Background information
Emergency returns by IOM from Libya and Niger
Far beyond its own territory, the European Union and its member states are cooperating with third countries to prevent migrants and refugees from moving towards its external borders.
The EU outsources border controls, trains border police, concludes readmission agreements, funds “volun- tary return” programs and rewards countries that align their migration policies with European interests. Meanwhile, for refugees and migrants, it becomes more and more difficult to access safe pathways and find refuge and protection.
Bread for the World (Brot für die Welt) and medico international together with their partner organizations in the respective countries have closely monitored the impact of these policies on the human rights and well-being of refugees and migrants and have convincingly outlined how the vast majority of the EUTF migration projects ended up being aimed at controlling and preventing migration within and out of the African continent. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Nordafrika, Europäische Union, Afrika
Get out! Zur Situation von Geflüchteten in Bulgarien
Bordermonitoring.eu hat einen neuen Bericht zur Situation von Geflüchteten in Bulgarien veröffentlicht:
„Bulgaria is very bad“ ist eine typische Aussage jener, die auf ihrer Flucht bereits etliche Länder durchquert haben. Der vorliegende Bericht geht der Frage nach, warum Bulgarien seit Langem einen extrem schlechten Ruf unter den Geflüchteten genießt.
Hierzu wird kenntnisreich die massive Gewalt nachgezeichnet, die Bulgarien im Zuge sogenannter „Push-Backs“ anwendet. Auch auf die intensive Kooperation mit der Türkei beim Schutz der gemeinsamen Grenze wird eingegangen. Da die Inhaftierung von Geflüchteten in Bulgarien obligatorisch ist, werden überdies die rechtlichen Hintergründe hierfür und die miserablen Haftbedingungen beschrieben. Weiterhin wird das bulgarische Asylsystem thematisiert und auf die besondere Situation von Geflüchteten eingegangen, die im Rahmen der Dublin-Verordnung nach Bulgarien abgeschoben wurden. Das bulgarische Integrationskonzept, das faktisch nur auf dem Papier existiert, wird ebenfalls beleuchtet. read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Balkanstaaten
Deutungshoheit in der Logik des Grenzregimes: Verbrechen im Rahmen der europäischen Migrationspolitik
Dokumenation der Geschehnisse einige Monate nach der "Grenzöffnung" durch die Türkei. Diese Stellungnahme nimmt insbesondere das europäische Grenzregime in den Fokus . read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei
The situation of refugees and the impact of the corona virus
The critical health situation that is shaking the world in general and refugees in particular has led the anti-racist group Corasol to compile a brochure with contributions from various solidarity groups. The brochure provides information on the situation of refugees in times of pandemic, whether in camps and shelters or in the border regions. read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Italien / Malta, Griechenland / Türkei, Nordafrika, Deutschland, Europäische Union, Europa, Afrika
Pushbacks in Melilla: ND and NT V. Spain
On 13 February 2020, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rendered a judgment in the case of ND and NT v. Spain, the first trial to address ‘pushbacks’—the cross-border expulsion of refugees and migrants—at Europe’s land borders. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Spanien, Nordafrika
Politiques du non-accueil en Tunisie : des acteurs humanitaires au service des politiques sécuritaires européennes
Le présent rapport tente de documenter ces politiques de « non-accueil », tout en les inscrivant dans le contexte plus large des politiques d’externalisation des frontières de l’Union européenne et en accordant une attention particulière à la manière dont ces politiques, dans le contexte tunisien, mêlent étroitement registres humanitaire et sécuritaire. read more
Language(s): Französisch / Français
Region(s): Nordafrika
The brutal side of the French Riviera
Rights violations, detentions and pushbacks: a daily reality for migrants’ at the French-Italian border, where Europe’s weaknesses weigh heavily on people’s lives read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Frankreich, Italien / Malta
Press Release: Collective Expulsion from Greek Centres
In response to the recent spike in pushbacks from Greece to Turkey, the Border Violence Monitoring Network, with members Mobile Info Team and Wave Thessaloniki, are releasing first hand testimony and photographic evidence indicating the existence of violent collective expulsions. In the space of six weeks, the teams received reports of 194 people removed and pushed back into Turkey from the refugee camp in Diavata and the Drama Paranesti Pre-removal Detention Centre. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei, Europäische Union, Europa
Notes from Pazarkule/Evros
We are gathering and reposting the field notes taken by local activist for three weeks during the crises in Pazarkule/Evros border which was aggravated by Turkey, Greece and EU’s border policies and politics of bargaining over human lives. You can find the same report series in Turkish and German (partially translated). read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei, Europäische Union
