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EU asylum
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EU: European Commission: Communication
on guidance for better transposition and application of Directive
2004/38/EC on the right of citizens of the Union and their family
members to move and reside freely within the territory of the
Member States
(COM 313/4, pdf)
First Frontex Forced Repatriation Operation: Malta
Today
(link) reported (21 June) that the forced repatriation operation
involving 74 migrants that took place on 18 June was the first
time that Frontex ever coordinated a forced repatriation operation
at sea.
"Even though the migrants were intercepted by an Italian
coast guard boat, the same migrants, that included women and
children, were identified by a
Frontex asset that followed the operation through.” The
operation, part of Nautilus IV, used a German helicopter, the
Italian coast guard, and a Libyan patrol boat.
EU: Directive
providing for minimum standards on sanctions and measures against
employers of illegally staying third-country nationals (Final text in the Official
Journal, pdf)
SPAIN: The National Network for Immigrant Rights (REDI) has requested
a hearing today "immediately " with the Interior Minister
Alfredo Rubalcaba, after the "brutal" attack and deportation
of Senegalese immigrants in Madrid Barajas Airport. The video
can be watched here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV0Cuexukmk
The immigrant organization believes the video, showing these acts broadcasted on the website of Mali, is an example of the inhumane conditions under which Spain carried out the deportations. In an attempt to end these practices, REDI calls for urgent action against what they describe as "violation of human rights." "The video, recorded by a passenger at the airport Barajas, showing how three police officers beat, bound and tied a Senegalese immigrant before being deported has been a great outrage among the organizations defending the rights of immigrants and the Internet community, "he adds.
Spokesperson for the immigration office said these images are "an institutional embarrassment and take us back to the darkest moments of history." "which promoted a society of first, second and third grade citizens, and that violates systematic fundamental rights, "says Sguiglia. REDI announced it is organizing rallies and demonstrations in the coming days to report these events and the injustice, it feels, of Spain'’s treatment of deportees.
France: Criminalising
solidarity: FIDH report The observatory for the protection of human rights
defenders (FIDH -OMCT) has published a research report on the
obstacles faced by defenders of the rights of migrants in France
entitled "Crime of solidarity": stigmatisation, repression
and intimidation of defenders of the rights of migrants.
Is a State that enjoys solid democratic and proven institutions
a guarantee of security and tranquility for human rights defenders
working there? Alerted by the Ligue française des droits
de l'Homme (LDH), the observatory gave a mandate to an international
research mission responsible for examining the conditions of
the exercise of the defence of the rights of migrants in France.
The delegation visited France from 17 to 25 March 2009.
The research report's conclusions are worrying: excesses connected
to the "culture" of results, targets that include figures
for the questioning of "aiders", a permanent pressure
on people who are in contact with foreigners, which is enabled
by a legislation that is not precise and stygmatising. The cases
gathered of arrests, or charges brought, of people who have lent
assistance to migrants make it possible to conclude that, in
France, there is a climate that is unfavourable for the defence
of the rights of foreigners that can only be part of a strong
dissuasive pressure. This flagrantly contravenes the UN Declaration
on human rights defenders, and the Observatory deems it necessary
to seize, apart from the French institutions concerned, the authorities
and mechanisms for the protection of human rights at an international
and European level. [Statewatch translation of the introduction
to the report by FIDH]
European Council (18-19 June 2009: EU Prime Ministers): Draft
Council Conclusions (pdf) including on: "Illegal immigration
20. Recent events underline the urgency of strengthening efforts
to prevent and combat illegal immigration in an efficient manner
at the EU Southern maritime borders and thus prevent future human
tragedies. A genuine European response guided by both firmness
and solidarity in line with the European Pact on Immigration
and Asylum and the Global Approach to Migration is essential.
Their implementation must be stepped up. All activities in the
Western Mediterranean region and at the Eastern and South-Eastern
borders need to continue.
21. The European Council calls for significant strengthening of concrete cooperation with the main countries of origin and transit in managing migration, border control, return and readmission, the reception of asylum seekers and protection of those in need of international protection, including cooperation with relevant international organizations active in those countries. The European Council urges the Council to take this fully into account when preparing the new multi-annual framework programme in the area of Freedom, Justice and Security.
European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE): Statement to the European Council: Respect the right to seek asylum in Europe (pdf)
EU: European Commission: Tracking
method for monitoring the implementation of the European Pact
on Immigration and Asylum (COM 266 2009, pdf)
EU: Council discussions: "State of play": Proposal
for a Council Framework Decision on combating the sexual abuse,
sexual exploitation of children and child-pornography, repealing
Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA - State of play and: Proposal
for a Council Framework Decision on preventing and combating
trafficking in human beings, and protecting victims, repealing
Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA - State of play (EU doc no: 9892/09,
pdf)
EU: Major report on the: Criminalisation
and victimisation of migrants in Europe (255 pages, pdf) directed by Salvatore
Palidda.
EU: European Commission: Proposals
for the "Stockholm Programme" (French, pdf). See: Statewatch's Observatory
on The
Stockholm Proramme - The Shape of Things to Come
EU: European Commission: The Hague Programme:
- Communication:
An evaluation of the Hague Programme and Action Plan (COM 263, pdf)
- An
evaluation of the Hague Programme and Action Plan (SEC 765, pdf)
- An
extended report on the evaluation of the Hague Programme (SEC 766, pdf)
- General
overview of instruments and deadlines provided in the Hague Programme
and Action Plan in the fields of justice, freedom and security
:Institutional Scoreboard (SEC 767,pdf)
GREECE: Greece
Cannot Take Very Much More, Analysis by Apostolis Fotiadis
(Inter Press Service, link): ATHENS, Jun 1 (IPS) - United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres has asked
the European Commission to call a meeting between the agency
and countries around the Mediterranean to work out a joint strategy
to deal with irregular migration.
But while Italy is being internationally chastised for the refoulement of refugees that effectively annuls the country's responsibilities arising from international treaties, most notably the Geneva convention, neighbouring Greece is building up state-sponsored persecution of irregular migration that has gone largely unnoticed.
Statewatch publication: Border wars
and asylum crimes by Frances Webber (38 pages, pdf)
"When the pamphlet ‘Crimes of Arrival’ was written, in 1995, the title was a metaphor for the way the British government, in common with other European governments, treated migrants and especially, asylum seekers. Now, a decade on, that title describes a literal truth....
There is a frightening continuity between the treatment of asylum claimants and that of terrorist suspects. In the name of the defence of our way of life and our enlightenment values from attack by terrorists or by poor migrants, that way of life is being destroyed by creeping authoritarianism, and those values – amongst which the most important is the universality of human rights – betrayed."
See also: Crimes of arrival: immigrants and asylum-seekers in the new Europe (12 pages, 1995, pdf)
To order hard-copy see: Statewatch Publications
UK: House of Commons Home Affairs Committee: Vol
I: The Trade in Human Beings: Human Trafficking in the UK (pdf) and Oral
and written evidence Volume II (pdf)
EU: Frontex
and the US Department of Homeland Security (Frontex press release,
link): "In the margins of the EU-US Troika on Justice
and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting held in Prague on 28 April,
Frontex and the US Department of Homeland Security signed a Working
Arrangement on the establishment of operational cooperation.
The arrangement which was signed by Frontex Executive Director Ilkka Laitinen and Mrs. Jane Holl Lute, Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security, will lead to transatlantic cooperation in areas related to border security management including exchange of strategic information, training, capacity building and collaboration on relevant technologies."
ITALY-LIBYA: Euro Mediteranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) and
Migreurop: Press release: Illegal refoulement
of 500 migrants to Libya : the EU must condemn Italian authorities
(link),
French (link) and
Italian
(link)
ITALY-LIBYA: Jesuit Refugee Service: Removal
of 227 migrants to Libya directly contravenes international laws (Press release, pdf):
"The forced removal of 227 men and women to Libya by Italian authorities is absolutely unacceptable. With no opportunity to make an asylum claim these migrants now risk ill-\treatment or being pushed back into the arms of their persecutors."
