The major importance of the Balkan route in terms of migration towards Europe is internationally known. Nevertheless, the international regulations on the subject of asylum are heavily disregarded in this area by the local authorities. In the last years, the number of episodes of violence and abuses against migrants and refugees have been significantly growing. […]
After almost two months since the launch of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, questions arise on the possibility for European Member States to leave past controversies behind and move towards a more coherent and cohesive approach to migration and asylum. […]
“Sophia is finished, we have a new mission and a clear demarcation line against abuses of traffickers” said Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg in February after a meeting with EU Foreign Affairs Ministers about launching a new naval operation in the Central Mediterranean. […]
After the terrible fire that devastated the camp in Moria on the Greek island of Lesbos on the 9th September 2020, numerous mobilisation actions were carried out to help the approximately 13,000 people that were in the camp. An unusual initiative, however, has caught everyone’s attention: the air expedition organised by the Dutch civil society to bring 189 refugees to the Netherlands. […]
“So let’s stop talking it down, and let’s get to work for it. […] Let’s build the world we want to live in. Long live Europe!” With these words, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen closed her speech on the State of the Union held on the 16th September 2020. In this speech, the President announced the forthcoming release of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. […]
The recent fire outbreak in the largest Greek migrant camp on the island of Lesvos accentuated the harsh reality many migrants and refugees have been facing over the past years. Images of people running from the fire, sleeping on the streets and walking amid the burned camp should reawaken the European conscience and responsibility to act in front of a dangerous threat for human rights and individuals’ dignity. […]
On 1 March 2020, Greece suspended the right to seek asylum. Additionally, they announced that they would increase border security to prevent the entry of migrants, and summarily deport the ones entering illegally into Greek territory. […]
COVID-19 has posed several challenges on migratory movements. At the end of June, among the 11,300 people who had tried to cross the sea from Libya, 50% had been sent back and disembarked in Libyan ports. […]
In 2015, around one million refugees and migrants reached Europe by Sea. People from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq were forcibly displaced from their home countries due to war and conflict and came to Europe through Turkey to seek Asylum. Many of them, however, lost their lives in their journey to Greece in the Aegean Sea. […]
On 16th July 2020, in almost total silence and disinterest, the Italian Chamber of Deputies approved the so-called Decreto Missioni (“Missions Decree”). With this political decision, Italy renewed its strategic interest in Africa and, in particular, its support to the Libyan Coast Guard (LCG), a military body responsible for controlling the Libyan borders and combating irregular migration from its shores. […]