In a bold call to action, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, has demanded an end to the escalating repression faced by individuals and organizations dedicated to safeguarding the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants across Europe.
Releasing a groundbreaking Recommendation titled “Protecting the defenders: Ending repression of human rights defenders assisting refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in Europe,” Commissioner Mijatović highlighted the alarming rise in harassment, intimidation, violence, and criminalization targeting these defenders.
The Recommendation underscores the critical role played by human rights defenders engaged in various activities such as sea rescue, humanitarian aid, legal assistance, border monitoring, advocacy, and litigation. However, it also exposes the numerous challenges they encounter, including hostile rhetoric from government officials and media, physical violence, criminalization of their work, and denial of access to essential places for monitoring and assistance.
Commissioner Mijatović condemned European governments’ hostility towards human rights defenders, emphasizing that this deliberate policy undermines both civil society actors’ rights and the democratic fabric of societies.
To address this pressing issue, the Commissioner issued a call to action, urging European governments to undertake urgent reforms. These include revising laws, policies, and practices that impede human rights defenders’ activities, ensuring that smuggling laws do not criminalize humanitarian work, lifting restrictions on access, ending stigmatizing rhetoric, and establishing effective safety procedures for defenders facing threats.
The Commissioner’s Recommendation serves as a clarion call for European states to uphold their obligations to protect human rights defenders, safeguarding the rights and dignity of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants across the continent.
