Drafting committee on migrant women (GEC-MIG). Representatives of 22 member states, 2 observer states, 4 observers and 8 sectors of the...
New publication on inclusion of migrants and refugees in preparedness and response to biological disasters
On 6 October 2021, the Council of Europe’s EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement and the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) published a joint paper on the necessity of including migrants and refugees in biological disasters and pandemics. The paper, entitled Inclusion of migrants and...