Council of Europe Warns Against Asylum Outsourcing Due to Human Rights Concerns
The Council of Europe urges its member states not to outsource asylum seeker processing due to the risks of torture, ill-treatment, and danger to life.
The Council of Europe has cautioned its 46 member states against outsourcing the handling of asylum seekers to countries outside the European Union.
This practice poses significant human rights risks, according to a new report by the council's Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O'Flaherty.The alert emphasizes that externalization policies may lead to individuals being subjected to torture or ill-treatment, as well as arbitrary detention and collective expulsions.
These measures could also impede access to asylum procedures and deprive people of legal remedies.The report identifies three areas where the risks are particularly acute: the external processing of asylum claims; the use of external return procedures; and the outsourcing of border control to countries with a history of serious human rights violations against migrants.In recent judicial decisions, the EU Court of Justice ruled in favor of Italian judges who sought the repatriation of asylum seekers expelled to Albania under Italy's hard-right government.
The European Court of Human Rights, also part of the Council of Europe, previously blocked the transfer of asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda in 2022.Asylum policies have seen a shift across Europe, with countries like Britain establishing agreements for returning asylum seekers to countries such as France, following its departure from the EU.
Four African nations — Eswatini, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda — have agreed to receive migrants deported en masse from the United States under former President Donald Trump's administration.
El Salvador was the first Latin American country to accept deportees from the U.S.The report calls on European governments to reconsider their current approaches to asylum processing in light of these human rights concerns.
This practice poses significant human rights risks, according to a new report by the council's Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O'Flaherty.The alert emphasizes that externalization policies may lead to individuals being subjected to torture or ill-treatment, as well as arbitrary detention and collective expulsions.
These measures could also impede access to asylum procedures and deprive people of legal remedies.The report identifies three areas where the risks are particularly acute: the external processing of asylum claims; the use of external return procedures; and the outsourcing of border control to countries with a history of serious human rights violations against migrants.In recent judicial decisions, the EU Court of Justice ruled in favor of Italian judges who sought the repatriation of asylum seekers expelled to Albania under Italy's hard-right government.
The European Court of Human Rights, also part of the Council of Europe, previously blocked the transfer of asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda in 2022.Asylum policies have seen a shift across Europe, with countries like Britain establishing agreements for returning asylum seekers to countries such as France, following its departure from the EU.
Four African nations — Eswatini, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda — have agreed to receive migrants deported en masse from the United States under former President Donald Trump's administration.
El Salvador was the first Latin American country to accept deportees from the U.S.The report calls on European governments to reconsider their current approaches to asylum processing in light of these human rights concerns.
