Thursday
2nd Feb 2023
The European Commission wants to shore up the land border between Bulgaria and Turkey with drones. "We can strengthen the border with management capabilities," European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told MEPs.
Some 5,000 refugees and asylum seekers were registered in Ukraine in 2021. Small in the context of the millions now displaced, but one of the most at-risk groups in this crisis.
Europe's response to Elon Musk's Starlink broadband internet system — currently used by Ukraine in its war against Russia — is to deliver its first services sometime next year.
The EU's border agency Frontex will spend around €100m this year to return unwanted and rejected asylum seekers.
EU navies should stay parked beside Libya for years to come, military advisors say, renewing concern on "vile" conditions for refugees.
Next time you think people should not be criticised for "just being curious" about someone's origin, ask yourself just why that harmless extra sub-question only ever surfaces around non-white Europeans.
The European Commission is hoping to mitigate regional and industry-specific labour shortages with the launch of a new mechanism to facilitate the arrival of workers from third countries.
Some 24 are facing trial in Mytilene, on the island of Lesbos, on charges related to Emergency Response Center International (ERCI), a registered NGO that had in the past assisted the Greek Coast Guard in rescue operations.
The evidence shows the 'next Afghanistan' is not in the Middle East but in Africa, specifically West Africa, where religious violence, political corruption, weak states, and the devastating impacts of climate change have combined to create an unprecedented crisis.
Italy's new government has launched a fresh assault on non-governmental rescue groups that save lives. While the rhetoric is sharper and some tactics are new, successive Italian governments have tried to block maritime rescue groups — including with criminal charges.
Over 4,000 documents from the EU's border police agency Frontex, including freedom of information request responses, are now public. The files were uploaded and published by German-based transparency group FragDenStaat.
More than 1,600 testimonies of alleged illegal pushbacks of migrants and refugees throughout the EU has been published, collated by the Border Violence Monitoring Network and the Left party — adding to the mounting evidence of abuse.
The EU's border police Frontex is set to deploy guards throughout the Western Balkans as part of a wider plan to stop migrants from reaching EU states.
Afghan and Syrian nationals are being abused at EU-funded removal centres in Turkey amid a lack of proper monitoring, says Human Rights Watch. The findings come at a time when Turkey is deporting large numbers of Afghans back to Kabul.
Sweden won't make any pledges to relocate asylum seekers under a French-inspired EU plan because there is no legal basis, says Sweden's ambassador to the EU. But Sweden's new right-wing government is also tightening migration rules.
EU leadership on Wednesday (23 November) rehashed decade-old statements on the importance of saving lives in the Mediterranean Sea. But the statements appear increasingly hollow after over 25,000 deaths since 2014.
EU Commission says it has no proposal and is not the competent authority, but that talks with the International Maritime Organisation are needed to create "specific framework and guidelines" for NGO boats rescuing people and bringing them to European shores.
As MEPs debate the situation in Libya in the plenary for the first time in four years, the International Rescue Committee's Libya director says the EU must act now to prevent the country spiralling further into chaos.
Spanish authorities are being accused of a cover up over the deaths of dozens of refugees at its Melilla enclave with Morocco. Some 23 were confirmed dead and another 77 remain missing after around 1,500 tried to enter the enclave.
The European Commission is mounting pressure for Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia to join passport free Schengen area. On Wednesday (16 November), it presented a 13-page document explaining why they should become part of the zone next January.
The Ocean Viking operated by SOS Mediterranee is mentally preparing for a new lengthy standoff with Italy's right wing government. Louise Guillaumat, its deputy director of operations, told EUobserver that the ship will soon be heading out to sea.
Turkey deported 44,768 Afghan nationals in the first eight months of 2022, a 150-percent increase from the first eight months of 2021 — *before* the Taliban takeover.
A dead body in a freezing river, spinal injuries after falling off a wall, a pregnant woman given a punishment beating after being forced back — this is what's happening on the EU's eastern border.
The European Commission says solidarity on migration remains — despite Paris refusing to relocate some 3,500 asylum seekers from Italy under a French EU presidency-inspired proposal to distribute thousands of people across member states.
Rule of law questions are mounting against the EU's police agency Europol, following a recent expansion of powers amid data abuse scandals. Those powers include the processing and analysis of data of innocent people with no links to any crime.
Through a mechanism to be discussed on Wednesday, member states would permanently be able to derogate at will from their obligations under EU asylum law — de fact creating a cherry-picking system between EU member states.
The stand-off with Italy's far-right government continues — as four charity vessel ships seek to disembark those had rescued at sea. The stalemate comes as another 500 people need rescuing.
The European Commission says it is powerless to stop Italy from banning charity rescue boats entering its territorial waters. The statement follows moves by the new government under Georgia Meloni to further crack down on the Mediterranean Sea rescues.
NGOs say Athens should no longer consider Turkey as a safe place to return asylum seekers, citing a European Commission report that highlights likely abuse and violations.
An EU office for combatting anti-Muslim hatred has stood empty for over a year, in what risks smelling of neglect.
The Czech EU presidency is proposing an annual minimum on the number of asylum seekers EU states are willing to relocate. The idea is part of bigger discussion on solidarity sharing, a concept that has long eluded member states.
Serbia last week scrapped its visa free regime with Tunisia and Burundi amid EU pressure. Now it may end up culling more nations from its visa free regime as it seeks to align itself with EU visa policy.
Turkey has beaten and forced hundreds of recognised Syrian refugees back into Syria, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch. "We wrote hundreds but I imagine it's maybe the tip of the iceberg," said one of its researchers.
