The New Year was bookended by worrying developments on the right to asylum in Europe: legislative proposals which, together with the proposed Council Decision of November 2021, could be classed as a new asylum mini-package. In the reductio ad absurdum that is EU...
An extreme right candidate in France’s upcoming presidential race has been fined 10,000 euro over hateful remarks towards young unaccompanied child migrants. New statistics on 2021 asylum requests show a general drop since 2019, with Afghans constituting the majority...
After rumours circulated once again that UK plans for asylum outsourcing had found a landing ground, the Ghanaian government has said it will not consider a UK asylum centre on its territory. A proliferating number of rogue practices have attracted attention to the...
The discrepancy between the number of irregular arrivals reported by the Ministry for Immigration and the rescues reported by the Ministry for Maritime Affairs leaves 25,000 people unaccounted, seemingly providing further evidence of systematic pushbacks. Billions in...
The decision to throw out a court case regarding overcrowding in the Arguineguín pier in 2020 has provoked indignation among migrant rights advocates. Anti-racist campaigners are calling for a re-evaluation of the use of biometric border technologies due to the...
On 14 January the Court of Rome confirmed its landmark ruling from December and ordered Italian authorities to issue humanitarian visas to two Afghans within ten days. After an 11-hour inspection by Italian port authorities, the Ocean Viking rescue vessel was blocked...
As authorities seek to stem the routes most widely-used to seek asylum in Europe, rendering journeys increasingly dangerous, irregular arrivals through the Balkans are on the rise. 55,000 people entered the EU irregularly through the Western Balkan route in 2021, a...
Proposed EU measures to respond to the situation at the bloc’s eastern border have been challenged by the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). A trip to Poland by German MEPs and MPs has confirmed that the situation for...
On 19 January 2022 Regulation (EU) 2021/2303 on the establishment of a European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) entered into force, transforming the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) into a full-fledged agency with a broadened and enhanced mandate. With the new...
UN Secretary General António Guterres has raised critique of the treatment of asylum seekers by Cypriot authorities as riots and confrontations spread on the island. In his report to the UN Security Council on 3 January, Secretary General Guterres warned that the...
