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...
UKRAINE: Third anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion
On 24 February, EU leaders gathered in Kyiv to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The presidents of the European Commission (EC) and the European Council (EUCO) joined heads of state and government from various EU member states and...
EU EASTERN BORDERS: NGO report highlights ‘systematic’ pushbacks at EU borders ― European court hears landmark pushback cases against Poland, Latvia and Lithuania ― NGO denounces deadly effects of ‘militarisation’ on Poland-Belarus border; urges parliament to reject ‘unconscionable’ asylum law ― Polish Prime Minister reaffirms opposition to EU Pact ― Five people on trial for providing humanitarian aid at Poland-Belarus border
A recent NGO report has revealed that over 120,000 pushbacks were recorded at the EU’s borders in 2024, including almost 20,000 at the eastern borders. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has begun a landmark series of hearings against Poland, Latvia and...
CYPRUS: Government accused of coercing Syrians into ‘voluntary’ returns ― Trial of prominent human rights defender postponed for fourth time ― Hundreds of Syrians reportedly withdrawing asylum applications ― Call for end to freeze on Syrians’ asylum applications
The government has been accused of coercing Syrians into “voluntary” returns. The trial of a prominent human rights defender who has been accused of assaulting a guard in a reception centre has been postponed for the fourth time. Hundreds of Syrians have reportedly...