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EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENTS
Atlantic Route and Spain: Deadly Tragedy at Melilla Border Causes Local Protests and International Outcry – More Deaths on the Atlantic
At least 37 lives were lost and hundreds injured as around 2,000 people attempted to enter the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco. The tragedy has sparked protests across Spain and in Morocco and local and international calls for an investigation. Meanwhile, deaths toll continues to rise on the Atlantic route.
Spanish Moroccan diplomatic relations have been volatile over recent years but improved in the spring when Madrid offered its support for Rabat’s “autonomy plan” for Western Sahara paving the way for a strengthening of the “cooperation on irregular migration”. The deterrence measures took on a new extreme form on 24 June when an attempt by around 2,000 people to scale the fences separating Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Melilla, according to NGOs on the ground cost at least 37 lives and hundreds were injured. A survivor, described the horrible scene to media of injured people with broken bones, beatings by Moroccan police using batons and guns and allegedly killing people including a close friend in front of him. According to Democracy Now Video documentation: “shows hundreds of people lying on the ground, many motionless, near the border fence as Moroccan security forces looked on. The Moroccan Human Rights Association said the bodies of both the injured and the dead were left on the ground for hours…” In a joint statement a broad section of Spanish and Moroccan human rights and civil society organisations state (translated): “Migration policies, embodied by police brutality and border militarization, have resulted in the deaths of at least 37 people on the move. The bodies are being buried in Nador without carrying out autopsies essential for a possible investigation, without identification and without informing the families. Likewise, more than 300 people were hospitalized, with insufficient resources to care for them at the El Hassani hospital in Nador. All this, as a result of cruel and inhuman treatment and the failure to provide assistance”. According to the statement, 133 people made the crossing while others were violently pushed back by Spanish authorities.
Demonstrations broke out in cities across Spain with thousands of protestors denouncing the deaths and demanding a full and independent investigation of the tragedy. In the Moroccan capital of Rabat, protestors held placards covered with red paint symbolising the blood of the dead. “The least we can do is voice our outrage and demand that the Moroccan state stops acting as Europe’s border police, because through this nefarious activity it is accountable for what occurred last Friday,” said Al-Tayeb Madmadh, a member of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights and one of the protest organizers. After initially blaming the deaths on “international human trafficking rings” and migrants and defining the tragedy as “an attack on Spain’s borders,” prime minister Pedro Sánchez, later promised his country’s full cooperation with Moroccan authorities on an investigation. However, a local Moroccan NGO has warned of the lack of investigation, autopsies and identification of the dead. ECRE member CEAR and other key-Spanish civil rights organisations published a joint letter addressed to Sánchez on 5 July demanding that the facts are investigated and prosecuted noting that “The fact that the operations at the border have been carried out by the security forces” from Spain and Morocco, should not prevent accountability.
The local NGOs are not alone in denouncing the violence and demand a full investigation. On 25 June the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Council (UNHCR) stated: “These violent events highlight more than ever the importance of finding durable solutions for people on the move, in the spirit of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the Global Compact for Refugees”. On 26 June African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, called for: “an immediate investigation into the matter” and reminded “all countries of their obligations under international law to treat all migrants with dignity and to prioritise their safety and human rights, while refraining from the use of excessive force”. On 28 June, the UN Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) urged: “the Moroccan and the Spanish Governments to conduct prompt, thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigations into these deaths and to determine the corresponding responsibilities. In addition, measures should be taken to ensure access to justice for victims and their families. The authorities should also provide full reparation for the human rights violations, including breaches of the non-refoulement principle by arbitrary pushbacks”. On 4 July, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson stated: “The priority is now to provide medical care, and fully establish the facts. I strongly support calls by the United Nations and African Union for investigations into this tragic loss of life”.
