Report launched to explore the current lack of uniform status across Europe for migrants who can't be returned
The preliminary executive summary of the report concludes that it is necessary to push forward discussions in order to move towards legislation in the area in the near future.
In ECRE Weekly Bulletin from 25 January 2013, the following key results from the study are presented:
- In most of the 31 countries included in the study, there is no dedicated legislation or even specific terminology for this group of people. In 12 countries, however, an official tolerated status exists. This status is usually only granted to the migrants who are considered to cooperate with the system, but cannot be returned through no fault of their own.
- A number of sub-groups can be identified within this group of people, including asylum seekers whose claim has been rejected, but who cannot be returned due to a lack of travel documentation or the risk of harm in their country of origin; people who cannot be removed due to a lack of cooperation on the part of the country of origin in terms of granting travel documents; or people who cannot be returned due to their failure to cooperate with the returns procedure.
- Non-removable migrants are not always able to access in practice the rights to which they are entitled (e.g. enrolment in education for children).
A conference on the outcomes of the study took place in Brussels on 22 January 2013.