Joint statement: The new Pact on Asylum and Migration: An Opportunity Seized or Squandered?
After years of treating asylum and migration in crisis mode, we believe the proposed Pact on Asylum and Migration is an opportunity for the EU and its Member States to change direction. It is an opportunity to develop a rational and rights-based asylum and migration...
Save the Date: ECRE/UNHCR Thematic Report Launch: “Follow the Money III”
ECRE/UNHCR Thematic Report Launch: “Follow the Money III” Solidarity: The use of AMIF funds to incentivise resettlement and relocation in the EU UNHCR and the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) are pleased to invite you to the launch of the “Follow the...
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...