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EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENTS
Greece: Asylum Seekers in Risk of Destitution as Cash Allowance Ends, Alarming Number of Unaccompanied Children on the Street, Poor Psychological Support on Lesvos Persists Amid Closure of Dignified Camp, German Court Suspends Returns to Greece, Trial of Criminalised Asylum Seeker
As the Migration Ministry announces the end of cash allowance for asylum seekers living independently, experts fear that the living situation of thousands is going to deteriorate. 53 unaccompanied children are living on the streets of Thessaloniki, NGO finds. The lack of medical and particular psychological care for asylum seekers on Lesvos and elsewhere persists amid ongoing closure of the Kara Tepe municipal camp that offers humane living conditions. Second judgement by a German Higher Administrative Court prevents returns of beneficiaries of international protection in Greece due to risk of destitution. Trail for criminalised asylum seeker who faces decades in prison scheduled for 21 April.
The Greek Migration Ministry announced that the financial allowance for asylum seekers staying outside of structures under its competence will cease by 1 July. According to UNHCR data referred to by media, the ‘urban population’ – i.e asylum seekers living outside of the housing scheme – stood at about 25,000 in March 2021, while the number of asylum seekers who received financial assistance was 64,500. The ministry called on asylum seekers of the ‘urban population’ to submit a housing request if they lack the financial means to cover their basic needs. However, camps on the mainland and the ESTIA housing scheme lack sufficient capacity to absorb these people and waiting periods for state housing can last months. Experts on the ground fear that following this decision many asylum seekers will end up homeless and unable to survive without any support.
According to the local NGO ARSIS that runs a street-work project, more and more unaccompanied children are living on the street in Thessaloniki. In the first three months of 2021, the NGO counted 53 children and youth in the city, including many that were only between 11 and 14 years old. 36 belong to particularly vulnerable categories after being subjected to violence, forced separation from family members, exploitation and suffering from physical and psychological issues.
On Lesvos, the situation in the so-called Moria 2.0 camp near Kara Tepe remains dire. A General Practitioner who was on Lesvos in February and March to treat camp residents describes the conditions in the camp as a “disgrace for Europe”. Camp residents would start queuing in front of the container used as the doctor’s office at five o’clock in the morning – despite its opening hours from eight to two. The demand for medical consultation exceeds capacity and some people are refused. Yet, according to the GP, the greatest deficiency remains the lack of psychological care: “Help only follows when the suicide attempt has already taken place. Self-harm and expressing suicidal thoughts are part of the daily routine.” Previous incidents, such as the suicide attempt of a pregnant woman who set herself on fire or alarming scores of suicidal thoughts and attempts among children illustrate the precariousness of the situation. On 19 April, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) hosted an exchange of views on mental health care and care for vulnerable asylum applicants in Greek reception facilities that was attended by Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the European Commission.
Contrary to the substandard conditions in Moria 2.0, humane accommodation alternatives exist on Lesvos but are being closed by the Greek authorities. In their latest issue of the Lesvos Bulletin, ECRE member the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) and Oxfam criticize the closure of the Kara Tepe municipal camp, which has “for years offered dignified alternatives for vulnerable asylum seekers”. The closure is currently underway and the camp’s residents are being transferred to Moria 2.0. The NGOs call on the authorities to keep the site open and to evacuate Moria 2.0.
On 19 April, the Higher Administrative Court of Lower Saxony ruled in a case of two Syrian sisters that beneficiaries of international protection in Greece should not be returned to the country due to the destitution they are likely to face. According to the court, there is a serious risk that they would not be able to meet their most basic needs such as “bed, bread, soap” upon return to Greece. This follows previous court decisions that address destitution in Greece, including a judgement in January by the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia. ECRE member PRO ASYL welcomes the judgement and calls for a general ban on deportations and protection for affected refugees.