Rights denied during Greek asylum procedure suspension
RSA’s analysis of the impact of Greece’s decision to suspend access to asylum in March 2020 on the rights of sylumseekers and on redress mechanisms at domestic and European level. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei
Les mort•e•s en Méditerranée ne sont pas une fatalité ! La solidarité, dernier rempart face aux politiques mortifères de l’Union européenne (UE)
« Après plusieurs jours d’incertitude et de confusion, le bilan de ce début du mois d’avril en Méditerranée centrale — bien que pour l’heure encore provisoire — est particulièrement funeste : des centaines de personnes migrantes épuisées après avoir été abandonnées plusieurs jours en mer sans aucun secours, 12 personnes mortes de fatigue, de déshydratation ou noyées et plusieurs centaines renvoyées dans l’enfer libyen qu’elles tentaient de fuir à tout prix. Mais alors que l’Europe essaie de faire passer cette tragédie comme l’un des inévitables « dégâts collatéraux » de la crise sanitaire du COVID 19, il convient de retracer la genèse des politiques du « laisser mourir » que l’UE a élaborées en Méditerranée depuis plusieurs années. » read more
Language(s): Französisch / Français
Region(s): Nordafrika, Europäische Union
The COVID-19 excuse? How migration policies are hardening around the globe
“While perhaps necessary from a public health standpoint, the limitations on movement make it more difficult for people fleeing wars and persecution to access protection, and raise pressing questions about what special steps governments need to take to safeguard asylum seekers and irregular migrants in these unusual times. But migration policy experts also warn that some governments are taking advantage of the crisis to push through legally dubious, hardline migration policies that can’t be justified by public health concerns and that could stay in place long after the COVID-19 outbreaks subside – in particular, ending or curtailing access to asylum.”
read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europäische Union, Weltweit
Balkan Region Report – March 2020
The Border Violence Monitoring Network is releasing its latest report covering updates from the Western Balkans and Greece. In March, illegal pushbacks at multiple borders continued unabated, placing transit groups at physical risk and violating their fundamental rights to asylum and due process. Two simultaneous crises also amplified and brought into sharp relief the breakdown of legal and humanitarian protections along the route. The movement of thousands of people in Turkey towards the Greek border drew the issue of collective expulsion across the Evros river into view. Meanwhile, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe was used as justification for new and concerning policy at several points along the route, such as detention and militerisation. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Balkanstaaten, Griechenland / Türkei
Struggles of women* on the move
Watch The Med Alarmphone: 'Our new report on Struggles of women* on the move is out! It covers the whole Mediterranean, gathering the voices and experiences of women* living in refugee camps, resisting deportations and protesting the violence they suffer.' read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta, Griechenland / Türkei, Nordafrika, Europäische Union
De « la guerre contre le virus » à la guerre aux exilé·e·s : les réponses sécuritaires au Covid-19 exacerbent les violences aux frontières
« Les hotspots grecs dans lesquels sont entassé•e•s les exilé•e•s sans protection de leurs droits ou de la pandémie exemplifient la précarisation de leurs trajectoires par les politiques sécuritaires des États. Migreurop dénonce les violences infligées aux exilé•e•s exercées au nom de la « guerre contre le virus », l’inégalité de traitement à leur égard face à la pandémie, et demande la fermeture immédiate de tous les espaces de détention pour garantir leur droit à être protégé•e•s. » read more
Language(s): Französisch / Français
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei
Le Covid-19 brise les fragiles solidarités avec les réfugiés
« La diffusion du Covid-19 a remis en évidence l’urgence de définir des stratégies précises pour contrôler les mouvements des personnes dans le contexte global. La question des réfugiés, qui était au centre de ce débat jusqu’à il y a quelques semaines, est cependant passée au second plan, suite à un changement prévisible des priorités dans les agendas gouvernementaux. Les migrants continuent toutefois à être entassés dans les structures d’accueil aux portes de l’Europe qui connaissent actuellement une crise aux proportions tragiques. » read more
Language(s): Französisch / Français
Region(s): Europäische Union
Free El Hiblu 3
In Malta, three African teenagers stand accused of terrorism. They were among a group of migrants who fled Libya on a rubber boat on the 26th of March 2019. At risk of drowning, 108 people were rescued by the crew of the cargo ship El Hiblu 1. Instructed by an aircraft of the European military operation Eunavfor Med, the crew sought to return the rescued to Libya, a war-torn country where migrants live in appalling conditions.
