Malta AIDA update: lower numbers of asylum seekers lead to decrease in the use of detention

13th November 2015 | News

13 November 2015 This year, Malta has seen positive improvements in its asylum policy, in particular a decreased use of detention, according to the updated Asylum Information Database (AIDA) report written by ECRE members, aditus Foundation and Jesuit Refugee Service...

AIDA update Ireland: proposed asylum reform fails to squarely address direct provision

13th November 2015 | News

13 November 2015 The updated AIDA report on Ireland provides information on the reform of the protection system, on the basis of the General Scheme of the International Protection Bill presented in March 2015. The text of the bill is due to be published in the coming...

Report highlights concerns about the best interests of children in the UK asylum system

13th November 2015 | News

13 November 2015 The Law Centres Network in the UK has published a report titled ‘Put Yourself in Our Shoes’ that calls on the government to keep children’s best interests at the heart of the asylum system. Due to their vulnerability, unaccompanied children who seek...

Time to act to ensure children’s rights in the EU’s migration policy

6th November 2015 | News

Brussels, 30 October 2015 Mr. Donald Tusk President of the European Council B-1048 Brussels cc. Permanent Representative of Luxembourg, Ambassador Christian Braun cc. Counsellor, Permanent Representation of Luxembourg, Mr. Pascal Schumacher cc. All Permanent...

ECRE Weekly Bulletin Questionnaire 2015

6th November 2015 | News

We want to hear from you! ECRE launched a survey to get to know what you think about the Weekly Bulletin. It only takes 5 minutes of your time to tell us your thoughts about our newsletter and help us improve the way we inform you about the latest developments on...

ECtHR condemns conditions of detention at Tychero border post in Greece

6th November 2015 | News

6 November 2015 The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that the conditions in which an Iraqi asylum applicant A.Y. was held in detention at the Tychero border post amounted to ‘inhuman and degrading treatment’ which violated Article 3 of the European...

UNHCR urges States to stop returning asylum seekers and migrants to Libya

6th November 2015 | News

6 November 2015 According to UNHCR, no asylum seeker or migrant should be returned to Libya, including people rescued at sea and those who are not eligible for international protection. Returns would expose migrants to widespread violations of human rights and...

Greece: so close to safety, so far from protection

6th November 2015 | News

6 November 2015 From Wednesday to Sunday last week, over 60 people died in the Aegean Sea in a series of dramatic shipwrecks during the crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands of Lesbos, Samos, Kalymnos and Rhodes. On Wednesday alone, five shipwrecks were reported,...

Amnesty International denounces Australia’s involvement in smuggling of asylum seekers

6th November 2015 | News

6 November 2015 A new Amnesty International report found that in May and June 2015, the Australian authorities paid smugglers to return asylum seekers to Indonesia, without examining whether they would have faced risks of persecutions or serious abuses in the country...

Court orders improvements to the human rights situation in Calais

6th November 2015 | News

6 November 2015 A coalition of NGOs, including ELENA-France, filed a legal challenge last week, along with applicants from Eritrea, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, to the human rights conditions in the Calais slum. The judge found that the reports of the NGOs involved,...