UK: Campsfield
House Immigration Removal Centre: Independent Monitoring Boards:
Annual Report
(pdf)
EU: Asylum applications and decisions: Asylum
in the EU in 2008 (Eurostat, pdf)
EU: Council of the European Union: Draft
Council Conclusions on establishing an informal EU Network of
National Rapporteurs or Equivalent Mechanisms on Trafficking
in Human Beings (pdf and “Joint
Analysis, Joint Action“ Conference of EU National Rapporteurs
on Trafficking in Human Beings Prague, 30 and 31 March, 2009
- Outcomes of the conference (pdf)
EU: Report
on the practical operation of the methodology for a systematic
and rigorous monitoring of compliance with the Charter of Fundamental
Rights
(COM 205, 2009, pdf) - includes assessment of asylum and immigration
policies.
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission report: Our
Hidden Borders: The UK Border Agency’s Powers of Detention (pdf)
"The Human Rights Commission will today (20 April 2009) at its annual conference launch a new investigation report on the work of the UK Border Agency in Northern Ireland. The report entitled ‘Our Hidden Borders: The UK Border Agency’s Powers of Detention’ examines the extent to which human rights are protected in the decision to detain individuals who are not nationals of the UK and how those detained can have their rights better protected. The findings of the report highlight a range of human rights concerns and as a result the Commission has made a number of recommendations to government that will make the experience of those coming into contact with UKBA officials compliant with international human rights standards."
UK: Academics
plan to boycott new student immigration rules (Guardian, link):
"A group
of academics are threatening to boycott the government's new
immigration rules for students, saying orders that they monitor
international students'
movements are discriminatory.
The 35 academics,
who describe themselves as being involved in researching the
"uses and abuses of state power" say that they are
increasingly being drawn
into the role of "policing students" by the immigration
authorities."
EU:
European Commission: Directorate-General for Research: Moving
Europe: EU research on migration and policy needs (pdf) Report written
by Ann Singleton, Head of the Centre for the Study of Poverty
and Social Justice, School for Policy Studies, University of
Bristol.
"This
report presents a brief description of the projects in the area
of migration and integration of migrants funded in the last five
years, their main findings and
relevance for policy-making.. The projects address a wide range
of issues and demonstrate that migration is inextricably linked
to core social, political and economic concerns such as climate
change, economic growth, economic instability, working life,
welfare, health, youth, aging, gender, education, political participation,
social inclusion and social cohesion."
The report contains links to all web pages on the projects covered.
EU: Open
letter about readmission agreements - sent to the Union Council
and European Commission (migreurop, link), French (link), Spanish (link): Signed by 76
NGOs including Statewatch and groups from West Sahara, Uruguary,
Mauritania, Morocco, Mali, Guinea and Cameroon.
MEDITERRANEAN: Two
migrant boats sink off Libya, hundreds missing (Times of Malta, link):
"Two boats carrying migrants to Europe sank off Libya
in separate incidents over the past two days, killing at least
21 people and leaving hundreds missing, Libyan officials said."
and Shipwreck
in the high sea off Libya: an announced tragedy. Until when? (migreurop, link):
"It is to be feared that the authorities’ reaction to this new tragedy will, once again, be to exploit these dramatic events without regard for the real causes that push migrants to take on deadly risks to reach Europe, in order to justify a hardening of controls."
The
situation of exiles on the English Channel and North Sea coast (Migreurop, link) and
CIMADE
report: La loi des « jungles »La situation des exilés
sur le littoral de la Manche et de la Mer du Nord (French, link)
EU: Creation of a: Black
Sea Cooperation Platform (pdf): "for the prevention of
future migration-born insecurity at the Eastern EU border"
The countries expected to participate are: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom plus "all Black Sea riparian states, including Armenia and Azerbaijan".
EU:
Meijers Committee: Standing committee of experts on international
immigration, refugee and criminal law: The
proposals to amend the Dublin Regulation, COM(2008) 820 final
of 3.12.2008 and the Reception Conditions Directive, COM(2008)
815 final
(pdf)
UK: London Detainee Support Group: Detained
lives: the real cost of indefinite immigration detention (pdf): "Detained
Lives reveals the ineffectiveness and the human impact of the
UK’s hidden practice of indefinite immigration detention
without time limits."
EU: European Commission: Third
annual report on the development of a common policy on illegal
immigration, smuggling and trafficking of human beings, external
borders, and the return of illegal residents (SEC 320, 2009, pdf)
European Parliament: More
in-depth discussion needed on new measures for border management (Press release, pdf).
The parliament's report says that: "Every year, 160 million
EU citizens, 60 million third country nationals (TCNs) who do
not require a visa, and 80 million requiring a visa, cross the
EU's external border.... [and] "does not believe that the
proposed system will put an end to the 'overstay' phenomenon
as such". According to an expert report for the Commission
the total number of "illegal" immigrants in the EU
25 in 2006 was estimated to be over 8 million.
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"The intriguing category is the 60 million visitors a year from countries not requiring visas to enter the EU - from countries on the EU "white list" including people from Canada, Australia, Japan and the USA. How many of these have overstayed over the years? Are they to be subjected to the EU's Returns Directive which would see them hunted down, put in detention, deported and banned from re-entry for five years?"
See 2009: Commission: "white list" and "black" list (pdf)
ITALY-LAMPEDUSA: EP: GUE (United
Left Group): Five
GUE/NGL MEPs question the European Commission on detention centres
in Lampedusa
(Press release, pdf) and European
Parliament: GUE-NGL Group Report of the visit to Lampedusa -
Italy 13th-14th February 2009 (pdf)
EU: Commission proposal: Council
Decision concerning the signing of the Agreement between the
European Community and Pakistan on readmission (pdf)
AFGHANISTAN: UK Borders Agency:
Country
of origin information report: AFGHANISTAN (pdf)
EU: Highly detailed "Catalogue" (Manual): Drafting
Group for updating of Schengen catalogue on External borders
control, Return and readmission: Updated Schengen catalogue on
External borders control, Return and readmission - 3rd draft (EU doc no:15250/08,
62 pages, pdf)
ECJ: European Court of Justice: An applicant
for subsidiary protection does not necessarily have to prove
that he is specifically targeted in his country of origin by
reason of factors particular to his circumstances (Press release, pdf)
"The degree of indiscriminate violence in the applicant’s country of origin can exceptionally suffice for the competent authorities to decide that a civilian, if returned to his country of origin, would face a real risk of being subject to serious and individual threat"
EU: Council Presidency: Draft
Conclusions: Ministerial Conference "Building Migration
Partnerships" (Prague, 27-28.4.09) (pdf)
Sex,
slaves and citizens: the politics of anti-trafficking (pdf) by Bridget Anderson
and Rutvica Andrijasevic: "A focus on the evils of traffi
cking is a way of depoliticising the debate on migration."
from Soundings (link)
EU: Report to the European Parliament: Application
of Directive 2004/38/EC of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens
of the Union and their family members on the right of citizens
to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member
States
(pdf)
European Court of Human Rights: Iordachi
and Others v. Moldova (Press release, pdf) and Judgment (pdf)
"The
Court held unanimously that there had been: a violation of Article
8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European
Convention on Human Rights, on account of Moldovan law not providing
adequate protection against abuse of state power in the field
of interception of telephone communications"
The Court
found that between 98-99% of requests for interception warrants
were granted and that there were no clear time limits on how
long they last - a not unfamiliar situation in some EU states.
EU/Africa: Fortress
Europe documents 62 deaths in January 2009
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Detention
centres for asylum seekers are "intolerable" (Press release, pdf)
and Full-text
of the Resolution (pdf)
ITALY: "Illegals"
to be reported by doctors - the criticised norm approved by the
Senate
Update: Italy: Senate ratifies treaty with Libya: On 3
February 2009, the Italian Senate ratified draft law 1333 for
the ratification and execution of the Italian-Libyan treaty on
friendship, partnership and co-operation signed in Bengasi (Libya)
on 30 August 2008. The treaty had been opposed by some civil
society groups on human rights grounds. Foreign
Affairs ministry press release (link)
Italy-Libya: Urgent appeal for the Senate to reject treaty: On
3 February 2009, the Senate is due to start discussing the adoption
of the Italy-Libya treaty that was approved by the Chamber of
Deputies on 23 January 2009. The producers and authors of the
documentary "Come un uomo sulla terra", which describes
the ordeals suffered by immigrants in Libya, have issued an urgent
appeal against the treaty. After learning of and documenting
the situation in Libya, they argue that the treaty is a "serious
violation of international and European human rights instruments".