Meanwhile, more lives have been lost on the Atlantic route. On 27 June a boat carrying at least 140 people hoping to reach Spain’s Canary Islands capsized off the coast of Senegal after a fire broke out on board. According to local Red Cross officials, at least 13 people lost their lives. On the same day, Spanish rescuers from Salvamento Marítimo rescued 106 people including six children off the Canary Islands – one person had died falling overboard during the crossing. In a third incident on 27 June, another 110 people were rescued on the high seas off the island of Fuerteventura. On 4 July 39 people were rescued off Gran Canaria after nine days at sea – 19 of them were later hospitalised. The Canary Islands have seen 8,741 irregular arrivals between January and June 2022, representing an increase of 25 per cent compared to the same period of 2021, according to the Ministry of the Interior. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 311 people have lost their lives en route to the Canary Islands in 2022 so far.
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Balkan Route: Systematic Pushbacks Continue Across the Balkans, Shortcomings in Croatia’s Monitoring Mechanism, Hungary Applies Double Standards in Approach to Arrivals
Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) latest regional update confirms that systematic pushbacks continue across the Balkans. The findings of the Croatian ‘independent’ human rights monitoring body challenged. Hungary apply double standards praising efforts for Ukrainian refugees while defining other groups arriving as “illegal” and “dangerous”.
BVMN has released their Balkan Regional Report covering May 2022 that shares 32 testimonies of pushbacks impacting 680 people-on-the-move (POM) across the Balkans and Greece. Worrying trends identified include “triangle pushbacks” between Romania, Serbia and Hungary, Croatian police officers entering Bosnian territory while perpetrating expulsions and the indiscriminate violence against third-country nationals.
NGOs have long called for independent and effective investigations into systematic pushbacks of migrants and refugees by Croatian officers in reaction to mounting evidence of violations of fundamental human rights at the Croatian borders. While a monitoring body has been established by the government its impartiality remains challenged. A recently released annual report, from the so-called ‘Independent Mechanism of Monitoring the Actions of Police Officers of the Ministry of the Interior in the Area of Illegal Migration’ states “cases of forcible returns of irregular migrants weren’t established- apart from the cases stated below regarding mine fields and the event shown on the Croatian TV”. This interpretation of the situation according to BVMN indicates shortcomings of the mechanism previously highlighted by the organisation. BVMN outlined that the report reads: “in mine fields’ areas, border guards are not physically present, but people on the move are entering and claiming asylum. Police claim the area is not under the “actual control” of the Croatian state.” Subsequently, they are “deterred from entry “in a way that they are returned in harmless locations”. The phantasmagorical description indicates pushbacks are perpetrated”. Meanwhile, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) reported that an unaccompanied refugee child filed a complaint to the UN Child Committee against Croatia and Slovenia over multiple violations of children’s rights. According to ECCHR, the child “faced repeated beatings by Croatian border officers, had his belongings burnt and his shoes confiscated before numerous forced expulsions, including a “chain” pushback from Slovenia.”
On 2 July, clashes near the Serbia-Hungary border has left one person dead and at least six others injured. The Serbian NGO, Asylum Protection Center, said that “Refugees claim conflict among smugglers from Pakistan & Afghanistan” caused the shooting. Meanwhile, Hungary continues to use double standards in its treatment of asylum seekers and refugees attempting to cross the border from Serbia. Stressing that 820,000 Ukrainian refugees were welcomed to the country, the Hungarian foreign minister noted that 110,000 “illegal” migrants have reached Hungary’s southern border in 2022 and added, “These migrants are increasingly dangerous, aggressive and armed. This is not a human rights problem but a threat to the security of the two countries”. Referring to the shootout, the minister criticised refugees’ rights organisations and accused them of “promoting illegal migration”.
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Central Med: Another Deadly Tragedy Despite Civilian Rescue Efforts, Delay of Disembarkations Continue, Deaths in Libyan Desert and New Reports of Horrific Abuse
The loss of life on the central Mediterranean route continues despite tireless efforts by civilian search and rescue operators as do delays in disembarkation. New reports of severe abuse in Libya and numerous deaths in the desert.
In a dramatic rescue operation on 27 June, the Geo Barents vessel operated by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF Sea) rescued 71 people in the central Mediterranean but a pregnant woman died and 30 people including eight children remain missing after this latest tragedy on the deadly route. Testimonies from survivors illustrate the desperation during the incident: “I am a good swimmer and I went to help people,” a 17-year-old boy from Togo, stated, continuing: “I heard the woman (who died) crying in the water but she wasn’t able to hold on the boat”. “We have seen so many people drowning – men, women and children – and we will never forget the day we had yesterday. We tried to save them but we couldn’t save them all,” another 17-year-old survivor from Cameroon stated. Reportedly the rubber boat carrying the people collapsed and according to MSF Sea, survivors were “exhausted, and many present seawater ingestion and hypothermia symptoms after many hours in the water” and many suffered from “medium to severe fuel burns”. Three people had to be “rescued with a stretcher as they were unable to walk” and a baby “found without any vital signs” was resuscitated on the ship and urgently evacuated to Malta. An additional four people severely injured were evacuated on 1 July. With Malta continuing its policy of ignoring distress alerts and requests for disembarkation several requests were sent to the Italian authorities on behalf of the increasingly desperate 69 survivors remaining on board the Geo Barents vessel. On 2 July, survivors were finally allowed to disembark in Taranto, Italy after five days at sea. The day after, the Ocean Viking vessel operated by SOS Mediterranee rescued 63 people in Maltese waters in its seventh rescue operation over just ten days. After another rescue on 4 July, the total number of survivors on board reached 306. On 5 July the civilian rescue operator reported that Pozollo, Italy had been assigned as the port of disembarkation for the survivors, stating: “Some of these women, children and men were rescued 12 days ago – some had spent 12 days stranded at sea”. The civilian rescue ships Sea-Watch 4 and Louis Michel had already received permission to disembark in Italy after waiting at sea. Louise Michel disembarked 59 survivors on Lampedusa on 27 June and on 28 June the Sea-Watch 4 vessel was given permission to land in Porto Empedocle, in southern Italy with 303 survivors – several people had already been evacuated for medical reasons.
Meanwhile, the ongoing cycle of distress, rescues and deaths continue in the Mediterranean. On 1 July, at least 22 people died off Libya after 9 days at sea according to some 60 survivors brought back to shore by the so-called Libyan coastguard. On 4 July the Libyan Observer reported: “A boat carrying Libyan and Syrian migrants, including women and children, capsized off Sabratha coast. Two Libyan children and a Syrian man have died while local fishermen managed to rescue the others”. On 6 July, the NGO hotline Alarm Phone reported 53 people in urgent distress off Cyprus – out of food for three days – with Cypriot authorities launching a rescue operation. On 7 July the hotline warned of bad weather approaching 86 people adrift off Lampedusa. On the same day Geo Barents already back at sea rescued 41 people including 15 children from two dinghies in distress in Maltese waters. On the evening of 7 July, MSF Sea reported a: “Busy day at sea” for its team, stating: “The 6th rescue of the day has just ended. There are currently 315 people on board including 73 minors. The youngest of whom is only 3 months old”. The organisation points out that: “All these rescues took place in the Maltese SAR zone. We are appalled by the fact that Armed Forces of Malta, the primary responsible for rescues in this zone, were informed but remained silent and inactive, neglecting their legal obligation to provide or coordinate assistance”. According to a report from MSF, 8,500 died or went missing on the central Mediterranean route between 2017 and 2021. IOM statistics reveal that 777 are dead or missing on the route in 2022 as of 2 July.
Libya continues to be the scene of death and abuse. On June 28, Libyan rescue services recovered the bodies of 20 people in the desert near the border with Chad. The deceased were believed to have been migrants and were found around a black pickup truck. “The driver got lost … and we believe the group died in the desert about 14 days ago since the last call on a mobile phone there was on June 13,” Kufra ambulance chief Ibrahim Belhasan told the Reuters news agency. IOM calls for the protection of migrants along the Chad-Libya border. “The death of twenty people in the Libyan desert yesterday is yet another wake-up call for the whole international community and a reminder that we are very far from achieving the goal of ‘leaving no one behind’, the mantra of the 2030 Agenda,” said Federico Soda, the UN agency’s Chief of Mission in Libya. Soda, further underlined: “The loss of lives we are witnessing both in the Mediterranean Sea and in the deserts of southern Libya are both unacceptable and avoidable”. On June 30, Another group of ten migrants were found dead in Niger, not far from the Libyan border – authorities are investigating the cause of death but thirst is one supposition.