As borderline-europe reports, the trial of K.S., a young man who fled Syria and is accused in Greece of "facilitating illegal entry" (smuggling), "illegal entry" and "provoking a shipwreck" (endangering human life) was scheduled for 21 April. The accused fled with his family from Syria via Turkey and they arrived in Chios by boat in early March 2020 at a time when Greece had suspended the right to asylum. He was arrested and held in pre-trial detention on the mainland for over a year without being able to see his family. Commenting on the intensified criminalisation of people in need of protection in Greece that includes arresting asylum seekers upon arrival and detaining them for months, borderline-europe highlights: “When their case finally comes to court, their trials average only 38 minutes in length, and they are sentenced to heavy prison terms, in some cases over 100 years in prison with very high fines. For the combination of charges K.S. faces, the average sentence is 93 years.”
For further information:
Search and Rescue: Italy and Libya Reaffirm Bilateral Relations as Transcripts of Controversial Italian/Libyan Communication Emerge, Crack-down on Civil Rescue Fleet and Deaths at Sea Continue
Migration was at the top of the agenda as ministers from Italy and Libya reaffirmed the importance of their bilateral relations. Leaked transcripts of communication between the countries’ officials reveal Italian knowledge of Libyan authority’s incompetence and its indifference to the lives of people trying to reach Europe by sea. Despite UNHCR head urging Italy to stop penalizing civil search and rescue operators the crackdown continues as do deaths on the Mediterranean and returns to Libya.
On 19 April Italian interior minister, Luciana Lamorgese, met with the head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohammed Menfi and both parties have reaffirmed the importance of their bilateral relations including the cooperation on fighting irregular migration. The meeting follows new incidents revealing severe abuse, rights violations, killings and the environment of impunity in Libya. Following the recent release of Abdelrahman Al-Bidja, one of the world’s most wanted human traffickers and former head of the so-called Libyan coast guard in Zawiya, several people spoke out about the torture they suffered at his hands.
Transcripts of conversations between Italian officials and the Libyan coast guard suggest Italian knowledge of the unwillingness or incapability of the Libyan authorities to efficiently protect lives at sea. The transcripts obtained through wire-tapping by Italian prosecutors investigating civil rescue operators but leaked to media, according to the Guardian: “lays bare the indifference of individuals on the Libyan side to the plight of migrants and to international law”. The UK based outlet, that is conducting a joint investigation with the Italian public broadcaster Rai News and the Domani newspaper, states in connection to hundreds of deaths on the Mediterranean that: “Italian authorities knew that Libyan authorities were either unwilling or incapable of looking after migrant boats at sea, even as Italy launched investigations into the role of nongovernmental organisation boats at sea that prevented NGOs from carrying out private rescue operations”.
On 16 April following meetings with Italian Premier Mario Draghi and Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi urged Italy not to unnecessarily impede NGOs that operate migrant rescue ships in the central Mediterranean. Noting that civil rescue operators “fill an important void” in the absence of collective EU efforts Grandi stated: “I completely disagree with any attempt to penalize the NGOs for what they are doing. It is a precious and vital job”, and further underlining the lack of evidence that the presence of the boats encourages more departures. However, on 18 April Open Arms reported the latest incident of the ongoing crack-down on civil search and rescue operators as a team of specialists from the Italian authorities did a 17 hour inspection of the organisation’s rescue vessel that has been blocked in quarantine for two weeks. Another civil search and rescue operator, Sea-Eye reports that its vessel the “Sea-Eye 4” is heading to the Mediterranean to begin rescue missions “as soon as possible” after six months of repairs by 250 volunteers at a shipyard in Germany. Gordon Isler, Sea-Eye chairman stated: "Letting people drown in the Mediterranean in order to reduce the number of asylum applications in Europe and to deter others from fleeing is inhuman. This irresponsible policy lacks support from civil society. United4Rescue with its 744 alliance partners, the Protestant and Catholic Church and thousands of donors have made this clear again today". A Sicilian judge has ordered the former Italian interior minister, Matteo Salvini to stand trial over his decision to prevent the disembarkation of 147 people on board the Open Arms NGO vessel in 2019. Prosecutors in Palermo have accused Salvini of dereliction of duty and kidnapping, over leaving the group stranded at sea for 19 days off the coast of Lampedusa as their health deteriorated and people threw themselves overboard in desperation. Salvini remains defiant and citing the Italian constitution he stated that defending the country is the “sacred duty" of every Italian.
