ATLANTIC ROUTE and SPAIN: Decrease in deaths along Atlantic route ― At least 50 people died in two incidents on Atlantic route in late December ― Significant decrease in arrivals on Canary Islands in 2025 ― Work begins on new reception centre on Tenerife ― UN experts condemn mass eviction of people on the move from settlement in Catalonia
There has been a significant decrease in the number of deaths of people trying to reach Spain but the Atlantic route remains particularly deadly. At least 50 people died in two separate incidents on the Atlantic route in the final week of 2025. There has been a...
EU EXTERNAL PARTNERS: EU top leadership visits Middle East ― NGOs decry Israel’s decision to stop them working in Gaza ― EU reportedly planning to expand migration support to eastern Libya – Tunisia releases several detained aid workers but others remain imprisoned
European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa visited Jordan, Syria and Lebanon at the beginning of January. A large group of international NGOs has raised concerns about the severe humanitarian consequences of the...
Joint Statement: EU states must not backtrack on refugee resettlement commitments
EU Member States have now adopted the Union Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Plan (URP) – a welcome step towards anchoring refugee resettlement at the heart of the EU’s new approach to asylum and migration. Despite this positive development, the newly-adopted...
ECRE Report: Study visit to Sweden on good practices in upholding the rights of asylum-seeking and refugee women and girls
ECRE and a number of its partner organisations from across Europe carried out a study visit to Stockholm, Sweden in June 2025 as part of an analysis of national practices in the protection of self-identified asylum-seeking and refugee women and girls. The specific aim...
Vacancy: Communications Assistant
The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) is looking to recruit a Communications Assistant to assist its Communications Team for six months starting in January 2026 with the possibility of a four-month extension. Please see below links to the job description...
EU EASTERN BORDERS: Progress in construction of Finland’s costly border fence ― Hungary sues EU court over judgement on asylum rules ― UNHCR urges Lithuania to stop pushbacks ― Over 180 people tunnel into Poland from Belarus
The construction of fencing along Finland’s eastern border is almost complete in Lapland. The Hungarian government has filed a lawsuit against the Court of Justice of the EU over its ruling on the country’s asylum rules. The United Nations Refugee Agency has urged...
BALKAN ROUTE: EU-Western Balkan Summit held in Brussels ― UK invests £10m to fight people smuggling in Western Balkans ― State authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina preparing to take over management of migration reception centres from IOM ― Frontex report blames Bulgarian authorities for minors’ deaths in 2024 ― Three dead after tragedy on Croatia-BiH river border ― New analysis predicts implications of EU Pact on Migration and Asylum for Serbia
EU and Western Balkan leaders held a high-level summit on 17 December in Brussels. The UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has hosted a meeting with her counterparts from the Western Balkans. State authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) are preparing to take over...
Interview with Samanta Brahaj and Victoria Salaza Cruz from VOICIFY
How would you describe yourselves and your organisation? We are young people with lived migration experience. Too often, we are (only) labelled as Young Refugees, Exiled, Migrants, Asylum Seekers, or Undocumented (YREMASUD). But before anything else, we are human...