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Issue 19/23, 16 November
Statewatch News
Also available as a PDF.
Over the last fortnight we have been beavering away at our ongoing research projects, and have just two news stories for you - but below you will also find a comment from our Director on the defeat of the UK's Rwanda plan and the announcement of Italy's Albania plan. Our friends at EuroMed Rights have also produced a series of infographics on the uses of AI for border control and surveillance, based on the report we published with them earlier this year.
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EU planning new anti-migration deals with Egypt and Tunisia, unrepentant in support for Libya
The European Commission wants to agree “new anti-smuggling operational partnerships” with Tunisia and Egypt before the end of the year, despite longstanding reports of abuse against migrants and refugees in Egypt and recent racist violence endorsed by the Tunisian state. Material and financial support is already being stepped up to the two North African countries, along with support for Libya.
Full story here.
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USA seeks bilateral deals for access to European “criminal, terrorist, and identity records”
The USA’s proposed Enhanced Border Security Partnerships would entail “systematic and continuous” exchanges of sensitive personal data between participating states. The European Commission has indicated that its working group with the USA has stopped operating, and that plans are instead being negotiated bilaterally between member states and the USA.
Full story here.
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Rwanda off, Albania on
Comment by Chris Jones, Statewatch DirectorHuman rights advocates everywhere – and migrants’ rights advocates in the UK in particular – have been celebrating this week. On Wednesday, the country’s Supreme Court ruled the plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda unlawful. This has not stopped the government, of course, with prime minister Rishi Sunak saying he will introduce “emergency legislation” to make sure the plan goes into action. The far-right in the Conservative Party and sections of the UK media are calling for all manner of extreme responses, but whatever the government does will undoubtedly face fierce opposition. Here at Statewatch we will do what we can to support it.However, another migrant outsourcing plan has been announced, as if there is some sort of inhumane, Europe-wide version of the fairground game whack-a-mole going on. As soon as one is knocked down, another pops up. Italy’s far-right government has concluded an agreement that will see the Albanian authorities host two migrant “processing centres”. It is hard to see how the plan complies with EU law or the European Convention on Human Rights. That may be of little concern to the Italian government, but human rights campaigners in both countries will no doubt be seeking to challenge the plan in the weeks and months to come.We will continue to monitor developments in the UK, Italy and other cases of asylum and immigration outsourcing and externalisation across Europe. Find out more in our regular round-up of new material from across the continent, available in the PDF version of this bulletin, and follow us on Twitter, Mastodon, LinkedIn and Facebook.
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