Member states must take a stand against pushbacks at borders and clearly oppose attempts to legalise this illegal practice, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic said on Thursday, calling on European states to halt “any legislative initiatives or policies that would result in the attempted, so-called normalisation of pushbacks.”
The statement comes after a series of media reports about pushbacks at the Croatia-Bosnia borders as well as other European Union external borders, which raised concerns and prompted EU institutions to announce investigations.
CoE commissioner stressed that the human rights violations against refugees, asylum seekers and migrants at the borders of Council of Europe member states “have proliferated at an alarming rate, especially the denial of access to asylum and returns without individual safeguards, frequently accompanied by brutal violence or even the endangerment of human life.”
“Such practices at borders (often referred to as ‘pushbacks’) undermine legal guarantees clearly established in the Refugee Convention and European Convention on Human Rights. Practices violating the right to apply for asylum, the prohibition of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment, and the prohibition of collective expulsions, are increasingly justified as a necessary way to address emergency situations,” said Mijatovic.
She urged the governments of European states to call a halt to “any legislative initiatives or policies that would result in the attempted, so-called normalisation of pushbacks and eliminate crucial safeguards to protect the rights of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants at borders.”
“Now is a crucial moment to speak out,” stressed the commissioner, reminding that the EU leaders are set to meet in Brussels to discuss the migration policy, which comes soon after some member states proposed to “ adapt the existing legal framework to the new realities” at their borders.
“While some member states certainly face challenging situations, any suggestion that this should allow them to set aside or cherry-pick key human rights protections must be emphatically rejected,” she emphasised and called on all European states to take steps and hold each other to account for these violations which often happen “in the name of ‘protecting Europe's borders’.”
The lack of real solidarity in hosting refugees, asylum seekers and migrants across Europe must be tackled, Mijatovic said, adding that the lack of solidarity cannot be used as an excuse to violate rights.
“Pushbacks are a violation of human rights. They cannot be legalised.”
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