EuroMed Rights research: The Obsession on return policies in the Mediterranean Region

Terms of reference for research consultancy

EuroMed Rights is seeking to recruit 1 research consultant to carry out a mapping study on return policies in the Mashreq region, with a particular focus on .

1. Project description and background

In recent years, returns of foreign nationals, including those seeking protection, have emerged as the main focus of both EU and non-EU countries, who have increasingly shaped their migration and asylum policies accordingly and allocated funding to facilitate returns.

This “return obsession” is also a characteristic of Syria’s neighbouring countries and, although Syria cannot be considered safe, returns and deportations have intensified especially from and , even though they stopped for some time during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Turkey, since summer 2019, the Turkish government adopted an even harsher line on refugees from Syria who have increasingly faced violence, arbitrary arrests, threats, intimidations and deportations to Syria under the false label of “voluntary returns”. released a report in October 2019 revealing that hundreds of refugees from Syria across Turkey were detained, and coercively returned to Syria. In a field report published in September 2019, the NGO Refugees International assessed the lack of legal work for refugees and documented the effects of a July 2019 crackdown on identity documents and a wave of subsequent deportations of Syrians. On 5 September 2019, Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, announced his plan to resettle one million refugees in northern Syria.

In Lebanon, on 13 May 2019, the Lebanese General Security adopted a decision to deport all people from Syria who entered Lebanon irregularly after April 24, and to directly hand them to the Syrian authorities. Watch, together with local CSOs, denounced cases of people detained from non-border areas, people deported even if they entered Lebanon before April 24 and directly handed to the Syrian government, with no judicial oversight and a misapplication of the decision. Since October 2019, the country has witnessed an upsurge in nationwide revolts, as the country has been facing a dramatic socio- economic crisis which deeply affected the living and working conditions of migrants and refugees.

Other evidence shows that Syrian returnees and most people living in regime-held areas in Syria live in fear and feel extremely vulnerable and unsafe; they regret their ‘decision’ to return and 63% of them are actively seeking a way to flee again.

This chapter will also cover the cases of refoulement from to Turkey and Lebanon and the risk of chain refoulement to Syria.

1. Research Index

Syria is not a safe country 2.1 Lebanon’s policies of returns to Syria 2.2 Turkey’s policies of returns to Syria

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2.3 Possible chain refoulement from to Syria: the case of Cyprus 2.4 Recommendations

2. Methodology

This research aims at providing an overview of the current return policies and practices in the Euro- Mediterranean region by giving concrete examples of this inhumane approach and by shedding a light on the systematic violations of human rights that this “return obsession” entails. By providing concrete recommendations, it will call on decision-makers to change direction and respect their EU and international obligations in order to avoid further suffering and loss of innocent lives.

The researcher is expected to map the EU’s and country-specific policies and legal frameworks as well as its international obligations relating to migrants, asylum seekers and refugees’ protection and human rights, including to: - outline States’ obligations arising from international human rights and refugee law.

This information will be gathered by: - desk research, - interviews with returnees in focus countries, - interviews with EU officials (in , and, as need be, in South Mediterranean Countries) and other experts on the issue, as appropriate. - Interviews with civil society organisations in the relevant countries.

The study will be conducted in close coordination and agreement with EuroMed Rights’ Migration and Asylum Programme Officer and Assistant, in regular consultation with member organisations.

3. Timeline

- 20 October 2020: deadline for applications - 30 October: contract signed - 30 October - 15 December: research and interviews - 15 December: submission of interim report, followed by comments and re-drafting adjustments - 05 January: submission of second draft of study, followed by comments and adjustments - End of January: submission and approval of final study, followed by translation and publication.

4. Practical information

The researcher is expected to work independently and to closely coordinate with EuroMed Rights’ both Programme Officer and Assistant on Migration and Asylum. S/he will be working remotely.

The study should be in English or French and not exceed 3 000 words (app. 8 pages).

EuroMed Rights will take in charge travel expenses related to the study (such as the attendance at the

Please submit your application, including your CV and a motivation letter, to [email protected] and [email protected] by 20 October 2020. Applications will be scored according to proven expertise on migration and asylum and the EU policy and legal framework, as well as strong research, analytical, writing and editing skills, and experience in drafting advocacy-oriented reports.

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5. About EuroMed Rights

EuroMed Rights was founded in January 1997 in response to the Barcelona Declaration of November 1995 and the establishment of the Euro Mediterranean Partnership. It is the coordinating body of about 80 human rights organisations and institutions as well as individuals from over 30 countries. EuroMed Rights’ organisational structure is built on a general assembly, an executive committee, working groups and a secretariat.

Rooted in civil society, EuroMed Rights seeks to develop and strengthen partnerships between NGOs in the EuroMed region, i.e. networking aimed at strengthening the capacity of members to act and interact within the context of the region and the Barcelona process and other EU-Arab cooperation frameworks. The EuroMed Rights head office is situated in ; we also have offices in Brussels and Tunis.

EuroMed Rights aims to ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origins, gender, marital status, caring responsibilities, sexual orientation, disability or chronic illness.

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