LUXEMBOURG/BRUSSELS: A European rights watchdog said on Tuesday that the European Union was violating international law with its increasingly restrictive stance on migration and should step up sea rescues: an element that is not part of the bloc's new five-year action plan.
"Effective control of the external borders is an absolute prerequisite for guaranteeing security, upholding law and order, and ensuring properly functioning EU policies," it says. " have adopted laws, policies and practices which have often been contrary to their legal obligations to ensure effective search and rescue operations, the prompt and safe disembarkation and treatment of rescued people, and the prevention of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment," the rights watchdog said in a report on Tuesday.