Background information
Digital technology, policing and migration – what does it mean for undocumented migrants?
What about data protection and digital technology? Are these buzz words? What do they mean, in practice, for undocumented people?
Some may think of the use of drones and surveillance technologies at Europe’s external borders – and yet the use of digital tools and the large scale processing of migrants’ personal data extends well beyond Europe’s borders and into communities – beyond even physical spaces into people’s devices and their personal and biometric data. The extension of this web of surveillance increases the power of authorities to monitor – and to act – in ways often hidden from view, to screen for, identify and deter or deport foreigners meeting certain “risk” profiles. Meanwhile, civil society is shut out from many of these spaces, and criminalised for efforts to assist those whose lives are put at risk by these policies. Technology is therefore not a trendy side-show, but increasingly imbedded in the vast and intertwined systems that regulate and control migration, and that surveil and monitor migrants. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europäische Union
Blocked from the System. Voices of People Excluded from the Asylum Procedure on Mainland Greece, Crete and Rhodes
This research highlights the multiple significant barriers that people face in attempting to register their asylum claims since the policy changes in November 2021. Despite the termination of the flawed Skype system, people continue to be forced to remain undocumented for extensive periods of time and are blocked from accessing international protection in Greece. This deprives people of support from social services, cash assistance, the labour market, healthcare systems or accommodation. The conversations with people excluded from asylum procedures reveal that undocumented people in Greece are facing increased exploitation, ill health and debilitating fear of being illegally pushed back. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei
Feasibility Study on the setting up of a robust and independent human rights monitoring mechanism at the external borders of the European Union
This study was prepared against the backdrop of multiple developments in the management of the external borders of the European Union. In recent years, the management of these external borders has become increasingly robust. Despite the obligations incumbent upon national and European border guards to respect the fundamental rights of all migrants, a considerable number of credible reports have highlighted widespread violations of rights. Nonetheless, these reports appear to have been routinely dismissed by the relevant authorities, with limited legal and political consequences. This has led to a perception of a lack of political oversight and judicial control of events at the European borders, which can result in impunity for violationscommitted, including possible criminal offences.
To counter this, the study explores the feasibility of a ‘new response’ to the challenge faced by human rights monitoring at the EU’s external borders. It proposes a way forward that relies on a collective mechanism of national human rights monitoring bodies to provide effective monitoring, in line with the criteria and principles outlined in the first part of the study. In particular, this study proposes a consortium of independent national institutions that engages in human rights monitoring at the borders. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europäische Union
Balkan Regional Report | March 2022
In March, the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) shared 36 testimonies of pushbacks impacting 762 people-on-the-move across the Balkans. This report brings together first-hand testimonies from a range of countries in the region to look at the way European Union states and other actors are affecting systemic violence towards people crossing borders. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Balkanstaaten
Pushback Report 2021
The Pushback Report 2021 first provides a brief overview of the history of European border violence and illustrates different ways of dealing with different migratory movements of the European border regime. In the main part of the publication, it becomes clear that illegal pushbacks have become a regular practice of human rights violations against people on the move. These are neither isolated cases nor a "side effect" of so-called border protection. Rather, different testimonies reveal impressively that (physical) violence, humiliation and torture are used as strategic means to prevent fleeing people from reaching EU territory, also by illegal methods. read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei, Europäische Union
"Their Faces Were Covered". Greece's Use of Migrants as Police Auxiliaries in Pushbacks
Greek authorities are utilizing migrants for pushbacks at the Evros River. Afghan asylum seekers and migrants, including children, are assaulted, robbed, and stripped, before summarily pushed back to Turkey without a possibility to lodge an asylum claim. Men in balaclavas, who appear to be of Middle Eastern or South Asian origin, force the stripped or barely-clothed migrants onto small boats, take them to the middle of the river, which marks the land border between Greece and Turkey, and force them into the frigid water, making them wade to the riverbank on the Turkish side. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei
E-Book: "The Time to Act Is Now" by Carola Rackete
Sea Watch captain Carola Rackete made the courageous decision to defy the Italian Interior Ministry's ban and head for the port of Lampedusa with the Sea Watch 3 and 40 refugees rescued from the Mediterranean Sea on board. In her book, she recounts moments of the rescue operation and makes a connection between migrations, global and environmental justice and conservation. And she calls for engagement and action now. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
E-Book: Free the El Hiblu 3
Three years of torment for three young men who fled Libya across the Mediterranean to build a better life. The publication sheds light on their experiences and how the case exemplifies Europe’s systematic attempts to criminalise people on the move. On 120 pages, the three accused, their lawyers, members of the campaign and the Freedom Commission denounce the injustice Abdalla, Amara and Kader experience in Malta since 2019. read more
Migrant resistance against yet another new level of brutality
In the second half of 2021, Alarm Phone was alerted to 214 boats in the central Mediterranean region. Together with the 193 boats that Alarm Phone had supported in the first half of the year, in 2021 we assisted a total of 407 boats in distress in the central Mediterranean only. This is by far the highest number of distress cases reported to us in this region within a year. In 2019, Alarm Phone had assisted 101 cases. In 2020, we supported 173 distressed boats. This considerable increase in distress cases reflects both a significant increase of precarious crossings over the past years, as well as a greater knowledge of the Alarm Phone network among migrant communities. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta
When the UNHCR in Tunisia throws refugees on the streets like rubbish
For seven nights and eight days now, refugees and asylum seekers have been demonstrating in front of the offices of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Zarzis and Medenine, in the south of Tunisia. As more and more of them are being expelled from the accommodation centers, they have started to denounce their abandonment by the UN agency, which is supposed to provide protection. read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Nordafrika
Humanitarian crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border
This report of the Polish network Grupa Granica focuses on the situation of migrants at the border between Poland and Belarus. It is based on information and data collected by Grupa Granica activists since August 2021, with the primary aim of providing humanitarian support to migrants and helping them access the relevant legal procedures. An integral part of this work was also the monitoring and documentation of human rights violations.