UN’s Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya issued a new report reaffirming previous reports highlighting grave crimes against humanity being perpetrated in war-torn Libya. The report states that the UN mission: “has reasonable grounds to believe that the crimes against humanity of murder, torture, imprisonment, rape, enforced disappearance and other inhumane acts have been committed in several places of detention in Libya since 2016”. Refugees in Libya on 2 July stated: “There are currently 1.191 people detained in Ainzara, 321 of them are persons of concern to UNHCR Libya. These people are victims of gargaresh & the 3 months peaceful demonstrations. They have spent months behind bars. In the last 3 days, they have been drinking from the toilets”. According to an MSF report on the central Mediterranean route, 95,000 people were intercepted and returned to Libya from 2017 to 2021. The number this year as of 2 July is 9,973 people according to IOM.
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Eastern Borders: CJEU Finds Lithuania’s Legislation Unlawful Amid New Reports of Abuses, Polish Court Ruling on the Illegality of Pushbacks, Poland Replaces a No-Access Zone with Steel Wall
The European Court of Justice (CJEU) found Lithuanian legislation allowing mass detention and preventing asylum requests for irregular arrivals in violation of EU law. Amnesty International reports on abusive practices by Lithuanian authorities. Polish court declare pushbacks illegal as the no-access border zone has been replaced by a with a 186 Kilometer steel wall.
On 30 June, CJEU ruled that Lithuanian migration and asylum laws, preventing irregular migrants from applying for asylum and allowing mass detention in times of what the country defines as “migrant influx”, violate EU law. The judgement was delivered after the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (LVAT) referred a case regarding a third-country national, MA, who had entered Lithuania irregularly from Belarus in November 2021, and had been subsequently detained on the grounds of “illegal” entry and residence in the country. Also, his asylum applications were not examined. The CJEU consequently looked at the conditions of migrants in Lithuania to investigate “whether or not their accommodation at closed migrant centres represents detention, and whether or not it is legitimate to deny migrants the right to apply for asylum” and found that the country’s practices of pushbacks, detention on the basis of irregular entries, and denying third-country nationals the right to seek protection are illegal according to the European law. Human rights and asylum lawyer Laurynas Biekša believes that “there is little likelihood that the CJEU’s verdict will make Lithuania change its policy.”
Amnesty International published a report on 27 June detailing Lithuania’s abusive practices against migrants and refugees who entered the country from Belarus to apply for asylum in 2021. Based on interviews with migrants who were unlawfully detained, the organisation reported that Lithuania held refugees and migrants in prison-like centres, “where they are denied access to fair asylum procedures and subjected to other serious human rights violations in the hope that they will ‘voluntarily’ return to the countries they fled from.” In the report, Amnesty International called for an immediate halt to the illegal pushbacks, the release of all those still detained under the ‘temporary accommodation’ regime, fair asylum procedures, compensation for all physical and mental harm suffered, and the investigation of the abusive treatment of migrants and refugees. In a follow-up press release, Amnesty International also highlighted the complicity of the European Commission in the abuses committed against migrants and refugees in Lithuania as it hasn’t triggered infringement proceedings against the country so far and continues to support the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) that cooperates closely with Lithuanian border guards, including in border control and other activities that may contribute to human rights violations. In response to the report, the interior minister of Lithuania pointed out: “The context of the situation has not been taken into account, because these are not just migration processes and these are not war refugees fleeing from war,” and added that “Completely different mechanisms are coming into play; this is a hybrid attack orchestrated by the Belarusian regime”.