Meanwhile, people continue to die, go missing and be returned to Libya on the Mediterranean. Another massive preventable tragedy taking up to 130 lives happened on 22 April when a rubber boat trying to reach Europe capsized in stormy seas off the coast of Libya. According to Alarm Phone: “Despite Frontex spotting the distressed boat from the sky, only non-state actors actively searched for the boat in distress at sea. European authorities rejected responsibility to coordinate this search operation and instead pointed at the Libyan authorities as the ‘competent’ authorities. The so-called Libyan Coastguard, however, refused to launch or coordinate a rescue operation, leaving the ~130 people out in a rough sea for a whole night”. The SOS Méditerranée’s ship, Ocean Viking, as well as merchant vessels, headed to the area and found no survivors. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) released a statement expressing deep sadness over a shipwreck on 15 April off Tunisia, costing the lives of at least 41 people, including one or more children. On 21 April the NGO hotline Alarm Phone alerted European and Libyan authorities of three boats in distress off Libya of which two are carrying more than 100 people each. Reportedly, the so-called Libyan coast guard refused to intervene due to bad weather conditions and a Frontex aircraft had been in the area. However, according to Alarm Phone they lost contact to one of the boats and its whereabouts is currently unknown, while another was returned to Libya carrying a dead woman and child.
The Armed Forces of Malta often criticised for ignoring alerts and lack of efficiency in relation to search and rescue involving people on the move to Europe, has sent out a message informing vessels of a ‘US citizen’ in distress pointing out that it was not a migrant boat. Giorgia Linardi from the civil search and rescue operator Sea Watch stressed that Maltese and Italian authorities often specify in their internal communication whether distress incidents involve migrants as though a different operation would apply, stating: “Therefore, there are Serie A rights and obligations for a US (or European) citizen and Serie B for migrant people”.
For further information:
- ECRE, Med: Massive Loss of Life while Impunity for the Left-to-Die Boat Incident Continues Ten Years on Amid Ongoing Horrors in Libya, April 2021
- ECRE, Atlantic Route: Spanish Deportation Efforts Facing Headwind – Death at Sea, Controversy Over Island Camps, Death and Attempt to Cross Border Fence in the Enclaves, April 2021
- ECRE, Search and Rescue: IRINI Mandate Extended, First Meeting of European Search and Rescue Contact Group, Spain Expanding Migration Cooperation in Africa as Distress, Death, and Returns at Sea Continue, April 2021
New Partnership Agreement between the EU and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) published
The new Partnership Agreement between the European Union (EU) and members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) replacing the Cotonou Agreement has been agreed and published. The agreement defines the political and economic cooperation framework between the two parties for the next twenty years.
The negotiations for the agreement have taken 2.5 years and were concluded with the chief negotiators, International Partnerships Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen, and Togo's Foreign Minister Robert Dusse initialling the document.
The agreement includes a ‘common foundation”, which indicate the strategic priority areas that both sides intend to work on. These include: (i) Human Rights, Democracy, and Governance in People-Centred and Rights-Based Societies (ii) Peace and security, (iii) Human and social development, (iv) Environmental sustainability and climate change, (v) Inclusive sustainable economic growth and development, and (vi) Migration and mobility. In addition, three regional protocols for Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific are included which place emphasis on particular issues and have their own governance structure to oversee relations between the EU and the relevant region.
Migration and mobility features prominently in the agreement. A chapter on it is included in the common foundation as well as the regional protocol for Africa. Within the respective chapter in the common foundation, articles detail commitments related to legal migration and mobility; migration and development; irregular migration; return and readmission as well as protection and asylum.
The regional protocol for Africa adds to these commitments by specifying that both parties shall “engage in dialogue and cooperate on all aspects linked to legal and irregular migration, including by taking concrete measures”. Different articles are covering legal mobility and migration; intra African mobility; diaspora, remittances and sustainable development; irregular migration, smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons; Return, readmission and reintegration; Protection and asylum. The chapter on migration, mobility and development in the Caribbean specific protocol is less detailed and includes only one articles which touches among other things on circular migration, diaspora, remittances.