read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Osteuropa
Werkzeugkoffer für Gespräche gegen rassistische Migrationspolitik
Bevor die inhaltliche Auseinandersetzung mit dem eigentlichen Werkzeugkoffer beginnt, klären wir zunächst unsere Grundlagengedanken und Position zum Thema Rassismus. Danach laden wir Dich ein unsere kritische Reflexion zur Entstehung und (Nicht-) Umsetzung der Menschenrechte zu lesen. Alle Texte in diesem Werkzeugkoffer können jedoch nur ein erster Aufschlag für die Beschäftigung mit den verschiedenen Gegebenheiten zu Migration sein. read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Deutschland
AYS Special from Greece, where saving lives is illegal. An interview with Nassos Karakitsos.
On the 18th of November the first trial will be held on Lesvos for Nassos Karakitsos, Sara Mardini and Sean Binder. They were originally arrested in 2018 and accused of people smuggling, money laundering, espionage and membership of a criminal organisation while working and volunteering with Emergency Response Centre International, ERCI. 21 more people from other groups were also charged. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei
From Sea to Prison: The Criminalization of Boat Drivers in Italy
Freedom of movement is a right, not a crime. But over the past decade, Italy has arrested thousands of people in connection with driving migrant boats across the Mediterranean Sea. The report describes their journeys from sea to prison, examining and taking a stand against the criminalization of migration.
read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta
Border Fence at the Serbian-Macedonian Border
Report about the border fence which is being built by the Serbian government alongside the border between Serbia and Macedonia since last year and its influence on the rights of people on the move and their access to asylum. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Balkanstaaten
Report on the fact-finding investigation on Frontex concerning alleged fundamental rights violations
The Frontex Scrutiny Working Group (FSWG) of the European Parliament was requested to present its findings on the fact-finding investigation in a written report with conclusions and concrete recommendations. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europäische Union
Year of Covid-19 for the people on the move in Serbia
This report is the outcome of the project “Free legal aid and social support for people on the move in Serbia” and this report explains the context and legal background of the whole year 2020, with special
focus on the state of emergency and Covid-19 outbreak in Serbia. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Balkanstaaten
'No one will look for you' - forcibly returned from sea to abusive detention in Libya
In a grim illustration of prevailing impunity in Libya, Amnesty International’s new research reveals how since late 2020 Libyan authorities have legitimized informal places of captivity with unremedied histories of abuse against refugees and migrants by integrating them into the official migration detention infrastructure. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Nordafrika
Press release: Deportations to Afghanistan and Syria
The Berlin Alliance against Deportations to Afghanistan and SyriaNotSafe strongly condemn today's deportations to Afghanistan, a country at war, as well as the breaking of taboos by Franziska Giffey, the SPD's top candidate for the elections to the Berlin House of Representatives, who now also calls for deportations to Syria, a torture state. (Languages: English, German, Arabic and Dari): read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Deutschland
Sentence of the trial against the Vial 15
A press release has been published by You Can't Evict Solidarity about the outcome of the Vial 15 trial that ended yesterday, 29th of June, in Mytilini, Lesvos. The court procedure followed the allegations towards 15 people for riots and fire within the EU Hotspot Camp Vial on Chios Island. The defendants were all acquitted of the felony charge of arson and of membership in a criminal group! While four people are completely innocent, eight people were found guilty for resisting arrest and violence in the camp and one for destroying public goods. One of the defendants was excluded from the procedure as he is a minor. Another person could not be found and therefore was not present in the trial. The nine people who were convicted received 3.5 years suspended sentence, which the lawyers will appeal. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei