A senior figure in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has called on EU lawmakers to drop proposals that would allow migrant children to be detained and would limit the automatic effect of appeals against removal orders.
Lord Michael German, the Assembly’s General Rapporteur on asylum and migration, said the European Parliament adopted a position at the end of March on a proposed EU “returns regulation” that would permit the detention of migrant children, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe informed on Wednesday.
“Detaining children is never in their best interests,” he said, adding that even short periods of detention may expose children to harm.
The Assembly’s position is that immigration detention should never be applied to children, whether alone or with their families.
German also said the European Parliament’s stance on the draft returns rules may not reflect safeguards required under the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Concerns over appeals against removal
He raised concerns about proposals to remove the automatic suspension of removal orders while an appeal is pending — meaning a person could be expelled before a court has ruled on their challenge.
Allowing people to make their case before a court is an essential element of the rule of law and “does not compromise public safety”, German said, adding that it helps prevent people being returned to places where they may face torture or inhuman treatment.
Expelling a person before their appeal has been decided could expose them to “serious and irreversible harm.”
German stated returning migrants who do not have the right to remain is necessary for a well-functioning migration system, but argued return procedures should not be carried out at the expense of fundamental human rights.