The overall approach to migration is skewed towards readmission. In addition to specific provisions in the common foundation and the regional protocols, an Annex on return and readmission processes includes further details on how cooperation on readmission should take place. It includes detailed provisions on readmission of persons without a valid travel document, means of transport for return, return of unaccompanied children and clarifies that bilateral agreements between Member States of the EU and of the OACPS can be concluded. It further specifies that those bilateral agreements should include shorter time frames for response for the state to which a readmission request is made and that those agreements could also include the readmission of third country nationals. In addition, the Africa specific protocol includes the possibility of a Party to the agreement taking “proportionate measures” if another Party does not respect the time limit to respond to a readmission request.
The agreement will succeed the Cotonou Agreement once both sides complete their internal procedures for signature and conclusion. On the EU side, the approval by the Council of the European Union is required which will be provided after the European Parliament’s consent to the agreement is given.
For further information:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
Denmark: Experts Contributing to COI Reports Condemn Decision to Deem Damascus Safe for Return as UNHCR Reconfirms its Position on Returns to Syria
11 out of 12 experts who contributed to Country of Origin (COI) reports for the asylum appeals board (Flygtningenaevnet) and the Danish Immigration Service have strongly condemned the Danish asylum authorities decision to remove temporary protection for Syrian refugees from Damascus. In its recent update on the protection considerations in Syria, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reiterates its call on states not to forcibly return “Syrian nationals and former habitual residents of Syria”.
Danish Minister for Immigration, Mattias Tesfaye demanded in June 2020 an acceleration of reassessments of the cases of hundreds of Syrian nationals from the Damascus area based on an alleged change in the security situation as a result of the regime being in full control of the area. In March the Danish Refugee Appeals Board (Flygtningenaevnet) in several cases declared the situation in the Rif Damascus governorate (greater Damascus) safe enough for return, widening the geographical area considered safe by Danish authorities. As a result, Danish authorities began to revoke the protection status for Syrian nationals holding either the controversial temporary subsidiary protecting status (section 7.3 Danish Aliens Act) or subsidiary protection status (section 7.2 Danish Aliens Act), including for family members of deserters from the Syrian army who hold refugee status in Denmark.
Denmark’s approach differs from the position of other European authorities and has provoked intense critique at national and international level. On 20 April eight analysts, researchers, and other experts on the Syrian context who had contributed to two COI reports used as background material for the Danish asylum authorities evaluation of the security situation in Syria, released a letter strongly condemning the Danish government’s decision to remove “temporary protection” for Syrian refugees from Damascus and stating: “Damascus may not have seen active conflict hostilities since May 2018 – but that does not mean that it has become safe for refugees to return to the Syrian capital. Many of the key drivers of displacement from Syria remain, as the majority of refugees fled, and continue to fear, the government’s security apparatus, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, military conscription, and harassment and discrimination”. Further, the signatories revealed to Danish media that they considered the report week and misleading as it lacked context and in some cases misrepresented their quotes. Another three experts joined the critique on 21 April, leaving a general serving under the Syrian regime as the only source to not condemn Denmark’s decision to declare Damascus safe for return.
UNHCR’s recently published ‘International Protection Considerations with Regard to People Fleeing the Syrian Arab Republic –Update VI’ includes a Moratorium on Forced Returns stating: “In light of continued conflict, insecurity, and contamination with explosive remnants of war (ERW); severe concerns about the rule of law and widespread human rights violations and abuses, including against returnees; fragmented community relations and a lack of genuine reconciliation efforts; massive destruction and damage to homes, critical infrastructure and agricultural lands; and deepening economic and humanitarian crises, which are compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, UNHCR continues to call on states not to forcibly return Syrian nationals and former habitual residents of Syria, including Palestinians previously residing in Syria, to any part of Syria, regardless of whether the area is under control of the Government or under control of another state or non-state entity”.
