European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, has made proposals to the EU agency Frontex on how to better ensure respect for the fundamental rights of migrants who are subject to forced returns from the EU to their countries of origin. Frontex coordinates and finances joint return operations by air (JROs) in cooperation with Member States. Between 2006 and 2015, it coordinated 267 joint return flights, returning more than 13 000 people.

IOI First Vice President Diane Welborn attended the 10th Anniversary of the Japanese Association for Ombudsman Studies Conference at Kansai University in Osaka on April 19, 2015.  At the conference she presented a paper on “The Recent Trends of the International Ombudsman Institute.”

How citizens interact and collaborate with accountability institutions has been the subject of much careful review in recent years. This note by Carolina Cornejo and Marcos Mendiburu highlights key points from the discussion.

In the May 2015 Newsletter, among other topics, the Catalan Ombudsman requests the European bodies to fight against the failure in guaranteeing the rights of the LGBTI community. In regard of the Crisis in the Mediterranean Sea, the Catalan Ombudsman urges the public authorities to act.

Each year hundreds of thousands of children across the EU are involved in legal proceedings. Justice systems need to do more to cater to the needs of these children, finds the latest report from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). Making justice more child-friendly is in the best interests of the child, improves child protection and their meaningful participation in judicial proceedings.

Due to the exceedingly high interest in the NPM-Training in Riga from 16-19 June, the workshop “Implementing a Preventive Mandate” is already fully booked.

The institution calls for an intervention of the European Parliament, the European Ombudsman and the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe.

Following the very successful round table organized in February 2014 the IOI and the World Bank once again invite World Bank staff and interested individuals to participate in the 2nd roundtable on “The role of Ombudsman institutions in promoting citizen-centric governance and inclusive institutions” which will be held on 11 May 2015 in Washington DC.