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Ukrainian refugees: double standards? What the latest Council of Europe report says

2022-04-07T10:26:43.557Z


While welcoming Ukrainians with open arms, some countries report 'serious and systemic' violence against migrants from


Many have pointed this out: the “warm” welcome given to Ukrainians has nothing to do with that given to migrants so far.

This is what the Council of Europe documents and denounces, in a report published this Thursday, based on feedback from human rights NGOs.

According to the facts reported, the Member States of the European Union would have been guilty of a "cruel" treatment of migrants from the migratory waves preceding the war in Ukraine, and of a "use of violence" against refugees " serious and systematic" in some countries.

The Council of Europe relies on NGO reports which have, for example, counted between 50 and 130 deportation procedures per day during the summer of 2020, and up to 170 in October of the same year, from France to Italy in the Alpes-Maritimes department.

“Cruel, contradictory and counterproductive” methods

"The current situation shows that serious human rights violations, which have become an essential element of member states' border control methods, are cruel, contradictory and counterproductive", underlined the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. 'Man, Dunja Mijatovic, in the introduction to the report.

This treatment contrasts particularly with the reception of the Ukrainians.

The European countries which have opened their arms to them nevertheless continue to push refugees of other nationalities outside their borders, "by creating false divisions" between the different groups, underlined the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights the Man, Dunja Mijatovic, during the introduction of the report.

Read alsoCash, bank account, social assistance... what are Ukrainian refugees entitled to in France?

“Human rights exist to protect us all in the same way, regardless of our origin,” recalled Dunja Mijatovic, denouncing this double standard.

The Council of Europe, watchdog of human rights on the continent, therefore asks member states to put an end to these refoulements and to "respect their legal obligations" vis-à-vis refugees by not sending them back to the other side of the border "without an individualized procedure" or without "the right to an effective remedy".

The need to establish rules of conduct

It also demands that States put in place "rules of conduct" and "clear and mandatory standardized procedures" for the authorities in charge of border control in order to treat refugees "in a manner consistent with human rights", while more and more states wish to adopt laws legalizing refoulement measures.

The number of "refugees, asylum seekers and migrants" turned back at Europe's land and sea borders has increased, according to this report, which speaks of a phenomenon that has become a "systematic pan-European problem" of "human rights violations". .

Croatia, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Bulgaria or even France and Spain are strongly criticized for sending back to neighboring countries migrants trying to enter their territory.

An Amnesty report published on March 29 also underlines the French "double standard".

"What we have seen in recent weeks contrasts sharply with the way in which, last year, the public authorities spoke of the reception of Afghans", underlined Nathalie Godard, director of Action at Amnesty International France, then that the government has promised to house 100,000 Ukrainians, "or even more".

Source: leparis

All life articles on 2022-04-07

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