Spain: Supreme Court condemns government for failure to meet relocation target*
The Spanish Supreme Court condemned today the Spanish Government for partially failing to meet its obligation to relocate a total of 19,449 asylum seekers from Greece and Italy between 2015 and 2017. The Court recalled the mandatory nature of the Relocation...
Italy: Ministry Circular urges restriction of humanitarian protection status
A Circular issued by the Italian Ministry of Interior on 4 July 2018 has instructed Territorial Commissions for International Protection to restrict the granting of humanitarian protection statuses to asylum seekers. The Circular was sent to the Territorial...
Editorial: Austria: When good countries go bad
Up until 2015 or so, Austria was quite a favourite of NGOs in Brussels: an EU Member State willing to promote human rights in EU internal and external policies and happy to support civil society, both generally and in its provision of input into EU policy-making. It...Romania: Living conditions in reception centres a persisting concern*
People in need of protection continue to face substandard living conditions in Regional Centres for Procedures and Accommodation of Asylum Seekers in Bucharest and Giurgiu, Romania. A recent set of fact-finding visits conducted between 18 and 22 June 2018 looked at...
German coalition envisages “transit processes” at land borders but details remain unclear
Following an emergency meeting between the German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) on Monday and further discussions with the coalition partner SPD, a compromise for strict measures against refugees and migrants arriving in...
Italy pushes ahead with “Salvini Plan” to bolster Libyan Coast Guard in fight against “illegal migration”
Italy drew up plans this week to strengthen the Libyan Coast Guard’s capacities and to counter ‘illegal migration’. Dubbed the ‘Salvini Plan’, after Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, officials from both countries met on Monday and...
France: Immigration detention increase continues
The number of people deprived of their liberty in France for immigration reasons continues to rise, according to the annual report compiled by civil society organisations monitoring administrative detention centres (CRA) and other administrative detention places...
Op-ed: Safety-net torn apart
By Anikó Bakonyi, Advocacy and Project Officer, Hungarian Helsinki Committee Azim had been waiting in Serbia for nine months to enter Hungary and submit his asylum application. By the time he reached the metal revolving door at the Serbian-Hungarian border he had left...