The migrants protested their return and convinced the crew of El Hiblu 1 to steer north, to Malta. During the protest nobody was hurt and nothing was damaged. Three African teenagers were arrested and imprisoned for 8 months. Now before a Maltese court, the El Hiblu 3 face serious charges of terrorism and could, if convicted, spend many years in prison.
On the 28th of March 2020, the campaign “Free El Hiblu 3” will be launched, several human rights organisations, rescue NGOs, international lawyers and local NGOs are involved in the solidarity campaign.
read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta, Nordafrika, Europäische Union
Abstract of Amnesty report: Punishing compassion - Solidarity on trial in Fortress Europe
In den letzten Jahren waren Menschenrechtsverteidiger*innen und zivilgesellschaftliche Organisationen, die Geflüchteten und Migrant*innen geholfen haben, in mehreren europäischen Ländern unbegründeten Strafverfahren, unangemessenen Einschränkungen ihrer Aktivitäten, Einschüchterungen, Schikanen und Verleumdungskampagnen ausgesetzt. Dieser Bericht zeigt, wie europäische Regierungen, EU-Institutionen und Behörden eine Reihe von restriktiven, sanktionierenden und strafenden Maßnahmen gegen Einzelpersonen und Gruppen ergriffen haben, die die Rechte von Menschen in Bewegung verteidigen.
Anbei finden Sie einen Abstract zum Amnesty International Report "Europe: Punishing compassion: Solidarity on trial in Fortress Europe", der am 03.03.2020 erschienen ist. Das von borderline-europe erstelte Abstract fasst die wichtigsten Infos des Berichts in deutscher Sprache zusammen.
Whole report in English language: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur01/1828/2020/en/ read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europa
HarekAct Reporting: INVISIBLY STUCK AND IN LIMBO: An ethnography of the case of irregular Latin American migrants in Turkey
This anthropological study focuses on the experiences and realities of Latin American migrants who are stuck in Turkey in irregular situation. They represent a large, but virtually invisible population due to their absence in official statistics and migration studies, although their arrival to the country is not a new trend. The majority of them have had their rights undermined and are exposed to abuse, difficulties and deprivation as a result of their irregular immigration status. Some of them find it hard to get jobs or, become the cheap labor that underpins the capitalist system of labor exploitation. Many Latin Americans migrants refrain from seeking help from the humanitarian system, since many of them do not know their rights, only speak Spanish, come from disadvantaged social strata or never achieved a higher educational level. Moreover, many humanitarian organizations deny them access to certain services for fear of reprisals from the authorities as a result of their irregular status. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei, Amerika
Violations at Greek Borders: Sea and Land Report - February / March 2020
Following the recent developments in Greece regarding violence against people at it’s national and EU border, the Border Violence Monitoring Network have co-authored a comprehensive report alongside several organisations (Mobile Info Team, Mare Liberum, No Name Kitchen, and Balkan Info Van). The publication outlines the latest data from monitoring groups recording pushbacks to Turkey from both land and sea, highlighting systemic and EU backed acts of extreme violence and cruelty in breach of international law. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei, Europäische Union