Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE) adopted the evaluation report on the Return Directive of irregular migrants by Tineke Strik (Greens/EFA, Netherlands). Adopted by 51 votes to 14 with 3 abstentions, this own-initiative report evaluates the implementation of these rules adopted in 2008, but is not the European Parliament’s response to the ongoing revision of this directive.
A specific report, by the same MEP, responds to the proposal for a review submitted in 2018, which the EU Council and the Commission continue to call for, as the Commission reiterated in September when it presented its new Pact on Migration and Asylum.
The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs is currently examining this proposal for revision.
In this evaluation report, the MEPs essentially insist on the importance of procedural safeguards and fundamental rights when applying European legislation on returns, says a press release. MEPs also believe that the success of a European return policy cannot be measured only in terms of the rate of returns, but also “in terms of the sustainability and implementation of fundamental rights and procedural guarantees when returning nationals” to their country of origin.
The text recalls that “where possible, voluntary returns should be prioritised as they are more sustainable and better protect fundamental rights”.
Particular attention should also be paid to the situation of unaccompanied minors “who should not be returned unless it can be proved that it is in their best interest”.
MEPs are also concerned that detention “is imposed systematically in many Member States, when it should remain a measure of last resort”.
Link to the report: https://bit.ly/3fXT3fo (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)