Amid ongoing fundamental rights violations, a Polish court has ruled that pushbacks of asylum seekers are unlawful. According to Poland’s Border Guard, almost 40,000 people were returned to Belarus by the end of 2021. The court’s ruling treats a case that was brought by ECRE member the Polish Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights concerning a Syrian man who was hospitalised in Poland and then sent back to the Belarus border. The case summary notes that the man was prevented from seeking asylum in Poland and consequently forced back to Belarus where he faced different forms of human rights abuses including rape and torture. According to Human Rights Watch “Although not final, the judgment should prompt the border guard authority to halt unlawful summary returns to Belarus and ensure that people who wish to apply for asylum in Poland can do so.”
On 1 July, Poland has abolished its no-access border zone which is described as “a place of numerous violations against both migrants and those who help them” by ECRE member Polish Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. In the zone, at least 20 people have died in freezing winter temperatures, 187 people have disappeared and almost 40,000 people were pushed back to Belarus. Poland has replaced the zone with a 186 KM steel wall aimed at stopping migrants from crossing to the EU. According to Süddeutsche Zeitung Newspaper, the wall is Four and a half meters high made from steel, crowned by another meter of barbed wire – about 350 million euros were spent on it. Rights activists and organisations see the wall as a manifestation of the “double standard in the different treatment of the neighbouring Ukrainian refugees – fellow Slavs who are mostly Christian, female and white – and those from the distant Middle East and Africa, many of whom are Muslims and male”. However, the Polish prime minister characterises the wall as “an expression of our efficiency, a testament to our sense of responsibility, prudence and foresight” and as “a part of the fight against Russia.”
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EU Ukraine Response: Commission Proposes to Give 30 Per Cent of Cohesion Funds for Ukraine Response to Local Authorities and Civil Society
The European Commission adopted the Flexible Assistance to Territories Package (FAST – CARE) on 29 June, a new set of legislative and non-legislative proposals that aims to strengthen support to EU Member States in response to Ukraine displacement, by making Cohesion Policy funds more accessible and flexible. The proposal complements the adopted Cohesion’s Action for Refugees (CARE) and successive packages. In addition to providing more flexibility and pre-financing opportunities, the legislative changes require that 30% of the funding support is granted to local authorities and civil society organisations.
The proposed package consists of legislative amendments to the Common Provision Regulation that target cohesion policy funds and pre-financing measures, as well as non-legislative measures that support stakeholders and authorities managing EU funding in Member States with upcoming guidelines on the closure of projects 2014 – 2020 and further technical guidance on contract modifications.
Among the novelties, the legislative proposal provides additional pre-financing for an amount of €3.5 billion for programmes supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), European Social Fund + (ESF+) and Cohesion Fund. This financial support supplies immediate liquidity to Member States, and is supplementary to a similar amount that has been made available under previous changes to EU funding. Furthermore, a co-financing rate of up to 100% for activities promoting the socio-economic integration of third-country nationals will be possible under the 2014-2020 and 2021-2027 programming periods, at least until the next review of the provision in 2024. Member States will also benefit from extra flexibility to interchangeably use the unspent resources from the 2014-2020 Cohesion Fund – in addition to ERDF and ESF+ already allowed under CARE – to finance projects irrespectively of their traditional eligibility scope. Other changes include the increase of the unit cost for temporary protection beneficiaries -a simplified way to calculate project costs-, from €40 to €100 per week for 26 weeks.
On top of that, Member States are required to dedicate at least 30% of the financial allocation under the relevant priorities to local authorities and civil society organisations operating in local communities. This will also apply to operations focused on socio-economic integration of third-country nationals under the 2021-2027 budget cycle. Member States are asked to report on the fulfilment of this condition in their final performance reports, and reimbursements by the Commission will depend on the actual implementation of this requirement. This is an important opportunity in a context where access to EU funding remains extremely challenging for civil society organisations, including for the Ukraine response.
