• France: New Immigration Law Adopted Despite Constitutional Council Rejecting Almost Half of Its Articles ― Authorities in Marseille Accused of Ignoring Obligations Towards Unaccompanied Migrant Children ― Paris Police Evict Migrant Teenagers From Temporary Housing Despite Freezing Conditions ― Franco-British Migration Pact Blamed For Doubling Of Channel Deaths

• UK: The Country ‘Shakes Hands’ with France while Channel Drownings Double — Criticism of the ‘Rwanda’ Bill Continues — Uncertainty and Despair Among Asylum Seekers:

EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENTS

Atlantic Route and Spain Atlantic Route and Spain: Ongoing Fatal Crossings ― Spain and Frontex Renew Agreement After Temporary Suspension ― Hundreds of Asylum Seekers Stuck in “Inhumane” Conditions for Weeks in Madrid Airport ― Morocco Intensifies Efforts to Prevent Arrivals on Spanish Soil

  
 

Back to top

 

EU External Partners: Violence Against Migrants in Tunisia and Libya Continues ― EU to Determine Upcoming Funding Decision for UNRWA Amid “Strong Concern” Over the Dramatic Humanitarian Situation ― Europe Looking for New Partners to Externalise Asylum

• The so-called Libyan Coast Guard has intercepted 338 people so far in 2024.
• Migrants in Tunisia continue to call for better treatment and protection amid ongoing violence by the EU-funded Tunisian authorities.
• European Commission Vice-President Josep Borrel reconfirmed to UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres that the EU would continue its essential aid to Palestinians in Gaza “unabated” while following on during the investigation against 12 individuals accused of participating in the 7 October attacks in Israel.
• After striking a deal with Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, the externalisation of asylum in Europe is becoming popular despite legal concerns.

Violence against people on the move by the so-called Libyan Coast Guard has been continuous amidst ongoing European EU funding. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), six migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya between 21 and 27 January, bringing the total number of intercepted migrants so far this year to 338, including nine children. On 27 January, the crew of a Sea-Watch ship witnessed and documented another case of forced return. According to the crew, six people were taken from the water by the MARIDIVE supply vessel, leaving other survivors in distress. Meanwhile, the grassroots organisation Refugees from Libya shared footage on X of the Libyan Coast Guard intercepting a group of 53 people off the coast of Zuwara on 29 November 2023. “Survivors say that prior to their interception, live bullets were fired at the rubber dinghy causing havoc on the boat. While on board the Libyan coast guard vessel, they encountered another boat (wooden) which the coast guard violently crashed over and over again, causing 4 people to jump off. The driver of the wooden boat eventually stopped and all the passengers onboard were pulled back to Tripoli and imprisoned in Ainzara”, the organisation wrote, adding that most of the migrants had to pay a “minimum 500$ to the prison officers in order to be released”. According to InfoMigrants, over 300 migrants were repatriated under “voluntary return” the scheme that has been jointly coordinated by the IOM and Libyan authorities since 2015.

Sub-saharan migrants protested outside the office of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Zarzis on the weekend of 27-28 January. The migrants held banners asking for UN protection, protesting the long waiting periods. Another banner read ‘No handing the refugees to Libyan military’. One of the protestors,  a 16-year-old Gambian migrant called Ousman, reported the violent raids and inhumane treatment that the migrants had been enduring at the hands of Tunisian guards. “The day before yesterday there was a police raid. They attacked us, they arrested some of us, and they stole some of our belongings. Whether they stole them or not, we still don’t know where they are. They didn’t speak, they didn’t ask any questions, they just came and started catching people and if you didn’t escape, they took your belongings”, he said. Ousman also emphasised that he did not want to be sent to Libya, saying “When the police attack and arrest you they will hand you over to the Libyans, and those ones, they are very brutal”.

