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- Refugee crisis: latest news from across Europe (18 news stories and commentaries 10.11.15)
Refugee crisis: latest news from across Europe (18 news stories and commentaries 10.11.15)
10 November 2015
- JOINT DECLARATION:
Human rights at the core of migration policies: An urgent call to European and African leaders (Euro-mediterranean human rights network, link):
"Once again, terms of cooperation remain euro-centric and focused on efficient return/removal policies as well as on the need for cooperation on behalf of non-EU countries to fight so-called « irregular » migration.
In Europe and in Africa, the security obsession which has characterised migration policies is unfolding with increased border closures on both continents, despite fatal consequences and human rights violations.
As the EU is about to launch its new Neighbourhood Policy, our organisations wish to stress that migration is not a threat and express their grave concerns.."
Link - French and
Link Arabic
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Malta summit: Experts raise concerns over lopsided EU-Africa migrant deals (Malta Independent, link):
"Forced into action by its biggest refugee crisis since World War II, the European Union is pressing some northern African nations to sign lopsided deals that would send thousands back without sufficient protection, African diplomats and migration experts are warning.
Concern is growing that the EU will use its considerable political and economic clout — including access to more than 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in aid — to buy off vulnerable countries on the sidelines of a two-day summit with African leaders starting Wednesday in Malta.
Still wary of Europe's colonial past, some Africans believe the EU is desperately trying to outsource its refugee challenges rather than accept that people will still try to come to the continent."
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Afghans flee in droves, but Germany closing the door (IRIN, link):
"The number of Afghans making the journey to Europe has increased drastically over the past year. But the journey is fraught with danger.
There have been reports of migrants being violently attacked by bandits as they attempt to cross Iran. Health authorities in Nimruz, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, told IRIN they had treated people who returned with gunshot wounds inflicted by Iranian border police.
If they do make it to Europe, they face an increasingly cool reception, even in Germany which has until now been the most welcoming country. Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière announced last week that Germany would tighten its policy on dealing with asylum applications from Afghans. He said many claiming asylum are from Afghanistan’s middle class, and they should stay home to help rebuild their country.
Yet the situation in Afghanistan only appears to be getting worse. President Ashraf Ghani, who took power a year ago, has so far been unable to rein in corruption or enforce government control over much of the country."
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The illegalization and deportation of refugees in Tunisia (by Debora Del Pistoia, Glenda Garelli, Martina Tazzioli) (November 2015) (link):
"The condition of asylum seekers and refugees in Tunisia is quite alarming, as the recent deportation to Algeria that we monitored in real-time and we report here below confirms."
- News (10.11.15)
Austria calls for Greece, Italy border controls (ekathimerini.com, link):
"Austria’s chancellor said establishing controls on the borders of Italy and Greece must be a priority to stem the influx of migrants into the EU. Werner Faymann said border controls inside the EU are less effective because refugee flows can "only be shifted" once the refugees have traveled thousands of kilometers (miles) in hopes of a safe haven".
EU plans new refugee centers as influx overwhelms Greece (ekathimerini.com, link):
"European Union governments acknowledged that policies to channel migration aren’t working, announcing new processing centers to deal with refugees who slip through Greece without being registered. With little more than 100 of a planned 160,000 asylum-seekers sent from Greece and Italy to future homes in other European countries and winter setting in, EU interior ministers said the record-setting influx threatens to overwhelm some governments."
As Migrants Continue to Arrive in Europe, Asylum Seekers Relocated (IOM, linK):
"Arrivals of migrants and refugees to Europe by sea in 2015 approached 800,000 through the first week of November, a figure that amounts to nearly four times the total for all of 2014."
Parliament leaders sign joint refugee letter ahead of Valletta summit (euractiv, link)
EU/AU: Put Rights at Heart of Migration Efforts (HRW, link)
European Union warns of impending refugee 'catastrophe' during winter (DW, link):
"A humanitarian catastrophe is looming over tens of thousands of refugees as winter closes in, the European Union has warned. EU ministers are under pressure to deliver on their promises as the migrant surge continues."
Agence Europe reports:
"only 147 refugees out of the 160,000 that the EU countries had promised, in September, to make having so far been relocated from Greece"
EU will create migrant processing centres in the Balkans (neweurope, link)
Schengen open border agreement needs an overhaul: Dutch minister (DutchNews.nl, link)
Slovenia to tighten border control, fears unmanageable migrant wave (Yahoo, link)
Pakistan says it won’t take back migrants (neweurope, link)
"Pakistan on November 8 announced its decision to suspend a 2010 agreement with the European Union for the return of all its citizens entering Europe illegally. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was quoted as saying by Agence France-Press (AFP) that European countries were misusing the agreement. “Pakistanis travelling illegally to any Western country are to be deported after proper verification” of their nationality and other relevant details from Pakistan, state-run Radio Pakistan quoted Khan as telling local media in Islamabad. But, he said, “Most of the [Western] countries are deporting people without verification by Pakistani authorities”."
EU considers migrant 'processing centres' in Balkans (euobserver, link):
"EU interior ministers decided on Monday (9 November) to consider setting up processing centres in the Western Balkans to help with registration, identification, and finger printing of migrants."