European governments considering moving asylum or return procedures abroad should abandon plans if they cannot protect the people affected, the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner has warned.

On November 10, Michael O’Flaherty published guidance addressing arrangements such as overseas “return hubs” and cooperation with other countries to prevent irregular border crossings.

His message is that migration control must preserve access to adequate asylum procedures, humane conditions and legal remedies. Moving a process beyond a country’s borders does not remove its human rights obligations.

The guidance asks governments to assess risks before entering agreements, establish independent monitoring and prepare responses to abuses. Transparency and democratic scrutiny should continue throughout an arrangement’s operation. The recommendations apply to existing partnerships as well as proposed ones.

This is a preventive assessment tool, not a new law or an endorsement of any particular scheme. O’Flaherty calls on governments to demonstrate that safeguards work in practice—and reconsider their plans if they cannot.

For freethinkers, the principle is straightforward: judge migration policies by their evidence and human consequences. A promise of tighter borders cannot substitute for an answer to what happens to the people transferred.