Following numerous governments’ alarming decisions to suspend financial support to the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) leading to a deterioration in the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, the European Commission (EC) stated in a press release that “Humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank will continue unabated through partner organisations”. While “no additional funding to UNRWA is foreseen until the end of February”, the EC will determine upcoming funding decisions for UNRWA in light of the ongoing investigation against 12 individuals who were allegedly involved in the 7 October attacks in Israel. In a phone call with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, EC Vice-President Josep Borrell expressed “strong concern over the dramatic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and reconfirmed that “the EU will continue its essential aid to Palestinians in Gaza unabated, as one of the largest donors of aid, and through partner organisations capable of delivering assistance effectively”. Mr Borrell also echoed the UN Secretary-General’s words: “What happens in Gaza is a scar on our shared conscience”. In a statement, Mr Guterres urged European countries to reverse their decisions to suspend UNRWA funding. “2 million civilians in Gaza depend on critical aid from UNRWA for daily survival but UNRWA’s current funding will not allow it to meet all requirements to support them in February. While I understand their concerns – I was myself horrified by these accusations – I strongly appeal to the governments that have suspended their contributions to, at least, guarantee the continuity of UNRWA’s operations”, he stated. He added: “The abhorrent alleged acts of these staff members must have consequences. But the tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalized”. Additionally, UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese, wrote on X: “The day after International Criminal Court (ICJ) concluded that Israel is plausibly committing Genocide in Gaza, some states decided to defund UN Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), collectively punishing millions of Palestinians at the most critical time, and most likely violating their obligations under the Genocide Convention”. Moreover, in a statement released on 1 February, UNRWA reported: “Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee to the south due to bombardment and fighting in Khan Younis over the last week, adding to more than 1.4 million people already crammed in the southern governorate of Rafah. Most are living in makeshift structures, tents, or out in the open, and now also fear they might no longer receive any food or other humanitarian assistance from UNRWA”. “As the war in Gaza is being pursued unabated, and at the time the International Court of Justice calls for more humanitarian assistance, it is the time to reinforce and not to weaken UNRWA”, said UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, adding “If the funding remains suspended, we will most likely be forced to shut down our operations by end of February not only in Gaza but also across the region”. 20 aid organisations published a joint statement to express their “concern” and “outrage” regarding the suspension of funding for UNRWA by its largest donors amid “a rapidly worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza”. “With approximately over one million displaced Palestinians taking shelter in or around 154 UNRWA shelters, the agency and aid organisations have continued to work in near impossible circumstances to provide food, vaccinations, and freshwater. The countries suspending funds risk further depriving Palestinians in the region of essential food, water, medical assistance and supplies, education and protection”, the NGOs said, urging donor states to “reaffirm support for the vital work that UNRWA and its partners do to help Palestinians survive one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes of our times”. The director of ECRE member organisation the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland, wrote on X: “All UN agencies, all NGOs, all groups striving to keep women and children alive in beleaguered and bombarded Gaza, agree it will be catastrophic for innocent civilians to cut aid money for and through our most important sister organisation, UNRWA”. He also told CNN: “All of us combined, other groups, are not even close to being what UNRWA is for the people of Gaza”.

Meanwhile, Europe is looking for new partners to externalise asylum processing in 2024 after a year of serious attempts to curb NGO search and rescue operations, and efforts to outsource its border management to other countries. Camille Le Coz, associate director for Europe at the Migration Policy Institute, told Al Jazeera that the increasingly popular idea of externalising asylum is “something we’re likely going to see more of moving forward despite shaky legal grounds”. According to the UNHCR, at least 264,371 asylum seekers entered Europe by boat and land in 2023. Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesperson for the IOM, said that these numbers were a far cry from those recorded in 2015 when more than a million people reached European shores via the sea. “There is no real emergency”, Di Giacomo told Al Jazeera, adding: “They are very manageable figures, and more should be done to give people who arrive by sea access to a system of protection”.