They will broadcast the documentary by streaming it through their
website at 14:30 and 21:00 today (Italian time).
Come un uomo sulla terra website (documentary shown on
3.2.2009 at 14:30 and 21:00).
Background material:
http://comeunuomosullaterra.blogspot.com/2008/01/trattato-italia-libia.html
The
appeal
(in Italian)
The
appeal
(in English)
Previous Statewatch coverage: Italy/Libya: "Special and privileged" bilateral relationship treaty
EU: Highly detailed "Catalogue" (Manual): Updated
Schengen catalogue on External borders control, Return and readmission (62 pages, pdf) and
accompanying Policy statement: Catalogue
of recommendations and best practices for external borders, return
and readmission (27.1.09,.pdf)
EU: European Commission: Annual
report to the Council and the European Parliament on the activities
of the EURODAC Central Unit in 2007 (pdf)
Italy: Appeal
warns about the imminent risk of widespread human rights violations
in Lampedusa
Open
letter about readmission agreements: To European Council and
European Commission (Migreurop network, link). Signed by 76 NGOs including
Statewatch
UK-IRELAND:
Borders,
Citizenship and Immigration Bill (pdf), Explanatory
Notes
(pdf) and Strengthening
the Common Travel Area (pdf). See: UK-Irish
travellers to face passport checks - Tighter border controls
on air and sea routes to end 80 years' free movement (Guardian, link)
EU: European Parliament-Council (27 governments) agreed text
on the Directive
providing for minimum standards on sanctions against employers
of illegally staying third-country nationals (pdf)
EU: UN
calls on EU to treat asylum seekers fairly (euobserver, liink)
UK: Remote
controls: how UK border controls are endangering the lives of
refugees:
Refugee Council (link, pdf)
Italy-Tunisia: Allowing
someone to live or letting them die: Italy contravenes European
Court of Human Rights instructions by deporting Tunisian
by Gabriella Petti:
"Six days have passed since Mourad Trabelsi's expulsion, yet we know nothing about his fate once he arrived in Tunisia. His relatives have looked for him in prisons without any results, and his lawyer has not received any news. The Italian government has probably co-operated with the umpteenth disappearance of an individual involved in trials for international terrorism.* According to lawyers, many of those expelled, when they return to their countries of origin, have been arrested, subjected to torture and and have sometimes disappeared. In this case, we are dealing with someone who was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment that he has just served in an Italian prison, with a further twenty years to serve in a Tunisian jail, following a sentence issued in absentia in his country of origin."
EU: FRONTEX: Frontex
General Report 2007 (63 pages, pdf)
Spain: CEAR
expresses concern over asylum law reform (Statewatch)
EU: Justice and Home Affairs "Agenda":
Statewatch analysis: The
EU’s JHA agenda for 2009 (pdf) by Professor Steve
Peers, University of Essex
ECJ: Huber v Germany: The processing
and storage of those data relating to Union citizens for statistical
purposes or with a view to fighting crime is contrary to Community
law
(Press release, pdf) and Judgment - full-text (Judgment, pdf)
"as regards the question of the use of the data contained in the register for the purposes of fighting crime, the Court holds, in particular, that that objective involves the prosecution of crimes and offences committed, irrespective of the nationality of their perpetrators. The register at issue does not contain personal data relating to nationals of the Member State concerned. Consequently, use for the purposes of fighting crime is contrary to the principle of non-discrimination and hence contrary to Community law." (emphasis in original)
EU-FRONTEX: Pro Asyl: Appeal
to the European Parliament ”Stop the death trap at the European
Borders!“ More than 1500 documented cases of deaths at the
doors of Europe over the last 12 months illustrate a serious
human rights record (Press release, pdf) and Petition
to the European Parliament:
Year by year thousands die at Europe´s borders. Stop the
deathtrap at the EU borders! (Petition, pdf)
How
a child dies in Venice: 11-year-old Afghan boy dies to avoid
controls by the border police
"He was fifteen
years old. No, he was twelve. Maybe, in reality, he was only
eleven. As the day progressed, his age changed several times,
turning increasingly younger. In any case, he was a boy. He was
found dead in Via Orlanda in Mestre, Venice, run over by the
lorry under which he had hidden to escape the checks by the border
police. Why, one would wonder, does an Afghan minor, a figure
that is well protected by international conventions, by the ECHR,
and even by the Bossi-Fini law [on immigration], risk his life
in such a way in order to avoid being intercepted by the border
police?"
EU/Africa/Indian Ocean: Fortress
Europe blog details 41 deaths in November 2008
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: The Council
of Ministers of the European Union must not adopt the outrageous
directive! Joint press statement by Anafé, APDHA,
Arci, ATMF, La Cimade, Gisti, IPAM, LDH-Belgique, Migreurop and
Statewatch against the formal approval of the Returns Directive
on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human
Rights:
In English
In French
(original)
In Spanish
In Italian
EU: Commission proposals:
- Council
Regulation listing the third countries whose nationals must be
in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and
those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement
(COM 716, pdf)
- Directive
laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers
(COM 815, pdf)
- Regulation concerning
the establishment of 'Eurodac' for the comparison of fingerprints
for the effective application of Regulation (EC) No […/…]
[establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the
Member State responsible for examining an application for international
protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country
national or a stateless person] (825/3, pdf)
- Regulation
establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the
Member State responsible for examining an application for international
protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country
national or a stateless person (COM 829, pdf)
GREECE: PROASYL REPORT: “The
situation in Greece is out of control”: Research into the
situation of asylum seekers in Greece (pdf)
EU/Libya: Petition
against detention camps for migrants in Libya (Fortress Europe, link)
A petition "for an international investigation on the detention
conditions of migrants and refugees arrested in Libya on their
way to Europe" was launched by the directors of the documentary
"Come un uomo sulla terra", which features stories
told by African refugees about their journey through Libya. The
petition, to be sent to Italian and EU authorities as well as
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, highlights Italy's responsibilities
as a result of bilateral agreements whereby Italy provides "financial
and technical support to Libya" to control migration flows.
EU/Africa/Middle East: Fortress
Europe blog details 108 deaths in October 2008
Joint
UK-French charter to repatriate Afghans narrowly averted
THE ALTERNATIVE CONSULTATION ON EU JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS
POLICY
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on
the future priorities in the field of Justice and Home Affairs
policy. The European Civil Liberties Network has produced
an alternative questionnaire to provoke a more wide ranging debate
about EU policy and practice.
Please take a few moments to complete the survey and have your
say on EU justice and home affairs policy: Complete
survey
For more information about the ECLN survey, see: the ECLN
survey
EU: PROPOSED ENTRY-EXIT SYSTEM: National responses to questionnaire:
Presidency
project for a system of electronic recording of entry and exit
dates of third-country nationals in the Schengen area (68 pages, pdf), Belgium
response
(pdf) and Portugal
response
(pdf)
EU: "Friends of VIS" set-up: Draft
Council Conclusions on a group of "Friends of the VIS" (pdf)
EU-AFRICA: European Commission: One year after
Lisbon: The Africa-EU partnership at work (COM 617, pdf) and One
year after Lisbon: The Africa-EU Partnership at work: Commission
contributions to the implementation of the EU-Africa Action Plan
(2008-2010)
(SEC 2603, pdf)
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: Migreurop statement on the first effects
of the returns directive: Three months on from the return
directive's approval by the European Parliament, Migreurop notes
how its implementation of an approach involving the systematic
detention of migrants is being followed by Member States approving
measures that follow the same rationale, namely the detention
and criminalisation of migrants. Highlighting developments in
France and Italy, the European network reaffirms its commitment
to struggle against human rights abuses in detention centres
through its campaign to guarantee a right of access to detention
sites:
Detention of foreigners : the first effects
of the "return" directive (English)
Détention
d'étrangers : les premiers contrecoups de la directive
retour
(French,
original)
Detenzione
degli stranieri : i primi effetti della direttiva Rimpatri (Italian)
Detención
de extranjeros : los primeros efectos de la Directiva "
retorno"
(Spanish)
Basque Parliament resolution strongly condemns the Returns
Directive: In its plenary session on 10 October 2008, the
Basque Parliament approved a resolution that strongly condemns
the Returns Directive, described as "a serious violation
of fundamental human rights", for "penalising and criminalising"
people who merely seek to enter Europe to work and improve their
living conditions. It encourages Basque institutions, political
groups and society to devise ways of opposing and minimising
the impact of its implementation to stop the "limiting of
fundamental human rights", and the creation of a category
of human beings "who are even more vulnerable, and who may
be subjected to all manners of abuses due to their being considered
irregular". It also calls on European Union member states
to reconsider the Directive's contents, drawing a comparison
with the time when "many of us, men and women... were forced
to emigrate... as a consequence of the civil war and dictatorship,
or for economic reasons". Original
(in Euskera - Basque - and Spanish) (pdf, pp. 5-8). Unofficial
Statewatch translation Thanks to Mugak/SOS Arrazakeria for drawing
our attention to this document.