According to authority statistics, Denmark received 46 asylum applications from Syrians in the first two months of 2021, and 344 throughout 2020. The total number of asylum applications in 2020 from all nationalities stood at 1,515. This should be seen in the context of 6.7 million internally displaced persons in Syria and 6.6 million Syrian refugees worldwide, of whom 5.6 million are hosted in countries near Syria.
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UK: Home Office Facing New Legal Action - Doctors Warn of Suicide Risks Among Vulnerable Asylum Seekers
The Home Office is facing legal action over its provision of “manifestly inadequate” accommodation to asylum-seeking women including women pregnant or with new-born babies. The Royal College of Psychiatrists calls on the government to stop placing vulnerable asylum seekers in removal detention centres due to the risk of the deterioration of their mental health and increased risk of suicide.
According to the Independent, 8,000 asylum seekers are housed in emergency hotel accommodation given delays in the asylum system due to the COVID pandemic including 1,000 pregnant women, single mothers or families with small children. Lawyers have taken legal action against the Home Office over “manifestly inadequate” accommodation for pregnant women and women with new-born babies in “damp, dirty” hotel rooms “infested with cockroaches” and shared facilities for months at a time.
According to a report by the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) the assessment of the mentally unwell detainees under the Adults at Risk policy by the Home Office is not sufficient: “People with significant mental illness may have particular difficulty in being effective self-advocates. Their very vulnerability may prevent them from providing adequate evidence for that vulnerability”. Accordingly, RCP warns that the “perilous” conditions of removal detention centres are leaving a vulnerable group of people including torture and trafficking survivors exposed to a “much-increased risk” of worsening mental health and suicide. A report by the Prison Inspectorate carried out in February in the notorious Napier barracks warns of “major weaknesses” in the treatment of people with serious mental health at the facility. The yet unpublished report was released to journalists after it was cited as evidence during a recent high-court hearing and describes seven incidents of self-harm and seven suicide attempts at Napier barracks.
On 19 April 113 migrants on seven small boats crossed the channel with French authorities stopping another 72 people, media reports. On 20 April, according to the Home Office six small boats with 132 people crossed the English Channel. French authorities prevented another 57 people on six boats from making the crossing. 1,732 people have made the crossing in 2021, 371 in April. 2,000 people have been prevented from making the crossing this year and there have been more than 60 prosecutions relating to small boats since the start of 2020.
The Guardian reports that charities and human rights campaigners are alarmed over a decision by the Home Office to charter its first ever deportation flight to Vietnam. While the individual circumstances of the group detained in Harmondsworth immigration removal centre near Heathrow are unclear, human rights groups warns that many Vietnamese migrants are subjected to human trafficking and exploitation in the UK. Outreach officer at Jesuit Refugee Service UK William Neal, stated: “We have often seen how charter flights are used to enforce blanket removal without sufficient legal scrutiny, and without proper consideration of the human impact of removal.” According to an email by a government lawyer obtained by Guardian: “of the 14 enforced removals, six did not spend five working days in an immigration removal centre (IRC) prior to the flight where they have access to legal advice surgeries and instead were held in prisons or a short-term holding facility for part of that period, where it is more difficult to access legal advice”. The flight took off from Birmingham on 22 April with 27 and removed 27 people.
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REPORTS & NGO ACTIONS
AIDA 2020 Update: Sweden
The updated AIDA Country Report on Sweden provides a detailed overview of the Swedish asylum system in 2020. It shows that COVID-19 resulted in a decrease of applicants for international protection in the asylum and reception system and reveals worrying developments for the rights of beneficiaries of international protection under Sweden’s future migration policy.
A total of 12,991 persons applied for international protection in 2020, thus marking a 41% decrease in applications compared to 21,984 in 2019. The possibility to apply for asylum and registration activities were maintained throughout the year, but the pandemic further had an impact on the asylum procedure such as postponing asylum interviews or conducting them via videoconferencing. The average length of the asylum procedure (i.e. for all different tracks) thus increased from 288 days in 2019 to a total of 302 days in 2020.