For further information:

• ECRE, EU External Partners: Mass Expulsions Continue Six Months into EU-Tunisia Deal — Morocco: Europe’s “Gatekeeper” — Libya Continues to Be “Hell” for Migrants — EU Deepens Co-operation with Egypt Despite Concerns over Rights Violations — “Displacement Misery” in Gaza and ICJ Allows Continuity of South Africa’s Genocide Case Against Israel, January 2024
• ECRE, External Partners: European Policies and Funds Blamed for Ongoing Violence Inflicted on Migrants by Tunisian Authorities, So-Called Libyan Coast Guard Continues Interception of Migrants, UN Agencies and EU Politicians Mark 100 Days of Mass destruction, Killing and Displacement in Gaza, EU to Give Egypt €87m to Support Egyptian Border and Navy Guards Despite Lack of Departures from Egyptian Coasts, January 2024

 

 

 
 

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

France: New Immigration Law Adopted Despite Constitutional Council Rejecting Almost Half of Its Articles ― Authorities in Marseille Accused of Ignoring Obligations Towards Unaccompanied Migrant Children ― Paris Police Evict Migrant Teenagers From Temporary Housing Despite Freezing Conditions ― Franco-British Migration Pact Blamed For Doubling Of Channel Deaths

• A slimmed down version of France’s controversial new immigration law has entered into force after the country’s Constitutional Council removed 35 of its 86 measures.
• Human Rights Watch has accused authorities in Marseille of failing in their responsibilities towards unaccompanied migrant children in the city
• 180 teenage migrants are being forced to sleep on the streets in Paris as authorities refuse to recognise them as minors.
• Alarm Phone has claimed that there is a direct link between recent Franco-British co-operation to stop small boat crossings in the Channel and a doubling in the number of drownings.

France’s new immigration law came into effect on 27 January when it was promulgated by President Emmanuel Macron during an official visit to India. The publication of the controversial legislation in France’s Official Journal came less than a week after at least 75,000 people participated in protests against it in cities across the country. The final version of the law was also significantly shorter than the one that was approved by MPs in December as almost half of the 86 articles were struck out by the Constitutional Council following a ruling on 25 January. Following more than a month of deliberations, the nine-member Council ruled that 35 measures – many of which had been added to the draft law by right-wing parties, could not be included on the grounds that they were either too far removed from the law’s initial intent or they were unconstitutional. Among the deleted articles were measures on issues such as the right to citizenship for children born in France to foreign-born parents, immigrants’ access to social benefits, family reunification and immigration quotas. Despite the fact that a significant part of the draft law had been struck out by the Constitutional Council, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin gave an upbeat assessment of it, saying “Never has a law provided so many means for expelling delinquents and so many requirements for the integration of foreigners”. He also described the Council’s ruling as a “validation” of the government’s immigration policy. The far-right National Rally took a different view and accused the Council members of “staging a “coup” with the support of the president”.

Following the parliamentary vote in December, rights groups denounced the new legislation as “the most regressive immigration law in decades”, and they were quick to react following the Constitutional Council ruling. Writing on X, the humanitarian organisation Utopia 56 praised the Council for having censured “hate mongers” but denounced the new legislation, saying “This law should never have been passed as it is so contrary to basic human rights”. The director of ECRE member organisation France terre d’asile, Delphine Rouilleault, wrote on X: “Immediate relief to see the most hostile measures against foreigners censured. But the moral fault remains immense and the provisions maintained will tighten the conditions for exercising the right to asylum. There is nothing joyful about all this”. ECRE member organisation Forum Réfugiés issued a press release in which it also welcomed the Council’s decision to remove various articles from the law but also expressed concern that 32 of the articles had been removed not due to their content being incompatible with the Constitution but rather because they were insufficiently linked to the original proposal: “This therefore does not prejudge their non-compliance with the Constitution if they were subsequently presented within the framework of other texts”, it stated. Forum Réfugiés also expressed regret about the measures relating to the implementation of the right to asylum that were included in the final text, including ‘the generalisation of the single judge to the National Court of Asylum, the addition of situations allowing the placement in detention of persons under the Dublin procedure, the automatic application of the hypotheses of withdrawal or refusal of material reception conditions, or the possibility of closing an asylum application in the event of abandonment of the place of accommodation”. It also denounced the law for its inclusion of “other significant setbacks for people’s rights, such as the reduction in the intervention of the judge of freedoms and detention, or the extension of the maximum duration of bans on return to the territory”. Despite the evident severity of the new law, Smaïn Laacher from the Fondation Jean Jaurès suggested that it was symptomatic of a wider European tendency, saying “France does not have a tougher immigration law than other European countries. It’s a general trend”.

