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WEEKLY BULLETIN

20 March 2025

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EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENTS

MEDITERRANEAN

A number of serious incidents have taken place in the Central Mediterranean in recent weeks.
Cypriot authorities have been accused of pushing back three boats and ignoring warnings from a search and rescue NGO the day before a shipwreck.
Leaked documents from an EU naval operation have indicated that Malta refuses to participate in search and rescue missions in its designated zone.
A court in Italy has confirmed the suspension of the administrative detention imposed on the Geo Barents search and rescue ship.

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

POLAND

A new NGO report has revealed a disturbing pattern of abuse and violence against people on the move at the Poland-Belarus border.
Poland has extended the duration of the exclusion zone on its border with Belarus by 90 days.
The Senate has approved a draft law that would allow the temporary suspension of asylum.
The government has restated its opposition to implementing the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum despite a threat of legal action.

NEWS FROM THE ECRE OFFICE

Policy Note: Maintaining International Protection in Europe During Syria's Transition

RECENT REPORTS

UPCOMING EVENTS

OPEN JOB VACANCIES

ONGOING CAMPAIGNS

CALLS FOR PAPERS, PROJECT PROPOSALS, UNIVERSITY COURSES etc.

EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENTS

MEDITERRANEAN

A number of serious incidents have taken place in the Central Mediterranean in recent weeks.
Cypriot authorities have been accused of pushing back three boats and ignoring warnings from a search and rescue NGO the day before a shipwreck.
Leaked documents from an EU naval operation have indicated that Malta refuses to participate in search and rescue missions in its designated zone.
A court in Italy has confirmed the suspension of the administrative detention imposed on the Geo Barents search and rescue ship.

There have been a number of serious incidents in the Central Mediterranean in recent weeks. On 28 February, authorities in Tunisia reported that 64 people had been rescued from a boat that had capsized off the coast of Mahdi. On 4 March, the NGO Sea-Watch said that one of its ships had rescued 32 people who had spent several days stranded on a gas platform off the coast of Tunisia. Sea-Watch also reported that it had taken the people, who it described as being in a “critical condition’, to Lampedusa where they disembarked on 5 March but that one person had died on the platform. On 17 March, the Tunisian coastguard said that it had rescued 612 people and recovered 18 bodies in several operations off the coast of Sfax. Most recently, Italian authorities reported that 10 people had been rescued and six bodies had been recovered after a boat capsized off the coast of Lampedusa on 18 March. They added that a search was ongoing for 40 other people who had been on the boat and were still missing.

A shipwreck that cost the lives of at least seven people has developed into a political row in Cyprus. On 17 March, Cypriot state-run television reported that two people had been rescued and seven bodies recovered after a boat sank off Cape Greco and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) confirmed that a search and rescue (SAR) operation was ongoing. The official response to the tragedy has gained particular attention as social media posts by the NGO Alarm Phone indicate that it had alerted the Cypriot authorities about the boat on 16 March but that it received an unconvincing response. “The JRCC is informed but the officers only said they are ‘investigating’ and have no information to provide,” it wrote, adding: “We fear a pushback is in the making!”. On 18 March, three opposition parties issued statements condemning the government’s handling of the incident. The Movement of Ecologists – Citizens’ Cooperation (KOSP) said: “The Cypriot Republic itself admits it failed to effectively examine information regarding this shipwreck from a non-governmental organisation”. It also called for a “full and independent investigation”. KOSP’s demand was echoed by the Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) which called for a “reliable, objective and prompt investigation into the circumstances of the tragedy” and reminded the government of its obligations to comply with “international law and relevant international conventions”. Volt Cyprus stated that the tragedy “could and should have been avoided” and urged the government to “immediately stop pushback practices at sea and along the Green line”.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has highlighted a pushback incident that reportedly took place three days before the Cape Greco tragedy. In a press release issued on 18 March, the UNHCR expressed its concern that on 14 March, three boats with approximately 80 Syrians onboard “were reportedly pushed back by Cypriot authorities, as a result of which the Syrian nationals were forcibly returned to Syria from where they had fled”. The UNHCR also repeated its call to states to “refrain from pushbacks and summary returns of individuals without legal and procedural safeguards” and reminded them that any “law enforcement operations” had to be conducted “with the respect of international law, including refugee and human rights law, and should not result in situations incompatible with the prohibition of refoulement”. On 19 March, the Cypriot government issued a statement in which it attempted to eliminate some of the “confusion” regarding the recent incidents. “We categorically deny that there were gunshots fired, water sprayed, or any pushbacks conducted, as reported in some media outlets,” it said. The statement also refuted accusations that Cypriot authorities were responsible for human rights violations and said that they had “never ignored a call for help” regarding SAR operations.