EU: European
Pact on Immigration and Asylum (full-text, EU doc no: 13440/08, pdf)
The European Pact on Immigration and Asylum is still not officially online on the Council's
public register of documents as we write, even after its adoption
by the EU Summit (15-16 October 2008). No draft has ever been
online, even after it was agreed by the last Justice and Home
Affairs Council - five versions are listed but their text is
not publicly accessible.
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"After all the media speculation as to what is and is not in the Pact it is a disgrace that its text was not made publicly available at any stage. It was not officially available before the JHA Council agreed it, when parliaments and civil society might have wished to express a view. It was not available after it was agreed by the JHA Council, nor now when it has been adopted by European Summit. This is no way to instil trust in democracy at the EU level."
An unofficial
version was made available by Statewatch in July:
Informal Justice and Home Affairs Ministers meeting in Cannes:
European
Pact on immigration and asylum
EU: European Commission Communication: Strengthening
the global approach to migration increasing coordination, coherence
and synergies
(pdf) and Report on: The application
of Directive 2003/86/EC on the right of family reunification(pdf)
UN
human rights chief spotlights plight of millions of detainees
worldwide: Press
conference by new Commissioner Navanethem Pillay (UN link). In
another report Immigrants
among millions unlawfully detained: rights chief (Reuters,
link) the Commissioner singles out the EU for criticism of excessively
long periods of detention of migrants::
"We have a number of concerns with increasingly restrictive and often punitive approaches to migration in many developed countries of which the EU's recent return directive is one example," she told a news conference.
"The great majority of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers are not criminals and therefore should not be confined in detention centres like criminals," Pillay said.
Under the EU plan agreed last May, illegal immigrants to the 27-member bloc can be detained for up to 18 months before being sent home, and also face a five-year re-entry ban.
Referring to that maximum detention period, Pillay said: "This appears excessive, especially if obstacles to removal are beyond the immigrant's control, for example if their home country fails to provide the necessary documentation." "
EU/Africa: Fortress Europe blog details 191 deaths in September
and 619 in the third quarter of 2008 The Fortress Europe
blog which tracks the deaths of migrants during their migration
journey, has published its figures for September 2008, noting
that there were 191 deaths, with incidents entailing the most
fatalities taking place in Egypt (83), in the Channel of Sicily
(35), in Sudan (21), in Spain (15) and in Greek minefields in
the Evros region near Turkey (4). The death count in August was
the worst in the whole of 2008, with 270 deaths, a majority of
which occurred between Libya and Italy (179), with deaths also
occurring in Algeria (14), Spain (45), Greece (1), Egypt (1)
and Iran (30). In July, there were at least 158 deaths, including
13 infants and two pregnant women, of which 48 occurred in the
Channel of Sicily, the same number in Spain, and 38 disappeared
on the route between Algeria and Sardinia.
For the break-downs, monthly reports and more, see: Fortress
Europe
(link)
EU-AFRICA: Counter EU-Africa Summit - Citizens' Summit on Migration,
Paris 17-18 October 2008: Call
for a Citizen Summit on migration (English, link), Sommet
Citoyen sur les Migrations (link) and Dossier
for the Press
(pdf). Over 250 NGOs are supporting the Citizens' Summit including
Statewatch.
EU: LEGISLATIVE UPDATE - State of Play:
- The "Blue
Card" proposal for so-called "legal migration":
EU
doc no: 13163/08 (pdf)
- The "Blue Card" proposal: EU
doc no: 13009/08 (pdf)
- Employer sanctions: Working Party on Migration and Expulsion:
EU
doc no: 12634/08 (pdf)
- Employer sanctions: Working Party on Migration and Expulsion:
EU
doc no: 11366/08 (pdf)
EU: MIGREUROP: No
to the deportation agreements (link) Presentation at the World Social
Forum on Migrations, Madrid, 11-14 Sept 2008 with the following
participants :Migreurop network, AME (Mali), Group 484 (Serbia),
Legal Clinic (Bulgaria), HCA/RLAP (Turkey), Halina Niec Human
Rights Association (Poland), MRAP (France), AMDH (Morocco), SOMIM
(Portugal), Statewatch (UK) plus: No
to expulsion agreements: “Campaign Kit” (pdf)
Access to detention camps (link) Presentation at the World Social Forum on Migrations, Madrid, 11-14 Sept 2008 with the following participants: Migreurop Network, Kisa (Cyprus), Legal Clinic (Bulgaria), HCA/RLAP (Turkey), Andalusia Acoge (Spain), APDHA (Spain), Cimade (France), SOLIM (Portugal), Fasti (France), Halina Niec Human Rights Association (Poland) plus: Detention centres: Campaign for the right of access: Campaign Kit (pdf)
UK-COE:
Commissioner
Hammarberg releases human rights report on asylum-seekers and
immigrants
(pdf) Full-text
of Memorandum
(pdf) See: Asylum
rules 'risk human rights' (BBC link) "Yarl's Wood detention
centre was visited by the commissioner this year. Changes to
Britain's asylum and immigration controls could breach human
rights, a European watchdog has warned"
UK-Council of Europe: Council of Europe
Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (pdf). Note: The UK
has not ratified the Convention.
German Institute for Human Rights: Human
Rights at the EU’s common external maritime border: Recommendations
to the EU legislature (pdf)
"A usual summer in the Mediterranean: thousands of deaths and cases of refoulement. Thousands of migrants – some only looking for a better life in Europe, some in need of international protection – leave the North and West African coasts."
EU: French Council Presidency: Latest
draft: European Pact on Immigration and Asylum (3 September, 2008,
pdf)
EU: Red Cross-EU Office: European
Commission Policy Plan on Asylum: Opinion of the National Red
Cross Societies of the Member States of the European Union and
the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (pdf)
Over
70 migrants feared killed on crossing to Europe (Guardian, link)
EU: Proposed
new EU border control system (pdf) Report for the European Parliament
LIBE Committee by Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex
EU: An
analysis of the Commission Communications on future development
of Frontex and the creation of a European Border Surveillance
System (EUROSUR) (pdf) Report for the European Parliament LIBE
Committee.
"The
[Commission] evaluation, however, falls short of critically assessing
the consistence of Frontex activities with the fundamental values
upheld by the EU. In this
regard, it seems important to recall that Frontex is a first-pillar,
Community body, which should not only respect the EU fundamental
values in its activities, but also work for their promotion,
particularly in a field which touches upon critical questions
related to migration and freedom of movement."
EU-ECJ: Grand Chamber judgment: Judgment overturning Akrich and
making it absolutely clear that third country national family
members can enter without any requirement of prior lawful residence
in another MS: Full-text
of judgment
(pdf) See: Court
gives backing to foreign spouses of EU citizens (euobserver, link)
Profit
and power: the privatisation of asylum control (Corporatewatch, link)
EU-LATIN
AMERICA: THE "OUTRAGEOUS" RETURNS DIRECTIVE: Letter
to EU governments and parliamentarians (Six languages, pdf) Signed by people
from: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, USA,
Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela:
"It seems
that a convenient amnesia prevents Europe from remembering what
Europe would be like without cheap labor from abroad, and without
the services that the entire world has provided her with. Europe
would not be Europe without the massacre of indigenous peoples
in the Americas and without the enslavement of the sons and daughters
of Africa, to mention only a few forgotten examples.