Human Rights Watch has accused authorities in the French Department of Bouches-du-Rhône of failing to provide unaccompanied migrant children with the protections that they need and to which they are entitled. In a recently published report on housing, health, and education for unaccompanied migrant children in Marseille, the organisation criticised the city’s child protection authorities for ‘leaving children with health needs on the street without treatment, psychosocial support, or follow-up care’. It also condemned the fact that half of the unaccompanied migrant children who undergo age assessments to determine their minority are initially denied formal recognition as children but that almost three quarters of those who appeal are ultimately successful in proving that that they are under 18. The organisations’ senior children’s rights counsel, Michael Garcia Bochenek, said: “No child should be forced to sleep in the streets while their long-term eligibility for services is resolved. It’s especially shameful to subject young people to this uncertainty and insecurity when the overwhelming majority of those who appeal adverse age assessments are ultimately successful.” The report also included a reminder to France of its obligation ‘to ensure the basic needs of all people in its territory, and provide adequate care, assistance, and protection to all children, regardless of migration status’, and Ms Bochenek advised the authorities in Marseille and elsewhere in France to “act decisively to give children the services they need to be safe and to thrive”.

Meanwhile, on 29 January, Utopia 56 reported that 180 teenagers had been forced onto the street by the Paris police acting on the instructions of the mayor’s office and the Île-de-France prefecture. Writing on X, the humanitarian organisation said that the teenagers, who had been given temporary accommodation in a gymnasium in the city a few days earlier, had “no resources and nowhere to go” and described the humanitarian situation as “catastrophic”. It added that the teenagers would be joining the “several hundred young people surviving on the streets of Paris and elsewhere, including young girls”, and that, in Paris alone, “more than 3,500 isolated teenagers were put back on the street in 2023”. The issue of homeless “mijeur” (French contraction of ‘minor’ and ‘adult’) migrants was also the subject of a special report in Le Monde, which reported that these teenagers were stuck in limbo as the authorities believed them to be adults despite the fact that ‘their identity documents, when they have them, the written proof of their journey, as well as their stories, however, testify to the contrary’. It added that this often resulted in an ‘administrative battle’ during which they would be ‘excluded from child protection systems and cannot claim aid reserved for adults’. According to Le Monde, approximately 600 mijeurs were sleeping outside in Paris in January, despite sub-zero temperatures.

Alarm Phone has claimed that there is a “direct link” between the UK and France’s most recent pact to stop people from crossing the Channel in small boats and the doubling in drownings that occurred in 2023. In a report published since five people died near to Boulogne-sur-Mer on 14 January, the organisation described the incident as ‘the most recent in a disturbing trend we have observed develop over the latter part of 2023: an increase in the loss of life in the Channel very close to the French beaches and often in the presence of police’. It argued that the increase in the activities of French police since the latest Franco-British declaration in March 2023 resulted in a reduction in the number of dinghies that are reaching the French coast ‘causing dangerous overcrowding and chaotic embarkations’, and an increase in police attacks on the dinghies as they launch ‘provoking panic and further destabilising an already unsafe situation’. Describing the alarming increase in the number of deaths related to small boat crossings in the Channel in 2023 (at least 13) compared with the previous year (six), Alarm Phone reported that: this deal [March 2023] that we have really noticed an uptick in the numbers of police interventions to stop dinghies being delivered to the coast, violence on the beaches (and sometimes at sea) to stop them launching, and by consequence the number of deadly incidents occurring at or near the shores”.

