De nationalité étrangère, le consulat de France refusait de transcrire les actes de naissance des enfants de Neha. Elle a saisi le Défenseur des droits et témoigne.

« Je suis de nationalité étrangère et j’ai rencontré mon mari, français, dans mon pays d’origine. Il y a quatre ans, je l’ai rejoint en France mais, à cette époque, il préférait ne pas faire de demande de visa pour mes enfants et moi : nous sommes donc entrés dans le pays illégalement.

Malheureusement, ayant été victime de violences de sa part à plusieurs reprises, j’ai été forcée de le fuir en emmenant nos enfants pour nous protéger. Depuis, j’ai coupé tout contact avec lui.

Mes enfants sont français, mais comme ils sont nés à l’étranger, leurs actes de naissance ont été dressés à l’étranger. J’ai donc demandé au consulat de France la transcription des actes de naissance dans les registres de l’état civil français et la délivrance d’un livret de famille. Ma situation s’est retrouvée complètement bloquée car le consulat de France refusait de recevoir une demande de ma part, n’étant pas moi-même française. Le consulat demandait à échanger uniquement avec mon mari.

J’ai contacté le Défenseur des droits afin qu’il me vienne en aide. L’agent en charge de mon dossier m’a été d’un très grand secours en débloquant la situation. Il a expliqué à l’administration que les deux parents, français ou pas, peuvent faire une demande de transcription. C’est avec un grand soulagement que j’ai finalement reçu les actes de naissance de mes enfants, transcrits dans les registres de l’État français, permettant enfin la délivrance de leurs cartes d’identité française. »

Si comme Neha, vous avez des difficultés à faire valoir vos droits auprès d’une administration ou d’un service public, vous pouvez contacter gratuitement le Défenseur des droits sur www.defenseurdesdroits.fr , rubrique saisir.

The Hungarian Association for Persons with Intellectual Disability (ÉFOÉSZ) celebrated its 40th anniversary on 21 March 2022 at the Museum of Fine Arts. At the anniversary event, Commissioner for Fundamental Rights Dr. Ákos Kozma also greeted the participants.

At the ceremony, the Viktor Göllesz Grant was awarded, which aims to recognise and further develop the outstanding abilities of young people living with intellectual disabilities in Hungary, as well as to support and strengthen their community activities and integration into society.

The application to the Grant is open to those young people living with intellectual disabilities aged between 14 and 35 who have achieved outstanding performance in the field of work or learning, or in a sports discipline or a branch of art, and have contributed to the development of the group of people living with disabilities and to the strengthening of their positive social image.

“All member states should strengthen their efforts to coordinate – both at domestic and European levels – and scale up support for the response to the humanitarian and human rights needs of people fleeing the war in Ukraine. Medium and long-term planning is urgently needed to ensure sustainability of humanitarian assistance, effective integration, and the protection of safety and dignity of people fleeing,” said today the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, following a series of separate monitoring missions members of her staff carried out to Poland, the Slovak Republic, Hungary and Romania from 16 to 21 March 2022, a mission by the Commissioner to the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic on 21 and 22 March,* and her earlier mission to the Republic of Moldova from 6 to 8 March.

The Commissioner stresses that member states not sharing a border with Ukraine must also step up their role to coordinate and support the enormous efforts provided in the countries she and her teams visited. “This should include the facilitation of movement to other countries”, she said.

According to UNHCR, more than 3.6 million people have so far fled Ukraine since the start of the war. Most of them are hosted in countries close to Ukraine. In view of the challenges faced by these countries, all Council of Europe member states should step up their assistance, including by providing all necessary funding. A specifically urgent need is to help to transfer people fleeing Ukraine to other countries in Europe. So far, onward movement is mainly spontaneous or organised by private actors. But central governments, regional authorities and municipalities in other member states must urgently start coordinating and organising such transfers with countries neighbouring Ukraine, and must do so in very large numbers in order to meet the current needs. Creating more predictability and clarity on where people moving onward can be appropriately accommodated is crucial for these people and also for countries now at the forefront of receiving them. It is also important with a view to reducing the risks of trafficking in human beings and exploitation. Sending more trains, buses and other means of transport in a coordinated way is a very concrete step that governments, regions and cities now can and must take.

