Launched in 1999 and updated regularly, Statewatch News includes our own reporting and writing as well as articles, announcements, documents and analyses from elsewhere on civil liberties, EU policies and state practices. You can receive updates in your inbox by signing up to our mailing list, or use our RSS feed to get instant alerts.
At the end of February, the Turkish government announced it would allow refugees to travel onwards to Greece and Bulgaria, in the hope of extracting from the EU further financial support as well as backing for its military operations in Syria. It has now taken up its role as Europe’s border guard again, but the manufactured crisis induced by the Turkish decision and the EU response highlight the long-term failings of the EU’s asylum and migration model.
A mobile library for refugees in Greece is raising funds for a new van.
The Austrian NGO None of Your Business looks at data protection law and location tracking apps being proposed in Europe.
Over 100 MEPs from four political groups in the European Parliament have called on the European Commission to take action so that "fundamental rights and the right to asylum" are upheld in Greece. Their calls have been echoed by dozens of migration policy experts working on EU-funded projects.
Viktor Orbán's 'Enabling Act' has been passed into law by the Hungarian parliament.
A report in the Financial Times highlights the brutal treatment meted out to people on the move in the Balkans.
A new campaign has been launched calling for the release of three young men who prevented a boat that had rescued them from returning them to Libya. They are being charged with terrorism offences in Malta.
Victims of colonial massacres must be paid compensation by the Dutch state, a court has ruled.
The UK government must act to grant EU citizens living in the UK the right to stay.
North Macedonia has joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization military alliance.
The annual report of the European Data Protection Supervisor has been published.
The pandemic affects everybody, but it does not affect everybody equally.
The police's over-enthusiastic response to enforcing the lockdown has led to criticism.
The new powers are so the police can enforce government instructions to stay at home and avoid non-essential travel.
The Supreme Court has ruled against the UK government's handing of information to the USA.
A five-year study of attacks on media workers in Germany reveals that "attacks on the press are the new normal", with the vast majority of attacks the work of right-wing groups.
It is not only governmental or quasi-governmental actors that are involved in the push- and pull-back of migrants to Libya. Private vessels are also playing a role.
All of the Oval Four have now had their names cleared after they were convicted following arrest by a corrupt police officer.
The Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law looks at two key issues in the UK's Coronavirus Bill - its proposed two-year duration, and the parliamentary reporting requirements.
A new briefing from INQUEST looks at the need to protect people in places of custody and detention from COVID-19.
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