Greek minister says people-smugglers behind 'fake news'
Greek migration minister Notis Mitarachi suggested people smugglers are feeding media "fake news" on illegal pushbacks because they are losing cash flow.
News in Brief
- Turkey blames EU for sexist protocol fiasco
- France to close elite civil-service academy
- Covid-19 cases in UK drop 60%, study finds
- White House urges 'calm' after Northern Ireland riots
- Italy's Draghi calls Turkey's Erdoğan a 'dictator'
- Slovakia told to return Sputnik V amid quality row
- EU risks €87bn in stranded fossil fuel assets
- Obligatory vaccination not against human rights, European court says
Analysis
Frontex scrutiny on rights violations is a PR stunt
Greece denies any illegal pushbacks at sea. The EU takes their version of events as face value, in a system unable and unwilling to shed doubt on Greek authorities - posing accountability questions on the EU's border guard agency Frontex.
Feature
Venice refugee restaurant tells migrants' journeys via food
Hamed Ahmadi arrived in Italy to showcase a documentary at the Venice Film Festival. Now he's running a restaurant staffed by refugees, telling their journeys through recipes.
Analysis
Frontex is its own worst enemy
The Warsaw-based agency held out 105 days, refusing freedom of information requests, before it finally revealed a partial breakdown of costs linked to its annual European Border and Coast Guard Day. Such delays, on spending, tend to arouse suspicions.
Frontex redacts its hospitality spending figures
The EU's border agency Frontex has blacked-out entire documents on how it spends EU taxpayer money on itself, including gala dinners and hotels. The agency, whose annual budget has soared to €544m, claims there is "no overriding public" interest.
Deadlock looms on EU's new asylum pact
MEPs working on the new EU-wide asylum reforms have cast doubt on whether agreement will be reached with their co-legislating member state counterparts. A proposal to create independent monitors on human rights is also on shaky ground.
Frontex guards in Greece could be armed by summer
Several hundred Frontex guards could be armed by the summer and deployed to EU member states that host its operations. An agreement has already been reached with Greece, says Frontex, the site of its biggest operation to date.
EU mulls visa restrictions over migrant returns
The European Commission drafted a confidential report outlining the cooperation of migrant returns in 39 countries. It is now ready to start imposing visa restrictions for those that don't take back their nationals.
Opinion
Brussels silent on vaccinating undocumented migrants
It is in Europe's interest to vaccinate undocumented people - the race towards herd immunity cannot afford the luxury of another EU standstill.
Analysis
Lack of legal clarity on EU 'pushbacks' of migrants at sea
Frontex is invoking EU interception rules, plus a European Court of Human Rights case against Spain, as precedents to allow authorities to turn back migrants in boats in the Aegean Sea. But legal analysis by the EU Commission says otherwise.
Frontex's 'serious incident reports' - revealed
Out of the seven serious incident reports shared with this website, five deal with allegations against Greek authorities, while the remainder describe separate incidents in Germany and Hungary.
EU Commission cannot hold Frontex to account
MEPs probing the EU's border agency Frontex cross-examined the agency's director. They also spoke to EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson, who made it clear she had little sway over the agency.
Internal Frontex probe to deliver final report this week
A management board at Frontex is tasked to make sure its operations stick to the rules. An internal probe, known as the working group, will soon deliver its final report on the Warsaw-based agency.
EU Parliament to hold Frontex probe behind closed doors
Earlier this month the European Parliament set up a permanent probe into the EU's border agency Frontex. Now that the Frontex boss is set for his first grilling, MEPs have decided to keep the public in the dark.
Frontex chief: 'about time' MEPs probe his agency
Some 14 MEPs have created a group to probe allegations of rights abuse by the EU's border agency Frontex. Its head, Fabrice Leggeri, welcomed its creation and said it "is about time".
Exclusive
EU has 26 documents on alleged NGO sex abuse in DRC
A joint investigation last year by Reuters and The New Humanitarian revealed alleged sexual abuse by people working for the World Health Organization and other leading NGOs. The European Commission has since collected over two dozen documents on the allegations.
Greek asylum retraumatising victims of torture, NGO says
Greek NGO Refugee Support Aegean says the state system is traumatising and failing people who are victims of torture by expediting their cases - without offering them any help as required by law.
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Opinion
Italy is quietly overturning Salvini's anti-migrant laws
Flying below the radar, given the recent upheaval within the Italian government, is the small but significant steps taken to improve Italy's migration policies.
Frontex embroiled in new transparency case
Last October, Der Spiegel published an investigation into illegal pushbacks off the Greek islands, implicating the EU's border agency Frontex. Journalists asked Frontex to release location data of its vessels, so has an MEP - without success.
UN agency demands EU stop violence against migrants
The International Organization for Migration, an inter-governmental body related to the UN, is demanding the EU and member states put an end to illegal expulsions of people seeking asylum.
Column
Extremism in Bundestag poses test of German constitution
Germany's biggest opposition party in parliament, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), may be wire-tapped and infiltrated by undercover agents of the domestic security agency.
MEPs agree to mandate and probe into Frontex
MEPs in the civil liberties committee have agreed to create a Frontex scrutiny working group to probe the Warsaw-based agency over a number of allegations.
Covid-19 slowing refugee resettlements into EU
EU member states, including the United Kingdom, resettled just over 9,000 refugees last year. In 2019, they took in almost 35,000.
Exclusive
Frontex suspends operations in Hungary
The EU's border and coast guard agency, Frontex will suspend operations in Hungary. The move follows a European Court of Justice ruling in December demanding Hungary stop pushing people back into Serbia.
Rift widens on 'returns' deadline in EU migration pact
Negotiations on the European Commission's asylum and migration pact among EU states continues. But a rift is widening on the eight-month deadline for capitals to sponsor returns of failed asylum seekers.
Opinion
Migrants in Bosnia: a disaster foretold on EU doorstep
Ultimately, the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, only unveiled in September, risks reinforcing bottlenecks and misery at the borders, should be thoroughly amended before final agreement.
Reality bites EU's 'No More Morias' pledge
The EU's hotspot of Moria, a sprawling ghetto-like camp for migrants and refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos, burned down last September. EU leaders declared such scenes would never be replicated. But its replacement faces similar problems.
Turkish minister in Brussels to discuss new migrant deal
Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, will be meeting three EU commissioners to discuss a "prospective update of [the] EU-Turkey Statement" on migrants.
EU Parliament pressing for inquiry into Frontex
MEPs are drumming up support for an inquiry into the EU's controversial border and coast guard agency, Frontex. So far, the Greens, the left-wing GUE, and Renew Europe are on board - amid expectations the centre-left S&D will also join.
Turkey snubs Greece on migrant returnees
The Greek government last week requested that the European Commission and EU border agency Frontex help return 1,450 failed asylum seekers to Turkey. Turkey has refused, citing the pandemic.
Exclusive
Frontex spent €94,000 on a dinner in Warsaw
The European Border and Coast Guard Day is held every May. The event includes movies, football and volleyball matches between Frontex and national border guards, shooting competitions and exercises to detect smugglers.
How Belgian government got caught up in human smuggling
Former Belgian minister Theo Francken gave one of his party friends the power to put Syrian Christians on a list to get Belgian humanitarian visa. This week that colleague was convicted of human smuggling.
EU to scrutinise Hungary 'ignoring asylum ruling'
The European Court of Justice told Hungary in December to stop forcing asylum seekers back into Serbia. The European Commission is now demanding Budapest follow the judgement - but Hungary has since reintroduced a special legal order, under Covid-19.
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