Weekly Editorial: A dark winter in Europe
Developments this winter will make you question everything you thought you knew about Europe. As freezing temperatures have taken hold, French police are reported to be harassing migrants seeking shelter, in Greece and Bulgaria migrants are dying from hypothermia and...
France: NGOs concerned about police conduct towards migrants
NGOs are expressing concerns with the conduct of police officers towards migrants and asylum seekers in the streets of Paris where more than 100 people are still without shelter. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the local association P’tis déj à Flandres report that...
Hungary: to increase detention of asylum-seekers and crack down on NGOs
On 12 January the Hungarian government published a statement by the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office János Lázár revealing the intent to reinstate alien police detention. These plans were later reiterated by Prime Minister Victor Orbán. The result will be...
Asylum statistics 2016: Sharper inequalities and persisting Asylum lottery
On January 17 the ECRE’s Asylum Information Database (AIDA) published an overview of the latest asylum trends revealing sharper discrepancies in the distribution of refugees across Europe, as well as persisting disparities in the recognition of international...
Slovenian amendments threaten to close borders for refugees -OP-ed by Slovenian legal-informational centre for NGOs (PIC)
Later this month the Slovenian Parliament are set to vote on legislative amendments to the Slovenian Aliens Act proposed by the government. The amendments are entrusting the Parliament with the power to effectively close the borders for asylum seekers. Such a closure...
Austria: Proposals to restrict humanitarian visas and family reunification
The draft Aliens Reform Act 2017 (FrÄG 2017) has been presented to the Austrian Parliament. The draft document will further restrict refugee protection. It foresees amendments to a number of Austrian laws, including the Asylum Act and the Aliens Police Act. One of the...
Italy: Large-scale expansion of detention centres for tougher migration control
Following Italy’s change of government, a Circular outlining a stricter policy on migration control by the Head of the Italian Police was distributed to police authorities across Italy. One of the measures was large-scale use of detention to control irregular...
Malta prioritises migration as it takes over Presidency of the Council of the EU
On the first of January Malta took over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Slovakia. The Republic of Malta set out its priorities and migration is a key priority. Malta has set out to ensure that migration remains at the top of the...