The Commissioner, Nils Muižnieks, strongly condemns forced returns of children, detention of children, the use of X-ray tests to determine age, and recent proposals by the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom to set up a 'return house' called the 'Welcoming Centre' in Afghanistan to facilitate the return of children. While aimed at family reunification, the idea has been opposed due to risks of sexual and military trafficking, the high difficulty of family tracing in Afghanistan, and the risks of child disappearance and persecution.
(Free movement of persons - Directive 2004/38/EC - Right of permanent residence - Article 16 - Legal residence - Residence based on Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68)
The European Court of Human Rights issued on 13 February an interim measure enjoining the return of a Somali family of asylum seekers from Germany to Italy. The family had first arrived in Italy and moved to Germany some months afterwards. The removal had been allowed by German courts, but the case was referred to the ECtHR, which has given the German Government until 6 March to provide information on the guarantees that it can obtain from the Italian Government to assure that the applicants will receive a sufficient level of protection in view of their particular family situation.
The applicant, Sobir Rustamov, is an Uzbekistani national who was born in 1966 and lived in Uzbekistan until 2005. He has been living in Russia with his wife and three minor children since 2007. On a wanted list in Uzbekistan for attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, he was arrested in February 2010 in Moscow. At the Uzbek authorities’ request, the Russian courts subsequently authorised his detention pending extradition, finding that the Russian Prosecutor General’s decision to extradite him had been lawful.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child, established under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, has released its General Comment on Article 3(1) of the Convention, which establishes the right of the child to have his or her best interest taken as a primary consideration. The comment seeks to ensure the application of and respect for the best interests of the child by states parties to the Convention. It defines the requirements for due consideration in actions concerning the child and in the adoption of legislation and other general measures concerning children.
The applicant is a Moroccan national who arrived illegally in France. He alleged that he had been tortured by the Moroccan secret services because of his support to the Sahrawi cause. He was placed in detention and, following an international arrest warrant from Morocco based on allegations of terrorism, he was imprisoned with a view to his extradition in 2009. The French authorities approved his extradition and the applicant's appeals were dismissed. In the meantime he had also applied for asylum, but his application was dismissed.
The Dutch Council of State has decided to refer a question for a preliminary ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning the assessment of the credibility of asylum claims based on persecution on grounds of sexual orientation:
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has adopted two reports with the corresponding resolutions and recommendations to the Committee of Ministers concerning migration and asylum issues.
The overview by Steve Peers provides information on the second-phase of the CEAS and the state-of-play with regards to its five main legislative measures.
It also mentions that some connected legislation has already been adopted: an amendment to the EU refugee fund regarding resettlement (adopted spring 2012); an extension to the EU’s legislation on long-term residents to cover refugees and persons with subsidiary protection (adopted spring 2011); and legislation establishing a European Asylum Support Office (adopted early 2010).
In the MM judgment (C-277/11, reported in the Weekly Legal Update issue of 23 November 2012), the CJEU ruled that, where a State chooses to establish two separate procedures for examining asylum applications and applications for subsidiary protection, an applicant who has applied for subsidiary protection after the rejection of his asylum claim must be granted a fresh hearing in this second
