The EU and all its Member States are bound by the United Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), including Article 11 on situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies
The CRPD, including article 11, must always be applied, including in time of emergency such as the migration crisis faced by Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
In 2015, the CRPD Committee recommended to the EU to:
- Mainstream disability in its migration and refugee policies
- Issue guidelines to its agencies and member States that restrictive detention of persons with disabilities in the context of migration and asylum seeking is not in line with the Convention
In the EU Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030, the European Commission calls on EU Member States to:
- Implement the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) acquis taking into account the specific needs of vulnerable applicants for and beneficiaries of international protection, including persons with disabilities, with a view to ensure adequate protection in practice
- Facilitate the training of protection officers and interpreters dealing with asylum claims by vulnerable persons, including persons with disabilities, working very closely with the European Asylum Support Office
EDF considers that the proposal does not sufficiently take into account the rights and needs of persons with disabilities and do not fully comply with the CRPD ratified by the EU and all its Member States, including Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.