The proposed legislative changes need the endorsement of the Council and the European Parliament, which may come after the summer between September and October. These proposals complement the first series of packages that were already expected to release funding for up to 20 billion euros, including resources disbursed via Emergency Assistance, pre-financing and AMIF or cohesion funds’ national programming. So far, Member States have been able to commit only 1 billion euros from the CARE package – with none or little of these resources having reached civil society organisations. This is likely due to difficult absorption capacity, unavailability of funding from 2014-2020 in certain Member States, and limited capacity of the managing authorities to engage in re-opening national plans in a particularly busy time for the programming phase of the next 7-year budget for DG HOME and cohesion funds, which have been significantly delayed in light of Ukraine displacement.
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NATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
Greece: ECtHR Condemns Greece in Prominent Ruling, New Evidence of Pushbacks, Renewed EU Critique – Same Old Denials, Government Ignores European Courts and Continue Crack-Down on Solidarity
In a unanimous judgment of the Safi and Others v. Greece case the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) condemns Greece for multiple violations. A month-long joint investigation by European media outlets confirms the use of third-country nationals – people on the move themselves – in pushbacks operations by Greek authorities. While the investigation has generated strong reactions at EU level the Greek government continue to deflect and deny. Meanwhile, Greece ignores interim measures by ECtHR and continue criminalization of solidarity.
On 7 July, ECtHR delivered a unanimous judgment in the Safi and Others v. Greece case concerning the sinking of a fishing boat transporting 27 foreign nationals in the Aegean Sea on 20 January 2014 resulting in the deaths of 11 people, including relatives of the applicants. According to the applicants, the tragedy was the result of a Greek coastguard vessel “travelling at very high speed in order to push the refugees back towards Turkish waters” causing the fishing boat to capsize. The court condemns Greece multiple violations, stating it “held, unanimously, that there had been: a violation of Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights under its procedural head. The Court found that there had been shortcomings in the proceedings and concluded that the national authorities had not carried out a thorough and effective investigation capable of shedding light on the circumstances in which the boat had sunk. A violation of Article 2 (right to life) on account of the failure to comply with the positive obligation under this Article. The Court found that the Greek authorities had not done all that could reasonably be expected of them to provide the applicants and their relatives with the level of protection required by Article 2 of the Convention. A violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), concerning 12 of the applicants who had been on board the boat and who, after it had sunk, had been subjected to degrading treatment on account of the body searches they had undergone on arriving in Farmakonisi”. Greece was ordered to pay a total of “330,000 euros (EUR) in respect of the non-pecuniary damage sustained by the applicants, broken down as follows: EUR 100,000 to one of the applicants, EUR 80,000 to three of the applicants jointly, EUR 40,000 to another of the applicants, and EUR 10,000 to each of the remaining 11 applicants”. ECRE member the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) expresses “its deep satisfaction with the landmark decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which vindicates the children and their mothers who lost their lives in the 2014 shipwreck of Farmakonisi”. Alongside the Network of Social Support to Refugees and Migrants, the Hellenic League for Human Rights, the Group of Lawyers for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants, and Refugee Support Aegean (RSA) / PRO ASYL, GCR represented the tragic survivors before the ECtHR and accompanied them in their moments of grief and despair.
A months-long joint investigation by Lighthouse Reports, The Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and ARD Report München confirms the numerous accounts from NGOs and survivors of the use of third-country nationals in pushback operations by Greek authorities. According to Lighthouse Reports, the investigation: “has for the first time identified six of these men – who call themselves slaves – interviewed them and located the police stations where they were held. Some of the slaves, who are kept locked up between operations, were forcibly recruited themselves after crossing the border but others were lured there by smugglers working with a gangmaster who is hosted in a container located in the carpark of a Greek police station. In return for their “work” they received papers allowing them to stay in Greece for 25 days”. The six Syrian and Moroccan nationals participated in pushback operations on the Evros river, witnessing: “Greek police strip, rob and assault asylum seekers before they were put back into overcrowded inflatable boats that the men were then ordered to transport back across the deep and fast-running river to the Turkish bank”.
