Background information
The ghost of Moria
A letter from Lesbos:
On Monday, March 4, the trial against the Moria 4 begins and I can watch the trial with live translation. The Moria 4 are the four of the six migrants who were accused and convicted of setting the fire in the symbolic Moria refugee camp in 2020. read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei
Situation on the EU Eastern Borders: summary of ECRE
1. A new report on the situation along the Poland-Belarus border has highlighted the ineffectiveness of the fence while the government looks to secure exemptions from certain elements in the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum.
2. After two years of providing essential services in Belarus, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) withdraws and calls on Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to stop inflicting violence on people on the move.
3. As the Finnish interior minister plans tougher measures on migration, migrants find new ways to reach the Nordic country.
4. Lithuania closes two checkpoints along its border with Belarus for “security” reasons while the Austrian interior minister calls for talks on repatriations to Syria and Afghanistan. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Baltische Staaten, Osteuropa, Europäische Union, Europa
Tunisia-EU cooperation in migration management: From Mobility Partnership to containment
The particularity characterizing Tunisia-EU cooperation in migration management is the complexity of the instruments and agreements governing different issues. These instruments cover aspects related to migration, asylum, borders, and mobility. The main arrangements are related to the financing of projects (through the EU Trust Fund for Africa – EUTF) or the so-called ‘Mobility Partnership’ concluded in 2014 within the framework of the EU-Tunisia Action Plan (2013 – 2017). Furthermore, EU countries have bilateral agreements with Tunisia that cover topics such as readmission or visa facilitation for Tunisian nationals. The use of a multitude of instruments mixing both the binational dimension and the dimension involving the European Union, only complicates the landscape and makes transparent management of migration with Tunisia difficult. Furthermore, it’s important to emphasize that the terminology used in EU documents (draft action plan for Tunisia prepared by the Commission Services) to designate cooperation with third countries deserves to be criticized. Indeed, the concept of "migration partnership"1 does not reflect the reality of the relationships and the imbalance in relations between the EU and third countries. Although this word may suggest that cooperation is balanced, in reality it only promotes a means of liberal management aimed at involving the countries of transit and/or departure to be proactive and to align themselves with the objectives of the countries of the destination. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Nordafrika, Europa
The Cutro ship wreck: one year after - A report by Arci
One year after the shipwreck in Steccato di Cutro (Calabria), this document summarizes how the survivors, the families of the deceased, and civil society fought for truth and justice for the victims. (German version) read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Italien / Malta
Pushbacks at Europe's borders: a continously ignored crisis
Eighth report published in a series by Protecting Rights at Borders: Pushback data confirms that rights violations continue to be widespread and systematic at Europe's borders, while accountability becomes further out of reach as mechanisms are set up to fail and responsibility pushed away. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Balkanstaaten, Baltische Staaten, Frankreich, Italien / Malta, Griechenland / Türkei, Europäische Union, Europa
Death, Despair and Destitution: The Human Costs of the EU's Migration Policies
A web of violent deterrence: This report details findings from Médecins Sans Frontières medical humanitarian projects in 12 countries in Europe and Africa, as well as well as in the Central Mediterranean Sea. It takes stock of MSF operational experiences between August 2021 and September 2023, drawing upon routine medical and operational data from MSF projects, as well as accounts from MSF patients and medical teams during that period. The report highlights how, at every step of people’s migration journey towards and within the EU, their health, wellbeing and dignity have systematically been undermined by the interlinking violent policies and practices embedded in EU and EU member state policies. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europäische Union, Europa, Afrika
City of welcome and transit: Migrants’ and refugees’ livelihoods and migration projects in Sousse, Tunisia
MMC Research Report, February 2024:
While most previous research on urban migration in Tunisia has focused on Tunis and Sfax, Sousse, Tunisia’s third-biggest city and home to around 240,000 people, stands out as a centre for foreign students and, more recently, a sanctuary for migrants who have encountered violence and discrimination elsewhere in Tunisia. read more
Region(s): Nordafrika
2023: A long Summer of Migration in the Central Mediterranean Sea
Alarm Phone: Central Mediterranean Analysis, 1 July to 31 December 2023 read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta, Nordafrika, Europa
Between the rubble of the CPR of Milo:voices from an unworthy imprisonment, while the ECHR condemns Italy
A common text by ARCI, Arci Porco Rosso, Association for Legal Studies on Immigration (ASGI), Borderline Europe, Campagna LetCIEntrare, Maldusa, Mem.Med – Memoria Mediterranea: “The European Court of Human Rights has ordered the Italian Government to immediately transfer a person held in degrading material conditions in the CPR of Trapani. A sentence that concerns what happened at the CPR in Milo in the last week of January and which we believe is essential to reconstruct and share thanks to the voices of the people detained". read more
Language(s): Italienisch / Italiano
Region(s): Italien / Malta, Europa
