“A powerful tool of mass surveillance”: NGOs warn that proposed Eurodac reforms will fundamentally undermine the rights of migrants and refugees

33 NGOs, including EEPA, addressed an open letter to the Members of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) of the European Parliament, expressing concern regarding the amended proposal to revise the Eurodac Regulation. Eurodac is a database that records fingerprints of asylum seekers entering the European Union (EU). The amendment, formulated by the European Commission and published in September 2020, extends the database to include more biometric data, including of minors. The NGOs warn about the risk of erosion of the fundamental rights of migrants and asylum seekers that could result from this extension.

News Highlights: Record 23,000 refugees returned to Libya in 2021, NGOs warn of mass surveillance of refugees, Tigray facing famine

In this week’s highlights: The Elders address UNSC on Tigray; Refugees in Ethiopia approved for resettlement refused departure in Addis, say witnesses; UN urges opening of Tigray for aid; 29 Tigrayan bodies found in the river between Sudan and Ethiopia; 5,000 Ethiopian migrants blocked in Yemen; Ethiopia’s competing alliances; Over 23,000 refugees returned to Libya this year; More than 10,000 refugees attempted to cross from Tunisia to Italy; NGOs warn that extension of fingerprint database is a threat to refugee privacy; UK may push back refugees crossing the Channel; Migrants stuck at the EU-Belarus border facing dire conditions; Migrants and refugees arrested on unlawful reentry charges in Italy; Asylum seekers in Lesbos living in precarious temporary camp; and Education of refugee children “now under threat”.

News Highlights: Refugees in Tigray under threat, Denmark returning Syrian refugees “a dangerous precedent”, 1 in 3 trafficking victims are minors

In this week’s highlights: Eritrean refugees unsafe in Ethiopia; WFP running out of food in Tigray; 3,000 Ethiopian refugees from Amhara crossed over into Sudan this week; 32 suspects of human trafficking arrested in Sudan; 5,500 people pushed back this year in Europe; Denmark to return Syrian refugees in “a dangerous precedent”; Trafficking victims exploited in Europe identified in Italy are increasingly mothers and children; Nearly 1,000 refugees have died crossing the Central Mediterranean; Turkey refusing to take on more refugee cases as 500 refugees intercepted this week; Over 550 refugees intercepted by UK and French coast guard; 70th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention; COVID-19 has worsened global malnutrition.