The Migration Agency decided on 50,012 applications for international protection in 2020 and the backlog of pending cases has been reduced by half from 14,890 in 2019 to 7,155 in 2020. Recognition rates dropped significantly compared to previous years. The overall recognition rate stood at 29% in 2020 compared to 39.7% in 2019. The recognition rate of Syrians decreased from 97% in 2019 to 76% in 2020 as a result of a change in the Migration Agency’s assessment of the situation in the country. Other nationalities affected by an important decrease of recognition rates include Eritreans, Somalians and Iranians. As regards children, the Convention on the Rights of the Child was finally implemented into Swedish law on 1 January 2020. An important ruling was also issued by the Migration Court of Appeal which concluded in December 2020 that an expulsion of a 14-year old child who was born and raised in Sweden is unproportionate in light of her connection and ties to the country.
Access to reception was not restricted during COVID-19 and there were no reported issues of homelessness or destitution during the asylum procedure. The total number of asylum seekers registered in the reception system decreased significantly from 40,312 in 2019 to 31,634 at the end of 2020. Similarly, the number of aliens being detained (i.e. which therefore does not refer strictly to asylum seekers) decreased by half from 4,144 in 2019 to 2,528 in 2020. This is due to health measures aiming at reducing the detention population and the impossibility to carry out expulsions due to travel restrictions. Nevertheless, civil society organisations and detainees highlighted several issues such as overcrowding, the impossibility to follow distancing rules between detainees, and shortcomings in cleaning and hygiene routines. The Migration Court of Appeal also issued several rulings reducing the scope of detention of asylum seekers, in line with the Reception Conditions Directive.
A Cross-party Committee of Inquiry presented its proposals for Sweden’s future migration policy. As opposed to the previous leniency of granting permanent residence permits to nearly all beneficiaries of international protection up until 2016, the new proposals are largely inspired by the Temporary law that has been in place since then. This includes rendering residence permits temporary (i.e. 3 years for refugees and 13 months for subsidiary protection status holders – extendable by two-year periods) as well as limiting the right to family reunification to core family members and introducing requirements on income and housing. However, the right to family reunification remains accessible both to refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection.
AIDA 2020 Update: Ireland
The updated AIDA Country Report on Ireland provides a detailed overview on legislative and practice-related developments in asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in 2020.
COVID-19 had a significant impact on the Irish asylum system. The number of applicants for international protection decreased by 67.3% from 1,566 applications in 2020 to 4,781 in 2019. Restrictions on the operation of the International Protection Office (IPO) have resulted in significant delays to the overall procedure. As of December 2020, individuals whose circumstances fell outside the prioritisation criteria were waiting approximately 18 months for the processing of their application, while those who successfully requested prioritisation were waiting approximately 14 months. Interviews with the IPO and hearings at the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) had to be postponed at several occasions throughout the year and remote interview techniques were use at both instances in response to COVID-19.
Ireland has transposed the recast Reception Conditions Directive into Irish law through the enactment of the European Communities (Reception Conditions) Regulations 2018, but the extent to which the provisions of the Regulations have been implemented in practice continues to vary. The National Standards on Direct Provision which are designed to constitute a set of standardised rules for every Direct Provision accommodation centre in Ireland became legally binding on 1 January 2021. Moreover, the report of the Advisory Group on the Provision of Support including Accommodation to Persons in the International Protection Process was published in October 2020. Some of its recommendations were included to the Government’s long-awaited White Paper to End Direct Provision and to Establish a New International Protection Support Service published in February 2021. The latter establishes a variety of measures aimed at ending the system of Direct Provision and replacing it with a revised, not-for-profit model.
In practice, capacity in Direct Provision continued to be a significant issue, with approximately 1,382 asylum seekers housed in emergency accommodation as of September 2020. The housing crisis in Ireland continued to exacerbate the situation, meaning that a significant number of status holders were unable to move out of Direct Provision accommodation owing to a lack of available and affordable housing. Additionally, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the opening of a number of new emergency centres at very short notice so as to enable residents to socially distance and reduce overcrowding. As regards vulnerable groups, no standardised assessment was carried out in respect of applicants throughout 2020, despite this being a clear requirement in law. However, a pilot project was finally introduced at the beginning of 2021. While it is a welcome development, migrants’ rights organisations have expressed concern that the pilot project falls short of national standards and fails to include situations whereby individuals could be at risk of suicide, addiction or domestic violence.
