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Border management

European Parliament vote clears path for negotiations on new Europol anti-migrant smuggling powers /// EU Asylum Agency celebrates 10 years of support for creating buffer zones in the Balkans

European Parliament vote clears path for negotiations on new Europol anti-migrant smuggling powers

On 20 May the European Parliament adopted its position for negotiations with the Council of the EU on rules designed to give Europol greater powers with regard to migrant smuggling and human trafficking. The Parliament is more favourable to the plans than the Council, which is against large parts of the proposal. However, both the Parliament and the Council are in favour of European immigration liaison officers stationed in "third countries" increasing the amount of data shared with Europol.

EU Asylum Agency celebrates 10 years of support for creating buffer zones in the Balkans

In April, the EU Agency for Asylum (EUAA) celebrated a decade of EU support for “migration management” in the Western Balkans, launched in response to the large-scale arrival of refugees in 2015. The event in Brussels “celebrated the efforts towards the effective and rights-based management of migrants and persons in need of international protection in the Western Balkans.”

Some of this work was on the agenda of the External Aspects of Asylum and Migration Working Party on 14 May, where officials received updates on Western Balkans states’ “progress in the field of asylum and migration management.”

As documented by Border Violence Monitoring Network and other organisations, violations of the rights of people crossing borders in the region have been constant since 2015, alongside harassment and arrests of individuals and organisations providing solidarity and support.