Council’s Five-Year Strategic Guidelines Reinforce Focus on Return
A draft version of the strategic guidelines of the Council of the EU in the field of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA), leaked by Statewatch, details how the Council plans to implement the Strategic Agenda 2019-2024 to guide the EU’s work in the next five years in...
Med: Disembarkations in Italy, Rescues by Malta, Court release NGO Vessel
Over the weekend Spanish NGO Open Arms received permission to disembark 363 passengers in Italy and the Armed Forces Malta (AFM) brought a group of 47 rescued people to Malta. The NGO-run rescue vessel Mare Jonio was released after being held for five months in an...
Spain: Authorities Denounced for Indirect Returns to Mali
The Spanish Refugee Support Commission (CEAR) denounces the indirect return by Spanish authorities of people of Malian origin to the conflict-torn country via Mauretania, against UNHCR guidelines. In the last eight weeks the Spanish government conducted seven return...
Greece: Situation in Lesvos Intensifies after Police Crackdown on Protesters
2000 men, women and children participated in a rally on February 3 to protest the conditions in the overcrowded Moria camp and demand an acceleration of their asylum procedures. The protests were met with excessive force by police and clashes erupted continuing on...
Suspension of UNHCR Work at Gathering and Departure Facility (GDF) in War Torn Tripoli
In a press release on Thursday, 30 January, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announced the suspension of its operational work in the Gathering and Departure Facility (GDF) in Tripoli, Libya due to safety concerns for migrants and refugees and its staff. Despite a...
Latest AIDA Country Update on Turkey Translated into Arabic and Turkish
The latest AIDA Country Update on Turkey is now out in Arabic and Turkish. The AIDA Update offers the only comprehensive analysis of legislative, policy and practice developments relating to the asylum procedure, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers, and...
Med: NGOs Rescue Almost 1000 people – Pull-backs to Libya continue
In the course of the last week NGO-run vessels have rescued almost 1000 people in at least of 12 operations at the Central Mediterranean. Italy and Malta provided a safe port in two cases. The rescue vessel ‘Open Arms’, run by the NGO with the same name,...
Belgium Unlawfully Limits Access to Reception for Certain Asylum Seekers
Since 7 January 2020, the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers in Belgium (Fedasil) no longer provides reception for two categories of asylum seekers. The measure, announced by Belgium’s minister for migration Maggie De Block, concerns asylum seekers for...