Violence Within State Borders: Greece
This report is the product of the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) who documents violence against people on the move in Greece. In addition to recording testimonies of pushbacks across international borders, BVMN collects evidence of physical, material, and structural violence against people on the move within state borders. The Internal Violence Report draws from testimonies collected in the last months pertaining to conditions in detention, violence in detention, police brutality, racist violence, interrupted pushbacks and hate crimes. Focused on Greece, this report analyses deliberate acts of physical violence in addition to the indirect, structural violence inherent in the widespread practice of denying access to decent living conditions, adequate food and water, healthcare and psychological support within Greek detention facilities. In this way, the report seeks to document both the active and insidious forms of violence people on the move face within diverse spaces of containment in Greece. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Griechenland / Türkei
Building Bridges, Burning Borders - Maldusa One Year Booklet
The booklet reports on the first year of the organization Maldusa, its vision, projects, and solidarity practices. With a base on Lampedusa, in Palermo, a boat at sea, and relationships with solidarity infrastructures & people on the move, Maldusa creates platforms for monitoring & reporting border violence & facilitating freedom of movement. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Italien / Malta, Europäische Union, Europa
Migration Control - MONTHLY REVIEW: OCTOBER 2023
This monthly press review covers Eurafrican migration control, migration and displacement in African countries and news on the European border regime. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europa, Afrika
Ein Memorandum of Understanding mit Albanien, undurchsichtig, unmenschlich und ohne Rechtsgrundlage
Mit der x-ten propagandistischen Ankündigung der Regierung erfahren wir, dass Giorgia Meloni mit dem albanischen Premierminister Edi Rama eine Vereinbarung getroffen hat, die vorsieht, in Albanien zwei (Rückführungs-) Zentren zu errichten, die jeden Monat bis zu 3.000 als "irregulär" definierte Personen aufnehmen sollen. Mdiengetöse oder ernstzunehmende Extermalisierung? Ein Gastbeitrag von Fulvio Vassallo Paleologo read more
Language(s): Deutsch / German
Region(s): Balkanstaaten, Italien / Malta
Klikaktiv - The Thrid Quarterly Reprt in 2023
The report focus particularly on the situation in the informal settlements in the border area between Serbia and EU member states, and the report includes descriptions of living conditions, photos and refugees' quotes. Additionally, we tackled the topics of smugglers and shootings, deaths on the route (refugees which had gone dead or missing during their journey), push backs and conduct of foreign border police guards (including Frontex). read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Balkanstaaten
NORTHERN SERBIA ADVOCACY REPORT
Collective Aid and Medical Volunteers International
This is our fourth report documenting observations and trend updates regarding border pushbacks, international political developments and Serbian state action relating to people on the move in Northern Serbia. These findings refer to observations made during April and May and are produced by grassroots organisations working along the Serbian border with Hungary and Romania. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Balkanstaaten
In defence of defenders: a practical guide to legal means and advocacy tools for criminalised Human Rights Defenders in Europe
This toolkit of Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Thessaloniki and Border Violence Monitoring Network seeks to support affected Human Rights Defenders by showing them mechanisms and avenues for help and self-defence in cases of criminalisation at various levels. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Europa
More people, more police and less safety
Annual report for 2022 from KlikAktiv (Serbien), about developments and observations of the fence construction on Serbia´s borders with North Macedonia and Bulgaria with an overview on the living conditions in the squats at the EU External borders. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Balkanstaaten
Northern Serbia Advocacy Report Dec 22-Jan 23
Observations and Trends in Pushbacks, Border Violence, and Conditions in Northern Serbia from "Collective Aid" and "Medical Volunteers International".In the last two months, there has been a large amount of police repression and violent evictions happening in Northern Serbia. This report also concentrate on further analysis of violence and procedures associated with pushbacks from Hungary to Serbia. read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Balkanstaaten
Northern Serbia Advocacy Report Oct / Nov 2022
Observations and Trends in Pushbacks, Border Violence and Conditions in Northern Serbia, prepared by "collective aid" and "Medical Volunteers International" read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Balkanstaaten
SPECIAL REPORT: GERMAN FUNDING TO CROATIAN BORDER ENFORCEMENT
This report by the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN), with the support of PRO ASYL, summarizes the results of an investigation into the support of German authorities for Croatian border authorities from 2016-2021 (and for deployments of officers, until 2022). It sheds a light on donations of equipment, the deployment of officers, and further kinds of support. In addition, the organisation of the Croatian police with regard to pushback operations is discussed. On both political and practical levels, Germany has heavily supported Croatia in border enforcement and securitization efforts. This support has continued over the last several years despite overwhelming evidence of systemic human rights violations perpetrated by Croatian police forces against people-on-the-move (POM). read more
Language(s): Englisch / English
Region(s): Balkanstaaten, Deutschland, Europäische Union, Europa