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Visa systems in Europe’s Schengen area function like an obstacle course for human rights defenders from different parts of the world, preventing many from participating in key decision-making forums. These obstacles contradict the rights and values that Schengen states claim to uphold, Amnesty International said in a new report today. 

Closing the door? How visa policies in Europe’s Schengen area fail human rights defenders, documents the many obstacles that activists from 104 visa-restricted countries –mainly in Africa, Asia and the Middle East– face when trying to access short-term visas to travel to the area for advocacy, networking, or respite from the risks they face because of their work.  

These human rights defenders (HRDs) are mostly racialized as Black, Asian and/or Muslim, and the negative impact on their mobility amounts to indirect discrimination, according to the organization’s analysis. 

“The inability to access Schengen visas means that the voices and testimonies of human rights defenders from countries in the Global South are excluded from forums where decisions that deeply affect their lives are made,” Erika Guevara Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns at Amnesty International.   

“While Schengen states are entitled to decide who enters their territory, the impact of their visa systems on human rights defenders from 104 countries represents a clear disconnect between what they have committed to, through their guidelines and other commitments to protect human rights defenders, and what they actually do.” 

The inability to access Schengen visas means that the voices and testimonies of human rights defenders from countries in the Global South are excluded from forums where decisions that deeply affect their lives are made

Erika Guevara Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns at Amnesty International.   

“Ensuring that HRDs have access to short-stay Schengen visas in a reliable, predictable, transparent, and timely manner is indispensable to realize their right to defend rights without discrimination.” 

Barriers to securing short-term visas 

The EU Visa Code, the legislative instrument governing short-term Schengen visas, allows for visa applications that do not meet all requirements to still be accepted on a case-by-case basis. However, those who receive and process visa applications, including external service providers, often seem unaware of the existence of this flexibility, resulting in many barriers, including applications being tossed out before they even make it to the decision-making stage. 

One of the first barriers to obtaining a Schengen visa is simply identifying where to submit a visa application. Many Schengen states do not have diplomatic representations or agreements with other countries in every visa-restricted country. This means human rights defenders may be required to travel to another country to file the application, which can be prohibitively expensive or pose a security risk. 

The time it takes to secure an appointment, wait for a decision, and the validity length of visas, are other hurdles in the obstacle course that defenders must go through to travel to countries in the Schengen area. In some cases, visas are issued too late or for a period so short that it does not account for the time it takes to travel to and from a location, or for any potential flight delays. 

Ensuring that HRDs have access to short-stay Schengen visas in a reliable, predictable, transparent, and timely manner is indispensable to realize their right to defend rights without discrimination.

Erika Guevara-Rosas

Visa applicants are often required to submit a long list of supporting documents, usually including proof of financial means, such as employment status, pay cheques or proof of property ownership. This is particularly difficult for activists, especially those most marginalized and discriminated against.  

A woman human rights defender from the Dalit community in Nepal told Amnesty International: “They ask for bank statements for those who want to visit a Schengen state. Imagine what this means for people who live in a situation where they can’t even earn a daily livelihood. Some people who want to advocate at the international level might not have this because they are human rights defenders, and most of the advocacy they do is on a voluntary basis.”  

These obstacles result in indirect discrimination for human rights defenders as Schengen visa policies impact disproportionately on racialized applicants. Although visa rules are apparently race-neutral, as they do not explicitly mention race or ethnicity as grounds for different treatment, there is a strong correlation between visa-restricted countries and populations racialized as Black, Asian, and/or Muslim. 

Existing flexibility and steps forward 

In June 2024, the European Commission published a revised version of the EU Visa Handbook –a set of guidelines to explain how to apply the EU Visa Code– which includes practical examples of how visa applications by human rights defenders can be facilitated.  

Amnesty International welcomes this development and calls on countries in the Schengen area to ensure that the revised EU Visa Code Handbook is well disseminated and fully implemented, ensuring that visa officers worldwide, including external service providers are fully trained in how to facilitate the travel of human rights defenders.  

The organization also calls on countries in the Schengen area to collect disaggregated data on race and ethnicity to end discrimination in the visa system as well as the development and implementation of a facilitated visa procedure for human rights defenders, including fast-tracking of applications. In addition, Schengen countries should issue more regularly long-term, multiple-entry visas as key protection tools, to allow agency to travel when the need arises without having to go through the same bureaucratical hurdles every time. 

The Schengen area is comprised of 29 countries, most of which are EU member states, and non-EU members, such as Switzerland and Norway. All Schengen countries are bound by the EU Visa Code for the issuance of short-term Schengen visas. 

Amnesty International spoke with 42 international organizations, based both within the Schengen area and in visa restricted countries, who have facilitated the travel of hundreds of HRDs over the years. The organization also gathered testimonies from 32 human rights defenders, with direct experience of visa processes.  

The post Europe: Human rights defenders excluded by discriminatory Schengen visa system  appeared first on Amnesty International.