Background information
Brutal Barriers: Pushbacks, violence and the violation of human rights on the Poland-Belarus border
This report, in cooperation with two grassroot organizations documents the human rights violations and inhumane conditions, such as pushbacks, violence, and deprivation at the Belarus-Poland border. Despite international and European laws, Poland's increasing restrictions and border fortifications have worsened the situation, with people facing life-threatening risks and limited access to aid. Read the attached report for further information. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europäische Union, Europa
Examining Germany´s admission programme for Afghans at risk, legal basic and its challenges
After the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the withdrawal of international troops began, leaving behind many Afghan helpers and particularly vulnerable individuals. Germany initiated the Federal Admission Program to evacuate these people, but its implementation faced numerous issues such as delays, legal uncertainties, and budget cuts. As a result, despite obligations under the "Fundamental Law" and international human rights treaties, the program was not carried out as planned. The underlying research paper examines the Federal Admission Program for vulnerable Afghans. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Mittlerer Osten
Searching for a home: a travelogue from the islands of migration in southern Italy
From 21 to 29 September 2024, a travel group led by Jana Freudenberger set off to Sicily and Lampedusa to talk to various organisations and refugees. The travellers brought back impressions that describe the migration policy situation in southern Italy and, despite all the problems, also give cause for hope. The editors Kerstin and Anna Meinhardt report on their travel experiences. read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Italien / Malta
Offene Gesellschaft statt autoritäre Wende
Gegen den Abbau des Rechtsstaats im Gewand der Migrationspolitik. Das Netzwerk für kritische Migrations- und Grenzregimeforschung (kritnet) kritisiert in einer aktuellen Stellungnahme den Abbau des Rechtsstaats im Gewand der Migrationspolitik. Es spricht sich für eine offenen Gesellschaft aus und fordert Partizipations- und Mitbestimmungsrechte für alle, die in Deutschland leben. read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Deutschland
Call for freeze on EU migration funding to Libya
After two mass graves were found during a police operation in eastern and south-eastern Libya, civil society organisations are calling on the European Union to stop its financial packages to Libya. Human rights violations against migrants such as torture, enslavement and brutal murders have been documented in Libya for years. The goal of using EU funds to implement human rights standards in Libya has not been achieved. The discovery of the mass graves should be a wake-up call to not only reconsider EU funding of the Libyan regime, but to simply end it. Instead, we demand safe migration routes out of Libya! read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Nordafrika, Europäische Union
Report by Mem.Med: Between Asphalt and Dust. Repression, Protests, and (Migrant) Self-Management on the Margins of Tunisia
In the olive groves of Sfax, between extreme marginalization and institutional violence, thousands of sub-Saharan African migrants are resisting on a daily basis. Through the voices of Joy, Josephus, David Yambio and Dr. Ibrahim, this report explores the strategies of self-help that challenge the system of exclusion at the borders of Europe. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Nordafrika
Anti-torture Committee publishes report on ad hoc visit to Italy
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has today published the report on its visit to Italy in April 2024, together with the response of the Italian authorities.
The visit focused on the treatment and conditions of detention of foreign nationals held in four, closed pre-removal centres (Centri di permanenza per il rimpatrio or CPRs) in Milan, Gradisca, Potenza and Rome. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta
Letter: Call for transparency in the implementation of the EU migration pact
On November 28, over 20 human rights organizations sent a letter to the Italian government demanding transparency in implementing the European Pact for Migration and Asylum, criticizing the exclusion of civil society from the process. read more
Language(s): Italienisch / Italiano
Region(s): Italien / Malta, Europäische Union
The Standard Operation Procedures on ‘activities conducted at sea’ in the context of forced transfers to Albania
With a view to expanding and especially externalising border and detention places, as is already known, the italian government has exported the hotspot approach to Albanian territory. The Protocol concluded with Albania foresees the forced transfer of people rescued at sea on Italian authorities' vehicles for whom “the subsistence or lack of requisites for entry, stay or residence in the territory of the Italian Republic must be ascertained”. In order to learn more, we have made a request for generalised civic access in order to obtain the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) structuring the activities carried out at sea in the context of transfers to Albania of foreign citizens from third countries, which are shared below: read more
Language(s): Italienisch / Italiano
Region(s): Italien / Malta
Violence, Resistance and Memories - Between the two Shores of the Mediterranean’
During the summer months of 2024, the Mediterranean Sea continued to witness violence against people on the move, repression targeting those who show solidarity with them, and widespread violations of fundamental rights. This report focuses specifically on events that occurred along the Central Mediterranean route from June to September 2024. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta, Nordafrika
Challenging the Securitization of Migration in Italy: A De-securitization Strategy
We are pleased to publish the abstract of the work by Ludovica Mancini, who conducted an interview with the Palermo office of borderline-europe, which is incorporated in chapter three of her work.
