3.4. framework decision on the transfer of prisoners Having addressed already the potential concerns arising from the FD TOP, its positive contributions to the prevention of ill-treatment should also be considered. Firstly, as already mentioned the underlying purpose of FD TOP is to provide better opportunities for the rehabilitation of individuals. To this end, Article 4(2) of FD TOP notes that the forwarding of the judgment to another Member State may occur once the issuing authority is satisfied (emphasis added) that the enforcement by the executing authority would facilitate the social rehabilitation. There are many disadvantages foreign prisoners face during the course of their imprisonments, which can in turn give rise to greater hardship than the rest of the prison population. These can include isolation, an inability to engage in activities, speak with counsellors or health care professionals, communicate with other prisoners or prison officers, and understand the rules and procedural handbooks of the prison. While some prisons do have prison regulations translated available in other languages, a report on foreigners in European prison found that in practice, there is little consistency regarding the availability of the specific institutions rules in other languages.231 They are less likely to have regular or indeed any family visits. They are less likely to be able to meet the requirements for conditional or early release where they do not have a fixed home or employment opportunities.232 Foreign prisoners also are confronted with racism and religious intolerance.233 Coupled with the those disadvantages, the benefit of serving a sentence close to the community ties of the prisoner have long been recognised. Article 17 of the European Prison Rules provides that prisoners should be ‘allocated as much as possible to prisons close to their homes or places of social rehabilitation.’ The benefit of rehabilitation closer to home is clear. Social rehabilitation can be better provided for where the prisoner understands the language, and can partake in all the available rehabilitation programmes, and can benefit from the close proximity of family support structures. “Strong family ties and support from partners have consistently been identified as key elements of successful reintegration and prisoners who are visited by their families or friends have been found to be less likely to reoffend than those who do not receive visits.”234 In 2015, it was reported that there were almost 115,000 foreign prisoners in European countries.235 The Council of Europe report entitled ‘Combatting ill treatment in prisons,’ found that the average percentage of foreigners in the total European prison population is over 20%.236 Taking into consideration the particular hardships that foreign prisoners face, coupled with the implications on rehabilitations and recidivism it is not difficult to see the potential fundamental rights benefits that the proper application of FD TOP can produce. Indeed the UN Handbook on the prevention of recidivism and the social reintegration of offenders states that “early repatriation of foreign prisoners (either through prisoner transfer programmes, conditional release programmes or other mechanisms) is often important to the future social reintegration of the offender. Transferring such persons to serve their sentences in their country of origin can contribute to 231 Kalmthout A.M Foreigners in European Prisons volume 1 2007 page 21. 232 Ibidem page 16. 233 Ibidem page 17. 234 Available at http://www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison-reform/crimeprevention/Prevention_of_Recidivism_ and_Social_Reintegration_12-55107_Ebook.pdf. 235 Council of Europe Report on Combatting Ill treatment in prison 22 December 2015 page 53 available at http://www.coe.int/t/dgi/criminallawcoop/Presentation/Documents/Ill-treatment%20REPORT%20December_ENG.pdf. 236 Ibidem at page 53. 59