Archive
Press release: Hundreds of NGOs and individuals call for the revocation of Libya’s maritime search and rescue zone
London, 29 June 2020 - The civil liberties organisation Statewatch has today delivered an open letter [1] with hundreds of signatories to Mr Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of International Maritime Organization (IMO), calling on him to revoke the Libyan maritime search and rescue (SAR) zone [2] in order to prevent the so-called Libyan Coast Guard undertaking 'pull-backs' of migrants to Libya, where they face violence, abuse and mistreatment. Read More
UK: BAME, refugee and migrant deaths in custody (2014 – 2020)
Updated statistics from the Institute of Race Relations lay bare the degree of impunity for the deaths in custody of black, ethnic minority, migrant and refugee persons. Read More
Dutch government under growing pressure to take in child refugees
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, protests across the Netherlands call for the government to take in 500 unaccompanied child refugees stuck in appalling conditions on Greek islands. Read More
Remote control: the EU-Libya collaboration in mass interceptions of migrants in the Central Mediterranean
A new report from Alarm Phone, Borderline Europe, Mediterranea and Sea-Watch. Read More
EU: Frontex splashes out: millions of euros for new technology and equipment
The approval of the new Frontex Regulation in November 2019 implied an increase of competences, budget and capabilities for the EU's border agency, which is now equipping itself with increased means to monitor events and developments at the borders and beyond, as well as renewing its IT systems to improve the management of the reams of data to which it will have access. Read More
Greece: Only 18 of 40 NGOs working in migrant and refugee centres apply for registration
Only 18 out of 40 NGOs working in migrant and refugee centres Read More
Digital technologies and borders: Joint submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism
With Privacy International, Fundaciòn Datos Protegidos and Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales (R3D), we produced a joint submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, in response to their call for input on how digital technologies deployed in the context of border enforcement and administration reproduce, reinforce, and compound racial discrimination. Read More
EU ‘covered up’ Croatia’s failure to protect migrants from border brutality
The Guardian has revealed that European Commission officials were fearful of disclosing everything they knew about a mechanism they had funded in Croatia for monitoring violations of fundamental rights at the borders. Read More
EU: Damning draft report on the implementation of the Return Directive
Tineke Strik, the Green MEP responsible for overseeing the passage through the European Parliament of the 'recast Return Directive', which governs certain common procedures regarding the detention and expulsion of non-EU nationals, has prepared a report on the implementation of the original 2008 Return Directive. It criticises the Commission's emphasis, since 2017, on punitive enforcement measures, at the expense of alternatives that have not been fully explored or implemented by the Commission or the member states, despite the 2008 legislation providing for them. Read More
IOM Alarmed over Reports of Pushbacks from Greece at EU Border with Turkey
"The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is deeply concerned about persistent reports of pushbacks and collective expulsions of migrants, in some cases violent, at the European Union (EU) border between Greece and Turkey. International media reports and footage showing the use of marine rescue equipment to expel migrants across the Eastern Aegean Sea are especially disturbing." Read More