Background information
Iuventa-Crew frei von allen Anklagen!
Nach einer siebenjährigen Odyssee halten wir nun mit einem Wechselbad der Gefühle die Abschlussdokumente unseres Gerichtsverfahrens in den Händen. Die Zustellung der Übersetzung der Urteilsbegründung markiert den Schlussakt des längsten, teuersten und umfangreichsten Strafverfahrens, das je gegen Seenotrettungsorganisationen eingeleitet wurde – und es endete mit mehr als nur einem Freispruch! read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Italien / Malta
Denial of rescue: 85 people left to die in March 2024
Open letter to IMRCC Rome, JRCC Malta, Frontex, and the UNHCR
On the 13th of March 2024 the rescue vessel Ocean Viking rescued 25 people on a black rubber boat in international waters. According to the survivors, they had spent nearly one week at sea – adrift and without orientation.
During that time many people perished and are now missing. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta, Nordafrika, Europäische Union
Sudan Media Forum: Migrant’s desperate act of survival ‘I drank my own urine to escape death’
“My throat was parched, and in desperation, I found only urine… so I drank it to escape death.” These were the words of 20-year-old Mukhtar Ahmed, one of the many victims of irregular migration, as he recounted his ordeal, a tragedy shared by thousands of Sudanese forced to flee their country due to the war that erupted on 15 April 2023. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Nordafrika
Increasing calls from boats in distress between Crete, Libya and Egypt
Europe tries hard and uses a lot of violence to stop people from moving and crossing its’ borders. As Alarm Phone, over the years we have observed that the increased use of violence and surveillance only forces people to take more dangerous and deadly routes. One of the more recent results of the ever increasing violence of the European border regime is that boats start in the far East of Libya, aiming to drive the very long distance towards Italy. Only a few weeks ago we commemorated the deadliest shipwreck on this route, the massacre of Pylos, where 650 people died. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta, Griechenland / Türkei, Nordafrika, Naher Osten
Frontex Covering Up Greek Pushbacks
Frontex involvement in illegal pushbacks in Greece, are ones again proven, this time in a newly released serious Incident Report(SIR) by Frontex own Fundamental Rights Office, from a pushback performed by Greek coast guard outside Lesvos, assisted by Latvian Frontex.
In the afternoon of 25 January, a boat carrying 38 people, all Afghans, had almost reached land in the north of Lesvos, when they were stopped by Latvian Frontex and two vessels from the Greek Coast guard, and illegally pushed back to Turkey. The boat was in Greek waters, they were intercepted, their lives were put at risk on several occasions by the Greek coast guard, they were subjected to a prohibited collective expulsion, and both Frontex and the Greek coast guard deliberately covered up the crime by putting incorrect and incomplete information in their mission reports. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europäische Union
Out of Sight; Pushing Beyond the Limits of Humanity
The new report covers the main activities of Klikaktiv, trends and needs observed in the field, legal obstacles for people on the move in Serbia, and legal analysis of EU and Serbia’s migration policies in the first three months of 2024. Increased violence of the police and smuggling groups has put people on the move in grave danger of different types of exploitation (labor and sexual exploitation, human trafficking, etc) and made them even more vulnerable. The report includes testimonies of people on the move and their experiences while residing in Serbia, including detention and limited access to accommodation facilities and asylum system. This forced people on the move to be less visible both to the state authorities and NGOs on the ground and to turn to smugglers for the accommodation, transportation and other necessities. The migration route has shifted from the previously dominant route of Hungary to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Balkanstaaten
Chains of Solidarity at Sea!
In this analysis, we provide a comprehensive chronology of the first six months of 2024, offering in great detail an account of developments as they unfolded. As nobody else is doing so, we need to create our own archive of migrant struggles, acts of solidarity, and forms of border violence at sea. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta
Samos: “We feel in prison on the island”: Unlawful detention and sub-standard conditions in an EU-funded refugee centre
Although the European Commission funded new reception centres for asylum seekers on the Aegean islands promising “better conditions”, racialized people on the move living in the Samos ‘Closed Controlled Access Centre’ face obstacles accessing basic services and experience systematic, arbitrary de facto detention. The EU must ensure that the implementation of the new EU Migration and Asylum Pact does not result in similar abuses. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei, Europäische Union
FRA Report: Guidance on investigating alleged ill-treatment at borders
Fundamental rights violations on the EU’s land and sea borders often go unreported. Investigations into these violations need to be more effective. This report gathers examples of alleged rights violations of migrants and refugees between 2020 and 2023. It sets out 10 steps to promote prompt and effective national investigations into incidents of ill-treatment at borders. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europäische Union
Greece: Asylum procedure statistics 2023
In 2023 the asylum process in Greece was marked by significant activity, with a high number of asylum applications and an even higher recognition rate, highlighting the clear need for international protection for asylum seekers. This report looks at the monthly statistics published by the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, alongside figures provided in response to parliamentary questions. It is published by Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) and gives an overview of key figures and trends within the Greek asylum system, focusing on initial and subsequent applications, procedural outcomes, and judicial reviews. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei, Europäische Union
oices from the Camps: Living Conditions and Access to Services in Refugee Camps on the Greek Mainland; Evidence of the failure to provide adequate material reception conditions to asylum seekers in Greece
This report looks at living conditions and access to services for asylum seekers in Greece, drawing on interviews with people living in nine migration camps on the mainland: Corinth, Katsikas, Kavala, Koutsochero, Lagkadikia, Malakasa, Oinofyta, Ritsona and Serres. With attention often directed to the inhumane, EU-funded Closed Controlled Access Centres on the Aegean islands, the findings of this research reveal a troubling picture of neglect and mismanagement on the mainland as well.
The only accommodation that the Greek state provides asylum seekers is in camps. Many of these facilities are located on former military bases in industrial or agricultural areas, far from cities and with limited or non-existent public transport connections. The isolated locations of most camps and the lack of services provided inside them, has resulted in severe limitations on asylum seekers’ access to social services, legal support, and healthcare. Gaps in the provision of interpretation and transportation are fundamental and create additional barriers to accessing essential services.
Meanwhile, daily lives in the camps are characterised by constant surveillance, restricted movement and a fundamental lack of opportunities for learning, community-building and joy. Many people wait months or years in these conditions, struggling to meet their basic human needs, move on with their lives or integrate into society. This report provides strong evidence that conditions in the mainland camps fall far short of Greece’s legal obligation to provide reception conditions which protect the physical and mental health of people seeking international protection. Based on the findings of this report, we call on the Greek State to reintroduce housing programmes which accommodate applicants in apartments and houses in cities. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei
How the New EU Facilitation Directive Furthers the Criminalisation of Migrants and Human Rights Defenders
PICUM’s new briefing includes a comprehensive analysis of how and why the EU commission facilitation directive has failed and how the new proposal means that people on the move will still risk years of prison for steering boats or having to undertake perilous journeys with their children. Human rights defenders will continue facing harassment and persecution and new provisions will have a significant effect on the provision of information and services to people on the move, and facilitate censorship. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europäische Union
Outsourcing of borders. Observation of EU externalisation policy. Bulletin 02
The project, carried out by Statewatch and migration-control.info and funded by Bread for the World, Misereor, medico international and Pro Asyl, aims to publicise the EU's externalisation policies, plans and practices. In this way, the impact on the rights of refugees as well as on democratic standards, transparency and accountability will be highlighted. It addresses the lack of public information by publishing relevant EU documents, at this stage mainly those produced or discussed by the Council of the EU. In addition, the information overload resulting from a multitude of EU institutions, working groups and national governments involved in the externalisation agenda is addressed through a summary of thematic and regional developments and an in-depth analysis of key issues. read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Europäische Union
On this Journey no one care if you live or die: Abuse, Protection and Justice along Routes between East and West Africa and Africa’s Mediterranean Coast
The UNHCR, IOM, and MMC's report highlights the extreme violence and human rights violations faced by people on the move on land routes across the African continent, particularly towards the Mediterranean coast. The report reveals that more people cross the Sahara Desert than the Mediterranean Sea, with deaths in the desert estimated to be twice those at sea. Over three years of data collection, the report emphasizes the rising number of individuals attempting these hazardous land crossings, driven by deteriorating conditions in their home and host countries, such as new conflicts in the Sahel and Sudan, climate change, and widespread racism and xenophobia.