The Commissioner also underscores the need for medium and long-term measures in countries neighbouring or close to Ukraine.

“I am impressed by the enormous efforts that my teams and I saw in all countries we visited. Volunteers, NGOs, religious organisations and charities, local and regional authorities, national human rights structures, border guards, fire and rescue and law enforcement services, were the first to welcome people fleeing Ukraine with open arms. They continue to assist people with a selfless show of humanity and solidarity”, said the Commissioner. “This extraordinary mobilisation has made it possible to provide the necessary emergency aid, including food and drink, medical care, psychological support, temporary accommodation, interpretation, and pro bono legal services”. However, relying mainly on such civil society and local efforts is not sustainable and it is important that state authorities assume more responsibility, as they are now doing in some of the member states. Member States should publicly acknowledge and value the crucial role played by civil society and continue to work closely together with them in the next steps of the humanitarian response, including by providing them with any necessary support. In many cases, member states will continue to rely on the thousands of volunteers and others to overcome the many challenges that still lie ahead.”

In several of the member states visited, the extent to which central governments were making medium and long-term plans remained unclear to many persons and organisation providing direct help on the ground. With an estimated 6.5 million people internally displaced inside Ukraine, the ongoing attacks on many places in the country, and constant fear of further attacks on places that are currently relatively safe, there is a clear need to boost preparedness for the reception of more vulnerable and larger groups of people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

In particular, access to housing, employment, financial aid and education for people fleeing Ukraine, and their overall integration into society, are urgent concerns. Interlocutors were acutely aware of these issues, including how these might impact their own citizens’ access to services, but developing responses to this must be accelerated. Consistent and positive communication from governments on the situation of persons fleeing Ukraine is also crucial to deal with any emerging changes in attitude among the general population and to counter disinformation. Sufficient flexibility in providing funding to all actors involved in a quick and easy way must also be created to appropriately react to the changing needs and circumstances.

The Commissioner found that most of the reception centres she and her teams visited were well-organised and competently managed. Nevertheless, most reception places are aimed only at short term stay and are not suitable for longer presence. With shortages of both privately provided and government-sponsored accommodation already being acute, there is a severe risk that such temporary reception places become long-term housing solutions for which they are clearly not adapted.

During the missions, many signals were received that persons fleeing Ukraine, assistance providers and even authorities themselves were confused about specific rights under temporary protection schemes. There is an urgent need, to be met by neighbouring states and other countries jointly, to ensure clarity about the various options regarding the possibility to move to other European countries, to return to Ukraine, or to access employment, healthcare, social assistance and education in different member states. This information should be actively provided in all relevant places, including in reception centres and on social media platforms.

Special attention should be paid to the protection of specific groups of people.

The risk of trafficking in human beings of women and children was underscored in all countries visited, and the Commissioner welcomes the heightened awareness of this issue. Efforts such as registering persons offering transport and accommodation or covert police operations in the arrival points are commendable ways to cope with this problem. Nevertheless, it is necessary to strengthen these efforts to prevent and combat trafficking in human beings. The recommendations by the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) and the Lanzarote Committee should inform further action. Additionally, in relation to the many women and girls fleeing Ukraine, access to sexual and reproductive health services in member states visited may be problematic and this should be a particular point of attention, especially as regards those fleeing Ukraine who may need specific assistance, including access to safe and legal abortion services.

Border control, law enforcement and child protection authorities should also strengthen the identification and registration of unaccompanied and separated children, and implement family tracing and reunification procedures for those children. This should include enhancing the capacities of safe places for children, in particular family-based solutions, and strengthening referral and guardianship procedures.

