NCJ Number
188217
Date Published
September 1999
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This booklet contains the text of a recommendation adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe regarding the return of rejected asylum seekers.
Abstract
Recommendation No. R (99) 12, adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on May 18, 1999, was prepared by the ad hoc Committee of Experts on Legal Aspects of Territorial Asylum and Refugees. The aim of this recommendation was to facilitate the return of rejected asylum seekers and to provide member States with certain guidelines when they return rejected asylum seekers from their territory to the country of which such persons are nationals or non-national former habitual residents (their country of origin). The booklet contains the text of the Recommendation and an explanatory memorandum. The Recommendation states that persons who do not qualify for refugee status or are not in need of other forms of protection have no right, unless authorized on other grounds, to stay on the territory of the host country and are expected to cooperate with efforts to facilitate return. The booklet contains recommendations to ensure that voluntary and mandatory returns are humane, with full respect for fundamental human rights and without use of excessive force.