For further information:

• ECRE, France: Activists & NGOs Denounce Long-Pursued Policy of Pushbacks Along Border with Italy, Dangerous Crossings Continue Amid Increased Deterrence Efforts, October 2023
• ECRE, France: NGOs Point to “Violations” of Rights at French Border with Italy and Spain, Authorities Condemned for 11th Time for Ill-treatment of Migrant Children, Government Cracks Down on Migrants Amid Growing Far-Right Anti-Migrant Attacks, May 2023

 
 

UK: The Country ‘Shakes Hands’ with France while Channel Drownings Double — Criticism of the ‘Rwanda’ Bill Continues — Uncertainty and Despair Among Asylum Seekers

• The UK and France deepen their co-operation while being ‘linked’ to the number of Channel drowning increasing by 50% in 2023. 
• The House of Lords, charities, expert organisations, and the Leader of the Church of England all call for a halt to the UK’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. 
• Asylum seekers face accommodation constraints and mental health struggles. 

At a meeting held on 30 January, British and French interior ministers pledged to continue working together to tackle migration. The two ministers mentioned plans to “better manage illegal as well as legal migration”. The meeting came after the UK Home Office published its latest figures indicating that 1000 people crossed the Channel in January. More than 300 people crossed in small boats on 27 and 28 January. A recent report by Alarm Phone found that the recent migration pact between the UK and France is “directly linked” to the doubling of the number of Channel drownings in 2023. Alarm Phone reported that since the beginning of 2023, the number of deaths had increased alarmingly compared to 2022. Of the 29 people who are known to have died on the French-British border last year, according to Calais Migrant Solidarity, at least 13 lost their lives in six incidents related to sea crossings. This, as reported by the hotline, is significantly more than the six people known to have died in three incidents related to sea crossings in 2022. In the ongoing trial of an 18-year-old man who is accused of manslaughter and facilitating a breach of immigration after the boat carrying 40 people that he was allegedly steering began to sink in the Channel in December 2022, the court was told that people screamed: “we are going to die”. Calais Migrant Solidarity believes that the number of lives lost in their attempts to cross from France to the UK is higher. “Uncountable lives are wasted and suffer at the hands of the Calais border regime. There is no accurate count of how many people have died,” the organisation stated, adding “For sure there will have been more, their deaths ignored, the facts covered up or altogether unreported. Many already go unnamed, without vigils and protests, without families or friends to advocate on their behalf.” On 14 January, five people lost their lives trying to cross the Channel to reach the UK. These deadly incidents are a direct consequence of the new ‘Stop the Boats’ policy that is being implemented by France and the UK, according to Alarm Phone. In Calais, a man who was trying to reach the UK was found dead in the back of a truck on 27 January. Despite the ongoing tragedies, in a press statement,  the Home Office said “Our priority is to stop the boats, which is why we have taken robust action to crack down on vile people smuggling gangs, deter migrants from making dangerous crossings and, alongside our French counterparts, intercept vessels”. The Home Office continued to blame the deaths on “criminal gangs” rather than the lack of safe and legal routes. “The fact we have seen three devastating fatal incidents in three months highlights the unacceptable risks that migrants and criminal gangs are running in pursuing these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossing attempts”, it stated. 

Meanwhile, the Rwanda Bill continues to face criticism as it was debated by the House of Lords on 29 January. Despite concerns, the bill has moved to the next stage by 206 votes to 84. During the debate, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said the bill was “damaging” to the UK’s reputation, to “national unity” and to asylum seekers “who are in need of protection”. Labour’s former home secretary, Lord Blunkett, called the bill “shoddy” and said it punished asylum seekers rather than smuggling gangs. Prior to the vote, 265 organisations, including ECRE member organisations the Refugee Council and the Scottish Refugee Council, called on the House of Lords to reject the bill. In their statement, they said: “The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill is a constitutionally extraordinary and deeply harmful piece of legislation. It threatens the universality of human rights and is likely in breach of international law, striking a serious blow to the UK’s commitment to the rule of law. It was not a government manifesto commitment – on the contrary, it will hinder the UK’s ability to continue to grant asylum and support to refugees fleeing persecution”. They also warned that the bill would breach the Good Friday Agreement, which commits the UK government to “complete incorporation” of international human rights law in Northern Ireland.“ There was further criticism over asylum deportations to Rwanda after the Observer newspaper revealed that several Rwandan nationals had been granted asylum in the UK in recent months due to the persecution they had suffered for being members of opposition parties. These details have raised fresh questions over Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s claim that Rwanda is “unequivocally” safe for asylum seekers. The investigation has also seen details of a dossier compiled by a western intelligence agency that accused Rwanda of orchestrating a dirty tricks campaign to smear and undermine critics, including those based in the UK. Moreover, openDemocracy revealed that the “really beautiful” houses that former home secretary Suella Braverman claimed would house asylum seekers deported to Rwanda had already been sold. “The houses are for Rwandans and 50% is already sold. So if you say it’s for refugees, I don’t think so,” said the sales adviser at the real estate agency. 

