Launched in 1999 and updated regularly, Statewatch News includes our own reporting and writing as well as articles, announcements, documents and analyses from elsewhere on civil liberties, EU policies and state practices. You can receive updates in your inbox by signing up to our mailing list, or use our RSS feed to get instant alerts.
"On 10 December, the Hungarian opposition MPs got a lovely present from the governing majority for Christmas wrapped in a big legislative package amending both the Act on Parliament and the Rules of Procedure."
"When researcher John Grayson visited a family with disabilities living in a Mears asylum house in Rotherham, he was stunned by what he saw."
The twice yearly meetings of respective Ministers concerning justice and home affair took place 11 December 2019. As usual the press release contain little of substance.
Including: Report on illegal pushbacks at the Greek-Turkish border - Ministers call for renewed migrant smuggling crackdown on "Eastern Mediterranean" route - Croatia Is Abusing Migrants While the EU Turns a Blind Eye
"Spain could give residency to undocumented hero Gorgui Lamine Sow from Senegal. Spanish authorities are considering giving residency to an undocumented migrant from Senegal after he rescued a man who uses a wheelchair from a burning, second-storey apartment."
"The publication is centred on the 20th anniversary of the Tampere conclusions of October 1999. It looks back at the Tampere legacy and puts forward proposals that can inform future EU migration and asylum pact. Its content was informed by the Tampere 2.0 conference hold on 24-25 October in Helsinki as a side event of Finland’s Presidency of the EU."
"Several buses came to the squalid camp to move the hundreds of refugees following an international outcry. Bosnia along with Serbia has been experiencing an unexpected increase in migrant arrivals in recent months."
"BIHAC, Bosnia and Herzegovina—Cocooned in a mud-spattered blanket, thousands of euros in debt, and with a body battered and bruised, Faisal Abas has reached the end of the line, geographically and spiritually."
A report from the ICJ that provides "concrete law, policy and practical recommendations" for establishing the rule of law in Libya and ending impunity.
"Police technology is being used to draft frontline officers into the Government’s hostile environment, undermining access to vital police services for countless people, Liberty research has found."
A "non-paper" from the German authorities proposed reforming the Common European Asylum System to introduce an automatic relocation scheme and the mandatory initial assessment of asylum applications at the external borders.
"The installation of smart video surveillance in Belgrade, with thousands of cameras and face recognition software, has raised public concern."
Mauritanian officials rescued the Gambian migrants from the shore
"An audit report of the "Club de Berne" finds serious deficiencies in the Austrian domestic intelligence service. Its IT systems were not approved for secret information. The authority should also ensure that it is not infiltrated by "extremist organisations“.
Property in Hortaleza had previously been singled out for criticism by far-right Vox party
"A 27-year-old refugee from Afghanistan died in a fire that started in the makeshift Kara Tepe migrant camp on Lesvos, state-run news agency ANA-MPA reported."
"1,700 migrants are said to have crossed the strait between France and Great Britain in small boats this year. Both governments therefore requested patrols with drones from the European Union next year. Until then, the border authorities will fly with their own aircraft."
"Lord chief justice expresses ‘regret that it has taken so long for injustice to be remedied’"
Asylum Seekers Lack Safe Access to Food, Water, Health Care
All the missions and operations launched under the EU's common and security and defence policy (CSDP) have been ordered by the European External Action Service (EEAS) to adopt policies on public access to documents by February 2020, but their enforcement will be voluntary and lie beyond the reach of the Court of Justice of the EU.
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