UNHCR: Bulgaria’s draft law foresees widespread detention of asylum seekers, contrary to international and EU norms and standards

12th December 2013 | News

UNHCR has shared with Bulgaria’s Parliament its provisional comments on a draft bill amending the Law on Asylum and Refugees. According to the UN Refugee Agency, under the guise of transposing the 2013 recast of the EU Reception Conditions Directive, the draft bill...

DRC: Migrants and refugees remain unprotected, marginalized and vulnerable to abuse in Libya  

9th December 2013 | News

A new report by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) on mixed migration in Libya highlights that the lack of effective protection measures leaves migrants, refugees and asylum seekers exposed to abuse, violence, exploitation, arrests and detention. The report recommends...

NGOs sceptical about plans of Germany’s coalition government on migration and asylum

9th December 2013 | News

The recently agreed coalition agreement between Germany’s conservative Christian parties (Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Socialist Union (CSU)) and the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) was described by ECRE Member Organisation Pro Asyl as a...

French NGOs call for legislative reform to stop abusive use of administrative detention

9th December 2013 | News

43,746 persons were detained in 2012 in France for the purpose of return. The five NGOs seeking to ensure respect for detainee’s fundamental rights in the 25 French administrative detention centres for third country nationals have published a joint report this week...

ECtHR condemns Turkey for summary detention and deportation of Uzbek refugees to Iran

9th December 2013 | News

In Ghorbanov and Others v. Turkey (no. 28127/09), handed down on 2 December 2013, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held that the rights to liberty and protection from ill-treatment of 19 Uzbek nationals were violated by their repeated summary detention and...

Commission-led ‘Task Force Mediterranean’ presents measures on border controls and legal channels for refugees and migrants to reach Europe

9th December 2013 | News

Two months after two tragedies off the Italian and Maltese coasts where hundreds of migrants died trying to reach European shores, Commissioner Cecilia Malmström has presented a communication identifying actions in five main areas: reinforced border surveillance;...

Germany to take in 5,000 more Syrian refugees

6th December 2013 | News

Germany announced today its intention to offer shelter to 5,000 additional Syrian refugees. Earlier this year Germany committed to accept an initial 5,000 refugees under the humanitarian admission programme bringing the new total to 10,000.  Lower Saxony’s interior...

Swiss government reinstates restrictions for non-core relatives in Syria to join family in Switzerland

6th December 2013 | News

On 29 November 2013, the Swiss Federal Council announced a re-application of former restrictions on family reunification rights for Syrians residing in Switzerland. From 4 September to 29 November 2013, the Swiss government extended the family reunification rights of...

Bulgaria urged to clamp down on xenophobic violence against migrants and refugees

6th December 2013 | News

This week Amnesty International and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) have called on the Bulgarian authorities to take all necessary measures to protect migrants and refugees and to investigate crimes committed against them. The call comes after two Syrian...

Fair Trials: States abusing Interpol’s ‘wanted person’ alert systems to persecute refugees and activists

2nd December 2013 | News

A report published this week by Fair Trials International entitled “Strengthening respect for human rights, strengthening Interpol” highlights that certain countries are using Interpol’s ‘red notice’ system against exiled political opponents. Interpol is the world’s...