PACE calls for better use of emergency refugee funding; and missions to Hungary and Italy

PACE

At its Second Part Session (24-28 April 2017) the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) adopted Resolution 2164 (2017) ‘Possible ways to improve the funding of emergency refugee situations’. The Resolution encourages all European States to step up the financial burden-sharing of the current situation of...

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Council of Europe Action Plan on protecting refugee and migrant children and high-level meetings

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL ON MIGRATION AND REFUGEES

On 3 May 2017, the Ministers´ Deputies approved the draft Council of Europe Action Plan on protecting refugee and migrant children in Europe. Coordinated by the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees, Ambassador Tomáš Boček, the Organisation-wide Action Plan...

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Detention of asylum-seekers in Belgium did not breach the ECHR

EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

On 4 April 2017 the Court handed down a Chamber judgment in the case of Thimothawes v. Belgium which concerned the five-month detention of an Egyptian asylum-seeker at the Belgian border. The Court held that there had been no violation of Article 5 § 1 (right to liberty and security) of the...

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Human rights of persons forcibly displaced during the Kosovo* conflict and annual report for 2016

HR COMMISSIONER

On 10 April Commissioner Muižnieks published a Memorandum following his mission to Kosovo* from 5 to 9 February. He highlighted the need to address the situation of thousands of people, including persons living in the 29 remaining, mostly substandard, collective centres, who were forcibly...

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CPT publishes a report on UK and visits a detention centre for foreigners in Slovenia

CPT

In its latest report on the United Kingdom, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) describes the situation in immigration removal centres in England. The report was issued further to CPT’s 2016 periodic visit to the country....

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HELP launches human rights training for judges, prosecutors and lawyers in Spain

HELP

On 3 May 2017 the European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) and UNHCR launched a course on Asylum and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in an event which took place in Barcelona for judges, prosecutors and lawyers. The event was organised jointly...

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Building diverse communities based on shared values – the intercultural cities approach

INTERCULTURAL CITIES

The event "Building diverse communities based on shared values – the intercultural cities approach" was organised under the Cypriot Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 27-28 March in Limassol. It engaged international and Cypriot stakeholders in a discussion on...

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Council of Europe’s expert group on violence against women visits refugee reception facility in Denmark

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN DIVISION/GREVIO

A delegation of the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) carried out an evaluation visit to Denmark from 1 to 5 May 2017. To evaluate the conditions of women asylum-seekers, the GREVIO delegation visited the refugee reception...

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International conference on risks, security and citizenship

EUR-OPA MAJOR HAZARDS AGREEMENT

The International Conference Risks, Security and Citizenship was organised under the High Patronage of His Excellency the President of the Portuguese Republic, in the city of Setubal on 30-31 March 2017. The Conference’s goal was to facilitate exchanges among participants on the implementation of...

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Administrative detention of migrants

DIVISION FOR LEGAL COOPERATION

The Council of Europe’s European Committee on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ) is preparing a draft instrument codifying existing international standards relating to conditions of administrative detention of migrants, Consultations on the first draft of this instrument will be open from mid-May until...

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