Meanwhile, asylum seekers’ rights and state of mind are being ”toyed with” by the authorities. Several people have reported having received letters informing them that they would be sent to Rwanda. Many of them had started working on their cases until the Home Office admitted that the letters had been sent in ”error”. Speaking about the ramifications of the letters, the director of Refugee, Asylum Seeker, and Migrant Action, Maria Wilby, said: “The impact of letters telling people they will be sent to Rwanda is significant and cannot be ignored…to admit these letters were a mistake does nothing to mitigate the suffering of those who received them”. Furthermore, a senior official has admitted that 33,085 people who arrived in the UK by irregular means such as small boats will not have their asylum claims assessed as the government tries to remove them from the UK. The chief executive of the Refugee Council, Enver Solomon, said: “We know people who have fled war and oppression in countries such as Afghanistan, Sudan, Syria, and Iran are already avoiding contact with vital services and face being exploited and abused by those seeking to coerce and traffic them…The reality is that the government’s plans are causing huge distress to vulnerable people”. One of the recipients of the letters, a Syrian migrant, said: “I was in despair when I received it and have not slept for almost a week thinking about what will happen to me if I’m forced to go to Rwanda”. 

The accommodation situation for asylum seekers and refugees in the UK remains uncertain. The Home Office has been housing approximately 400 people, including families, at a Walthamstow hotel while their asylum claims are being processed. On 19 January, the asylum seekers received letters informing them that they would have to leave the hotel in five days. According to the BBC, protests were held outside the hotel as the asylum seekers and members of the community called for the decision to be reversed. Meanwhile, the MP for Bexhill and Battle, Huw Merriman, organized a constituency meeting to discuss a Home Office proposal to open an asylum seeker detention centre at Northeye on the western outskirts of Bexhill. He said, “One of the key points I made to residents at the meeting is that the proposal for the Northeye site in Bexhill is for a detained and closed site only. This means that if the site goes ahead, those living there would not be free to come and go”. The site was initially supposed to be open. Elsewhere, a council in the northwest of England has resorted to providing sun loungers and air beds in a former school for refugees and other homeless people. Separately, Home Secretary James Cleverly has made an emergency request for a cash payment of £2.6bn after unforeseen expenditure on hotels for asylum seekers during the mandate of his predecessor, Suella Braverman. Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, said: “The Tories have completely bust the budget of the Home Office through staggering incompetence and chaos but the taxpayer is paying the price”. 

For further information:

• ECRE, UK: Rwanda Bill Moves a Step Closer to Adoption as Rwandan President Casts Doubt on the Scheme and UNHCR Questions its Legality, More Migrants Die Trying to Cross the Channel, Asylum Accommodation Set to Be Excluded from New Legislation Covering Safety of Social Housing, January 2024
• ECRE, UK: Government’s Claim On Clearance Of Asylum Backlog Widely Criticised, Questions Over Prime Minister’s Commitment To Rwanda Scheme Amid Preparation for Next Steps, New Details Emerge About The Death Of The Asylum Seeker On The Bibby Stockholm Barge And Humanitarian NGOs Start Medical Programme At UK Asylum Centre, UK’s Efforts to Decrease Boats Crossings Criticised By French Court, Home Office Report Fails To Include Any New Safe And Legal Routes, January 2024

