Archive
EU states failing to uphold immigration data safeguards amidst renewed push for deportations
EU member states are violating laws designed to protect individuals from data abuse by police and immigration authorities, according to an official report. This should be a major cause for concern, given plans to introduce new laws to deport more people and ban them from returning to the EU. However, the report does not even name the countries that are failing to follow the law, posing massive challenges for democratic scrutiny and accountability. Read More
Border externalisation: more EU support for violence in North Africa, joint EU-UK plans, and more
Racist violence in North Africa: EU governments know exactly what is happening, and plan to continue support /// EU and UK consider joint external migration control projects /// Africa Frontex Intelligence Community: documents released /// EU officials talk "asylum policy and homeland security" at European Police Congress Read More
How the EU coordinates the outsourcing of migration control
It is no secret that the EU is seeking greater cooperation from non-EU states in its migration control agenda. Less is known, however, about precisely how that cooperation is organised and encouraged. A document produced last year and released in response to an access to documents request from Statewatch provides some further details on the topic, pointing to avenues for advocacy, research and investigation. Read More
UK undermining data protection rights and putting EU agreements at risk
Changes to UK law will undermine data protection standards, posing risks to individual rights and leading to calls for the EU to review the "adequacy decisions" that deem the UK a safe destination for transfers of personal data. A letter from seven organisations, including Statewatch, calls for the EU to urgently reassess the UK's adequacy status, "to protect fundamental rights and uphold its credibility as both the guardian of the EU’s legal order and a global leader in digital rule-making." However, the EU is also currently seeking to downgrade data protection standards, for the same purpose: economic deregulation. Read More
Algeria: Migrants face raids, mass expulsions, and hate speech
In recent years, there has been an alarming rise in hate speech and persistent incitement against migrants from sub-Saharan Africa in Algeria. Racist rhetoric is widely circulated in some media outlets and on social media, underpinning a general climate of marginalisation and discrimination. A joint letter signed by 20 organisations from Europe and Africa calls on the Algerian authorities to halt arbitrary mass expulsions of migrants, and to end policies that criminalise civil society organisations standing in solidarity with them. Read More
Outsourcing Borders: Bulletin 7
“When policies persistently fail, we need to look not only at ‘what went wrong’ but also at ‘what went right’… Read More
“Deep concern” over EU’s plan “to weaken or circumvent encryption”
The European Commission should reinforce and support that enable private communication, says a joint letter signed by almost 90 organisations, companies and technical experts. The Commission's recent Internal Security Strategy says there is a need to "enable law enforcement authorities to access encrypted data in a lawful manner," alongside a host of other proposals on policing and security. Statewatch is a signatory of the letter. Read More
Turkey: Political prisoners must be freed as part of drive to end prison overcrowding
A statement signed by 12 organisations, including Statewatch, calls on the Turkish government to release political prisoners as part of a push to stop prison overcrowding. Political prisoners are currently exempt from the scheme due to anti-terrorism laws passed in 2020 and 2023. Those affected include lawyers, journalists, politicians, artists, judges and prosecutors, and human rights defenders. Read More
EU: Business deregulation plans will undermine data protection rights
More than 120 organisations, including Statewatch, are calling on the EU to keep the General Data Protection Regulation in place, as the European Commission announces plans to remove certain provisions of the law in the name of removing 'red tape' for businesses. The signatories express concern that the proposed changes "could instead roll back key accountability safeguards and with them, the accountability principle itself." Read More
IOM’s digital tool aims to speed up migrant removals, but at what cost?
The New Humanitarian, 18 May 2025. Read More