At its meeting in Paris on 11 March, the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) welcomed the creation of the Division on Migration and Refugees (DMR) at the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DG1). Continuing the work of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees, the DMR works to consolidate and intensify the Organisation’s efforts in addressing urgent issues related to migration and asylum. The PACE Committee invited member States to make full use of the DMR work.

During the meeting, the Committee expressed concern over the growing disparity between international law and member States’ practices regarding the collective expulsion of foreigners. It recalled that such expulsions are “formally prohibited under Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 to the European Convention on Human Rights.”

The draft resolution, adopted on the basis of a report by Pierre-Alain Fridez (Switzerland, SOC), underscores the importance of “an individual examination of each person’s situation” to prevent collective expulsions. It further recalls that, according to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, all expulsion procedures must provide sufficient safeguards to demonstrate that the personal circumstances of each individual have been genuinely considered.

The Committee also addressed a number of other topics, including :

- Artificial Intelligence and migration (rapporteur: Mr Petri Honkonen, Finland, ALDE, with the participation of Ms Frida Alizadeh Westerling, PhD candidate in Asylum Law and Technology, University of Helsinki, Trust-M (research project) and Ms Emilie Wiinblad Mathez, Senior Protection Coordinator, Division of International Protection, UNHCR.

- Saving migrants’ lives at sea and protecting their human rights (rapporteur: Mr Paulo Pisco, Portugal, SOC), with the participation of Ms Bérénice Gaudin, Advocacy Officer, Sea Watch, and Ms Elisa De Pieri, researcher, Europe regional office, Amnesty International.

− The challenges and needs of public and private actors involved in migration management (rapporteur: Ms Sandra Zampa, Italy, SOC), with the participation of Ms Susanna Zanfrini, Director, International Rescue Committee in Italy, Ms Mariza Koronioti, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator, Jesuit Refugee Service Europe, and Mr Luca Perilli, judge at the specialised section for the international protection of the Court of Catania, Italy.

In addition, the Committee members discussed how to increase the members’ active participation in and contribution to the work of the Parliamentary Assembly and its committees in the framework of the preparation of a report on this theme by the Committee on Rules of Procedures, Immunities and Institutional Affairs.

And last but not least, the committee adopted the report prepared by Pierre-Alain Fridez on “Putting and end to collective expulsions of aliens”, which will be debated in the PACE plenary in April.

Lord Leslie Griffiths (United Kingdom, SOC) was appointed by acclamation chair of the sub-committee on diasporas and integration.

Arusyak Julhakyan (Armenia, EPP/CD) was appointed by acclamation chair of the sub-committee on Refugee and Migrant Children and Young People, as well as Youth Rapporteur.

During the meeting, the head of the secretariat of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons presented the committee’s work related to access to justice, detention, identification of vulnerable people in the context of border management. She highlighted two recent reports, “Ensuring human rights-compliant asylum procedures” (Resolution 2555(2024), rapporteur: Stephanie Krisper, Austria, ALDE), which was adopted in June 2024 and “Putting an end to the collective expulsion of migrants” (rapporteur: Pierre-Alain Fridez, Switzerland, SOC), which will be debated in the PACE plenary on 8 April 2025.

These reports highlighted the following:

• The increasing discrepancy between international law and practice.
• Asylum seekers face growing restrictions to seek asylum, including access the very territory of asylum, or because of disproportionally strict eligibility criteria or wide derogation rules. This adds to insufficient capacity and resources to process cases, or of dire reception conditions.
• The risks of human rights violations with the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum and the necessity to put in place safeguards in the national action plans for the implementation of the Pact.
• The necessity to ensure access to border areas by independent monitoring mechanisms, NGOs and all relevant stakeholders, effective access to legal aid, and training of Schengen evaluators in the identification of people in need of international protection.

The only way for countries to uphold their commitments as Council of Europe member States is to systematically make reference and take on board the standards and tools on migration developed by the Organisation. The creation of the Division on Migration and Refugees at the Council of Europe is one of the avenues for intensifying the Organisation’s efforts to address urgent matters related to migration and asylum. A way to achieve this would be the development of a toolbox on good practices concerning the implementation of Council of Europe standards in the management of migration and asylum by its member States.