- A new investigative report has revealed the EU’s indirect involvement in forced deportations from Türkiye to Syria and Afghanistan.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called for the development of ‘return hubs’ in advance of an upcoming migration-related discussion in the European Council.
- A leaked Council document has suggested that neither Egypt nor Tunisia are interested in reaching agreements with the EU on migration whereas relations with Libya are developing ‘positively’.
- More than 60 NGOs have called for an end of EU co-operation with Tunisia due to the latter not being a safe place for the disembarkation for people rescued in the Mediterranean.
- More than 310,000 people are estimated to have fled Lebanon and sought refuge in Syria after the recent escalation of the Israel-Lebanon conflict.
A new investigative report has highlighted the EU’s role in helping forced deportations from Türkiye to Syria and Afghanistan. According to the report, which was published by Lighthouse Reports in co-operation with several major news organisations, the EU has “funnelled hundreds of millions of euros into a shadowy deportation system operating just outside its borders”. It reveals that that Syrians and Afghans are being held in EU-funded detention centres where they are subjected to torture and abuse, and then forcibly deported. “I was going to buy household supplies when the Turkish police arrested me,” said one of the former detainees. “In prison, we were severely tortured, beaten and insulted, they also detained us in a refrigerator for up to 12 hours. They forced us to sign voluntary deportation papers,” he added. Commenting on the report’s findings, a former European Commission (EC) official admitted that there had “always been concerns about human rights” regarding the EU’s funding for Türkiye and that he had raised the issue internally for years. “The pushback policies, the return policies, they have been common concerns throughout,” he added. The former EC official’s assessments were echoed by Emma Sinclair from Human Rights Watch. “European leaders are fully aware of what is going on, they just don’t want to get their hands dirty,” she said, adding: “The EU is indirectly facilitating forced returns. They subcontract human rights violations to third countries”. ECRE member organisation Jesuit Refugee Service Europe X posted that the EU should invest in “protecting people fleeing violence, not supporting their deportation into dangerous contexts”.
EC President Ursula von der Leyen has raised the issue of “return hubs” in advance of an upcoming migration-related discussion in the European Council. In a letter dated 14 October, von der Leyen wrote: “We should also continue to explore possible ways forward as regards the idea of developing return hubs outside the EU, especially in view of a new legislative proposal on return”. She also expressed her concerns about possible increased migration stemming from the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and called for a continuation in the development of “comprehensive partnerships with key third countries”. Further discussions on the various issues raised in von der Leyen’s letter are expected to take place when EU leaders meet on 17 October in Brussels. Commenting on the letter, Dutch member of the European Parliament, Tineke Strik, X posted that von der Leyen’s plan for return hubs “indirectly undermines the right to asylum, solidarity and just adopted migration pact” and “will not work in practice and is inhumane”. She concluded that it was “unbelievable that the Commission as Guardian of the Treaties is acting as a sell out to the toxic ideas of the Member States”.
A leaked Council document has suggested that neither Egypt nor Tunisia are interested in reaching agreements with the EU on migration whereas co-operation with Libya is developing positively. The document, which was drafted by the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU in July and published by the NGO Statewatch, provides an overview of the situation regarding the Central Mediterranean migration route. It notes that Egypt has not shown interest in “concluding a joint statement on migration and mobility” or “negotiations with the EU for an international agreement enabling the exchange of personal data with Europol”. Regarding Tunisia, the document reveals that negotiations with the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) are “ongoing” but that it has “not shown particular interest to negotiate an international agreement with the EU enabling the exchange of personal data (…) since the adoption of the relevant Council authorisation in 2018.” The assessment of Libya is, however, much more optimistic. “The Libyan side is showing commitment to the pressing issues” and “further development of the dialogue is expected,” the document reads.
More than 60 NGOs have called for an end to EU co-operation with Tunisia due to the latter not being a safe place for the disembarkation for people rescued in the Mediterranean. In a joint statement released on 4 October, the organisations wrote: “In view of the rampant human rights violations against migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees in Tunisia, especially those who are Black; Tunisia’s lack of an asylum system; the Tunisian government’s crackdown on civil society, judicial independence, and the media; and the impossibility of fairly and individually determining nationalities or assessing the protection needs of migrants and asylum seekers while at sea, it is clear that Tunisia is not a safe place for the disembarkation of people intercepted or rescued at sea”. The signatories, which include ECRE member organisations the Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration (ASGI) and PRO ASYL, also called on the EU and its member states to “terminate their cooperation on migration control with Tunisian authorities”.
The Lebanese government has estimated that approximately 310,000 people, most of them Syrians, have crossed the country’s border with Syria since Israeli forces invaded southern Lebanon on 1 October. A video posted on X appears to show a large number of people, including women and children, stranded at a border checkpoint between rebel-held and Syrian government areas. According to Middle East Eye, many of the people at the checkpoint had been displaced from the same area in 2011. “These people are mostly from this region,” one activist told the news organisation. “They fled when their homes became a battlefield, and now they are returning only to face another crisis,” they added. People interviewed by Middle East Eye reported that they had been subjected to extortion at various checkpoints. “At each of the countless military checkpoints on the way to the rebel-held area, we had to pay. They would ask us things like: ‘What have you brought us as a gift from Lebanon?’ In total, I paid about $300,” one of them said.
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- EU EXTERNAL PARTNERS: Investigation Reveals EU Funding Security Forces Accused of Migrant Abuse in Tunisia ― Leaked Report Reveals EU Concerns About Credibility Risk of Migration Co-operation with Tunisia ― European Court of Auditors Report Criticises Use of EU Trust Fund for Africa in Libya ― NGOs Denounce Morocco and Spain for Forced Returns from Ceuta (September 2024)
- EU EXTERNAL PARTNERS: Frontex Denies Involvement in Pushbacks and Defends €400 Million ‘Expansion’ Tender ― Thousands Pushed Back to Niger from Algeria Libya and Tunisia ― Discussions on Closer EU-Egypt Co-operation on Migration ― NGO Report Reveals Pushbacks and Pullbacks in Cyprus and Lebanon ― UN Increases Aid for Sudanese Refugees in Libya (September 2024)