We are a non-profit project that aims to fill the data gaps relating to refugees and displaced people in Europe.
Il va sans dire que les inquiétudes sont nombreuses concernant l’impact du Covid-19 sur les personnes exilé.e.s à travers l’Europe (et notamment pour les personnes sans papiers, celles confrontées à l’incertitude quant à leur statut légal, ou encore les personnes placées dans des centres de rétention administrative). Alors que l’extrême-droite et certains gouvernements européens … Continue reading Quel est l’impact du Covid-19 sur les personnes exilées à travers l’Europe ?
Needless to say, there are a number of reasons to be deeply concerned about the impact of Covid-19 on displaced individuals across Europe – in particular those who are undocumented, facing uncertainty about their legal status, and those held in immigration detention. As the far-right and some European governments have started capitalising on the … Continue reading On the impact of Covid-19 on displaced individuals across Europe
This month, the European Union Commission is expected to present a new Pact on Asylum and Migration. While this could have presented an opportunity to advance the rights of migrants and asylum seekers in Europe, there are many reasons for concern, in particular in relation to ‘externalisation’. Over the past years, the EU has increasingly … Continue reading The new asylum and migration pact: Risks of externalisation of EU asylum
By the Human Rights Observers team There are currently around 900 displaced people living in Calais, and 500 in Grande-Synthe, a town near Dunkirk, northern France. Most of these people live outside in woodlands, wastelands and crumbling warehouses on the edges of the towns, with tents or tarpaulins as their only formal structure for … Continue reading The constant cycle of displacement and destruction in northern France
By Helena Enyon Many refugees across Europe desperately need to reach a safe country where they can apply for asylum and seek family reunion. It is in trying to get there that many are faced with further human rights abuse, detention and even violence, as they attempt to cross borders. With no safe, legal means … Continue reading Border song – the secret culture of push-backs, violence and abuse in Europe
By Miriam Usiskin and Bobby Lloyd, January 2020 “The border creates particular conditions of (in-)visibility, (in-)audibility and (dis-)appearance and in order to intervene in that context, one needs to position carefully in relation to that. Art galleries and cultural spaces more broadly offer us a chance to reflect on those aspects” Forensic Oceonography[i] Four … Continue reading MAKING (IN-) VISIBLE- ART REFUGE IN CALAIS, NORTHERN FRANCE
At Refugee Rights Europe, we believe that the European Union, its member states and the UK are perfectly capable of ensuring a response to asylum and migration that upholds the human rights of every person seeking protection in Europe. We know it is possible to safeguard the human rights of displaced people while preventing the … Continue reading Our 2020 resolution? Ramping up refugee rights advocacy
Obstruction of access to the asylum procedure and family reunification According to NGOs operating in Calais and Grande-Synthe, there are currently approximately 600-700 displaced individuals living in makeshift outdoors settlements in Calais and around 550 in Grande-Synthe.[i] Despite a large number of prospective asylum seekers present in these locations for numerous years, individuals in … Continue reading Ground update: On the situation in northern France
By Selma Mesic This is just one of the testimonies of illegal and often violent pushbacks that Mobile Info Team collated from people that crossed the Greek/Turkish land border (largely made up of the river Evros) and published in a recent report[i]. The first-hand testimonies which have been collated by MIT confirm previous findings on … Continue reading “They pushed us into the mud, we were trying to lift the kids out… we didn’t know anything, it was in the middle of the night.”
As an organisation advocating for refugee rights in Europe, it is of course crucially important to work consistently at the European Union level, pushing for meaningful change. As 2019 comes to a close, here’s a look at the EU advocacy work we believe can help make a difference: Engaging European parliamentarians When the new … Continue reading Advocating for refugee rights at the EU level