EU-Turkey plan endangers refugees’ safety and dignity

11th March 2016 | News

11 March 2016 A one-for-one plan to resettle one Syrian refugee from Turkey to Europe for every Syrian refugee readmitted from Greece to Turkey was decided last Monday, 7 March at a meeting between the EU head of states and Turkey’s Prime Minister Davutoglu and...

UNHCR proposes a 6 point plan towards solving refugee situation in Europe

11th March 2016 | News

11 March 2016 Ahead of the meeting on 7 March between EU Heads of State or Government and Turkey, UNHCR proposed a six-point plan for EU Member States to solve the refugee situation in Europe. It calls for better implementation of the ‘hotspot’ approach and relocation...

EU-Turkey deal: trading in people and outsourcing the EU’s responsibilities

8th March 2016 | News

Brussels, 8 March 2016. The EU-Turkey Summit of 7 March 2016 demonstrated a continued lack of moral leadership in Europe’s response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis for refugees in Europe. Focusing yet again on reducing the number of people arriving is a shameful...

Drastic change of policy on the “Balkan route” hinders access to protection

8th March 2016 | Uncategorized

4 March 2016 Newly introduced measures introduced by Western Balkans governments and Austria will create an even more dangerous environment for people on the move, warned a coalition of 26 NGOs, including ECRE. On 18 February, the Austrian, Slovenian, Croatian,...

EU Court of Justice ruling on freedom of movement for beneficiaries of international protection

8th March 2016 | Uncategorized

4 March 2016 The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that a requirement that beneficiaries of subsidiary protection who are receiving welfare benefits must live in a certain part of Germany amounts to a restriction on the right to freedom of movement. The...

Drastic change of policy on the “Balkan route” hinders access to protection

4th March 2016 | News

4 March 2016 Newly introduced measures introduced by Western Balkans governments and Austria will create an even more dangerous environment for people on the move, warned a coalition of 26 NGOs, including ECRE. On 18 February, the Austrian, Slovenian, Croatian,...

EU Court of Justice ruling on freedom of movement for beneficiaries of international protection

4th March 2016 | News

4 March 2016 The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that a requirement that beneficiaries of subsidiary protection who are receiving welfare benefits must live in a certain part of Germany amounts to a restriction on the right to freedom of movement. The...

Conditions for refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border worsening by the day

4th March 2016 | News

4 March 2016 Tension broke out in Idomeni (Greece) on Sunday 28 February when a group of refugees, who were stranded at the border, staged a protest, asking to be allowed to pass through  FYROM to continue on their journey. The Macedonian police, in response to the...

ECRE urges the EU and Member States not to resume Dublin transfers to Greece

4th March 2016 | News

4 March 2016 As a response to the European Commission’s Recommendation on urgent measures to be taken by Greece to resume transfers of asylum seekers under the Dublin Regulation there, ECRE published comments expressing concerns about ongoing shortcomings in the Greek...

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,...