Weekly Editorial: After the European Parliament Elections: What Now?
The EP elections have come and gone, and assessing the results throws up qualified positives: turnout was up… but it is still low; the far right populists have not significantly improved their position… but are still too strong. Four key conclusions and accompanying...
Back and Forth on the Med: Rescues, Deaths, Interceptions, Resistance
This week, Maltese Armed Forces rescued 370 people. Off the Libyan coast, at least two people drowned and 25 remain missing while a group of 73 was rescued and brought back to Libya. A group of 75 rescued migrants demands to go to Europe after Tunisian authorities...
Germany Rejects 75% of Greek Requests for Family Reunification
In 2019, the German Federal Office for Asylum and Migration (BAMF) rejected three quarters of requests for family reunification under the Dublin III regulation from Greece. The high rejection rate draws criticism from NGOs and MPs who say the BAMF imposes exceedingly...
France: Systematic Immigration Detention further Undermines Rights
France continues to use immigration detention routinely and broadly, according to the annual report published by six civil society organisations present in the country’s detention centres. According to statistics published by the organisations, 43,609 people were...
SJME Denounces Discrimination in Spanish Migrant Detention System
In its annual report on migrant detention in 2018 entitled “Discriminación De Origen”, the Servicio Jesuita A Migrantes in Spain (SJME) denounces the discriminatory treatment of people because of their nationality and calls for abolishing migrant detention centres....
ICC Submission Seeks to Hold the EU Accountable for Creation of “World’s Deadliest Migration Route”
A new legal submission to the International Criminal Court (ICC) accuses the EU and some of its Member States of “crimes against humanity” against refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean in. The submission by international lawyers seeks to hold the EU...
Greece : European Committee on Social Rights Decision on Immediate Measures for Migrant Children Requires Urgent Action
Joint statement by International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) ICJ, ECRE and GCR welcome the decision of the European Committee on Social Rights that Greece should take “immediate...
Situation Worsens for Migrants on Western Mediterranean Route
The NGO Watch the Med Alarm Phone warns of police violence and unlawful arbitrary repression of migrants in Morocco and increasingly dangerous crossings to Spain. The organisation links the developments to Morocco’s role as Spain’s and the EUs “watchdog at the...