A number of organisations have published their responses to the consultation launched on 30 July by the European Commission on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, which will be presented in September.
The public consultation, which ended on Thursday 27 August, asked stakeholders and the general public to comment on fundamental objectives of the reform, the aim of which is to ensure that the European Union is better prepared for migration crises by anticipating arrivals and providing more assistance to the countries on the front line.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the NGO EUROMED Rights, a federation of 80 human rights associations in the Mediterranean region, and the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) contributed to the consultation.
UNHCR believes it vital to establish a sustainable and predictable mechanism for welcoming and allocating people rescued at sea. There also needs to be a system for quickly identifying migrants who may be entitled to asylum and those who need to be returned to their countries of origin.
The CCBE believes that there needs to be a guarantee that care of migrants is not outsourced and that migrants are not ‘disembarked’ in non-Member States. It also believes that one of asylum seekers’ key fundamental rights is access to a lawyer or legal aid and the ability to exercise their rights under European and international law.
The contributions to the public consultation can be found at: https://bit.ly/31whvPq (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)