Concerns were also raised about other groups. Reports were received that in some cases Roma have been treated differently due to deep-seated prejudices against them, affecting opportunities to access housing, assistance and other facilities. Similar concerns have been raised, for example, in relation to persons of African descent. LGBTI people, older persons and persons with disabilities were also identified as particularly vulnerable. Many of them require more proactive assistance and orientation in seeking protection.

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Tackling Institutional Racism: Realising the Potential of Equality Bodies is an Equinet perspective which looks at the definitions of institutional racism, the ways in which equality bodies can work to tackle this, and what challenges or enablers they may experience along the way.

“Naming institutional racism itself is a step in the right direction. However, and just naming it is not enough, and that’s not going to change the things. We need active policies and we need progressive policies and action coming from the state institutions.” Dr. Sindy Joyce, Member of the Council of State of Ireland, Equinet’s Conference ‘Tackling Institutional Racism – The Potential of Equality bodies’ 9 December 2021. 

Institutional racism in Europe is a longstanding equality concern. Yet, the global Black Lives Matter movement and the disproportional effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with minority racial or ethnic background, have compelled people in Europe to confront pervasive, systematic racism. As a result, growing acknowledgement and political attention on the specific issue of institutional racism offers an opportunity to step up the action against racism. 

Amid the crisis, we must seize on such opportunity. As an initial and needed response, the Commission adopted the EU anti-racism action plan 2020-2025, specifically aimed to acknowledge structural racism, setting out a series of measures and calling actors at all levels in a common endeavour to address racism more effectively. Equinet is seizing this opportunity as well, aware of the potential of equality bodies to take up the challenge to address institutional racism across all of their functional areas. 

The potential of national equality bodies 

Because of their mandates and their functions, equality bodies can foster organisational and social change, in addition to assisting individuals who are victims of racism. Equality bodies are engaged in actions to provide advice and assistance in relation to institutional racism; engage in hearing, and pursue own-initiative cases and amicus curiae interventions. For instance, in Belgium, Unia is identified as pursuing strategic litigation on cases that establish legal precedent; clarify points-of-law; refer to particularly serious facts; are illustrative of a societal debate; relate to a repeated problem; refer to a priority area of Unia strategy; or relate to structural discrimination. 

Under the promotion of equality and prevention of discrimination function, equality bodies report significant levels of research to uncover and provide evidence on institutional racism. The work reported by equality bodies includes initiatives to improve gathering and analysis of equality data. For example, the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman in Finland published a research report on ‘Racism and discrimination – everyday experiences for People of African descent in Finland’ that identified discrimination at the individual level and the institutional level. Institutional racism was established in a number of fields, in particular education, employment, and security services and law enforcement and recommendations are made in relation to addressing structures identified as reflecting institutional racism. 

Furthermore, equality bodies have built up extensive experience and expertise in addressing racism which is used to engage in advisory functions through providing policy advice on addressing institutional racism, and on the ambition for and implementation of National Action Plans against Racism.   

Equinet sought to underline this potential in the mandate and functions of equality bodies through the development of a perspective. 

An Equinet Perspective ‘Tackling Institutional Racism: Realising the Potential of Equality Bodies’ 

The Perspective was drafted by Equinet’s Working Group on Policy Formation and has been informed by a conference on the topic of tackling institutional racism, organised by Equinet in December 2021. This Perspective aims to discuss the potential of equality bodies across their various functions to contribute to tackling institutional racism, identifying some exemplars of current work in this regard. 
 

It concludes with recommendations to equality bodies to strengthen their focus on and deepen their capacity in addressing institutional racism, as well as recommending National and European level authorities to usefully strengthen equal treatment legislation to better address institutional racism. Specifically at the European level, legislation on standards for equality bodies could be introduced to enable their role in addressing institutional racism and ensure the provision of adequate human and financial resources. 

El ararteko Manuel Lezertua ha comparecido ante la Comisión de Acción Social de las Juntas Generales de Bizkaia para dar cuenta del informe "El impacto de la pandemia del COVID-19 en los centros residenciales para personas mayores en Euskadi".