Archive
Border externalisation: Deportation law negotiations, EU budget proposals, projects in Africa
The latest issue of our bulletin on border externalisation, Outsourcing Borders, is out now. Including: updates on EU deportation law negotiations; EU budget proposals and external migration control; details on EU projects designed to increase deportations and limit "irregular remigration"; and much more. Read More
Moving borders with history: new ways of thinking about border externalisation
Europe is doubling down on its outsourcing of border controls to other states, particularly in Africa - and new ways of thinking about border externalisation are needed to generate effective responses. A recent academic article, summarised here, argues that postcolonial and decolonial analysis can help generate those responses. Read More
Spanish Council Presidency: how can we use the diaspora population as leverage for migration control?
The EU should use policies on the diaspora population to step up pressure on third countries to cooperate with migration control, the Spanish Council Presidency has suggested, by “embedding discussions on diaspora relations in bilateral relations on migration with partner countries.” Read More
Africa-Frontex Intelligence Community: participating agencies named
The state agencies participating in the Africa-Frontex Intelligence Community (AFIC) have been named in a response to a European parliamentary question. Thirty African states are currently participating in the AFIC. The response also says that "Risk Analysis Cells", of which eight have been set up in African states with the assistance of Frontex, are "the backbone" of the AFIC. Read More
Frontex celebrates “expanding footprint” beyond the EU in report on third country cooperation
EU border agency Frontex is obliged to report annually to the European Parliament, European Commission and Council of the EU on its cooperation with non-EU countries. The 2021 report, obtained by Statewatch and published here, focuses on an expanding influence in the Western Balkans, information sharing, the expansion of the European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) to non-EU states, and deportations. Read More
Divestment from the border industrial complex could spur “a politics that protects and upholds the rights of refugees and migrants”
A recent report reveals the largest corporate players in today’s global “border industrial complex” and calls for divestment from the industry, as a way to force states to halt the implementation of harmful border security models. Read More
Libya key to EU plan to build a “big wall” against migration, says new report
Libya lies at the heart of a strategy for which funds from Italy, EU institutions and other member states have been channelled through an opaque financing mechanism with the central aim of reducing migration from Africa to Europe, says a new report by ActionAid. Read More
Civic space in the era of securitised COVID-19 responses
A new report from the European Centre for Not-for-Profit Law looking at how security-related legislation introduced or used by states during the pandemic has restricted civic freedoms and human rights. Read More
Migration and asylum: updates to the EU-Africa ‘Joint Valletta Action Plan’ on the way
In November 2015 European and African heads of state met at a summit in Valletta, Malta, "to discuss a coordinated answer to the crisis of migration and refugee governance in Europe." Since then joint activities on migration and asylum have increased significantly, according to documents published here by Statewatch. The Council is now examining an update to the 'Joint Valletta Action Plan' (JVAP) and considering how to give it "a renewed sense of purpose". Read More
EU: Tracking the Pact: Mediterranean Subsaharan Migration Trade Union Network recommendations on the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum
In mid-September, prior to the European Commission's publication of the new 'Pact on Migration and Asylum', the Mediterranean Subsaharan Migration Trade Union Network issued a set of recommendations. The group called for a number of positive measures, including an increase in safe and legal channels for migrants to seek work in the EU, the simpification of entry conditions, more possibilities for individuals to regularize their status within the EU, an end to the detention of migrants, a halt to externalization policies and transparency over readmission agreements. Read More