Leaked documents from an EU naval operation have indicated that Malta refuses to participate in SAR missions in its designated zone. According to the Times of Malta newspaper, an internal memo from the EU Naval Force Mediterranean Operation IRINI from September 2024 stated that despite numerous “events” taking place in Malta’s SAR zone, they are dealt with by Italian authorities as “Malta never responds and refuses to follow these operations”. The news will come as no surprise to the various SAR NGOs who have repeatedly accused Malta of neglecting its SAR obligations. “They [Maltese authorities] are very clearly not carrying out rescue operations in the vast majority of cases,” said a spokesperson for AlarmPhone. Referring to Malta’s rescue coordination centre, a spokesperson for SOS MEDITERRANEE said: “They rarely pick up the phone, and if they do they tell us to send an e-mail – they never reply to that email. They are really absent from any coordination”. Regarding Malta’s involvement in rescues, the spokesperson added: “It’s not happening; what we’re seeing is Libyan boats intercepting in Malta’s SAR against the international maritime convention”. A spokesperson for Sea-Watch added: “Malta does not co-operate with us. If they do pick up the phone they ignore the information we give them”. Commenting on the leaked memo, a spokesperson for the Maltese Ministry for Home Affairs, Security and Employment said that “all emergency notifications received were investigated, assessed, prioritised, and acted upon accordingly, regardless of the provenance or legal status of the persons requiring rescue”.

On 11 March, a court in Italy confirmed the suspension of the administrative detention imposed on the Geo Barents SAR ship. According to a statement issued by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the detention, which was imposed in August 2024, was first suspended by the Salerno Civil Court in September 2024 when it found that the Geo Barents “had not contributed to creating a dangerous situation on board” and that the detention would “irreversibly jeopardise the vessel’s right to pursue its humanitarian objectives in accordance with international law and Italian constitutional values”. MSF added that by confirming the suspension, the Salerno court had “once again showed the importance of protecting human life at sea against restrictive and unjust policies that seek to criminalise humanitarian search and rescue activities at sea”. The Geo Barents has been moored since December 2024 when MSF announced that it had ceased operations due to the difficulties it faced in conducting activities “under current Italian laws and policies”.

Related articles

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

POLAND

A new NGO report has revealed a disturbing pattern of abuse and violence against people on the move at the Poland-Belarus border.
Poland has extended the duration of the exclusion zone on its border with Belarus by 90 days.
The Senate has approved a draft law that would allow the temporary suspension of asylum.
The government has restated its opposition to implementing the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum despite a threat of legal action.

A new report has detailed various forms of abuse faced by people on the move at the Poland-Belarus border. According to the report by Oxfam and the Polish NGO Egala, Polish authorities have adopted a policy of pushbacks that denies people the right to asylum without assessment of their asylum claims or conducting formal deportation procedures. The pushbacks, which are often physically violent, also endanger the lives of people attempting to cross the border by leaving them without water, food or healthcare. The report also found that people on the move are subjected to “uncontrolled” violence, including sexual abuse, detention, deprivation of food and water, theft of belongings and threats with firearms by uniformed personnel on the Belarusian side of the border. Belarusian border guard officers are also accused of using “deliberate and creative cruelty”, including games aimed at hurting people who are unable to cross the border or who are pushed back.

Poland has extended the duration of the ‘exclusion zone’ on its border with Belarus. The current iteration of the exclusion zone, which is located along a 60 kilometre stretch of the border, was introduced by the government in June 2024 and has since been extended twice (September and December). The latest extension came into effect on 10 March for an additional 90 days. Polish authorities have claimed that the measure is “working” because there has been a 46% decrease in the number of irregular crossings of the Poland-Belarus border since its introduction. They have also argued that the exclusion zone ensures the safety of border guard officers as the area is densely-forested and marshy, rendering search operations difficult. However, critics, including humanitarian NGOs, have countered that it has prevented people in need from receiving humanitarian assistance, including water, food and medical care, and legal support.