Europe should apologise to the world, or at the very least give
thanks for what the world has given her, instead of legalising
the hunting down and punishment of hard
working people who have come to Europe, fleeing the hunger and
the wars that the masters of the world have sent them."
Italy
to jail clandestine migrants (euobserver, link)
CROATIA: Every
day the Croatian Government is removing tourists, mostly Asians
and Africans, from the train between Budapest and Venice - people with visas
for their destination - people who are not warned they will be
passing through Croatia until it's too late - They are left on
the border in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere
- while travellers from Western countries are allowed to continue
their journey unhindered.
EU: Council Presidencies JHA Programme: French,
Czech and Swedish Presidencies: Draft Programme of the trio of
Presidencies in JHA (pdf)
EU:
Inventory of the agreements linked to readmission (link)
EU: Legislative Update: - EMPLOYER SANCTIONS: Proposal
for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council
providing for sanctions against employers of illegally staying
third-country nationals and EU
doc no: 11000/08 plus EU
doc no: 11727/08
EU: EXIT-ENTRY SYSTEM: Briefing Paper for the European Parliament:
Proposed
new EU border control systems (pdf) by Professor Steve Peers, University
of Essex
EP: Useful country reports from European Parliament delegations
from the Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE) looking at "reception
of asylum seekers and irregular migrants": Cyprus (pdf), Denmark (pdf) and Poland (pdf)
LIBYA-EU: Libya
urges EU to revise illegal immigration rules (Reuters, link)
"Libya called on the European Union to revise new rules
against illegal immigration on Monday, saying it would urge African
Union members to take action if the EU stuck by measures that
treated African migrants as criminals.
EU ministers have backed French proposals for a European pact to stem illegal immigration and attract highly skilled job-seekers, weeks after the EU decided illegal immigrants could be detained for up to 18 months and face a 5-year re-entry ban.
"Africa will not accept any law based on repression and in dealing with African migrants, including children and disabled people, as criminals," Libya's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Libyan news agency Jana...... "
UK:
Outsourcing
abuse: The use and misuse of state-sanctioned force during the
detention and removal of asylum seekers A report by Birnberg Peirce & Partners,
Medical Justice and the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation
Campaigns (pdf)
EU-VISAS-FINGERPRINTING CHILDREN: The European Parliament plenary
session has backed a report by Sarah Ludford MEP (ALDE) calling
for the fingerprinting of children to only be allowed for those
12 year old and over - the Council of the European Union (the
governments) want it to be just six years old and over. The report
was supported by 455 MEPs and opposed by 64, mainly from the
conservative PPE group. There were 41 abstentions. Full-text
of Resolution
(pdf). The Green/EFA rapporteur said:
"Speaking
on behalf of the Greens/EFA political group, Ms Tatjana ZDANOKA
(Greens/EFA - LV):
• stated that her political group cannot accept any use
of biometrics in the EU until its necessity is proven beyond
reasonable doubt. The introduction of biometrics has crucial
implications for data security and for fundamental rights. Therefore
the Greens/EFA political group cannot vote in favour of the report
at all."
and:
Speaking on behalf of the GUE/NGL political group, Ms Sylvia Yvonne KAUFMANN (GUE/NGL - DE):
• noted that the introduction of biometrics in visa is not acceptable, in particular regarding small children. She asked for an intensive study to verify the implication of such an approach."
UK: Government threatens 11 countries that unless they change
their policies on deportations or removals of their nationals
and cooperate on crime and terrorism then their citizens visiting
the UK will have to get visas: Home Office Press
release: Results Of Britains First Global Visa Review (pdf) Statement
by Home Secretary on Visa Waiver Test (pdf) These are: are: Bolivia; Botswana;
Brazil; Lesotho; Malaysia; Mauritius; Namibia; South Africa;
Swaziland; Trinidad and Tobago; and Venezuela. These countries
have a combined population of over 300 million – nearly
five per cent of the world’s population.
"The criteria for the test included looking at passport security and integrity; the degree of co-operation over deportation or removal of a country’s nationals from the UK; levels of illegal working in the UK and other immigration abuse; levels of crime and terrorism risk posed to the UK; and the extent to which a country’s authorities were addressing these threats."
The "criteria" are a mix of establishing who is wanting to visit and much broader cooperation on policies such as crime and terrorism. It should be noted that Brazil, Malaysia and Venezuela are the European Commission's "white list" of countries not requiring visas.
ITALY: Census
of the Roma on the basis of ethnicity in Italy: European Parliament
resolution of 10 July 2008 on the census of the Roma on the basis
of ethnicity in Italy (pdf). This Resolution was passed by 336 votes
to 220 with 77 abstentions. It was backed by MEPS from the PSE
(Socialist group), ALDE (Liberal group), Greens, GUE (United
Left) and opposed by the PPE (Conservative group) and UEN (rightwing
Europe of Nations group).
- Letter from
Jonathan Faull, Director General DG Justice, Freedon and Security,
to Italian government Permanent Representative in Brussels: Letter
full-text
(pdf)
- ALDE Press release: Roma in Italy:
Extraordinary measures are unjustified. EPP deft to appeals from
civil society
(pdf)
EU:
CONCORD Press release: European
NGOs condemn putting aid at the service of immigration control (pdf):
"While European and G8 countries are failing to deliver on their international aid commitments, European Development NGOs are deeply concerned about linking immigration control and development cooperation."
EU:
Fortress Europe blog details 185 deaths in June. The Fortress
Europe blog which tracks the deaths of migrants, details 185
deaths in June alone, 173 of which have taken place in the Channel
of Sicily, where arrivals have risen three-fold, with other deaths
also reported in the Canary Islands, Venice harbour, Turkey,
where a Somali man was shot during a demonstration in a detention
centre, and Israel, where three refugees were shot by police
along the border with Egypt, including a seven-year-old Sudanese
girl. The bulk of the deaths refer to a shipwreck in the high
sea off the Libyan coast at Zuwarah on 7 June 2008, in which
one survivor was rescued, 40 dead bodies were recovered and at
least 100 people disappeared.
For full details,
see: http://fortresseurope.blogspot.com/2006/01/giugno-2008.html (original, in Italian)
http://fortresseurope.blogspot.com/2006/01/june-2008.html (English version)
EU:
Informal Justice and Home Affairs Ministers meeting in Cannes:
European
Pact on immigration and asylum and Presidency
Note: Asylum procedures
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"EU Ministers are saying there is no "Fortress Europe", yet anyone with eyes to see knows that there is and that the final building blocks are being put into place.
The EU is denying sanctuary to people fleeing from poverty and persecution while at the same time actively recruiting skilled labour from the Third World in order to maintain its own standard of living - because it has an ageing population.- and thus perpetuate its exploitation of scarce global resources. It is a position devoid of any humanity or morality."
- EU
won over to France's hard line on immigration and asylum (euobserver, link)
- 42
days? Try 18 months: This European targeting of illegal immigrants
is hypocritical, draconian and undiplomatic by Evo Morales, President
of the Republic of Bolivia (Guardian, link)
- Mercosur
anger at EU migrant laws (BBC News, link)
- Latin
American leaders condemn 'racist' EU law (euobserver, link)
- Central American states reject EU Returns Directive: see story
below
EU/Africa/South
America: Alliance against EU Returns Directive
On 12 June 2008 in Brasilia, a week before the European Parliament voted in favour of the returns directive, the 1st Meeting of High Level Officials of African and South American Countries, involving representatives from 44 countries, the Council of the African Union and UNASUR (Union of South American Nations), with a view to preparing the 2nd African-South American Presidential Summit to be held in Venezuela in November 2008, issued a press release condemning the directive. The representatives expressed "concern" over "legislations recently approved or proposed by some countries or regional organisations concerning migration, that contravene commitments adopted in the framework of human rights conventions and the rights of migrants set out in the UN's relevant legal instruments".
