We are a non-profit project that aims to fill the data gaps relating to refugees and displaced people in Europe.
By Barbara Joannon, Head of Programme and Advocacy The EU Commission’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum offers an opportunity. A chance to move away from a security driven approach to migration and asylum within the EU, to one based on human dignity, the rule of law and human rights. But the New Pact comes … Continue reading What we want to see in the New Pact on Migration and Asylum
The past weeks have seen a sharp increase in media coverage of small boat crossings by desperate individuals trying to reach the UK from northern France. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently branded these Channel crossings “a very bad and stupid and dangerous and criminal thing to do”. Meanwhile, Home Secretary Priti Patel says she … Continue reading The UK Channel crossings – what’s happening?
By Selma Mesic, RRE Greece and Balkans Coordinator Photo of Leros Hotspot by: Bohm Rothenberg On 3 August, the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum announced that the funding they had requested in June for the building out of closed centres on the hotspots Samos, Kos and Leros had been approved by the European Commission. … Continue reading EU funding for closed centres in Greece is further sustaining a failing Hotspot approach
Harmful narratives The current narrative and political framing of boat arrivals as a “major threat” to the UK border needs to be challenged and put into perspective. In fact, the total number of arrivals by boat in 2020 thus far is expected to be just over 4,000 (compared with 1,890 in Jan-Dec 2019). This is … Continue reading On the arrival of prospective UK asylum seekers by boat, and the need for humane policy change
We recently submitted a briefing document, with substantial contributions from the non-governmental organisations Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration (ASGI), WeWorld, Diaconia Valdese and Befree, in advance of the adoption by the Committee against Torture (hereafter The Committee) of a list of issues prior to the Committee’s consideration of Italy’s Seventh Periodic Report on its … Continue reading RRE submits evidence to the UN Committee against Torture
La nostra organizzazione ha presentato un documento informativo, con contributi sostanziali delle organizzazioni non governative ASGI, WeWorld, Diaconia Valdese e Befree, prima dell’esame da parte del Comitato contro la tortura (di seguito il Comitato) della settima relazione periodica italiana sull’attuazione della Convenzione contro la tortura e altre pene o trattamenti crudeli, disumani o degradanti (di … Continue reading Refugee Rights Europe presenta un documento informativo al Comitato contro la tortura
By Michael* Michael is a former Calais camp resident who now has refugee status in the UK. Over the past months, he has supported refugees and asylum seekers in London and has spoken to more than 100 people about the difficulties they have experienced due to the Covid-19 situation. In this blog, he outlines some … Continue reading Why resuming evictions of refugees during the Covid-19 crisis is a major problem
By Loraine Masiya Mponela Loraine Masiya Mponela, the chairperson of Coventry Asylum and Refugee Action Group (CARAG), reflects on the unique challenges being faced by asylum seekers and undocumented migrants in the UK during the pandemic. Asylum seekers are people whose request for protection is yet to be processed. International law provides that anyone has … Continue reading Asylum Seekers Face Isolation and Destitution amid Covid-19
By Aileen Voit The Home Office has the discretionary power to detain persons at any point of their immigration process: upon arrival in the UK; upon presentation to an immigration office within the country; during a check-in with immigration officials; once a decision to remove has been issued; following arrest by a police officer; or … Continue reading We urgently need to rethink the unsafe discharge requirements of U.K. immigration detention centres to prevent putting detainees at greater risk of mental ill-health
By Pat Rubio Bertran As we are confined in our homes during this unprecedented pandemic, people in flimsy dinghies continue risking their lives on the Mediterranean Sea, seeking a place of safety. COVID-19 has erected yet another border in between them and the right to seek asylum, and it’s wider than the 2-meter recommended distance. … Continue reading For refugees at sea, COVID-19 is another border to safety and asylum