2019

UN refugee agency expresses concern at Greek asylum plans

"The United Nations refugees agency UNHCR expressed concern on Thursday about Greek proposals to overhaul laws affecting asylum seekers, saying they could weaken the protection of refugees."

Millions of black people affected by racial bias in health-care algorithms

"Study reveals rampant racism in decision-making software used by US hospitals - and highlights ways to correct it."

Hungarian absurdity: Homeless people in handcuffs vs. human rights

"In Hungary, the practices established by the Police and the courts against homeless people seem to be humiliating and strongly discriminative. Since the criminalization of homelessness, which is and of itself is cruel, an affront to human dignity and seriously violating international human rights standards, procedural issues have been emerged. Fair trial guarantees, such as the right to be heard in person and the presumption of innocence are not respected during the proceedings. The Hungarian state fails to ensure their equality before law."

UK: British man who fought against IS guilty of terrorism charge

"A British man who fought with a Kurdish militia against the Islamic State group has been found guilty of attending a terrorist training camp."

EU-U.S. Privacy Shield: Third review welcomes progress while identifying steps for improvement

"Today the European Commission publishes its report on the third annual review of the functioning of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. The report confirms that the U.S. continues to ensure an adequate level of protection for personal data transferred under the Privacy Shield from the EU to participating companies in the U.S. Since the second annual review, there have been a number of improvements in the functioning of the framework, as well as appointments to key oversight and redress bodies, such as the Privacy Shield Ombudsperson. Being in the third year of the Shield's operation, the review focused on the lessons learnt from its practical implementation and day-to-day functionality. Today there are about 5,000 companies participating in this EU-U.S. data protection framework."

An agenda for transparency in the EU

"Transparency and openness of Union decision-making procedures are foundational values of the EU[1] and essential to a system under the rule of law. But are the existing EU standards of transparency adequate to ensure that these values translate to legitimate exercise of public powers on the European level? In view of today’s challenges, is the EU’s approach to transparency sufficient, given that it is an atypical constitutional structure exercising sovereign powers across multiple levels of government and in constant need of explaining itself?"

EU: PNR: Council wants to "explore the necessity and feasibility" of the surveillance and profiling of all forms of mass transport

A draft set of Council conclusions calls for "a thorough impact assessment conducted by the European Commission on widening the scope of PNR Directive to other travelling forms than air traffic."

France: Conviction of man who offered tea and warm clothes to asylum seekers must be reversed

"Ahead of the appeal hearing tomorrow of Pierre Mumber, a mountain guide who offered hot tea and warm clothes to four West African asylum seekers in the Alps and was then convicted of “facilitating irregular entry”, Amnesty International is calling for the conviction to be overturned."

Momentous changes are underway in European intelligence, propelled by new technology and a political push for integration.

"The move is part of a larger resolution to be voted on Thursday (24 October) and comes amid internal efforts to kill off a progressive-led draft agreed earlier this week by the European Parliament's civil liberty committee (Libe)."

GREECE: The asylum draft bill violates international, EU and national law and exposes thousands of asylum seekers and refugees, the majority of whom are women and children, in high risk

"Athens, October 23, 2019 - On the evening of October 21, and mere hours after the just 5 day-long public consultations were concluded, the draft bill “on International Protection” was submitted to Parliament through the urgency procedure."

Back to the Libyan Warzone - How Malta Instructed Libyan Authorities to Intercept 50 Migrants within the Maltese SAR Zone

"On Friday the 18th of October 2019, in the afternoon, the Alarm Phone was contacted by an overcrowded boat in distress, carrying approximately 50 migrants. They had fled from Libya and were in the Maltese Search and Rescue (SAR) zone when they first alerted the Alarm Phone. The Alarm Phone informed RCC Malta via email and received acknowledgement of its receipt."

EU data watchdog raises concerns over Microsoft contracts

"Microsoft’s contracts with European Union institutions do not fully protect data in line with EU law, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) said in initial findings published on Monday (21 October)."

UNHCR probes Libya-Malta interception in migrant rescue

"The U.N. refugee agency is investigating why Malta last week allegedly asked the Libyan coast guard to intercept a migrant boat in a zone of the Mediterranean under Maltese responsibility, in possible violation of maritime law, a U.N. official said Tuesday."

EU centrists ally with far right on migrant rescues

"Centre-right and liberal MEPs joined forces with the far right to weaken European Parliament's political pressure on member states when it comes to NGO search and rescue at sea."

Refugee crisis: latest news from across Europe

Refugee crisis: latest news from across Europe (15-21.10.19) including: Croatia’s Schengen Accession: Reinforcing Legal Red Lines Not Borders Reports on the situation in the Aegean, Lesvos and the Balkans A flimsy raft, more than 100 souls, and three teenage heroes - or are they pirates?

Hal Far riot sparked by row between migrant and security

"Eyewitnesses said up to sixty people were involved in the riot that began at about 10pm on Sunday night but Mr Farrugia later said there were more than 300 people rioted."

Aegean Boat Report

Latest update 21.10.2019. Total number of refugees on the islands: 34,279.

Return: voluntary, safe, dignified and durable?

"Voluntary return in safety and with dignity has long been a core tenet of the international refugee regime. In the 23 articles on ‘Return’ in this issue of FMR, authors explore various obstacles to achieving sustainable return, discuss the need to guard against premature or forced return, and debate the assumptions and perceptions that influence policy and practice. This issue also includes a mini-feature on ‘Towards understanding and addressing the root causes of displacement’."

Vulnerable child and women refugees refused evacuation from Libya

"Asylum seekers awaiting evacuation from war-torn Libya say the United Nations has turned down scores of refugee relocation requests, including from women and children previously held in Libyan government-run detention centres where they were allegedly subject to abuse."

WhyID: Protecting Our Identity in the Digital Age