The countries represented were: Angola, Algeria, Argentina, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Congo, DR Congo, Egypt, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Ivory Coast, Libya, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Mauritius, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uruguay, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Full text of the press release (from the no-fortress Europe website,
in Spanish)
EU/Central America: Central
American states reject EU Returns Directive. Full-text
of statement
(pdf)
In Guatemala
City on 30 June 2008, PARLACEN (Central American parliament,
the regional body representing the governments of central America
and the Dominican Republic) issued a declaration to "forcefully
reject" the "returns directive" recently approved
by the European Parliament as a measure that "undermines
migrants human and labour rights". While PARLACEN exhorts
its member states to accept their role as countries of origin
and to take action to guarantee their citizens' human right to
both freedom of movement and to remain in their own countries,
it notes that the returns directive "contains articles that
criminalise and penalise the migrant population". The declaration
describes the measure as "criminalising, discriminatory
and xenophobic, which undermines human and labour rights, especially
those of boys, girls, adolescents and the norms of civilised
co-existence between peoples, and that violates the historical
progress made by humanity".
It goes on to challenge the emphasis on security in these measures,
the references to people as "illegals", the vision
of humans in merely economic terms; reaffirms the right to free
movement for humans, calls on regional associations from Latin
America and the Caribbean to form a united front against the
directive in negotiations with the EU and on the parliaments
of EU countries not to adopt the directive.
Spain/Colombia: Information
exchange puts Colombian asylum seekers at risk
CEAR, the Spanish Commission for Assistance to Refugees, warns
in its June 2008 legal bulletin that the cross-checking of information
on Colombian asylum applicants' documents by the Asylum and Refuge
Office with Colombian authorities during asylum proceedings contravenes
data protection legislation and the nature of the asylum process,
undermining the safety of asylum seekers from this country. Problems
that are highlighted include the infiltration of Colombian institutions
by members of paramilitary groups and the contravening of guarantees
of confidentiality that applicants receive when they first apply
for asylum.
EU-ITALY: Plight
of the Roma: echoes of Mussolini: "The compulsory fingerprinting
of Italy's Gypsy population is the latest example of the country's
increasingly repressive attitude towards minorities – and
an ominous reminder of the policies of the former Fascist dictator". Peter Popham reports
(Independent, link)
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"In a EU of "common values" we are all responsible for what happens in Italy"
FRENCH EU COUNCIL PRESIDENCY: European
Pact on immigration and asylum (January 2008, pdf)
MALTA: Journalists
Committee welcomes the decision to open migrants detention centres (pdf)
"The Journalists Committee welcomes the decision taken by the Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carmel Mifsud Bonnici to open migrants detention centres to journalists. Committee chairperson Karl Schembri said this was a positive development for journalists in Malta and recalled the role of the Journalists Committee in calling for open access to detention centres... Today, the new minister has finally taken on board our appeal and open up detention centres to journalists.The Journalists Committee has for years argued that detention centres and prisons were kept closed to journalists against all sense of transparency and accountability"
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: Global outcry against EU
immigration directive (euobserver, link)
Souhayr Belhassen,
president of the International Federation for Human Rights, argued
that the timing of the European Parliament's vote was particularly
unfortunate as the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights will be celebrated later this year. "By
adopting this text, the European legislator lets us understand
that migrants are not human beings like any other, provided with
rights and to whom states owe obligations," Belhassen added.
"They are dehumanised." Parliament
Votes Jail for Asylum-Seekers by David Cronin
Green group in the European Parliament: Returns
directive: Vote of shame mocks standards of civilisation (Press statement, link)
GUE (European United Left) group in the European Parliament:
Europe
no longer the cradle of human rights (link to statement)
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: The European Parliament has voted this
morning (18 June) 367 in favour, 206 against and 109 abstentions
on the amended text approving the "compromise" text
with the Council.
EU:
Commission is set to agree today two "packages", one
on asylum, the other on immigration: (pdf's)
Asylum package:
- Communication:
Policy plan on asylum: A integrated approach to protection across
the EU
- Commission
Staff Working Document: Accompanying document to the Policy Plan
on the Common European Asylum System Impact Assessment
- Commission
Staff Working Document: Annexes
- Memorandum
to the Commission
- Green
Paper
(2.6 MB)
- Citizens
Summary
Immigration package:
- Communication:
On common principles for the further development of the Common
Immigration Policy: a platform for a new European approach
- Commission
Staff Working Document: Accompanying document on common principles
for the further development of the Common Immigration Policy:
a platform for a new European approach: Impact Assessment (SEC, 76 pages)
- Commission
Staff Working on common principles for the further development
of the Common Immigration Policy: a platform for a new European
approach: Impact Assessment (SEC, 60 pages)
- Memorandum
to the Commission
- Citizen
Summary
EU-EP: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: As the European Parliament votes on
the Returns Directive there will be a silent demonstration outside
the parliament in Strasbourg on 17 June 2008. Demonstrations
against the Directive will be taking place in a number of other
countries including: Rome (pdf) Lisbon (pdf) Summary
of demonstrations (pdf) Bulletin
from No to Fortress Europe (pdf)
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"If passed this will be the 13th measure on visas, borders, immigration and asylum to be adopted by the European Parliament as a result of "first reading deals" negotiated in secret trilogue meetings with the Council.
Neither the final deal nor the penultimate draft are available to the public on the Council's register of documents. Nor was the letter from the Council to the European Parliament setting out the deal of 4 June made available to the public either. There was no time at all for national parliaments and civil society to read, debate and react as the deal was already set in stone. This is no way to run a democracy, especially when the issues at stake concern peoples' fundamental rights."
- the final and penultimate deals are addressed in Statewatch analysis: The Returns Directive: 9 June 2008 (pdf) by Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex
- see: Secret trilogues and the democratic deficit by Tony Bunyan
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: Statewatch
analysis: The Returns Directive: 9 June 2008 (pdf) by Professor Steve
Peers, University of Essex.
"Despite some positive changes to the text which result from the EP’s involvement in the negotiations, the agreed text of the returns Directive is still fundamentally deficient from the point of view of human rights as well as the basic principles which should underpin EU immigration and asylum law."
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: The
full-text of the latest Council draft of the Returns Directive,
EU doc no: 8812/08
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: Mandatory
expulsion and entry ban decisions in Returns Directive violate
general principles of Community law (pdf)
Today, the Netherlands based Meijers Committee (Standing Commitee of Experts on international immigration, refugee and criminal law) published a comment on the draft Returns Directive. On 23 April 2008, a compromise was reached between the Council and the European Parliament on the text of the Returns Directive (2005-0167 (COD), COM(2005) 391). In the meantime some aspects of the text have been changed. Still, the text, in its present form, violates important principles of Community law. Such is in particular the case where the draft directive contains binding Community legislation compelling Member States to take mandatory expulsion measures or mandatory entry ban measures in certain categories of cases. The Standing Committee is of the opinion that the draft Directive must not be accepted by the European Parliament.
"Precisely as the new executive passes the “Security package”, someone dies of insecurity. It happened in Turin in the brand new CPT that cost as much as 11,160,184 Euros (source, “La Stampa” 26/5/08 page 56) and which, from now on, will be called an Identification and expulsion centre, as envisaged in the law decree that is due to be issued soon."
Morocco/EU: Moroccan navy accused
of sinking dinghy, causing 29 to die: On the night of 28 April 2008, a chase in the
high sea off the coast of Al Hoceima ended when a Moroccan navy
officer slashed a dinghy's pneumatic body, resulting in 29 would-be
sub-Saharan migrants (including four women and four children)
drowning, according to survivors.
