News Highlights: Independent reports on chemical weapons entering Tigray, Mass starvation occurring in Tigray, Illegal pushbacks to Libya 
17 Jun 2021

News Highlights: Independent reports on chemical weapons entering Tigray, Mass starvation occurring in Tigray, Illegal pushbacks to Libya 

by | posted in: Africa, African Union, Asylum Seekers, Deportation, Detention, Eritrea, Ethiopia, EU funding, European Commission, European Parliament, European Politics, European Union, Greece, Horn of Africa region, Human Rights abuses, Human Trafficking, Hungary, IOM, Italy, Libya, Malnutrition, Mediterranean Sea, Migration, Refugee Camps, Refugees in the EU, Relocation system, Starvation | 0

In this week’s news highlights: EEPA webinar discusses the widespread abuse of refugees happening in Tigray; Reports of chemical weapons entering Tigray; International community condemns widespread starvation in Tigray and warn of potential famine in Ethiopia; Ethiopia’s UN envoy stated that Eritrean soldiers will ‘leave soon’; BBC docu-film on the perilous journey of migrants from Ethiopia to Yemen; Human trafficker Tewelde Goitom (Welid) sentenced to 18 years in prison; Alarm Phone reports illegal pushbacks in Libya; Scotland’s Council extends ban on acceptance of refugees; Refugees sentenced to 10 years over Moria fire; Police bust human smuggling ring in North Macedonia; IOM project aims to make migration data more accessible.

The EU’s lack of a unified voice leads to scapegoating of migrants in some countries
27 Mar 2020

The EU’s lack of a unified voice leads to scapegoating of migrants in some countries

by | posted in: COVID-19, Hungary, Italy, Schengen area, US | 0

The European Commission (EC) decided to apply a temporary restriction for non-essential travel from third countries into the European Union or in other words, closed the Schengen external borders. The EU hoped that the decision would enable the lifting of internal border controls. However, such controls have already been applied by several member states in an effort to limit the spread of the virus. Some have criticized the EU’s lack of a unified response and clear message; and some countries, like Hungary and Italy, justify their anti-migration policies by using the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus.

Pushbacks at European Union’s external border – the new normal?
20 Feb 2020

Pushbacks at European Union’s external border – the new normal?

by | posted in: European Parliament, European Union, Frontex, Hungary, Migration | 0

Lack of evidence is not the problem. In the last years, different civil society and research organizations have collected numerous testimonies of migrants and refugees that have been violently sent back by authorities after they crossed the border of the Westens Balkans, Morocco, Sebia, Turkey or Belarus into the European Union (EU). In many cases, these people – looking for dignity and international protection – reported abuse, humiliation and beatings. In the so called ‘pushbacks’, access to the asylum procedure is denied; asylum seekers are not registered but immediately returned to the other side of the border. Member of the European Parliament Tineke Strik is worried this inhumane and unlawful way of pushing people out of the EU is becoming a normality. On February 18, during the breakfast briefing organized by the Greens/EFA and the Open Society European Policy Institute; ‘Strengthening borders, weakening the rule of law?’ Strik, together with experts in the field, brought the attention to the pushbacks that take place at EU’s external borders. It was concluded that the approach for EU border control needs to be reconsidered and an independent border control mechanism should be implemented to stop the unlawful pushbacks from happening.