A/HRC/50/31 migrant arrivals to Europe.98 Frontex has reportedly facilitated these interceptions through drone surveillance and secretive communication practices that prevent private and NGO ships from accessing information regarding boats in distress and undermine their timely and effective involvement in search and rescue.99 Cases of the Libyan Coast Guard threatening, ill-treating and shooting live ammunition at boats in distress and their passengers have been reported. In October 2021, the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya mandated by the Human Rights Council presented its report to the Council, noting that since the inception of boat pullbacks in the Mediterranean, Libyan authorities had been involved in widespread and systematic, reckless interceptions at sea and in abuses within migrant detention centres. The Mission found that abuses against migrants were evidence of “a State policy encouraging the deterrence of sea crossings, the extortion of migrants in detention, and subjection to violence and discrimination”.100 It also found that there were “reasonable grounds to believe that acts of murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, persecution and other inhumane acts” were being committed against migrants, which might amount to crimes against humanity.101 The Special Rapporteur reiterates that any agreement with Libyan authorities that involves the take-back of migrants rescued or intercepted at sea should be revoked and European States should provide adequate and efficient search and rescue services in line with international human rights obligations and the laws of the sea. 54. In August 2020, Italy entered into a political agreement with Tunisia to expedite the readmission of Tunisian migrants, returning close to 4,000 people. 102 At the same time, tens of thousands of migrants have been intercepted by the Tunisian Coast Guard. 103 55. Spain continued to collectively expel migrants to Morocco based on a 1992 bilateral readmission agreement and 2015 legislation enabling “border rejections” of foreign nationals trying to enter Spain irregularly from Morocco. 104 Instances of large-scale collective expulsions, sometimes accompanied by violence, were reported particularly from Ceuta, between May and August 2021, involving thousands of migrants, including at least 45 unaccompanied migrant children.105 In February 2022, two courts in Ceuta ruled that the returns of children were unlawful, as the authorities had failed to take any action to protect the children’s best interests during the return procedures.106 56. Swiss asylum legislation allows the State Secretariat for Migration to issue inadmissibility decisions as a general practice for asylum applicants who can be transferred to a safe third country on the basis of bilateral readmission agreements. 107 The Secretariat revises the list of safe countries every two years; however, the list reportedly still includes States to which the transfer of asylum applicants has been found to breach non-refoulement obligations.108 The Special Rapporteur notes that the mere ratification of the 1951 Convention or the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights) does not provide sufficient evidence of adequate protection from refoulement and other human rights violations in practice, the risks of which should be assessed on an individual basis for each asylum seeker concerned. Transfers by Switzerland have been variously found by the European Court of Human Rights and United Nations human rights treaty bodies to be in breach of the country’s obligations.109 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 See submission by EuroMed Rights. See also A/HRC/47/30, para. 74. See submission by Sea-Watch. A/HRC/48/83, para. 60. Ibid., para. 61. See submission by EuroMed Rights. Ibid. See also Mixed Migration Centre, “What’s new? Analysing the latest trends on the Central Mediterranean mixed migration route to Italy”, 9 February 2022. A/HRC/47/30, para. 71. See also submission by Live together – Cepaim foundation. See submission No. 4 by Save the Children. Ibid. Asylum Act, art. 31a. See submission by AsyLex. See submissions by AsyLex and UNICEF. 13