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EU: Refugee crisis: latest news from across Europe: 25-27.3.17

01 March 2017

EU  
Refugee crisis: latest news from across Europe
25-27.3.17
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Keep in touch: Statewatch Observatory: Refugee crisis in the Med and inside the EU: Daily news (updated through the day), commentaries and official documents

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Relocation of refugees in EU has failed so Council turns to draconian returns policy - including the targeting of children for detention

The Council Presidency is working on a plan to "significantly improve the return system within the EU" and "improve cooperation on readmission".

See:EU: Council of the European Union: Return Policy: enhancing effectiveness a) Commission Recommendation on making returns more effective when implementing the Directive 2008/115/EC b) Commission Communication on a more effective return policy in the European Union - A renewed Action Plan = Policy debate (LIMITE doc no: 7112-17.pdf)

A policy poposed proposed on 1 June 2015 by Commissioner for Home Affairs, Dimitris Avramopoulos in a Letter to EU Home Affairs Ministers which presents a dehumanised portrayal of refugees and shows how to by-pass three detention related provisions of the Returns Directive.

Spain: Numbers of migrants and refugees arriving in Spain by boat on the increase

According to the information received by the delegation of Associación Pro Derechos Humanos Andalucía in Cádiz, it was confirmed on the morning of 21 March 2017 that two dinghies carrying more than 50 people arrived on the coast of the Bay of Cádiz. They arrived without the need for any intervention by the authorities and, according to the Red Cross, it is believed that there have been no injuries or people lost at sea.....

Mouzalas warns Greece can’t cope with more migrants (ekathimerini.com, link):

"Migration Minister Yiannis Mouzalas raised the alarm this weekend that Greece has reached saturation point in terms of refugee numbers.

In an interview with Germany’s Spiegel magazine, Mouzalas said it would be a mistake on the part of the country’s European partners to burden Greece further by implementing the Dublin agreement."

Greece; Ministry refugee statistics (27.3.17, pdf): 75 refugees arrived by 10.00. 14,163 on the Islands and 62,166 in Greece.

Refugee crisis in the Mediterranean: 'The smugglers' calculations are obvious' (DW, link):

"Civilian sea rescue missions like the German organization "Jugend Rettet" are trying to prevent deaths in the Mediterranean, but it's a mammoth task, as huge numbers are still risking their lives to make the crossing."

EU: Council of the European Union: Qualifications Regulation: Latest draft position: Regulation on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection (pdf): 163 Footnotes with Member States' positions.

"This document contains compromise proposals suggested by the Presidency in relation to all articles, except for the following items placed between square brackets and which will be discussed as a later stage...

Suggested modifications are indicated as follows: - new text compared to the Commission proposal is in bold - new text compared to the previous version of this document is in bold underlined - deleted text is in strikethrough."

Are You Syrious (25.3.17, link)

One-third of children in Afghanistan unable to attend school

"Save the Children reported that a third of the children of Afghanistan are unable to attend school. 3.7 million children are thus put at risk for numerous problems, from child marriage to recruitment by armed groups. There are a number of factors responsible for this problem, chief among them is ongoing war in many parts of the country and the widespread poverty that forces young children to work just to feed the family. Save the Children also estimates that 400,000 children will be forced to drop out of school this year alone.

The problems faced by Afghanistan are compounded by Pakistan’s forcible deportation of the Afghan refugees who have lived in the country since the Soviet Union’s war in the country, circa 1980–88. 600,000 Afghans were expelled in 2016, and it is expected that an additional one million will join them in 2017."

Deportation to Afghanistan to take place on March 29

"The flight is supposed to take place at 1:30 in the morning, with an unknown quantity of people leaving from Vienna to return to their war-torn homeland. Please warn anybody who you think might be affected!"

Can Kenya ensure national security while still admitting refugees? (The Star, link):

"Kenya is no stranger to this struggle. Situated in a conflict-prone zone it’s hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees from a range of countries including Somalia, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.

This benevolence has become a particular challenge with the rise of terrorist attacks. The most shocking were the Westgate Mall attack in 2013 and the Garissa university attack in 2015. They were carried out by Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group based in Somalia.

The government used the attacks to justify the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp and to revoke the prima facie status of Somali refugees."

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