Following a meeting with several Greek ministers, European Home Affairs Commissioner, Ylva Johansson warned: “violent and illegal deportations of migrants must stop, now”. The commissioner noted that, Commission: “funding is linked to EU fundamental rights being correctly applied”. Further, she welcomed a “new proposal to mainstream fundamental rights” with Greece’s asylum system, saying she was: “Pleased with their info that this will be in place by 1 September. However, the details of such an initiative remain somewhat unclear. MEP and member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), Tineke Strik commented on the remarks by the Commissioner, stating: “Good first step, but linking funding border management to fundamental rights is not enough. We urgently need conditionality”. On 5 July, Strik told Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis during his meeting with European lawmakers in Strasbourg: “that covering up evidence of pushbacks won’t work. Evidence is recorded by UN bodies, NGOs and investigative journalists. European judges refuse to accept a reality that violates core EU values”. However, Mitsotakis refuted the ever mounting evidence of systematic pushbacks saying Greece fully respects fundamental rights and doubling down on often repeated claims that such allegations are orchestrated by Turkiye.
A new report from Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) documents “the recent increase in use of Rule 39 measures on the Greek mainland, in order to secure access to international protection”. It details three case studies involving groups stranded on islets in the Evros river in May and June 2022 and being pushed back to Turkiye after days without food, water and medical care despite interim measures by ECtHR “binding the Greek state to provide temporary access to Greece and material reception conditions”. Greek authorities have accused NGOs of coordinating with human smugglers – that are allegedly encouraged and tolerated by Turkish authorities – to circumvent border controls by making appeals to the European Court, and the report observes a “concerning trend of criminalisation of civil society organisations and the use of smear campaigns to restrict migrant rights defenders from operating”. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders recently expressed similar concerns.
Almost 50,000 people granted refugee protection in Greece have launched an asylum application in Germany. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) restarted the processing of cases in March 2022, after a suspension due to interventions by German courts preventing returns based on the shortcomings of the Greek reception system. Since then close to 8,000 cases have been processed resulting in the granting of protection in 89 per cent or roughly 7,200 cases.
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RECENT REPORTS
- Balkan Insight, EU’s Frontex Tripped in Its Plan for ‘Intrusive’ Surveillance of Migrants, July 2022
- Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights,"Where the law does not reach" Report, June 2022
- UNHCR,UNHCR Resettlement Needs, Complementary Pathways, and Key Priorities for 2023: Summary of UNHCR Recommendations to the European Union, June 2022
- ACAPS, Report on the Migration crisis on the Poland-Belarus border (update), July 2022
- Migration Policy Institute, Research: The COVID-19 Catalyst: Learning from Pandemic-Driven Innovations in Immigrant Integration Policy, June 2022
- Border Violence Monitoring Network, Islets, Interim Measures, and Illegal Pushbacks: Erosion of Rule of Law in Greece, July 2022
- Border Violence Monitoring Network, Balkan Regional Report - May 2022, June 2022
- UNHCR, Ukraine Refugee Situation Operational Update - Poland, June 2022
- Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya, June 2022
- The Greens/ EFA Group, Addressing the violation of fundamental rights at the external borders of the European Union, June 2022
- Refugee Support Aegean, The Greek Asylum Case Law Report, June 202
- Oxford Journals, Refugee Law Initiative Declaration on Externalisation and Asylum, June 2022
- The Greens/EFA Group and PICUM, Resilience and Resistance: the Criminalisation of Solidarity across Europe, June 2022
- Amnesty International, Lithuania: Pushbacks, illegal detention, deception and abuses against refugees and migrants - Amnesty International, June 2022
- EUAA, Annual Report on the Situation of Asylum in the European Union 2022, June 2022
- Medecins sans Frontiers, Rapport Out Of Libya.pdf, June 2022
