Editorial: EP Election 2019: Voter Turnout is the Key to an Open Europe
With the European Parliament elections fast approaching, this week ECRE launched the latest phase of our EP 2019 Campaign. This is communications work focused on mobilising our supporters to vote, through explaining the important role played by the European Parliament...
EP ELECTION 2019 #YourVoteOurFuture
Many of us are deeply shocked to witness a European political debate and reality dominated by a small but loud minority of far-right populists and their anti-EU, anti-democratic and anti-civil rights agendas carried forward and legitimised by racist slogans demonising...
Stakeholders Encouraged to “Live Up to Commitments” of Break-Through CAR Peace Agreement
A peace agreement between the Government of the Central African Republic (CAR) and 14 non- state armed groups that has been in conflict since 2012 was signed on February 6. By the end of 2018 almost 585,000 refugees had left CAR, while close to 650,000 were internally...
Dutch to Re-examine 700 Children’s Pardon Cases, but Scheme will be Scrapped for Future Applicants
On January 29 the Dutch government announced that they will examine the cases of 700 children and their families who are under the threat of deportation, by making use of the ‘children’s pardon’ policy scheme. However, the scheme will be scrapped after the current...
Crossing a Red Line: How EU Countries Undermine the Right to Liberty by Expanding the Use of Detention of Asylum Seekers upon Entry
This week the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, in conjunction with ECRE and a number of European project partners, launched their report “Crossing a Red Line: How EU Countries Undermine the Right to Liberty by Expanding the Use of Detention of Asylum Seekers upon...
Stansted 15: Freedom for Peaceful Deportation Activists, but Deportations Still on Agenda
The fifteen activists who have come to be known as the “Stansted 15” after they grounded a chartered deportation flight at Stansted airport in March 2017, have been told that they will not receive prison sentences. The group, whose peaceful demonstration prevented 60...Greece: Destitution and makeshift accommodation continue in Thessaloniki*
Newly arrived asylum seekers in mainland Greece live in a makeshift camp near the old railway station in central Thessaloniki, due to the shortage of reception places. As the Diavata temporary accommodation facility has reached full capacity due to an increasing...
Sea Watch 3 Still Held in Catania Port after Being Cleared of Criminal Charges
The Sea Watch 3 search and rescue vessel of German NGO Sea-Watch remains blocked in the port of Catania after the Italian Coast Guard reports to have found “technical irregularities”. Consequently, there are currently no more civilian rescue vessels operating in the...