27 Council of Europe States Demand New Migration Policy - Including Austria

27 of the 46 member states of the Council of Europe, including Austria, are calling for a change in migration policy. On Wednesday - Human Rights Day - they signed a joint declaration at the informal ministerial committee in Strasbourg, demanding a contemporary development of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) system. "The ECHR must not protect the wrong people," emphasized Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP) in a statement.

Demand for Clear Rules for Deportations

"I want to protect the people in Austria and not criminal foreigners who have no right to be here. Zero tolerance towards those who abuse our protection and commit crimes here," Stocker continued.

Austria is represented at the ministerial meeting in Strasbourg by the State Secretary in the Federal Chancellery, Alexander Pröll (ÖVP). "Our duty as a state is to protect the people in Austria and Europe," Pröll emphasized according to the statement. "Those who threaten our security lose the right to stay here." The aim is clear, namely the consistent deportation, especially of convicted criminals. Austria has demonstrated that this is possible, said Pröll with regard to Syria, "and Europe must now follow suit together."

Emphasis on Protection of the Population and Borders

The declaration of the 27 states highlights key concerns: It emphasizes that states must be able to effectively combat serious crime, illegal migration, and smuggling networks to protect the population and borders. Convicted foreign criminals should also be deported even if they have established ties to their host country, such as through family life (Article 8 ECHR), it states.

The nature and severity of the committed crime must be given more weight than the social, cultural, and familial ties of the foreign criminal to the host country. "The purpose of such a reweighting is to ensure that there are no more cases where foreigners convicted of serious crimes, including serious violent crimes, sexual assaults, organized crime, as well as human and drug trafficking, cannot be deported."

Prohibition of Torture Should Not Automatically Prevent Deportations

The scope of the term "inhuman and degrading treatment" under the prohibition of torture (Article 3) of the ECHR, which is an absolute right, should be limited to the most severe cases, as demanded in the declaration. The ECHR member states should not be prevented from making proportionate decisions regarding the deportation of foreign criminals, even in cases where issues of healthcare and detention conditions play a role.

Furthermore, "innovative migration policy solutions" such as asylum and return procedures in safe third countries are called for. In view of the instrumentalization of migration, as practiced by Russia, for example, recognition of the highly sensitive geopolitical context and the necessity to adequately ensure national and public security is demanded, "even in cases where human rights and fundamental freedoms are abused and instrumentalized by hostile regimes and individual applicants with ulterior motives."

Not All EU States Have Signed

The non-binding declaration was signed by the following 27 member states of the Council of Europe: Denmark, Italy, Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Thus, from the EU states, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain have not signed.

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, announced during his visit to Vienna in October that he wanted to deepen the discussion within the framework of the Strasbourg meeting. The discussion was initiated by nine heads of state and government with an open letter in May, including Stocker.

(APA/Red)

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