Cyprus: UN Raises Concern Over Treatment of Asylum Seekers, Confrontations Between Locals and People on the Move met with Police Clampdown
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...
Greece: Deadly End to 2021, Pushbacks Prevent Arrivals and Drive People Towards More Deadly Routes, Closed Controlled Camps Again Face Legal Scrutiny and Criticism
2021 ended with a series of shipwrecks in Greek waters that caused the deaths of more than 30 people. As the number of pushbacks from Greece nearly doubled in 2021, the number of arrivals to the islands is at the lowest in nine years with people pushed towards other,...
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,...