The 2nd International Conference on Migrant Smuggling organised by the Council of Europe opened on Tuesday 10 September and closed on Wednesday 11 September.
Organised under the aegis of the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees, it calls on the 46 member states of the Council of Europe to strengthen international cooperation.
The challenge is “global”, stressed the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, in her opening speech.
She recalled the “Palermo Protocol” to the United Nations Convention against organised crime, the EU action plan on migrant smuggling, which needs to be supplemented by a legal and operational framework, and various Council of Europe conventions: the one on international cooperation in criminal matters, the one on cybercrime and the one on money laundering and terrorist financing.
A Council of Europe body, the CDPC established the Network of Prosecutors responsible for combating migrant smuggling.
Fritz Zeder, Chair of the CDPC, stressed that “these conventions, which are open to third countries, enhance global cooperation” and “can play an essential role”.
“The stakes are twofold”, said David Best, Special Representative of the Secretary General for Migration.
The aim is to “combat traffickers and ensure better protection for victims” by anticipating “the foreseeable effects of increased repression, which would lead to the consolidation of criminal networks”.
For the Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, efforts to harmonise the fight against migrant smugglers “will only be effective if they honour the human rights of smuggled people, ensure access to asylum, provide safe and legal pathways to Europe, and respect the rights of humanitarian actors and human rights defenders”.
Following the Conference, the CDPC has been tasked with preparing a report assessing the need for and feasibility of an instrument to combat migrant smuggling.
Decided by the Committee of Ministers following the Reykjavik summit in May 2023, this document should be finalised by the end of the year. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)