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...
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 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...
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...
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...
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...
This week, three of the nine survivors of the tragedy that in April 2011 claimed the lives of 63 refugees who were left to die at sea have filed a complaint at the Brussels Tribunal of First Instance against the Belgian army for failing to provide assistance to...
In a new report, Medici per I Diritti Humani (Doctors for Human Rights) has documented over a hundred accounts of push-backs of migrants and asylum seekers from the Italian Adriatic ports to Greece, under a readmission agreement between the two countries. The...
In its Concluding Observations and Recommendations on Belgium published this week, the Committee Against Torture (CAT) acknowledged Belgium’s efforts to improve the situation for asylum seekers and refugees since the last report, but expressed concern regarding the...
On 19 November, the Committee against Torture provided its concluding observations and recommendations on Poland’s implementation of the Convention against Torture. The Committee recommends that Poland guarantees fair treatment of asylum seekers at all stage of...
