LOS ANGELES:- UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk expressed deep concern on Saturday about the adoption of a new European Union regulation that would facilitate the detention and deportation of migrants and refugees. The so-called “return regulation” was initially proposed in March this year, and on Wednesday the EU Parliament voted to adopt it.
The new regulation expands the use of pre-return detention and enables EU countries to set up “return centres” in third countries, as long as those third countries uphold human rights and international law. The rules are intended to standardise the removal process for undocumented migrants across the EU.
In a press release, Volker Türk said, “EU states cannot simply outsource their human rights obligations to third states in this context. The detention and return of vulnerable persons, including children, to other countries is a particularly sensitive exercise of state power, and carries a high risk of human rights violations.”
The High Commissioner stressed that strong monitoring and accountability mechanisms are needed to ensure that people’s human rights are protected during the removal process. Furthermore, he encouraged public debate on migration to avoid conflating migration with security concerns.
Human Rights Watch criticized the rules when they were first proposed in March. Human Rights Watch argued that imposing harsh obligations on migrants would not address the issue, as the main obstacle to enforcing return decisions is uncooperative countries of origin.
Human Rights Watch is also concerned that the revised detention rules could allow for prolonged detention of migrants, including unaccompanied children. Finally, Human Rights Watch argued that “return centers” would fail to guarantee safe and sustainable shelter.
The EU has also adopted other measures, creating a stricter and more uniform migration process. On June 12, the EU’s Migration and Asylum Agreement entered into force, which introduced stricter rules aimed at broadening the screening of applicants, increasing health and safety checks, speeding up examination procedures and providing free counselling services.
Human Rights Watch also criticized the agreement, warning that it denies migrants the ability to receive a fair hearing. The agreement enables EU member states to designate non-EU states as “safe third countries,” which allows EU states to refuse to examine asylum claims.