EU cautioned over migration deals

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The European Union has been warned not to deport illegal immigrants and asylum seekers to Ukraine and Libya until they can guarantee respect for human rights.

The EU is stepping up co-operation with both countries in an attempt to reduce the numbers burdening member states.

But Human Rights Watch says neither is a "safe" country for migrants.

The group repeats fears that migrants have died in Libyan hands, and says Ukraine risks becoming a migrant "warehouse" flouting international law.

Rhetoric

"The EU is pursuing partnerships with countries that have yet to implement systems for handling migrants and asylum seekers that provide necessary protections," Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.

Ukraine runs the risk of becoming a warehouse where asylum seekers and migrants are detained in conditions that flout international law Human Rights Watch "In relationships such as those between the EU and Ukraine or the EU and Libya it is the obligation of both parties... to ensure compliance with international standards," it adds.

The group castigated EU-member Italy last month for expelling migrants to Libya in 2004 and 2005 without properly assessing their claims to asylum.

It pointed out that Libya has no asylum law, and expressed concern about reports that people expelled by Libya have sometimes died in the process.

The new HRW report says the EU is moving forward on co-operation with Libya "with human rights conditionality more rhetorical than real".

Harassment

It also expresses alarm about a readmission treaty the EU is expected to conclude with Ukraine before the end of the year, which will allow the EU to send back any illegal migrants entering the EU from Ukrainian territory.

The report says Ukraine lacks the legal framework, and the proper accommodation to provide protection to refugees, process asylum seekers or respect migrants' rights.

It says an HRW visit to Ukraine last year revealed problems such as substandard conditions of detention, physical abuse, verbal harassment and severe overcrowding.

A return visit last month produced evidence that conditions of detention were still bad, and that migrants were being returned by Ukraine to countries where they could face persecution or torture.

"Ukraine runs the risk of becoming a warehouse where asylum seekers and migrants are detained in conditions that flout international law," the report says.

HRW calls on the EU to ensure that any readmission deal with Ukraine includes a transition clause, delaying the return of third country nationals "until such time as their protection needs and human rights could be guaranteed".