On 13 March, the Senate approved a draft law that would allow the government to temporarily restrict asylum rights in response to what is frequently described as the “instrumentalisation” of migration by Belarus and Russia. This vote followed an overwhelming approval of the draft law by members of the Sejm (lower house of parliament) on 21 February. Despite the strong support from MPs, the new law has faced significant opposition from civil society. On 17 March, a coalition of 29 Polish NGOs, led by ECRE member organisation the Ocalenie Foundation, appealed to President Andrzej Duda to veto it. ECRE member organisation the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights condemned it as unlawful for contradicting both Polish law as well as international agreements. This sentiment was echoed by Maciej Grześkowiak from the University of Warsaw’s Centre for Human Rights who described it as a “new low” in an op-ed published by EUobserver. Elsewhere, ECRE member organisation PRO ASYL described the law as a “dangerous development for the rule of law in Europe” that would worsen the situation for people seeking protection while Sarah Redd from Oxfam said that Poland had “abandoned its commitments to rule of law and protecting people fleeing war and persecution” and “replaced EU law with razor wire, torture and violence”. Redd urged the EU and European countries to “invest in an asylum system that actually works and allows people to rebuild their lives”, adding: “This is not about politics – it’s about what is right”.

The Polish government has yet again stated its opposition to implementing the EU Pact on Migration on Asylum. During a press conference that followed the meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 5 March, Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration Tomasz Siemoniak said that the implementation of the EU Migration Pact “was not possible”. European Commissioner for Home Affairs Magnus Brunner, who was standing next to Siemoniak at the time, did not respond directly to the comment, which closely reflected remarks that Prime Minister Donald Tusk has made on a number of occasions. However, on 10 March, a European Commission spokesperson clarified that legal action would be taken against countries that failed to comply with the Pact. “If a member state risks delaying or even undermining the implementation of the Pact, the Commission will need to take the necessary measures”, the spokesperson said. Despite this warning, Siemoniak restated his earlier position on 17 March. “Our consent to this will not be given,” he told Euronews.

Related articles

NEWS FROM THE ECRE OFFICE

Policy Note: Maintaining International Protection in Europe during Syria’s Transition

ECRE has published a policy note which provides analysis of the EU’s role in supporting transition in Syria while maintaining international protection in Europe. It supports EU coordination and guidance on the treatment of refugees from Syria in Europe and sets out the relevant international and European standards on the postponing of asylum applications and review or cessation of status. Finally, it presents good practice to be applied from the response to displacement from Ukraine, notably the practice of allowing temporary return visits without the loss of status.

The fall of the al-Assad regime was met with joy and relief by the millions of Syrians who have suffered violence, human rights abuses and war. For those who have sought protection outside the country, many may now wish to return. In this sensitive political context, external actors, such as the EU and European governments, have an important role to play in supporting transition.

The EU has highlighted its readiness to engage, subject to conditions such as inclusiveness and accountability. It is vital that the EU’s diplomatic service – the European External Action Service – and foreign policy considerations lead the EU’s response, alongside the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations managing the humanitarian side. Yet, at the same time, premature statements about the immediate return of refugees to Syria risk generating alarm and undermining the EU’s strategy. Policy in the realm of internal affairs, such as on the treatment of Syrians with international protection status in Europe, should contribute to achieving, rather than undermining the overall objectives of support to a long-term, sustainable transition.

The policy note explains that, while the examination of asylum applications may be postponed, as most European countries have decided to do, this cannot continue indefinitely. The situation in Syria will remain volatile and uncertain for a long time and EU member states (MS) should ensure that applicants are not kept in limbo, including by resuming the processing of applications as soon as possible. During this time of uncertainly, negative decisions should be suspended as recommended by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) – a practice successfully applied by EU MS during similar situations of uncertainty. Guidance from the European Commission (EC) setting out the applicable EU law and supporting a consistent approach across the EU would be extremely helpful to ensure a harmonised response.

In addition, the EC should develop a common EU framework on temporary visits to Syria for beneficiaries of international protection, as requested by a number of MS. Such visits should not have an impact on protection status nor be used to argue for a change of status in future cessation proceedings. As demonstrated by the response to displacement from Ukraine, allowing short visits without loss of status allows people to keep or to re-establish a connection with family and property, increasing the likelihood of well-managed return.

The policy note also recalls that EU and international law have strict rules on cessation of international protection status which must be respected. For a detailed legal analysis, see the ECRE legal note on this subject. The situation in Syria is far from meeting the necessary requirements for revocation of status, including that changes of circumstances need to be fundamental, durable and stable. The discussion on review of status is premature and likely to create alarm among Syrians in Europe. When reviews of status begin, the policy note proposes that processes automatically include an assessment as to whether other protection statuses are relevant, rather than requiring new applications to be lodged. For example, even if the grounds for granting refugee status are no longer present, subsidiary protection or national protection statuses could be applicable. Alternatively, there may be other grounds for granting a residence permit, such as work or studies.

Finally, the policy note argues that while EU MS should put measures in place for those Syrians who wish to return to Syria voluntarily, through assisted voluntary return in individual cases, the UNHCR has explicitly warned against large-scale voluntary repatriations to Syria.