POLAND: New report highlights abuse against people trying to cross Poland-Belarus border ― Three month extension for border ‘exclusion zone’ ― Controversial asylum law approved ― Government restates opposition to EU Migration Pact despite legal threat
A new NGO report has revealed a disturbing pattern of abuse and violence against people on the move at the Poland-Belarus border. Poland has extended the duration of the exclusion zone on its border with Belarus by 90 days. The Senate has approved a draft law that...
MEDITERRANEAN: More rescues and deaths in Central Mediterranean ― Cyprus accused of pushbacks and ignoring NGO warnings prior to tragedy ― Leaked EU document suggests Malta refuses to co-operate in search and rescue missions ― Italian court confirms suspension of rescue ship’s detention
A number of serious incidents have taken place in the Central Mediterranean in recent weeks. Cypriot authorities have been accused of pushing back three boats and ignoring warnings from a search and rescue NGO the day before a shipwreck. Leaked documents from an EU...
Proposal for an EU Return Regulation
The European Commission (EC) has published its proposal for a ‘Regulation establishing a common system for the return of third-country nationals staying illegally in the Union’, commonly referred to as the Return Regulation. If adopted, it will replace inter alia the...
IRELAND: Hearing in appeal against judgment over asylum accommodation case ― Watchdog exposes failings in state-run asylum accommodation centres ― Record number of deaths of people seeking asylum in Ireland in 2024 ― Potential cuts to support for Ukrainian refugee hosts
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has defended an appeal by the state against a High Court judgment relating to the provision of asylum accommodation. A new report by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has revealed serious issues in...
ITALY: Opening of Cutro shipwreck trial ― Court orders Italy to pay compensation to people held on coastguard vessel ― Journalists’ union launches legal action against government over spyware hacking ― NGOs condemn ‘illegitimate’ detention centres in Albania
A criminal trial related to the Cutro shipwreck has opened in Crotone. Italy has been ordered to pay compensation to a group of people who were prevented from disembarking from an Italian coastguard ship. The Italian National Press Federation (FNSI) has launched legal...
ECRE Comments Paper: Schengen Borders Code
ECRE has published a comments paper on the Regulation amending the Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders, commonly known as the Schengen Borders Code (SBC). This comments paper includes ECRE’s analysis of the changes that were...
EDITORIAL: Weaponisation of refugees in the Trump era – you ain’t seen nothing yet
By Catherine Woollard The talk among security analysts is of the US “decoupling” from Europe but what we’ve seen goes far beyond this. It is about open hostility, and the threat of coercion, conquest, and destruction in the pursuit of an ideological agenda. Yes, there...
GERMANY: Federal election 2025
The federal election which took place on 23 February saw a record voter turnout. 82.5% of the 59.2 million eligible voters participated to elect the 630 members of the Bundestag (federal parliament). This represented the highest turnout since 1987 (i.e. prior to...