
Spain denies any responsibility in Melilla migrant deaths
The Spanish government denies any responsibility over the deaths of some 23 people who attempted to cross from Morocco into its north African Melilla enclave last summer.
Tuesday
28th Mar 2023
The Spanish government denies any responsibility over the deaths of some 23 people who attempted to cross from Morocco into its north African Melilla enclave last summer.
As leaders meet for their Brussels summit on migration, the 2016 "deal" with Turkey is a prime example of why the EU should not transfer its own responsibilities regarding migration to third states.
Sweden has resumed EU talks on tightening visas for countries with lots of "unfounded" asylum-seekers, mentioning Colombia, Georgia, and Venezuela.
Most return flights carried out by the EU's border police Frontex this year will take place in Italy and Germany. The flights are part of wider push to get EU states to use Frontex to return rejected asylum seekers.
The potential economic collapse of Tunisia has startled EU decision-makers amid fears that more migrants may leave on boats towards Europe.
In many EU member states, access to services is dependent on successful refugee status determination. Until then, asylum seekers may not be able to get housing, education, or jobs and can also face significant barriers to receiving psychosocial support.
The European Commission is promising more support for Libya, after some 30 people drowned in Mediterranean Sea — in a response that mirrors Brussels' reaction after 76 died off the Italian coast two weeks ago.
Mary Lawlor, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, says she has "serious concerns" about Greek criminal investigations into people who help migrants and asylum seekers.
In a letter to Italy's prime minister, concerning the shipwreck that killed some 70 people, the European Commission suggests shoring up the Libyan coast guard and launching anti-smuggling partnerships with Tunisia and Egypt.
The number of tents of asylum seekers sleeping rough along the canal in the centre of Brussels continues to mount. Over a week ago, the Flemish Refugee Action, a Brussels-based NGO, counted 60. On Thursday (23 February), EUobserver counted 122.
Recognition-rates for asylum hovers at around 40 percent across the EU (plus Norway and Switzerland), according to the European Union Agency for Asylum. But this seemingly-low figure doesn't include cases won on appeal and others who received humanitarian status.
Europe is stepping back from its core values of human dignity, human rights and the rule of law, which have been the building blocks of the political edifice of the EU, writes Kostas Arvanitis MEP of Syriza/The Left.
At least 100 migrants are brought to the French Border Police facility in the town of Menton every day — often kept for hours in inhumane conditions and eventually expelled under procedures that contradict European and international law.
Jonas Grimheden, the head of human rights at the EU's border force Frontex, suggests the agency should reinforce its presence in trouble spots like Greece given reports of abuse against asylum seekers.
Instead of building walls, European countries must devise systems that allow for more and decent work permits for people to come to work in Europe, across skills and sectors.
German ideas of possibly offshoring asylum to countries outside Europe are unworkable, say civil society. The comments follow reports that the German government is exploring options of getting north African states to process asylum claims of those rescued at sea.
The far right in the European Parliament has said Manfred Weber, who leads the centre-right group, is a poster boy for their cause of stemming migration.
The push for more fences and walls to stem migration at the borders is a political ploy by EU states to band-aid their own failings at home. It is also unfeasible. The EU's external border is 12,000km.
Artificial Intelligence in migration is increasingly used to make predictions, assessments, and evaluations based on racist assumptions it is programmed with. But with upcoming AI Act, the EU has a chance to draw red lines on the most harmful technologies.
A joint letter from Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia seeks to create more Turkey-like migrant swap deals. But a pending Greek case at the European Court of Justice may complicate those plans.
The EU commission gave the Libyan Coast Guard the first of five new EU-funded patrol boats to help prevent migrants and asylum seekers from fleeing to Europe. The handover comes days ahead of an EU summit on migration.
A European Commission threat to take Greece to court over asylum violations may involve EU-funded centres. Although details of the case remains under wraps, Greek media is reporting that the violations deal with detention at those centres.
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.
The EU's border agency Frontex will spend around €100m this year to return unwanted and rejected asylum seekers.
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.
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.
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.