A/HRC/50/31 evaluation of their human rights protection needs, including access to asylum, in an agesensitive and gender-responsive manner.29 29. The Dominican Republic returned over 44,000 migrants to neighbouring Haiti in 2021, among them hundreds of pregnant women and new mothers.30 Returns specifically targeting those women, along other measures to prevent irregular migration,31 were carried out on the basis of a decision adopted by the National Migration Council, which argued that no person representing an “unreasonable financial burden” on the State should be allowed entry. 32 The Special Rapporteur expressed his concerns about this practice through a bilateral communication to the Government33 and voiced his concerns jointly with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations country team in the Dominican Republic about these blatantly discriminatory measures, which expose migrant women to serious violations of their right to health, especially to reproductive health. 34 30. In July 2020, France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland signed a “declaration of intent” to “do more to tackle illegally-facilitated Channel crossings by small boats”, and vouched to increase the interception of boats and returns at sea.35 Since November 2020, an unpublished administrative agreement ensures that additional border police agents are deployed in significant numbers and that they are technologically equipped to carry out those tasks.36 In July 2021, the two parties reinforced their agreement, and the Government of the United Kingdom committed to invest €62.7 million in 2021/22 “to help France expand its enforcement and technological capabilities”. 37 31. Simultaneously, in July 2021, the Government of the United Kingdom introduced the Nationality and Borders Bill, which, if passed without any amendments, would impact negatively on the human rights of migrants and asylum seekers arriving in the country. The Bill has been criticized for being fundamentally at odds with the international obligations of the United Kingdom under international human rights law38 and the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention), as outlined by UNHCR. 39 At the time of submission of the present report, the Bill is still under review. 32. In Greece, pushbacks at land and sea borders have become de facto general policy. UNHCR has recorded almost 540 separate incidents during the period 2020–2021, 40 involving at least 17,000 people who were reportedly returned by force, informally, to Turkey. The Special Rapporteur is concerned about the significant increase in the number of people prevented from entering Greek territory, as part of the declared strategy of the authorities.41 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 A/HRC/47/30, paras. 43–49. See submission by CEDESO (Centro de Desarrollo Sostenible) and Observación Migratoria y el Desarrollo Social en el Caribe (OBMICA). See submission by the Dominican Republic. See statement of 28 September 2021, available at https://presidencia.gob.do/noticias/gobiernoanuncia-acciones-para-hacer-cumplir-las-normas-migratorias-las-empresas-que (in Spanish). See communication DOM 2/2021. All communications mentioned in the present report, and any replies to them, are available from https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/Tmsearch/TMDocuments. See Statement by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 1 December 2021, available at https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/jsForm/?File=/en/iachr/media_center/preleases/2021/320.asp; and “Mensaje del Sistema de las Naciones Unidas en República Dominicana”, 16 November 2021, available at https://dominicanrepublic.un.org/es/158598-comunicado-de-prensa. See Government of the United Kingdom, “Priti Patel and new French Interior Minister agree action on Channel crossings”, 12 July 2020; and the submission by the National Consultative Commission of Human Rights (CNCDH) (in French). See submission by the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights and its opinion titled, “L’Avis sur la situation des personnes exilées à Calais et Grande Synthe”, of 11 February 2021. See Government of the United Kingdom, “UK-France joint statement: next phase of collaboration on tackling illegal migration”, 20 July 2021. See https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/03/un-rights-chief-urges-revisions-uk-borders-bill. See https://www.unhcr.org/uk/uk-immigration-and-asylum-plans-some-questions-answered-byunhcr.html; https://www.unhcr.org/61e7f9b44; and submission by Channel Rescue. “UNHCR warns of increasing violence and human rights violations at European borders”, 21 February 2022. See submission by Greece. In March 2022, following an urgent application by civil society on behalf of 30 Syrian refugees who had been pushed back and stranded on an islet in the Meriç/Evros River, the European Court of Human Rights issued a decision on interim measures indicating that Greece 7