Italy's
crackdown on Roma criticised across Europe (euobserver, link)
Netherlands: Human Rights Watch
report: The
Netherlands: Discrimination in the Name of Integration: Migrants’
Rights under the Integration Abroad Act (pdf)
EU RETURNS DIRECTIVE: AI & ECRE: Press
release
(pdf) See also: FIDH:Proposal
for a “returns” Directive: The FIDH calls for the suspension
of the text’s adoption until it conforms to Member States
international human rights obligations (pdf) and GUE
group in the European Parliament: Press release (link, pdf) Statewatch
Supplementary Analysis: The EU's Returns Directive by Professor Steve Peers,
University of Essex who concludes: "The EP and the Council
have to decide whether their endlessly-repeated support for the
principles of fairness, human rights and human dignity is a genuine
commitment, or simply empty rhetoric." "Against
the outrageous Directive!", full-text of speech given by
Yasha Maccanico (Statewatch) at the hearing with NGOs organised
by the GUE group, European Parliament, Strasbourg on 12 December
2007
(pdf) and Fortress
Europe
(link) and Migreurop (link)
EU-ECJ: The Court's judgment today annuls the "safe third
country" and "safe country of origin" provisions
of the procedures directive - and also states that the co-decision
procedure now fully applies to asylum law. The case was brought
by the European Parliament: Case
C-133/06 - full-text of judgment (pdf).
See for background: Statewatch's analysis and coverage: EU
divided over list of “safe countries of origin” –
Statewatch calls for the list to be scrapped (pdf) and EU
divided over list of "safe countries of origin" - the
list should be scrapped - secret documents reveal a shallow process
without any sense of morality or humanity
EU: BIOMETRIC VISAS & FINGERPRINTING CHILDREN: Latest version
of: Draft
Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending
the Common Consular Instructions on visas for diplomatic and
consular posts in relation to the introduction of biometrics
including provisions on the organisation of the reception and
processing of visa applications (dated 22 April 2008, pdf). There are
still substantive differences between the Council's position
and that of the European Parliament - especially on the age for
finger-printing children: Council, 6 years old and above, EP,
12 years old and above.
EU-JHA-ECRE: Memorandum
to the JHA Council: Ending the asylum lottery – Guaranteeing
refugee protection in Europe (pdf)
GREECE: Report by Norwegian Organization for Asylum Seekers (NOAS),
the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) and Greek Helsinki Monitor
(GHM): Report
on the violation of asylum seekers’ Human Rights by Greece (Report, pdf) and Press
release
(pdf)
"The situation for asylum seekers in Greece is alarming. Thousands of asylum seekers live under unworthy conditions, and without any forms of legal protection. The chance of receiving protection in Greece is close to zero. Transferring asylum seekers to the country is therefore irresponsible."
EU: Standing Committee of experts on international immigration,
refugees and criminal law: Views on the Commission
report on the evaluation and future development of the FRONTEX
agency
(pdf)
UK: Positive Action For Refugees & Asylum Seekers: Dawn
raids PAFRAS Briefing Paper No 4 (pdf) and Mental
health, destitution and asylum PAFRAS Briefing Paper No 5 (pdf)
EU-DUBLIN AGREEMENT: European Council on Refugees and Exiles
(ECRE) Letter
to EU Presidency (pdf) The letter says that "the unacceptable
conditions for asylum claimants in Greece, the obstacles to accessing
a fair determination procedure and the risk of other serious
human rights violations" as its reasons. "Greece is
not a safe place for those in need of protection," Bjarte
Vandvik, the head of the ECRE, said.
EU: European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE): Sharing
Responsibility for Refugee Protection in Europe: Dublin Reconsidered (pdf) Press
release
(pdf)
EU-RETURNS DIRECTIVE: Statewatch
Supplementary Analysis: The EU's Returns Directive by Professor Steve Peers,
University of Essex who concludes:
"The EP and the Council have to decide whether their endlessly-repeated support for the principles of fairness, human rights and human dignity is a genuine commitment, or simply empty rhetoric."
Netherlands: Two
deaths in immigration detention in 2 months
“States
should not impose penalties on arriving asylum-seekers” by Thomas Hammarberg
(CoE, full-text, link):
"A minimum of solidarity with those oppressed is to receive them when they are forced to flee. The “right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution” is indeed a key provision in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Sadly, this right is not fully observed in parts of Europe today. Instead, refugees are met with suspicion and too often even placed in detention."
EU: FINGER-PRINTING CHILDREN: The high-level SCIFA/Mixed Committee,
meeting on 12 February 2008 discussed the age at which children
should be fingerprinted for visas, residence permits and EU passports
and travel documents in: EU doc
no: 6138/08
At a subsequent meeting of the Visa Working Party, on 18-19 February
2008 (EU doc no: 6952/08) it was reported in SCIFA that for the:
- age limit: the vast majority of delegations agreed on the age of six and even a lower age where the national legislation allows for it. Two delegations maintained the limit of twelve years."
The two governments referred to - Germany and Austria - support the 12 years old and above proposal from the European Parliament.
The "majority" support finger-printing children six years old and over while allowing any government to have a lower age "where national legislation allows for it".
UK: Border & Immigration Agency: Introducing
compulsory identity cards for foreign nationals (pdf)
GREECE: Pro Asyl report: "The truth may
be bitter, but it must be told" (pdf) The Situation of Refugees in the
Aegean and the Practices of the Greek Coast Guard.
UK: 11 MILLION - CHILDRENS' COMMISSIONER REPORT: Claiming
asylum at a Screening Unit as an unaccompanied child (pdf):
"The oppressive nature of large parts of the asylum screening process makes it difficult for children to give a full and accurate account of themselves. This may have implications for the decision made on their asylum claim."
EU-BORDERS: EUROPEAN DATA PROTECTION SUPERVISOR: Border
Management
(press release, pdf) EDPS
issues first comments on EU border management package (7 pages, pdf) Peter
Hustinx, EDPS, says:
"It is crucial that the impact on the privacy rights of individuals crossing the EU borders is adequately taken into account. A lack of data protection safeguards would not only mean that the individuals concerned might suffer unduly from the proposed measures, but also that the measures will be less effective, or even counter productive, by diminishing public trust in government action."
The EDPS comments cover:
- piling up of
legislative proposals in the area...making it difficult for stakeholders
to have a comprehensive overview;
- heavy reliance on biometric data;
- lack of evidence supporting the need for new data systems;
- lack of evaluation of existing systems.
Italy: Milan
city council found guilty of discriminating migrant children
EU: European Commission borders package:
- Preparing
the next steps in border management in the European Union (COM 69 2008, pdf)
- Preparing
the next steps in border management in the European Union - Impact
Assessment
(SEC 153 on COM 69 2008, pdf)
- Examining
the creation of a European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) (COM 68 2008, pdf)
- Examining
the creation of a European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR)
- Impact Assessment- (SEC 151 on COM 68 2008, pdf)
- Report
on the evaluation and future development of the FRONTEX Agency (COM 67 2008, pdf)
- Report
on the evaluation and future development of the FRONTEX Agency
- Impact Assessment (SEC 148 on COM 67 2008, pdf)
- Report
on the evaluation and future development of the FRONTEX Agency (SEC 150 on COM 67 2008,
pdf)
EU: FRONTEX: Conclusions
from the Expert Meeting on the Follow-up of the Joint Frontex
Europol Report on the High Risk Routes of Illegal Migration in
the Western Balkan Countries within the Frontex Risk Analysis
Network
(EU doc no: 5685/08, pdf)
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: Statewatch Analysis: The
Proposed EU Returns Directive by Professor Steve Peers, University
of Essex (pdf)
"The Council’s version of the Directive sets standards so low that it would be difficult for Member States go any lower – most obviously with the indefinite period of detention (along with the weak rules on judicial control of detention), but also as regards exclusions from the scope of the Directive, the deletion of the general human rights safeguard, the limited grounds for mandatory postponement of removals, the mandatory re-entry ban following a return decision, the lower standards for remedies, the accelerated procedures without a right to any remedy at all in the Directive, and the nearly non-existent safeguards pending removal."
Germany: Amendment
Act marks continued hostility towards foreigners and second generation
immigrants
(Feature, pdf)
"Decades of restrictive handling of asylum and migration rules have, in Germany as in the rest of the EU, led to a large number of asylum seekers and migrants living permanently without a secure legal status. Forced into illegality, undocumented migrants are economically marginalised and often excluded from basic social services that help to meet a decent standard of living with regard to housing, food, clothing, health care, legal advice, education and training. As a result of this structural violation of migrants' basic rights in Europe, the sans papiers, asylum and migrant rights groups in Germany and other EU countries are demanding the regularisation of undocumented migrants and rejected asylum seekers living in the EU without a secure residency status."