As regards detention, a particular issue of concern emerged following the onset of the pandemic with regard to the spread of Covid-19 in prisons used to hold migrants and asylum seekers. In late November 2020, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture also released its 7th periodic visit report on Ireland. In the report, the Committee reiterated its long-standing call for Irish authorities to suspend the use of prisons for immigration detention, noting that “a prison is by definition not a suitable place in which to detain someone who is neither suspected nor convicted of a criminal offence.”
The 12-month time limit for family reunification in Ireland was the subject of a challenge of constitutionality before the Supreme Court. In a judgment delivered on 8 December 2020, Justice Dunne determined that the 12-month time limit established pursuant to s.56(8) of the 2015 Act was not unconstitutional nor was it incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Justice Dunne also overturned a finding of unconstitutionality concerning a law preventing the recognition, for family reunification purposes, of marriages of refugees which took place after they sought protection in the State.
 
BVMN: Report on Illegal Pushbacks and Border Violence in the Balkan Region
In the latest issue of its Illegal Pushbacks and Border Violence Report, the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) analyses border enforcement practices along the Balkan Route, including the systematic use of pushbacks and violence within state borders.
In March, the reporting period, the BVMN and its members recorded 31 individual pushback cases that affected 671 people. This included pushbacks from Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Greece.
With the change of seasons, a demographic shift among people arriving in Bosnia and Herzegovina was observed. More and more families, often with babies or very young children, as well as unaccompanied children attempted to cross the border with Croatia. Many were pushed back and suffered physical and psychological violence at the hand of Croatian officials. While young children are rarely subject to physical violence themselves, they often witness brutal and humiliating acts carried out against their family members. In one case on 31 March, two children aged three and ten years old witnessed a Croatian police officer threatening to kill their father and holding a knife to his throat. Subsequently they were pushed back to BiH. Unaccompanied youth are often subject to physical violence themselves. On 5 March, Croatian police intercepted five teenagers, beat them with batons, and then forced them into the Korana river at the border with BiH.
The majority of pushback cases recorded by BVMN concern people crossing borders by foot. However, many other means of traveling are used. They are often risky and also expose people on the move to violence and pushbacks. In March, the network recorded several cases where people hiding in trucks were subjected to violence perpetrated by haulage staff and police officers and to pushbacks. On 22 March, four people were killed and more injured when the truck they were hiding in overturned on a Croatian highway.
Within the last two months, BVMN testimonies have given further insights into the way the Hungarian border fence along the border with Serbia functions as a tool of violence, surveillance and deterrence. People trying to cross this physical and symbolic feature of EU border securitisation often sustain injuries. In early March, a respondent broke his leg during an attempt to scale the fence and was later handed over to Serbian police. According to the BVMN, such injuries as well as cuts from the razor wire, are common experiences for those who lack legal options to enter Hungary. The fence is equipped with a number of surveillance features including a web of cameras, thermal sensors, and according to recent testimonies an alarm system that is set off when someone approaches the fence. Thus, the fence not only inhibits transit, but also facilitates the apprehension and expulsion of those who risk to scale it.
The report also highlights that unlike Hungary’s focus on the physical border barrier, Croatia foremost relies on mobile detection equipment including helicopters, portable thermal imaging sensors, and drones, that can be deployed across different borders and throughout the territory. In the reporting period, BVMN recorded new testimonies on the use of these technologies that have a stark impact on the speed and frequency with which Croatian authorities intercept people on the move.
Beyond focusing on these trends of how border violence played out in the reporting period, the report also provides updates on the situation in Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Hungary and Italy.
