• Home /
• News /
• 2016 /
• November /
• Refugee crisis: latest news from across Europe 15.11.16

Refugee crisis: latest news from across Europe 15.11.16

Topic

01 November 2016

 EU: The European Parliament want a "humanitarian visa" - the Council and the European Commission are opposed: Regulation on the Union Code on visas (Visa Code) (recast) (First reading) (LIMITE doc no: 14262-16, pdf): State of play:

 

"1) the Council and the Commission want to stick to the recast rules (possibility for the co-legislators to amend only the parts highlighted in grey in the Commission's proposal). However, as the EP has tabled amendments concerning the white and the grey parts, the Rapporteur pleaded during the last trilogues for a pragmatic approach and advocated widening the scope of the recast exercise.

2) the humanitarian visa: EP strongly insists to include this element and considers that it would be the key added value of the proposed Regulation...

 At the last trilogue on 11 October 2016, views remained strongly opposed regarding in particular the issue of the humanitarian visa...

The humanitarian visa is the main outstanding issue in the file and constitutes at the same time a red line for the EP, the Member States and the Commission.." [emphasis added]

See also: External processing of applications for international protection in the EU (EU Law Analysis, link)

 EU: Council of the European Union: First Progress Report on the Partnership Framework with third countries under the European Agenda on Migration (pdf): Contains the admission that:

"More concrete progress has been made in the recent months than previously achieved over many years, including on return and readmission."

Is this an admission that 11 years of GAMM (Global Approach to Migration and Mobility), which is not mentioned at all, has been a failure?

 Greece: Conditions Worsening In Samos (News That Moves, link):

"The living conditions for migrants and refugees on the Greek island of Samos are getting harder at seriously overcrowded camps after they were flooded by recent heavy rains. As of November 14, according to official data 2,760 people are hosted in Samos, where the capacity of organized camps is 850."

 Are You Syrious (14.11.16, link)

State of emergency in Samos camp, UNHCR states

"camps in Greek islands are severely overcrowded. This situation prompted UNHCR to react, or more to the point, plead with authorities and the EU that this is unbearable and unnecessary. They are particularly concerned with the situation on Samos where the official capacity is 850, but they have received 2000 people. They have issued an appeal for urgent action to address the “severe deterioration of the living conditions of refugees and migrants on Samos.” adding that “Hundreds of migrants have been left in “small camping tents out in the open...

March of hope

"Today people were still protesting near the border between Serbia and Croatia. We have written extensively on it yesterday and the situation is still pretty much the same. Refugees were protesting at Croatian border (Location 45.15378, 19.1770.) and by the reports from the field, Police were aggressively extinguish one small source of warmth even though the temperature is below zero..."

Hungary: Less and less people are being let through Hungarian border

"As situation in camps on the border of Serbia and Hungary gets worse due to the drop of the temperature, Hungarian authorities have decided that Fewer and fewer refugees admitted through to Hungary. Between November 3 and November 6, Hungarian authorities admitted only 20 asylum after allowing around 30 people per day previously."

Bulgaria: Fascists are knocking on the door

"The fascist candidate in Bulgaria’s presidential election has taken 15% of the vote?—?sharply up on previous elections?—?and taken third place.

Bulgaria’s presidential election was somewhat overshadowed by that in the US this week?—?the country of just seven million people is the poorest in the EU. But the electoral rise of Bulgaria’s fascists is still worrying, especially as the country’s parliamentary fascist organisations are closely linked with the armed paramilitary groups that are “hunting” refugees at the country’s borders."

 UK: Missing People: Heading back to harm: A study on trafficked and unaccompanied children going missing from care in the UK (pdf):

"The plight of trafficked, unaccompanied and separated children is complex and underlined by a myriad of causes. The more research that is carried out, the better the care and protection we can provide to at-risk children and the closer we will come to creating an environment where children feel safe and protected."

 CoE: Migrants in limbo in Europe have the right to live in dignity (Commissioner for Human Rights, link):

"In some countries, they call them “invisible persons”, in others – “ghosts”. Throughout Europe there are many migrants, primarily rejected asylum seekers, who live in a state of protracted legal and social limbo without any long-term prospects. The authorities refuse to regularize them or to grant them any kind of legal status, but often, they cannot go back to their countries of origin for various reasons, most often, fear of persecution.

These desperate persons tend to live in substandard conditions, completely excluded from society, lacking residence permits and the means to meet basic needs such as shelter, food, health or education. In essence, they are deprived of any opportunity to live in dignity."

 Migrant resettlement ban to be resubmitted by Hungary’s Jobbik (New Europe, link):

"A proposed constitutional amendment banning the resettlement of migrants in Hungary will be resubmitted to the parliament by the far-right opposition party Jobbik.

As reported by the Reuters news agency, the amendment was submitted by Prime Minister Viktor Orban but fell short of the needed two-thirds majority in parliament last week, largely because Jobbik abstained from voting. But the party’s chairman, Gabor Vona, told reporters he planned to resubmit the amendment, verbatim."