 
 

• Access Centre for Human Rights, What Happens After The Forced Deportation Of Refugees From Lebanon?, January 2024
• Border Violence Monitoring Network, Violence Within State Borders: Greece, January 2024 
• Border Violence Monitoring Network, In difesa dei Difensori, January 2024
• Council of Europe and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Children in migration: fundamental rights at European borders, December 2023 
• Danish Refugee Council, PRAB Report: Pushbacks at Europe's Borders: A Continuously Ignored Crisis, January 2024
• ECRE, Policy Paper 12: The Right to Work for Asylum Applicants in the EU, January 2024 
• European Union Agency for Asylum, Practical Guide on Evidence and Risk Assessment, January 2024
• Fenix Humanitarian Legal Aid, Age Assessment Procedures on Lesvos: A Dead Letter, January 2024 
• Fondazione Migrantes, Il diritto d'asilo – Report 2023, December 2023
• Greek Council for Refugees, Hellenic League for Human Rights, HIAS Greece, Refugee Support Aegean, Reporters United and Vouliwatch, Greece in institutional decline: Civil society tracks persisting rule of law backsliding, January 2024 
• Human Rights Watch, World Report 2024, January 2024
• International Centre for Migration Policy Development, Europe as a hotspot for global talent – Is it ready?, January 2024 
• Odysseus Network, The Memorandum of Understanding between the EU and Tunisia: Issues of procedure and substance on the informalisation of migration cooperation, January 2024
• Right to Remain, Work Exploitation and Migrant Workers’ Rights, January 2024
• Refugee Council, Safe routes – the need for an ambitious approach, January 2024
• Save the Children, Hope and Harm: Children’s Experiences of Seeking Safety in Europe, January 2024

FEATURED CAMPAIGNS

• Abandon plans to transfer asylum seekers to Rwanda
• Comisión Española de Ayuda al Refugiado, #KilómetrosPorRefugio!
• Free El Hiblu 3 Campaign, Drop the Charges Against the El Hiblu 3!
• Refugee Council, Fair and Humane Asylum System
• Civil Society Europe and European University Association, Open Letter: EU co-legislators must block the covert foreign interference law
• Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, Help us house people humanely – Stop the government's cruel barges!
• Open Letter: The EU Parliament and the Council of the EU should review their positions and refrain from adopting the Asylum Procedure Regulation

EVENTS

VACANCIES

• Plateforme Citoyenne de Soutien aux Réfugiés, Brussels, Gestionnaire administratif.ve et financière, 11 February
• Plateforme Citoyenne de Soutien aux Réfugiés, Brussels, Directeur.trice des services généraux, 29 February
• Plateforme Citoyenne de Soutien aux Réfugiés, Brussels, Coordinateur.trice adjoint.e – Hébergements d’urgence pour hommes isolés, 29 February
• Fenix Humanitarian Legal Aid, Athens, Protection Officer, 9 February
• HIAS Europe, Brussels, Director of Operations, Belgium/Europe
• HIAS Europe, Brussels, Program and Operations Associate, Africa & Eurasia
• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Copenhagen, Senior Fundraising and Partnership Advisor
• I Have Rights, Greece, Lawyer
• I Have Rights, Samos, Administration and Finance Coordinator, 11 February
• International Rescue Committee, New York, Deputy Director, Asylum Reception and Case Management,
• Migration Policy Institute Europe, Brussels, Research and Quantitative Internships, 15 February
• Norwegian Refugee Council, Oslo, Governance Specialist Adviser, 15 February
• Norwegian Refugee Council, Oslo, Global Roving Emergency Head of Support, 12 February
• Refugee Council, London, Children’s Adviser, 18 February
• Save the Children Europe, Brussels, Communications and Campaigns Assistant, 11 February
• SOS Humanity, Various
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Brussels, Legal Intern, 15 February
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Bucharest, Senior Human Resources Associate, 5 February