On Thursday 19 January, the European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, issued a decision against the European Commission, accusing it of failing in its duties to respect the right of women and children refugees in Europe by implementing the EU-Turkey agreement of 18 March 2016 (see EUROPE 11515).
The Ombudsman says the Commission failed to assess the agreement’s impact on the rights of child and women refugees. The agreement includes returning immigrants, including refugees, to Turkey who arrived in the EU illegally.
The Ombudsman opened the investigation following a complaint lodged by Spanish NGOs (the Spanish Committee for Helping Refugees (CEAR), the Spanish Association of Young Lawyers and Women’s Link Worldwide) about living conditions for women refugees in detention centres, refusal to allow access to asylum procedures and refusal to allow access to healthcare. The European Ombudsman says the European Commission failed in its duty to assess respect for these rights and the consequences of the EU-Turkey agreement.
In her decision, the Ombudsman said that neither the political nature nor the fact that it was an ‘agreement’ or ‘declaration’ hinder in any way the Commission’s responsibility to ensure that its action complies with the EU’s commitments to fundamental rights.
The Commission is asked to produce regular reports on the result of its assessments during the period of its cooperation with Turkey.
When contacted, the European Commission said it would be responding to the Ombudsman’s decision at a later date. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)