- EQUINOX, Ending Fortess Europe, June 2022
- IFRC, Afghanistan: Hunger and poverty surge as drought persists, June 2022
- Save the Children, New Report: Pushbacks, violence and humiliation for child migrants crossing European borders , June 2022
- Europe Must Act, "A Life Without Freedom Is Not A Life". Life in the Closed Controlled Access Centre in Samos, June 2022
- UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Human rights violations at international borders: trends, prevention and accountability, June 2022
- EUAA, Annual Report 2021, June 2022
- NGO Joint Statement, Mounting global needs call for renewed European leadership on resettlement, June 2022
- Refugee Legal Support, Safe routes to the UK are closed: displaced people share their experiences, June 2022
- The New Humanitarian, Interactive: The European approach to stopping Libya migration, June 2022
- HIAS, At Risk and in Need: Recommendations To Help The Most Vulnerable People Displaced From Ukraine, June 2022
- HRW, Tougher Steps Needed Against Afghanistan’s Taliban, June 2022
- HRW, Violence and Pushbacks at Poland-Belarus Border, June 2022
FEATURED CAMPAIGNS
EVENTS
- 11 July, Athens, GCR - Vindication by the ECHR for Farmakonisi: Press conference, The Greek Council for Refugees
- 18 July, Vienna, Protecting the Rights of Trafficked Persons: Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting III, OSCE
- 9 July, UK, UK Must Act: Dance Against Deportation , UK Must Act
- 11 July, Athens, AFGHANISTAN: A year after the return of the Taliban. The exodus and the suffering of the Afghan people, Greek Refugee Forum
- 4-8 or 11-15 July 2022, Online, International Online School in Forced Migration, University of Oxford Refugee Studies Centre
- 14 - 20 August 2022, Prague, Summer school on migration and development, GEOMIGRACE and IMISCOE
- 13 - 16 September 2022, Effective Migration Management: Putting Policy into Action, EUI Migration Policy Centre.
- 15 - 16 September 2022, Istanbul, Digitized Migrants Conference, Institute for Human Sciences (IWM), Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group (MCRG) and Migration Research Centre, Koç University (MiReKoc).
- 26 - 28 September 2022, 7th annual conference on migration research in Austria: Globalization of borders - limits of globalization: Migration between global crises and local dynamics, Austrian Academy of Sciences (OAW).
- 24 - 25 November 2022, Finland Mobile Lives, Glocal Complexities, Ethnic Relations and International Migration (ETMU)
VACANCIES
- Social Platform, Senior Campaigns and Communications Officer, 21 July
- United Nations, Geneva, Human Rights Officer (Legal Advisor), 10 August
- United Nations, Geneva, Human Rights Officer, 20 August
- Eurodiaconia, Brussels, Policy Assistants, 29 July
- Open Society Foundation, Associate Strategic Litigation Officer, 22 July
- Red Cross EU Office, Brussels, Communication Coordinator, 24 July
- Hope and Homes For Children, Brussels, EU Policy & Advocacy Assistant, 26 July
- European Youth Forum, Brussels, Social Activism Manager, 25 July
- Amnesty International, Bangkok, Executive Assistant, 25 July
- Sea-Watch, Master (Captain) & Chief Engineer, ASAP
- See-Watch, Berlin, Online Content Manager, 1 August
- FEANTSA, Brussels, Communications Assistant, 15 July
- International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Geneve, Legal Officer, 14 July
- International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Chad, Communications Support Officer, 20 July
- International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Geneve, Senior Administrative Assistant, 20 July,
- UNHCR, Protection Officer, 31 December
CALLS FOR PAPERS & OPEN CALLS
- Calls for papers, Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, “Crisis” and Forced Migration: Manifestations of power in a changing world, 15 July
- Call for applications: UNITAR, United Nations Young Leaders Training Programme, July 2022- December 2023
- Call for applications: University of London, Refugee and Displaced Persons Scholarships, 2022-2023
- Call for interest: Hungary, Sziget Fesztival Assistant, 8 August
- Call for applications : MA Refugee Care Course, 2022-2023
- Call for researchers: EuroMeSCo Joint Study Group 2022: The Future of Migration Flows and Trends in the Mediterranean, 2022
- Call for participants: Odysseus Network EXECUTIVE MASTER IN EUROPEAN LAW ON MIGRATION & ASYLUM, 2022-2023
- Call for participants: University of Antwerp Dutch language year for non-native speakers in an academic context, 2022-2023
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