The “stop the boats” obsession – a viewpoint from Australia by Paul Power, Chief Executive Officer, Refugee Council of Australia

14th February 2014 | News

14 February When the conservative Liberal-National Coalition was elected to government in Australia on 7 September 2013, one of its main pledges was to “stop the boats”. Since 2001, the response to asylum seekers who enter Australia by boat without prior visas has...

At least 13 people die in an attempt to enter Spain – Migrants accuse Guardia Civil of using rubber bullets and tear gas against them

7th February 2014 | News

7 February 2014 13 sub-Saharan migrants died on Thursday while trying to cross into the Spanish city of Ceuta on the North-African coast from a beach in neighbouring Morocco. Several migrants said Spanish Guardia Civil (Spanish policing authorities)shot rubber bullets...

Denmark suspends returns of asylum seekers to Bulgaria under the Dublin Regulation

7th February 2014 | News

7 February 2014 In response to a question from the Danish Parliamentary Committee on Immigration and Integration Affairs on 9 January 2014, the Justice Minister announced on 5 February that returns of asylum seekers under the Dublin Regulation to Bulgaria are...

Over half of women asylum seekers in the UK interviewed for new report contemplated suicide during detention

7th February 2014 | News

7 February 2014 According to UK Home Office statistics, 1,902 women seeking asylum were detained in 2012 in the UK, which equates to roughly a third of women asylum applicants for this period. Of the 46 detained women interviewed for a new report by UK-based NGO Women...

Commissioner Malmström: “There are very serious allegations of pushbacks and ill treatment of migrants in Greece. We need to shed full light”

7th February 2014 | News

7 February 2014 European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström and several Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have urged the Greek government to undertake an independent, thorough and transparent investigations into the tragedy that claimed  the lives...

Danish Refugee Council criticises Malta’s treatment of asylum seekers

7th February 2014 | News

7 February 2014 The Danish Refugee Council (DRC), in its role of provider of free legal assistance to applicants in the Dublin procedure, has published this week a report on Malta’s asylum and reception systems, which criticises the practice of systematically...

European Parliament: Migration policies should not prevent undocumented migrant women from accessing their fundamental rights

7th February 2014 | News

7 February 2014 The European Parliament has adopted this week a non-legislative resolution on “Undocumented women migrants in the European Union”, calling on EU Member States to  detach immigration policies from access to healthcare and education as well as from the...

Denmark suspends returns of asylum seekers to Bulgaria under the Dublin Regulation

7th February 2014 | News

7 February 2014 In response to a question from the Danish Parliamentary Committee on Immigration and Integration Affairs on 9 January 2014, the Justice Minister announced on 5 February that returns of asylum seekers under the Dublin Regulation to Bulgaria are...

Returning migrants and asylum seekers to Libya would put their lives at risk, JRS Malta says

7th February 2014 | News

7 February 2014 The Maltese Government should not return asylum seekers to Libya because their safety, lives and freedoms would be at risk, argues the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Malta in a new report entitled Beyond Imagination. In Libya, asylum seekers have no...

Implementation of EU Return Directive in Spain, Italy and Cyprus raises human rights concerns

7th February 2014 | News

7 February 2014 A new study by Borderline Europe in cooperation with partner organisations KISA in Cyprus, Borderline Sicilia in Italy, and Mugak and Acoge in Spain reveals serious shortcomings concerning the implementation of the EU Return Directive in Spain, Italy...