The report details the severe risks and abuses people endure, including torture, physical violence, arbitrary detention, death, kidnapping for ransom, sexual violence, enslavement, human trafficking, and forced labor. These abuses are primarily perpetrated by criminal gangs, armed groups, and even security forces and border guards. Despite international commitments to protect and assist these individuals, significant gaps in protection and assistance persist along the Central Mediterranean route, exacerbated by inadequate funding and restrictions on humanitarian access. This situation forces people on the move to undertake even more perilous journeys.
The report calls for comprehensive, route-based protection strategies to save lives and alleviate suffering, addressing the root causes of displacement and irregular movements through measures like peacebuilding, human rights protection, improved governance, and climate change mitigation. The organizations urge for the creation of safe pathways for migrants across all stages of their journeys, hoping the findings will spur increased action to fill the existing gaps in the international response to this crisis. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Nordafrika, Afrika
Italy: Abuse of migration-related detention in punitive conditions deprives people of liberty and dignity
In Italy, migrants and people seeking asylum are being unlawfully deprived of their liberty in detention centres that fall below international standards, Amnesty International said today in its new public statement, “Liberty and Dignity: Amnesty International’s observations on the administrative detention of migrant and asylum-seeking people in Italy.’
“Detention should be exceptional and a measure of last resort. However, in the centres we visited we encountered racialized people who should never have been detained." read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta
FACTSHEET. Development of migration routes to Europe
The routes that migrants and asylum seekers take to reach Europe are constantly changing. What do migration movements currently look like? What data do we have? An overview. read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Europa, Weltweit
Deciphering the European Pact on Migration and Asylum
The European Pact on Migration and Asylum is a set of legislative and operational measures designed to bring about a comprehensive reform of European policy in this area. Adopted by the European Parliament on 10 April 2024 and then by the Council of the European Union (EU) on 14 May 2024, it is presented as "a set of rules which will contribute to managing arrivals in an orderly manner, creating efficient and uniform procedures and sharing the burden fairly between Member States". read more
Language(s): Französisch / Français
Region(s): Europäische Union
Statement by Médecins Sans Frontières on the outsourcing of asylum procedures
Our experience shows that outsourcing asylum procedures has serious consequences for those affected. read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Deutschland
Shipwreck in the Ionian Sea, 17.6.2024. The Silenced Dead and Institutional Silence
On the night of June 16-17, off the Ionian Sea, a boat that departed from the port of Bodrum in Turkey with about 67 people on board (including 26 minors) sank approximately 120 miles off the coast of Calabria. The boat had been adrift for several days, with a semi-submerged hull, likely due to an engine explosion.
According to survivors, several vessels passed by without intervening during that time: the boat was only rescued on June 17 after a French ship intercepted the sunken sailboat and issued a “mayday” call. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta
Egypt: “Handcuffed like dangerous criminals”: Arbitrary detention and forced returns of Sudanese refugees in Egypt
Since September 2023, Egypt’s Border Guard Forces and police have carried out mass arbitrary arrests of Sudanese people who fled the ongoing armed conflict in Sudan for irregularly entering or staying in Egypt. The Egyptian authorities held women, men and children in cruel and inhuman conditions, including in warehouses or horse stables, pending their forced return to Sudan without giving them the opportunity to claim asylum or to challenge their deportation. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Nordafrika, Europa, Afrika