Denmark: MEPs Confront Danish Minister on Rogue Asylum Policies as Syrians Flee to Other Member States
The Danish Minister for Immigration and Integration on 13 January faced an outcry by MEPs over attempts to revoke protection for Syrians and externalise asylum. Hundreds of Syrians fleeing Denmark are appearing in other EU member states, forcing courts to consider...
Channel: Crossings Soar in 2021 with no Legal Routes, Fears for Displaced after Calais Funding Cut, UK “Warm Welcome” Illusive as Resettlement Flops
In 2021, three times as many attempts to cross the Channel were recorded as in 2020. France is calling for an EU-UK treaty to open up “legal means” of reaching Britain, while UK officials say the hardline Nationality and Borders Bill will address the issue. In Calais,...
EU Eastern Borders: Belarus and Poland Enact Brutal Violence and Block Aid Workers, Lithuania Lifts State of Emergency
As the EU’s border and coast guard agency, Frontex, tallies 8,000 “illegal border crossings” into the EU from Belarus in 2021, rights groups continue to document violence, torture, abuse and freezing temperatures faced by people on the move at the border. Médecins...
Med: Tragedy Continues as Routes Change and Situation in Libya Deteriorates Even Further
As people are forced to take ever more dangerous routes, the tragedy on the Mediterranean continues. 2021 closed with a death toll of more than 1,500 lives lost over the year: meanwhile, more than 32,000 people were intercepted and returned to Libya where the...
Atlantic Route and Spain: One in Five Canary Route Journeys End Deadly, Spanish Rescue Service Restarts Reporting, Law Reform Lets Young New Arrivals Work
A Spanish NGO says 4,404 people lost their lives trying to reach Spain from Africa in 2021. The dramatic rise in deaths is thought to be linked to EU and member states efforts to clampdown on migration via the Mediterranean. The Spanish civil rescue service,...
The AIDA country report on Turkey is now available in Arabic and Turkish
The latest AIDA Country Update 2020 on Turkey is now out in Arabic and Turkish. The AIDA Update offers the only comprehensive analysis of legislative, policy and practice developments relating to the asylum procedure, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers,...
Policy Note: EU Support to Afghanistan: Scoring High on Humanitarian Assistance and Low on Protection in Europe?
ECRE has published a Policy Note that analyses the European countries’ practices and policy reactions to the situation in Afghanistan, with focus on access to protection in Europe, evacuations, resettlement and safe pathways to Europe. After the fall of the Afghan...
European Commission Presents Proposed Legislation to Address Situations of “Instrumentalisation” of Migrants and a Revised Schengen Borders Code
On 14 December 2021, the European Commission presented two legislative proposals, a regulation addressing the situation of instrumentalisation in migration and asylum and a revision of the Schengen Borders Code. The proposal for a Regulation addressing the situation...