Archive
How the EU coordinates migration control around Africa
Every year the European Commission produces a report summarising the state of external migration cooperation. Divided by regions and then countries, the report offers insight into the latest projects, spending and diplomacy the EU is using to pursue its goal of keeping people from reaching Europe. The January 2026 edition – covering activity in 2025 – reveals the EU continues to put significant effort into securing deportation agreements with African nations. It is also working to re-establish a diplomatic presence in the Sahel region, with an eye to restricting people moving through the region. Read More
Networks of (in)security: how global counter-terrorism and security norms threaten civic space and human rights
Global counter-terrorism and security norms are propelling the introduction of pre-emptive, automated and algorithmic forms of surveillance and profiling, says new research published today by Statewatch. This is reinforcing racism and discrimination, inhibiting free movement, and giving authoritarian states new tools of control. The research calls for an organised response to this long-term state project, and sets out some guiding questions for future work. Read More
Networks of (in)security: how global counter-terrorism and security norms threaten civic space and human rights
Global counter-terrorism and security norms are propelling the introduction of pre-emptive, automated and algorithmic forms of surveillance and profiling, says new research published today by Statewatch. This is reinforcing racism and discrimination, inhibiting free movement, and giving authoritarian states new tools of control. The research calls for an organised response to this long-term state project, and sets out some guiding questions for future work. Read More
Border externalisation: documents from the Coordination Group on Migration published
Statewatch is publishing more than a dozen documents from the Coordination Group on Migration, a secretive body in which the European Commission and EU member states coordinate expenditure on external migration control projects. Read More
After the Niger coup, Spanish Council Presidency asks: “How can we continue cooperation on migration and border management?”
Earlier this month, an article published by Statewatch questioned how long it would be before the EU's cooperation on security and migration with Niger - which was halted after the coup at the end of July - was restarted. A document circulated by the Spanish Presidency of the Council on 8 September suggests that, despite the EU condemning the coup "in the strongest terms," there is enthusiasm to get joint projects going again. Read More
EU: Tracking the Pact: Council reports on externalisation efforts in Iraq and Nigeria
Two documents obtained by Statewatch assess the state of implementation of the Migration Action Plans approved by the European Council for Iraq and Nigeria. There is little or no attention or funding devoted to establishing legal migration pathways, with the focus instead on continued externalisation of border controls and deportations. Read More
Deportations: EU to push for new readmission agreements “using all levers and incentives available”
Council Presidency progress report from 9 June focusses on “operationalisation of the external dimension, including as regards returns”; protection of the external borders; member state solidarity; and “more effective implementation of the Dublin rules”. Read More
EU: Tracking the Pact: Migration action plans on Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq and Nigeria
Eight draft action plans for cooperation with non-EU states on migration and border control were approved by the European Council in October. Documents dealing with Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq and Nigeria, published here, show a chosen path of intensified externalisation of EU border management, and very little commitment to legal migration pathways. Read More
Deportations from Europe: individual stories told in new publication
The Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) has published a booklet of stories of people in Lagos and Benin City, Nigeria, and Bamako, Mali, who have been deported from Europe. Read More
Nigerians returned from Europe face stigma and growing hardship
The EU is aiming to prevent Nigerians from arriving in EU, and to deport many of those who have been living there irregularly. On their arrival back in Nigeria, those who are removed - whether by forced expulsion or through 'voluntary return' programmes - receive differing levels of support, but both face challenges that may lead them to re-emigrate. Read More