A/HRC/23/46 of migrants at the border, including practices which infringe their liberty and security, and detention regimes on both sides of the border that fail to adequately respect minimum human rights standards. Furthermore, even before crossing the border to the European Union, whether by sea or by land, migrants are often exposed to serious risks of abuse and exploitation en route, including by smugglers. This is particularly true for women and girls who wait in transit countries and who may be exposed to sexually based violence. 21. The Special Rapporteur further observes that irregular migration took on a particular meaning in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. In particular, in the summer of 2011, there were some significant movements of migrants across the Mediterranean to Italy. The arrival of these boats, however, appears to have been a unique event and the Arab Spring, over the longer term, has not produced any significant inflow of new migrants to Europe. Nevertheless, the events sparked heated debate in Europe about management of irregular migration movements. 22. Within this context, the Special Rapporteur notes the unique position of the European Union with regard to management of the complex phenomenon of a common migration system. The European Union is a singular economic, social and political partnership among 27 Member States, many of whom have developed domestic legal traditions with strong human rights protections. In addition, at the regional level, the European Union has developed a comprehensive system of legislation, with strong human rights protections that complement domestic fundamental rights law and international human rights law. Thanks to this system, long-term third-country nationals legally staying in European Union Member States enjoy similar rights to those of European Union citizens with regard to free movement, establishment and work conditions. The Special Rapporteur thus notes that the European Union is uniquely placed to address human rights of migrants regarding management of its borders. 23. The strengths of the regional system also bring with them their own challenges. The Special Rapporteur also recognizes that member States are still largely driven by the strong influence of domestic public opinion, which is easily swayed against migration. This attitude to migration policy, which often does not include a human rights perspective, is then often replicated at the regional level, given the important role of the Council, and hence in member States, in developing European migration policy and legislation. In addition, the Special Rapporteur notes that the complex interplay between European Union and national competence in the field of migration is often exploited, which often means that human rights slip through the gaps: member States advocate for opaque policies at the regional level, then use those standards to enable the implementation of more restrictive domestic policies with regards to migration, and subsequently seek to attribute this to the regional system. This can perhaps be highlighted by the fact that while the Commission’s original proposal for the European Union Return Directive set six months as the maximum period of detention it was, at the insistence of the Council, extended to up to 18 months in exceptional cases, following which both Italy and Greece increased their maximum length of detention in accordance with the maximum standard allowed by the directive. It is hoped that the new ordinary legislative procedure with regard to migration may assist in avoiding the politicization of migration at the legislative level. 24. The Special Rapporteur also observes that another corollary of the common European Union border management system is that those member States geographically situated at the external border of the European Union free movement (Schengen) area, find themselves not only responsible for the management of their national borders, but also custodians of the external border of the entire European Union, which often encompasses large tracts of land or sea frontiers. The Special Rapporteur notes that the European Union has acknowledged the magnitude of this task for individual border States, and established Frontex to assist them with the challenging task of border management. Nevertheless there 7