UN: ‘Member States should fulfill their obligations to save lives and stop criminalizing humanitarian aid actors’
8 Oct 2018

UN: ‘Member States should fulfill their obligations to save lives and stop criminalizing humanitarian aid actors’

by | posted in: Asylum Seekers, EEPA news and activities, Médecins Sans Frontières, Mediterranean Sea, Migration, Refugees in the EU, United Nations | 0

The United Nations published a report by Agnes Callamard, the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. The report, entitled “Saving lives is not a crime”, describes that the States’ actions to fight terrorism and deter migration, and the subsequent criminalization of humanitarian services, constitute a violation of their obligations. The report urges States to cease the criminalisation of those trying to assist and/or save migrants and refugees.

UN Human Rights Council upcoming elections: organizations express concern
18 Sep 2018

UN Human Rights Council upcoming elections: organizations express concern

by | posted in: EEPA news and activities, Eritrea, UNHCR, United Nations | 0

In October 2018, the next UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) meeting will determine which states will sit as members of the Council for the next three years. In a letter sent to the Permanent Representatives of Member States of the Human Rights Assembly, a number of NGOs and other organizations have expressed their concerns that there are several States running for election that fail to fulfill human rights standards. In addition, some countries fall short in cooperation with  the UNHRC and other UN bodies.

SAR operations by NGOs: new report inverts the relation of causality and clarifies role of NGOs
16 Jun 2017

SAR operations by NGOs: new report inverts the relation of causality and clarifies role of NGOs

by | posted in: Human Trafficking, Libya, Mediterranean Sea, Migration | 0

During the last months the NGOs that conduct the Search and Rescue (SAR) operations in the Mediterranean have been at the centre of a political and media storm.The report by Forensic Oceanography assesses that a toxic rhetoric has been created where the only victims are the NGOs, and most importantly no concrete evidence has been found in this “criminalization campaign”.The report goes beyond, and addresses not only the accusation of collusion in smuggling per se, but rather it challenges the assumptions reinforcing this accusation.