Statewatch News
4 June (Issue 11/21, also available as a PDF)
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Blackmail in the Balkans: externalising asylum
In this special report, Sophie-Anne Bisiaux (Migreurop) and Lorenz Naegeli (independent researcher) explain how the development of a system for collecting data on people on the move in the Balkans highlights the overall orientation of the EU's migration policies: outsourcing migration management at all costs, to the detriment of provisions for reception.
Read the article here.
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A tribute to Thomas Mathiesen
Thomas Mathiesen, the renowned sociologist who also produced important work for Statewatch, passed away on 29 May 2021. Tony Bunyan, Statewatch Director Emeritus, pays tribute to his life and work.
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A green light for mass surveillance?
An eight-year legal challenge against mass surveillance by British and Swedish spy agencies ended in May when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that there were insufficient safeguards in place.
However, by arguing that a lack of safeguards was the problem – rather than mass surveillance per se – there are concerns that the court has opened the door to new ‘legal’ forms of bulk data interception.
Read our overview here.
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News and analysis
Blackmail in the Balkans: how the EU is externalising its asylum policies
EU: Growing online censorship of presumed "violent extremism" of all ideological varieties
Arriving soon: global air travel surveillance and passenger profiling with no democratic control
ECHR: Bulk communications data interception by UK and Swedish spy agencies violated right to privacy
EU: Legal action against Frontex's operations in Greece initiated at the European Court of Justice
EU: Tracking the Pact: Council 'state of play' report on legal and policy initiatives
Italy: Death in detention centre, hunger strike and demonstration in response
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Analysis
1 June: Blackmail in the Balkans: how the EU is externalising its asylum policies
The development of a system for collecting data on people on the move in the Balkans highlights the overall orientation of the EU's migration policies: outsourcing migration management at all costs, to the detriment of provisions for reception. In order to keep those considered as "undesirable" at a distance, would the European Union go so far as to extend beyond its borders the ‘Dublin’ mechanism for allocating state responsibility for asylum claims, at the risk of further aggravating the rights violations along the Balkan route?
News
4 June: EU: Growing online censorship of presumed "violent extremism" of all ideological varieties
EU police agency Europol recently undertook its first ever "Referral Action Day against right-wing terrorist online propaganda," in which officers trawled the internet to file complaints about material that may contravene platforms' terms of service.
4 June: EU: Tracking the Pact: Council documents on coordination of externalisation, "partnerships" and Afghanistan
Three Council documents on the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum's externalisation aspects, covering: how to establish better EU-national coordination on externalisation of migration control; how to implement comprehensive "partnerships" on migration with priority countries; and a more detailed overview on relations on migration with Afghanistan.
3 June: Arriving soon: global air travel surveillance and passenger profiling with no democratic control
The ICAO, Interpol and various UN bodies are continuing their efforts to aid the establishment of systems for the surveillance of air travel and the automated profiling of passengers.
3 June: A tribute to Thomas Mathiesen
Thomas Mathiesen, the renowned sociologist, passed away on 29 May 2021. Tony Bunyan, Statewatch Director Emeritus, pays tribute to his life and work.
26 May: ECHR: Bulk communications data interception by UK and Swedish spy agencies violated right to privacy
An eight-year legal challenge initiated following the Snowden revelations in 2013 ended yesterday, when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the surveillance regime governing "bulk interception" of communications data by British spy agency GCHQ violated the right to privacy.
26 May: EU: Legal action against Frontex's operations in Greece initiated at the European Court of Justice
Human rights organisation Front-Lex has submitted the first ever action against Frontex to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), calling on it to take measures to ensure that Frontex meets its human rights obligations under international and EU law.
26 May: EU: Tracking the Pact: Council 'state of play' report on legal and policy initiatives
A documented circulated in the Council of the EU at the beginning of this week sets out the 'state of play' regarding the legal and policy initiatives launched as part of the Pact on Migration and Asylum. A number of legal proposals appear to be the subject of significant disagreement, holding up the adoption of other, less contentious proposals which form part of the "package".
24 May: Italy: Death in detention centre, hunger strike and demonstration in response
Baldi Moussa, a young 23-year-old from Guinea, was found dead by hanging while in "solitary confinement" in his cell in the CPR [Centri di Permanenza per il Rimpatrio] in Via Brunelleschi in Turin.
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