Spain’s government came under fierce criticism this week after proposing an amendment to Spain’s Aliens law in order to allow the summary return of migrants attempting to cross the border in Ceuta and Melilla – “rejections at the border”, in the language of the...
#MareNostrum saved 150000 people. And now? A European effort to #savelives is urgently needed! http://t.co/9VzG8PRuKp pic.twitter.com/DtTW13gKkx — ECRE (@ecre) October 28, 2014 ECRE and UNHCR have warned that ending Italy’s rescue operation Mare Nostrum without...
A new report by France terre d’asile dispels many myths around the situation of migrants and refugees in Calais, in northern France. The report highlights that, contrary to the portrayal of these people as irregular migrants, many of them are likely to be in need of...
In its Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights at International Borders, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) emphasises that irregular border crossing is an administrative issue and should be managed as such. The Guidelines...
As of 10 October 2014 the French Council of State has withdrawn Kosovo from the national list of safe countries of origin. Asylum seekers from ‘safe countries’ have their applications examined in an accelerated procedure on the assumption that persecution is unlikely...
Unaccompanied children seeking asylum in Malta are deprived of their liberty until their age is determined, the age assessment procedure lacks transparency and it is not formalised or regulated by law. In addition, during the age assessment, children often have no...
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has unanimously found Italy to be in violation of the prohibition of collective expulsions of aliens (Article 4 of Protocol 4 European Convention of Human Rights) as well as the prohibition of inhumane and degrading treatment...
In a report on his visit to the Netherlands in May 2014, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, has expressed concern regarding the extensive use of detention of asylum seekers and migrants at the border. Current practice shows that in...
In a jointly published policy paper, ECRE, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) call on the European Union (EU) to use the momentum in development discourse at the European level to integrate and mainstream protracted...
Italy’s Minister of Interior Angelino Alfano announced yesterday (9 October) that the Italian operation Mare Nostrum that has saved more than 140,000 people since October 2013 will end and be replaced by the Frontex operation Triton. According to the Council...