Cyprus: MoU Signed with European Commission While Government Casts Blame on Asylum Seekers

25th February 2022 | News

A memorandum of understanding was signed between Cyprus and the European Commission on 21 February to improve reception, asylum procedures, integration and the “efficiency of returns”. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Nicos Nouris blames asylum seekers for insufficient...

UK: Australian Adviser Recruited, Welsh and Scottish Parliaments Reject Bill, Afghans Stuck in Hotels, Home Office Accused of Harming Women and Ignoring Racism

25th February 2022 | News

A former Australian minister who advocates for a “zero refugee solution” has been appointed to conduct a review of the UK Border Force. The Nationality and Borders Bill, dubbed the “Anti-Refugee Bill” by campaigners, has been rejected by the Welsh and Scottish...

Greece: Pushbacks Face Renewed International, Legal, Political, and Public Scrutiny, Turkey Conducts Large-Scale Returns, Coast Guard Seeks to Purchase Surveillance Software

25th February 2022 | News

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has singled out Greece in an unusually vocal warning over pushbacks and rights violations at borders. Scrutiny against pushbacks continues to come from many other actors, from a Greek NGO testifying at a Belgian federal hearing, to a case...

Austria: New Judgment Confirms Pushbacks, Swiss-Austrian Readmission Agreement Review Paves the Way for Summary Returns, Government Seeks Cooperation on Return

25th February 2022 | News

Another judgment from the Styrian Provincial Administrative Court confirms pushback practices in Austria. Austria and Switzerland have agreed to update a bilateral readmission agreement, partly in reaction to European Commission proposals. Austrian government has...

Switzerland: Kids Suffer in Deportation Facilities, Government Lambasted Over Afghan Humanitarian Visas, Initiative to Welcome Refugees at Local Level, Warnings against Dublin Transfers to Italy

18th February 2022 | News

Three deportation centres have been criticised for failing to adequately care for children and families. The vast majority of Afghan requests for humanitarian visas have been refused due to strict criteria. The Swiss Greens are tabling a parliamentary initiative to...

Greece: Aegean Sea Unmonitored as Crackdown on Civil Society Continues, New Violent Pushbacks Amid Collective Deportations from Turkey to Syria, New Lesvos Camp in High Risk Area

18th February 2022 | News

The German NGO Mare Liberum has been forced to leave the Aegean Sea. This leaves the strait, well documented to be the scene of violent pushbacks, without civilian monitoring. Violent pushbacks from Greece continue, alongside reports of collective deportations from...

Germany: Government Urged to Speed Up Afghan Visas, Smugglers Exploit Dreams of Germany, Tens of Thousands of “Onward Movement” Claims on Hold

18th February 2022 | News

Six months on from the fall of Kabul, German rights groups are calling for the government to speed up the admission and reception of Afghans. Police operations have exposed the ways in which smugglers and so-called “work agents” exploit asylum seekers and migrants...

Cyprus: Government Blames Turkey for High Number of Arrivals and Requests Frontex Patrols – Leggeri Promises Support and Facilitation of Returns

18th February 2022 | News

Faced with a high number of arrivals the government of the Republic of Cyprus blames Turkey for “instrumentalising migration” and calls for sea patrols by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex. During his visit to the island, Frontex head Fabrice...

Central Med: Rescues Continue as Malta is Called Out for Preventing Disembarkation and Conducting Pushbacks to Libya Whose ‘Coast Guard’ Again Faces Scrutiny

18th February 2022 | News

Hundreds of lives have been saved within several days on the Central Mediterranean. Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights has called on Malta to stop avoiding disembarkation and review cooperation with Libya. Pushbacks to Libya have been ordered by...

Balkan Route: New Croatian Pushback Revelations, Mistreatment of People in Transit, States Block Afghans but Declare Hospitality Vis-à-vis Ukrainians

18th February 2022 | News

Following an exposé of Croatian mistreatment of migrants, police were sent an email that provides “written proof that the pushbacks were ordered by the authorities”. Meanwhile, two officers that were suspended following the October revelations have reportedly been...