Archive
Europa financió una ‘máquina de la verdad’ y prepara una base de datos con información biométrica de 400 millones de personas para proteger sus fronteras, pero no todos están de acuerdo
Business Insider provides a write-up of a panel 'New Police Surveillance Technologies: Combatting the Science Fiction Collectively – A Civil Society Perspective' at the Computers, Privacy and Data Protection conference, in which Statewatch participated. Read More
EU’s proposed screening rules for migrants are based on “failed and violent” Greek law
The EU's proposed 'Screening Regulation', published as part of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, foresees "pre-entry screening that should be applicable to all third-country nationals who are present at the external border without fulfilling the entry conditions or after disembarkation, following a search and rescue operation." Many of the provisions correspond to those introduced in Greek law in recent years, say a group of NGOs. They argue that understanding these similarities is essential for "preventing the entrenchment of failed and violent border policies in the ‘new‘ EU Pact on Migration and Asylum." Read More
USA: Will the Biden administration close Guantanamo?
In an article for Newsweek, former Guantanamo detainee Mohamedou Ould Salahi argues that the administration of new US president Joe Biden must do what the Obama administration promised, but failed to do: close Guantanamo Bay. Forty people are still held at the facility and continue to have their human rights violated, as detailed in a new report by Amnesty International. Salahi was held in the military prison for 14 years and was eventually released in 2016. He was never charged with any crime. Read More
Living conditions in Greek hotspots under examination at the European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is examining living conditions in four of the five "hotspots" in Greece, in which migrants and refugees are 'housed' in appalling conditions. The ECHR recently asked the Greek government a number of questions in relation to the cases, and HIAS Greece and Equal Rights Beyond Borders - representing four of the individuals with cases before the court - say they "demonstrate the structural illegality and impossibility to implement the hotspot approach and border procedures in a way that does not violate human rights," with serious implications for the ongoing attempt to introduce new EU legislation on border procedures for assessing asylum applications. Read More
How the Five Eyes countries share immigration data
The 'Five Eyes' countries - Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA - are perhaps best known for their role in global spying and surveillance for the purposes of "national security". However, this is not the only way in which they cooperate. A report for Radio New Zealand looks at how and why they share immigration data. Read More
UNHCR warns asylum under attack at Europe’s borders, urges end to pushbacks and violence against refugees
In a press release, the UNHCR calls on European states to "investigate and halt" pushbacks and violence against refugees, about which it has received a "continuous stream" of reports. Read More
Denmark: Lowest number of asylum seekers ever
A report for the EU's European Website on Integration notes that Denmark appears to be rapidly approaching its goal of receiving no asylum-seekers whatsoever. In 2020 just over 1,500 people sought asylum in the country, the lowest number since the country's current statistical methods were introduced in 1998. The Immigration and Integration Minister cited coronavirus as one reason for this drop in numbers, but said "we can also thank our strict policy on foreigners for this." Read More
The role of technology in illegal pushbacks from Croatia to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia
Border Violence Monitoring Network has published its submission to a recent UN Special Rapporteur inquiry on race, borders and digital technologies. The submission highlights how "drones, thermal imaging cameras, and vehicle scanners have been weaponised against people-on-the-move, making them easier to detect and thus compounding their vulnerability and the dangers they face." Read More
EU: Frontex and pushbacks: Management Board “very concerned” over agency’s compliance with investigation
Frontex’s Management Board met on 20-21 January 2021 to discuss the preliminary report of its ‘Working Group on Fundamental Rights and Legal Operational Aspects of Operations in the Aegean Sea’. Its conclusions express concern over the agency’s compliance with the investigation. Read More
Italy let more than 200 people die in 2013 shipwreck, finds UN Human Rights Committee
In October 2013 more than 200 people died in a shipwreck off the coast of Lampedusa. Some of those who survived ended up coming ashore in Libya. They subsequently filed a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee, which has now ruled that Italy failed to uphold the right to life of those involved in the shipwreck. Read More