For further information:
RECENT REPORTS
- Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), Oxfam, April Lesbos Bulletin, April 2021
- Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Annual Activity report 2020, April 2021
- UNHCR, International Protection Considerations with Regard to People Fleeing the Syrian Arab Republic – Update VI, March 2021
- Border Violence Monitoring Network, Balkan Region Report - March 2021, April 2021
- Pro Asyl; Refugee Support Aegean (RSA), Stellungnahme: Zur aktuellen Situation von international Schutzberechtigten in Griechenland opinion, April 2021
- Refugee Support Aegean (RSA), Excluded and Segregated: The vanishing education of refugee children in Greece, April 2021
- Equal Rights Beyond Borders, Expert Opinion on the Possibilities of Obtaining Documents for Eritrean Refugees in the Context of Family Reunification, April 2021
- Council of Europe, 10th General Report on GRETA’s Activities, April 2021
- EASO, Syria Military service - Country of Origin Information Report, April 2021
- Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), Increased homelessness and destitution among (rejected) asylum seekers, April 2021
- Human Rights Observers (HRO), OBSERVATIONS DES VIOLENCES D’ÉTAT À LA FRONTIÈRE FRANCO-BRITANNIQUE, April 2021
- EuroMed Rights, Return Mania. Mapping policies and practices in the EuroMed Region: Chapter 1 The EU framework of return policies in the EuroMediterranean Region, see French version here, April 2021
- EuroMed Rights, Return Mania. Mapping policies and practices in the EuroMed: Region Chapter 2 Returns from Spain to Morocco, see Spanish version here, April 2021
- EuroMed Rights, Return Mania. Mapping policies and practices in the EuroMed Region: Chapter 3 Forced Returns from France to Morocco, see French version here, April 2021
- EuroMed Rights, Return Mania. Mapping policies and practices in the EuroMed Region: Chapter 4 The Policy of Forced Returns Between Italy and Tunisia, see French version here, April 2021
- EuroMed Rights, Return Mania. Mapping policies and practices in the EuroMed Region: Chapter 5 Egypt: a repressive environment, fertile ground for the EU’s return obsession, April 2021
- EuroMed Rights, Return Mania. Mapping policies and practices in the EuroMed Region: Chapter 6 Pushbacks and expulsions from Cyprus and Lebanon: The risks of (chain) refoulement to Syria, see French version here, March 2021
- EuroMed Rights, Return Mania. Mapping policies and practices in the EuroMed Region: Chapter 7 Turkey’s return policies to Syria & their impacts on migrants and refugees’ human rights, March 2021
FEATURED CAMPAIGNS
- Human Rights Compliance - #HardlyRocketScience is ECRE’s campaign to ensure that the European Pact on Asylum and Migration will respect fundamental human rights.
- Joint Statement by the CAMPAIGN FOR THE ACCESS TO ASYLUM that addresses the systematic reports on pushbacks and the shrinking space of solidarity towards refugees and migrants in Greece. The Statement is available in Greek and English and it remains open for signatures. Organisations interested in supporting it can contact kampaniagiatoasylo@gmail.com.
EVENTS
- 27 April 2021, Online public lecture: Extraterritorial application of the principle of non-refoulement, UNHCR, University of Lucerne (registration by mail to: zoetewei@unhcr.org)
- 27-28 April 2021, Workshop: Research for Change: Gender, Forced Migration and Vulnerabilities, RAISD
- 6 May, Webinar: Countering misinformation: ‘A multi-stakeholder partnership approach to COVID 19 information provision for refugee and migrant populations’ , International Rescue Committee (IRC)
- 24-26 May, Online Conference: Landscapes of Border Control and Immigration Detention in Europe, Border Criminologies, University of Oxford Law Faculty
- 28 June - 3 July 2021, Ph.D Summer School: "Mediterranean Migration Studies: Theoretical and Empirical Research Agenda", IMISCOE
- 28 June - 9 July 2021, Summer School: ‘Migration and the Pandemic: Taking Stock and Thinking Ahead’, Migration Policy Centre (MPC)
- 28 June - 9 July, 2021 Odysseus Summer School, Odysseus Network (Applications open until 31 May)
- 9 - 21 July 2021, Summer School: Labour Migration in the European Union, EULab (Application deadline extended to 25 April 2021)
VACANCIES
CALLS FOR PAPERS & OPEN CALLS
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