Since 1975, the year corresponding to the turning of Italy into a country of immigration, the Italian border and migration management appears rooted in the migration-security nexus. Discursive and non-discursive practices performed by the Italian political élite have shifted migration from a non-political topic, to a political one, to a security issue. However, is securitization of migration desirable? What are its human rights implications and spill over effects? After reconstructing the Italian securitization process and providing an overview of its main consequences, this article proposes a disarticulation of the migration-security nexus through the development of a de-securitization strategy suitable for the Italian context. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Interview on Iranian public sentiment towards Afghan refugees
The interview with Ghamar Takavaran, an expert on Afghan migrants in Iran, provides a deep insight into Iranian society today. The migration of Afghan citizens to Iran was particularly high after the US invasion and the return of the Taliban. It is estimated that there are between 3 and 10 million Afghan migrants in Iran. The lack of proper immigration laws has led to mixed reactions among Iranians, with some advocating the deportation of immigrants and others supporting the admission of Afghans due to the difficult situation in their country. Iran's economic hardship and sanctions have exacerbated tensions, and the media sometimes fuels anti-immigrant sentiment. read more
Language(s): Sonstige
Region(s): Naher Osten
Iuventa-Crew frei von allen Anklagen!
Nach einer siebenjährigen Odyssee halten wir nun mit einem Wechselbad der Gefühle die Abschlussdokumente unseres Gerichtsverfahrens in den Händen. Die Zustellung der Übersetzung der Urteilsbegründung markiert den Schlussakt des längsten, teuersten und umfangreichsten Strafverfahrens, das je gegen Seenotrettungsorganisationen eingeleitet wurde – und es endete mit mehr als nur einem Freispruch! read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Italien / Malta
Denial of rescue: 85 people left to die in March 2024
Open letter to IMRCC Rome, JRCC Malta, Frontex, and the UNHCR
On the 13th of March 2024 the rescue vessel Ocean Viking rescued 25 people on a black rubber boat in international waters. According to the survivors, they had spent nearly one week at sea – adrift and without orientation.
During that time many people perished and are now missing. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta, Nordafrika, Europäische Union
Sudan Media Forum: Migrant’s desperate act of survival ‘I drank my own urine to escape death’
“My throat was parched, and in desperation, I found only urine… so I drank it to escape death.” These were the words of 20-year-old Mukhtar Ahmed, one of the many victims of irregular migration, as he recounted his ordeal, a tragedy shared by thousands of Sudanese forced to flee their country due to the war that erupted on 15 April 2023. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Nordafrika
Increasing calls from boats in distress between Crete, Libya and Egypt
Europe tries hard and uses a lot of violence to stop people from moving and crossing its’ borders. As Alarm Phone, over the years we have observed that the increased use of violence and surveillance only forces people to take more dangerous and deadly routes. One of the more recent results of the ever increasing violence of the European border regime is that boats start in the far East of Libya, aiming to drive the very long distance towards Italy. Only a few weeks ago we commemorated the deadliest shipwreck on this route, the massacre of Pylos, where 650 people died. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta, Griechenland / Türkei, Nordafrika, Naher Osten
Frontex Covering Up Greek Pushbacks
Frontex involvement in illegal pushbacks in Greece, are ones again proven, this time in a newly released serious Incident Report(SIR) by Frontex own Fundamental Rights Office, from a pushback performed by Greek coast guard outside Lesvos, assisted by Latvian Frontex.
In the afternoon of 25 January, a boat carrying 38 people, all Afghans, had almost reached land in the north of Lesvos, when they were stopped by Latvian Frontex and two vessels from the Greek Coast guard, and illegally pushed back to Turkey. The boat was in Greek waters, they were intercepted, their lives were put at risk on several occasions by the Greek coast guard, they were subjected to a prohibited collective expulsion, and both Frontex and the Greek coast guard deliberately covered up the crime by putting incorrect and incomplete information in their mission reports. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europäische Union
Out of Sight; Pushing Beyond the Limits of Humanity
The new report covers the main activities of Klikaktiv, trends and needs observed in the field, legal obstacles for people on the move in Serbia, and legal analysis of EU and Serbia’s migration policies in the first three months of 2024. Increased violence of the police and smuggling groups has put people on the move in grave danger of different types of exploitation (labor and sexual exploitation, human trafficking, etc) and made them even more vulnerable. The report includes testimonies of people on the move and their experiences while residing in Serbia, including detention and limited access to accommodation facilities and asylum system. This forced people on the move to be less visible both to the state authorities and NGOs on the ground and to turn to smugglers for the accommodation, transportation and other necessities. The migration route has shifted from the previously dominant route of Hungary to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Balkanstaaten
Chains of Solidarity at Sea!
In this analysis, we provide a comprehensive chronology of the first six months of 2024, offering in great detail an account of developments as they unfolded. As nobody else is doing so, we need to create our own archive of migrant struggles, acts of solidarity, and forms of border violence at sea. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta
Samos: “We feel in prison on the island”: Unlawful detention and sub-standard conditions in an EU-funded refugee centre
Although the European Commission funded new reception centres for asylum seekers on the Aegean islands promising “better conditions”, racialized people on the move living in the Samos ‘Closed Controlled Access Centre’ face obstacles accessing basic services and experience systematic, arbitrary de facto detention. The EU must ensure that the implementation of the new EU Migration and Asylum Pact does not result in similar abuses. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei, Europäische Union