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European Union Member States have a shared responsibility to give protection to asylum-seekers, to ensure they receive fair treatment and their cases are examined according to uniform standards. The common European asylum system (CEAS) establishes common standards for Member State procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection. A critical aspect of a common approach to international protection is the application of the 'safe country of origin' concept. In the context of refugees ...

The safe third country (STC) concept is well established in international asylum policies. According to the concept, certain migrants should not be granted protection in the country where they have applied for it. Instead, they may be returned, or transferred, to a country where they could have found, or can find, international protection. Amid ongoing EU-level discussions on safe third country rules, in 2018 the United Nations Refugee Agency developed legal considerations on safe third countries ...

Minors — under the age of 18 — may migrate in many different ways, through family reunification, moving in the hope of finding a better life, or through forced and traumatic migration caused by conflict, poverty or climate change. Overall, the number of minors in migration has been rising globally since the turn of the century. In 2020, there were an estimated 35.5 million international migrant minors globally, the largest number ever recorded. This is equivalent to around 1 in 66 minors worldwide ...

The International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) on 6 February is an occasion to raise awareness and call for further action to end this practice that puts an estimated four million girls at risk of severe harm every year. The available data shows that there are also survivors of FGM or potential victims in at least 16 EU Member States. The EU supports international efforts to end FGM and has made preventing and combating it a key part of its strategies on women's and children's ...

Amidst increasing political pressure to adopt a stricter approach to migration, certain EU Member States have begun calling for reform of the protections available to migrants under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The calls have centred around Article 3 and Article 8 of the ECHR. Article 3 prohibits torture and inhuman and degrading treatment. It blocks states from deporting individuals to places where they would be at risk of such treatment. It is absolute and cannot be restricted ...

This workshop was organised by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Justice, Civil Liberties and Institutional Affairs at the request of the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI), following the initiative of the EP Coordinator on Children’s Rights. It marked the 45th anniversary of the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Experts presented evidence from global statistical studies, EU practice and mediation casework to assess how the Convention operates ...

The European Union (EU) faces constant challenges to its internal security. Security threats, such as organised crime, cybercrime, drugs trade, terrorism and violent extremism, are increasingly cross- border, interconnected and digital in nature, making the EU's security landscape ever more complex and unpredictable and reinforcing the need for cooperation. The European Parliament helps shape the EU's security policy, insisting on the need to uphold fundamental rights, equality and the rule of law ...

In the last few decades, more and more people have been forced to flee war, violence, poverty and climate change, with many of them seeking a safe haven in Europe. While the number of irregular migrant arrivals in the EU dropped significantly following the 2015 migration crisis, detections of irregular border crossings are far from being a thing of the past, and pressure on national asylum systems, especially in certain Member States, remains high. At the same time, a steady flow of regular migrants ...

During the February 2026 plenary session, a debate will be held on two questions for oral answer to the Commission. These relate to the procedure for accession of third countries to the Hague Judgments Convention.