In the second part of a speech to the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers on Tuesday 18 November, Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty addressed the questioning by certain European countries of “the law and the practice of the Convention and the Court” concerning migration management.
In so doing, he took up an argument developed the previous day in Warsaw, in a speech delivered at the Annual Warsaw Human Rights Seminar.
“Given the lack of clarity and the fast-developing discourse, I have to insist that I am not addressing the specific positions of any member state”, the Commissioner made clear to the permanent representatives of the 46 member states of the Council of Europe meeting under the Maltese Presidency.
He therefore made “general observations” to counter a “negative discourse about human rights”, which “in recent times [...] has been given voice in political discourse”.
He first encouraged everyone to be “assiduously evidence-based” and said he was “concerned about numerous inaccuracies currently in circulation”, for example, “the lazy correlation of irregular migrants and criminals”, which he finds “unacceptable”, - and the impossibility of deporting criminals with a migrant background, which he said was “not supported by the facts”.
National security may indeed be compromised by the entry of “instrumentalised migrants”, he admits, but it can only be “at its best” if it “embraces human security” and “upholds human rights and Rule of law for all”.
Another “fact-related consideration” is the assumption that a change in the law or practice of the Convention and the Court “will somehow axiomatically change practice on the ground”.
“For instance, that it would impact irregular migratory flows. Assumptions such as this are unconvincing”.
Other issues raised included the poor understanding of human rights in relation to migration in the media and public debate, the universality of human rights and the importance of preserving the independence of the European Court of Human Rights.
“My [...] final plea to those who would weaken human rights protections”, concluded Michael O'Flaherty, “is to consider wide implications. For instance, today it is mainly migrants who are the focus of attention. But once the precedent is established, who next? Which unpopular minority group might next be subject to efforts to reduce human rights?”
The Commissioner for Human Rights says he is “well aware” of the extent to which his opinions “may be rejected or argued against”. “One of the most common pushbacks against my view is the opinion that we must yield some human rights ground in order to stop populists in their tracks, to stop the migration of electoral votes to them”, he adds, questioning the logic of this concern.
In his view, “our peoples are not against strong human rights protections” but are plagued by feelings of “alienation and disadvantage” amplified by “clever political messaging and disinformation”.
Link to the speech by the Commissioner for Human Rights: https://aeur.eu/f/jiz (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)