EU: FINGER-PRINTING CHILDREN FOR VISAS, EU PASSPORTS AND TRAVEL
DOCUMENTS: The Council of the European Union (the 27 governments)
and the European Parliament are currently in co-decision negotiations
over the content on which includes the issue at what age should
children be finger-printed for the issuing of visas. The Council
is proposing children of 6 years of age and above while the European
Parliament wants it to be 12 years of age and above: EU
doc no: 6067/1/08 REV 1 (the document contains a useful chart comparing
the positions of the Council, Commission and European Parliament,
pdf).
In a different, but complementary Council fora, the SCIFA/Mixed Committee is discussing the same issue not just for visas but also for all EU passports and travel documents (ie: resident third country nationals, Schengen ID cards): EU doc no: 6138/08 In this high-level Working Party the Council Presidency notes that while there is a "majority" of governments in favour of 6 years and above three governments - Czech Republic, France and Portugal - think it would be "possible" to take:
"fingerprints even for children below the age of 6 years"
While two governments - Germany and Austria - support the 12 years old and above proposal from the parliament.
The Council Presidency is proposing that it should be decided whether each government should be able to decide its own limits - some would be 12 years, some 6 years and some at birth?
"It needs
also to be decided if member States should be allowed to collect
fingerprints of children under the age of 6 on the basis of the
national
legislation."
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"It is to be hoped that the European Parliament will not budge on this issue. EU governments have been discussing this issue as a technological one, at what age is it possible to take reliable fingerprints from children, when it is a moral and political question.
This comes in parallel with the Commission's idea that peoples' visas, passports and travel documents, including those of children, will be processed in an enclosed box by machines. What kind of Europe are we heading for?"
EU: Integrated European Border Management Strategy: "None
of the policy options contribute markedly to reducing terrorism
or serious crime" Perhaps the most revealing document
in the EU's Justice and Home Affairs package on exit-entry and
border management is: Commission Staff
Working Document: Accompanying document to the Communication
New tools for an integrated European Border Management Strategy:
Impact Assessment, Draft v (17/1/2008) (pdf)
- On the role of EU databases like the Schengen Information System (SIS) and terrorism: As the "perpetrators" have mainly been EU citizens or living in the EU with official permits:
"None
of the policy options contribute markedly to reducing terrorism
or serious crime...In view of the latest terrorist acts in the
area of the EU, it can be noted that the perpetrators have mainly
been EU citizens or foreigners residing and living in the Member
States with official permits.
Usually there has been no information about these people or about
their terrorist connections in the registers, for example in
the SIS or national databases. The entry/exit system does not
register entries or exits of the EU citizens or their relatives.
Therefore, the entry/exit system will not be able to have an
impact on this specific target group."
- USA entry-exit procedures: "A total of 1,500 people were rejected at the border (but it is not clear how many of them could be classified as serious criminals or terrorist).Information on how many terrorists were rejected at the border is not available."
- a number of Case Studies are cited but these include those using irises as the biometric identifier - which are not going to be used in any EU-wide system and none of the examples involved large-scale numbers of passengers being handled.
Finally, the
proposed "Automated Border Control" processing
is described in detail - which is labour-saving as no people
are involved:
"Automated Border Control processes normally consist
of the following: Fingerprint matching would be used in conjunction
with an automated gate and kiosk.
The traveller enters the automated gate area, possibly by presenting
their passport in order to open a door that closes behind them
once they have entered (
to ensure only one passenger uses the gate at a time).
The kiosk prompts the traveller to present the e-passport for
scanning (visual and electronic) and is prompted to present one
or two fingerprints for scanning. The fingerprint image is captured
and the system converts both the captured image and the image
stored on the e-passport into templates and attempts to match
them, according to predetermined thresholds. If a good match
is achieved, a second gate opens and the traveller is allowed
to cross the border. If there is not a good enough match, or
any other problem occurs, the gate does not open and the traveller
is directed for processing by a border guard." (p65)
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"The idea that visitors and possibly EU citizens - including children aged six and above - should enter an enclosed box and be told what to do by machines and for computers to decide whether to let us out or not is a quite appalling proposal.
We are told it will save money because no officials need to be involved and that the EU should embrace all the benefits of modern technological developments. If this is the price of "progress" it is a bridge too far"
EU: JHA PACKAGE: Press Releases: 13 February 2008:
- A
comprehensive vision for an integrated European border management
system for the 21st Century
- Examining
the creation of a European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR)
- The
FRONTEX Agency: evaluation and future development
EU: JHA PACKAGE announced on 13 February 2008: Early drafts and
Inter service consultations:
- Commission
Inter-service Consolation document on the future of FRONTEX,
11 December 2007 (pdf)
- Commission
exit-entry system draft and Inter-Service Consultation document,
12 December 2007 (pdf)
- Commission
Inter-Service Consultation on European Border Surveillance System
(EUROSUR), 11 December 2007 (pdf)
See below.
EU: European
Commission proposes "entry-exit" system (Communication, pdf)
The Commission is proposing that the entry and exit of all visa-holders
will be recorded automatically - these visa-holders have to give
their finger-prints and be vetted before getting a visa in their
country of origin. However, non-visa entrants (eg: from the EU's
"white list" countries like the USA) will also have
to be fingerprinted and cleared - EU's
"white" and "black" visa lists (pdf).
Hidden inside the Communication is a reference to "Automated Border Control systems" which will apply to EU citizens as well as visitors:
"The introduction of Automated Border Control systems can enable the automated verification of travellers’ identity without the intervention of border guards. A machine reads the biometric data contained in the travel documents or stored in a system or database and compares them against the biometrics of the traveller, accelerating border checks by creating automated separate lanes replacing the traditional control booths."
Experiments are taking place along the above lines where a person enters a closed box, is automatically checked and cleared or not cleared - if a person is not cleared a side door opens and they are taken away for questioning.
The Communication proposes the issuing of "tokens" to EU citizens who do not have biometric passports (ie: those who have not had their fingerprints taken) subject to vetting as the full "roll-out" of EU biometric passports will not be complete until 2016.
Also proposed is the adopted of "common vetting criteria" across the EU.
These developments need to be seen alongside the introduction of biometric passports and travel documents across the EU requiring the taking of everyone fingerprints, see: EU governments blackmail European Parliament into quick adoption of its report on biometric passports and EU: "biometric passports" We will not just have to be finger-printed once but over and over again and the Commission's proposed introduction of an EU-PNR (Passenger Name Record) covering everyone (citizens and visitors) leaving and entering the EU: See Statewatch's Observatory on EU-PNR
EU: FRONTEX: Report
on the evaluation and future development of the FRONTEX Agency (pdf) Commission
Staff Working Document: Accompanying document: Report on the
evaluation and future development of the FRONTEX Agency: Impact
Assessment
(pdf) Commission
Staff Working Paper: Annex to the Report from the Commission
on the evaluation and future development of the Frontex Agency:
Statistical data (pdf)
EU: German Institute for Human
Rights: Border
Management and Human Rights A study of EU Law and the Law of
the Sea
by Ruth Weinzierl and Urszula Lisson (Final Study: 95 pages,
pdf)
Spain: Annual
statistics on the fight against illegal immigration published
UK
Borders Act 2007 (the 2007 Act) come into force on 31 January
2008 - Home Office Circular (pdf)
France: MEP
denied access to migrant detention centre
Greece: Emergency
Call for Action for the rights of people without papers in Patras,
Greece
(pdf)
BULGARIA:
Immigration Detention in International Law and Practice (In search
of solutions to the challenges faced in Bulgaria) Valeria Ilareva by Valeria IIareva (pdf)
CANADA: Court decides that the USA is not a "safe third
country: In a 124-page decision Mr. Justice Michael Phelan
ruled that the Safe Third Country Agreement, which came into
effect on Dec. 29, 2004 and regulated refugee movement between
Canada and the U.S., violates refugee rights and that the United
States did not meet the conditions required to be considered
a "Safe Country" under the terms of the Agreement.
Full
text of judgment (pdf)
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: "Against
the outrageous Directive!", full-text of speech given by
Yasha Maccanico (Statewatch) at the hearing with NGOs organised
by the GUE group, European Parliament, Strasbourg on 12 December
2007
(pdf)
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