Joining your family – When a rickety boat is your only choice

3rd October 2014 | News

By Meron Estefanos, Co-founder of International Commission on Eritrean Refugees I am often amazed by how far removed the policy world is from the realities of refugees and asylum seekers who find themselves caught up in the plethora of legislation, policies and...

“Legal migration is the best way to fight illegal migration”, Commissioner-designate Avramopoulos

3rd October 2014 | News

Commissioner-designate for Migration and Home Affairs Dimitri Avramopoulos, the nominee from Greece for the position of EU Commissioner, was examined by the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties and Home Affairs (LIBE) at a hearing on Tuesday 30...

IOM: journey to Europe, most deadly route for irregular migrants

3rd October 2014 | News

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates that 22,394 persons died since 2000 trying to reach Europe by irregular routes, while around 40,000 migrants have died on route in total, globally. That makes Europe the most fatal destination for irregular...

New report on statelessness reveals shocking human rights abuses and calls for urgent reform across Europe

3rd October 2014 | News

The European Network on Statelessness (ENS) launched a new report today, 3 October, Still stateless, still suffering – Why Europe must act now to protect stateless persons, which contains testimonies by stateless migrants living in 11 European countries. The report...

Human Rights Commission of the Italian Senate: prolonging detention ineffective for ensuring returns

3rd October 2014 | News

The Report on the Centres for Identification and Expulsion of foreigners (CIE) in Italy compiled by the Human Rights Commission of the Italian Senate shows that prolonging the maximum detention period to 18 months in 2011 (the maximum time allowed under the Return...

Restricted movement and detention of asylum seekers prevails in Swiss asylum process, says JRS Europe

3rd October 2014 | News

New research by Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Europe highlights that throughout the Swiss asylum process freedom of movement for asylum applicants is considerably restricted. This is the case from the moment an application is lodged, either at an airport, crossing...

Give your opinion on the AIDA website

3rd October 2014 | News

In order to improve the Asylum Information Database (AIDA) and its website, ECRE is seeking the opinion of the database’s users through a short survey. Responding to the survey takes less than 5 minutes and responses are anonymous. AIDA is an ECRE project mapping...

140,000 refugees flee to Turkey in 3 days: Turkish NGOs call for borders to remain open and for more resettlement of refugees

26th September 2014 | News

Last week, ISIS fighters attacked the Kurdish town of Kobani, also known as Ayn al-Arab, in northern Syria, causing Kobani’s residents to flee towards the nearby Turkish border. Turkey’s initial response was to close the crossing points with Syria saying that...

UK pledges €15 million to prevent migrants and refugees in Calais from entering Britain

26th September 2014 | News

The UK has committed 15 million euro to the strengthening of controls, surveillance and security at the port of Calais. A Joint Declaration from the French Ministry of Interior and UK Home Secretary agree that funding will be given to France for a period of three...

COMPAS report shows that irregular migrant families are often excluded from welfare benefits in Madrid and Berlin

26th September 2014 | News

A new report by the Centre on Migration, Policy, and Society (COMPAS), of the University of Oxford, City-level responses to migrant families with restricted access to welfare benefits: A European pilot study finds that, in both legislation and practice, access to...