Greece deports hundreds of people to Turkey

4th March 2016 | News

4 March 2016 On Wednesday 2 March, the European Commission announced that Greece was in the process of returning 308 people who had entered Greece irregularly, back to Turkey, stepping up its efforts to ensure an effective return policy. They are mainly of Moroccan,...

The place for human rights in Europe and the world is shakier than ever

4th March 2016 | News

4 March 2016 Amnesty International’s 2015/2016 Report was released in February, documenting the state of human rights in 160 countries across the globe. The report depicts a bleak situation for human rights around the world, including in Europe where the year was...

Chief Inspector of Prisons calls for a time limit to immigration detention in the UK, in damning report

3rd March 2016 | News

3 March 2016 The largest immigration detention centre in Europe, Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre in the UK, has been found to have deteriorated to an ‘unacceptable condition’. The Chief Inspector of Prisons in the UK, Peter Clarke, has published  a damning...

EP study calls for more inclusive and gender-specific integration policies

3rd March 2016 | News

3 March 2016 A study commissioned by the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) Committee of the European Parliament analyses the situation of women refugees and asylum seekers in the EU, underlining the importance of considering the refugee experience from a...

Joint Statement: European leaders should keep the borders open and allow access to asylum

3rd March 2016 | News

    3 March 2016 To European Leaders: As national and international organizations working along the Western Balkan migration route in Greece, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and Croatia, we strongly condemn the latest discriminatory and dangerous...

ECRE Comments on the Commission Recommendation relating to the reinstatement of Dublin transfers to Greece

26th February 2016 | News

26 February 2016 ECRE has published comments on the European Commission’s Recommendation on the urgent measures to be taken in view of the resumption of Dublin transfers to Greece. Transfers to Greece have been suspended since 2011, following judgments of the European...

Over 200 refugees, including SIA, rejected on the Slovenian border

19th February 2016 | News

19 February 2016 In the early hours of Wednesday 17 February, 217 asylum seekers were returned from Slovenia, through Croatia and finally to Serbia.  The group, as stated by UNHCR Serbia,  includes a significant number of refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria...

EU Summit: Relocation reaffirmed but Turkey put on hold

19th February 2016 | News

19 February 2016 EU heads of state and government agreed to ‘rapidly stem the flows’ of refugees and migrants, protect the EU’s external borders, reduce illegal [sic] migration and safeguard the integrity of the Schengen area, during their Council summit in Brussels...

Afghanistan is not a safe country: number of civilian casualties reaches record high in 2015

19th February 2016 | News

19 February 2016 UNAMA, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in coordination with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released the 2015 Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, documenting an increase in the numbers of...

Barriers to an effective legal remedy in Turkey

19th February 2016 | News

19 February 2016 ECRE Member, Refugee Rights Turkey, has published a paper on the barriers refugees in Turkey face accessing their right to an effective legal remedy, due to the complex arrangements for granting power of attorney. In Turkish law, a lawyer must obtain...