Archive
EU border agency says biometrics interoperability framework includes robust safeguards
An article in Biometric Update covers Statewatch's critical report of the Common Identity Repository (CIR) project, which will collect biometric information on both European citizens and non-Europeans who need a short-term visa, and on third-country nationals exempted from the visa requirements. Read More
Frontex: an overview
An article produced for the Migration Control project, providing a critical overview of the role, powers and activities of EU border agency Frontex, from 2004 to the present. Read More
EU: New counter-terror plans and more powers for Europol put rights at risk
Earlier this month, the European Commission published its new counter-terrorism agenda, alongside a proposal to expand the powers of EU policing agency Europol. Initial reactions from civil society to the proposals have been sharply critical, with the European Network Against Racism saying the plan "includes a range of initiatives that double down on policies and practices that are discriminatory, criminalizing and racializing." Read More
EU court: Hungary has failed to fulfil its obligations under EU asylum and migration law
The Court of Justice of the EU has ruled that Hungary's actions in the field of migration and asylum are against the law. Read More
Malta: Magistrate calls for new prisons if number of false passport cases continues to rise
Up to a third of Malta's prison population is made up of people who have been jailed for offences involving false passports. Some 250 people are currently behind bars for such offences. Whilst sentencing a Moroccan national to six months for use of a false passport, a magistrate recently said "that new facilities would need to be built to accommodate such offenders if the trend continued," and said there was a "dire need for a European and International mechanism for dealing with such cases." Read More
UK: Essex lorry deaths: two found guilty over manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese people
Two men have been found guilty of the manslaughter of 39 people who suffocated to death in a lorry whislt being smuggled into the UK in October 2019. Two others were found guilty of conspiring to unlawfully smuggle people into the country, while the two ringleaders of the operation - which had been ongoing for years - pled guilty to manslaughter before trial. Read More
Algorithms are created to maximise certain interests – and it’s not ours, says Chris Jones from Statewatch
As part of an international campaign to lift the lid on data privacy violations, The Privacy Collective is asking some of Europe’s leading experts why online privacy matters. Read More
Greece: Government attacks on NGOs debunked
Claims by the Greek Migration Minister, Notis Mitarakis, that NGOs have been helping organise the irregular arrival of people onto the Aegean islands, have been debunked by a media investigation. Mitarakis' claims were made following the publication by the government of four video interviews with Somali citizens, which the government claimed proved they receiving illegal assistance from NGOs to arrive on Greek territory. However, the videos raise a number of questions that the government has failed to answer. Read More
European Civic Forum: Civic Space Report 2020: Stories From The Lockdown
A new report from the European Civic Forum looks at the how civil society has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the pandemic has affected the work of civil society organisations. The report includes a general analysis of the situation in the EU, seven interviews and six case studies looking at the situation for LGBTI people and the situation in the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Ireland and Slovenia. Read More
Final contracts arranged for €6 billion EU-Turkey deal
The EU has finalised the contracting of the €6 billion it owes to Turkey as part of the March 2016 deal to keep refugees off European territory. The failure to provide all the funds promised was one reason cited by Turkey in March, when it decided to stop preventing departures to Greece, leading to a spike in arrivals, a diplomatic crisis between the EU and Turkey, the provision of more assistance from other EU member states to Greece for border security, and a worsening situation for people arriving in Greece. Read More