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issue 25/10 20 June welcome Dear Statewatcher, Today, 20 June, is World Refugee Day. Designated as such by the United Nations and first marked in 2001, it exists to honour: ­ “the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution.” It is also supposed to: ­ “mobilize political will and resources so refugees can not only survive but thrive.” On the one hand, it is commemorated by protests, campaigns and events designed by and for refugees and those who stand in solidarity with them. On the other, governments tend to use it as an opportunity to publish platitudes about their support for refugees. Actions, however, speak louder than words. European governments will trumpet their supposed support for refugees. But those pronouncements come as the EU aims to label certain countries “safe” so they can subject people to accelerated asylum and deportation procedures; and to limit judicial scrutiny for overseas deportation camps. All this whilst the violence against people trying to cross Europe’s borders seeking safety continues unabated, and European governments continue to support Israel as it commits brutal crimes against people made refugees in their own land. Non-citizens – whether categorised as refugees or migrants – are frequently the first targets for new measures of surveillance and control, whilst often lacking access to redress for violations. Once one group of peoples’ rights are undermined, it becomes much easier to do the same to others. Standing up for the rights of non-citizens is, therefore, vital for everyone – and, as always, that job will fall to ordinary people, not governments. Chris Jones Director, Statewatch make a donation in EUR >> make a donation GBP >> news New report examines Algeria's role in the European border regime A new report looks at the way the Algerian government has increased its involvement in border control initiatives promoted by European governments, after decades of reluctance to do so. read more >> EU: Proposed deportation law fuels "far-right narratives" and should be withdrawn, says letter EU lawmakers should drop the proposed deportation Regulation, says an open letter signed by 12 members of the #ProtectNotSurveil coalition, including Statewatch. The letter warns that the proposal will violate peoples' rights through an expansion of the EU's digital surveillance and control infrastructure. read more >> Document: EU measures against transport operators involved in migrant smuggling The latest Polish Council Presidency draft of the proposed Regulation "on measures against transport operators that facilitate or engage in trafficking in persons or smuggling of migrants". If a company were deemed to be engaged in those activities, the EU would be able to suspend port visitation rights, road or fail transportation licenses, or to limit the scope of existing licenses. read more >> Document: Access to data for effective law enforcement The Council of the EU's proposed priorities for law enforcement access to data, covering: measures to be implemented immediately; priorities for the European Commission's upcoming "roadmap to ensure lawful and effective access to data"; and ideas for ways to "foster a constructive public discourse." read more >> Longstanding failings in police databases likely to worsen under new deportation law The EU’s new deportation law will expand a database that has long led to abuses and rights violations, particularly in relation to the right to data protection. read more >> AI At The Gates (from the Our Eye on the EU podcast by InterAlia) How is the EU using AI at its borders and who’s being left unprotected? In this episode, Chris Jones from Statewatch reveals the hidden dynamics behind Europe's AI surveillance systems, from opaque institutions to weakened safeguards in the AI Act. read more >> what we're watching This is our bi-weekly round up of all the important news, events, and resources we've come across over the last two weeks. Find this resource useful? If so, please consider making a donation to support us. borders and frontiers The EU donates high-tech equipment worth 1.4 million BAM to strengthen operational capacities The equipment includes 25 short and medium-range drones, 30 handheld thermal imaging cameras, and 5 heartbeat detectors, along with specialised training for drone operators. Read more. UK Home Office tells parents their children should return to Brazil alone A Brazilian mother and father have been left distraught after being told by the Home Office that their young children have no right to stay in the UK and should return to Brazil alone. Read more. Schengen faces midlife crisis  Today, the Schengen zone offers borderless travel to 450 million people from 29 countries and checks are supposed to be relegated to temporary last-resort measures in exceptional circumstances. Except: Even as it prepares to host celebrations for the borderless travel treaty's 40th birthday, Luxembourg is once more losing sleep over border controls. Read more. Bodies believed to be migrants wash up on shores of Egypt, Tunisia The bodies of people believed to be migrants have reportedly washed up on the shores of both Egypt and Tunisia in the last few days. The UN Migration Agency IOM reported at least ten bodies washed up in Egypt and the Tunisian human rights organization FTDES stated that "dozens" of bodies had been discovered on the beaches of Tunisia. Read more. Addressing pushbacks at the EU's external borders The migration policy of the EU has increasingly focused on reinforcing the external borders and the externalisation of migration. Although states have the right to decide whether to grant non-EU nationals access to their territory, they must do this in accordance with the law and uphold individuals' fundamental rights. Read more. Undocumented workers - EU can't live with them, can't live without them Debates around migration continue to orbit familiar binaries: legal versus illegal, humanitarian duty versus border control, integration versus deportation. Yet the day-to-day functioning of many EU member states quietly rests on the presence of millions of people who do not exist in official registers. Their labour is deemed illegal, yet their presence is tolerated; their contributions are unrecognised, yet essential.  Read more. Germany, Nigeria to deepen cooperation in economy, migration The foreign ministers of Germany and Nigeria pledged to strengthen their countries' partnership in areas such as the economy, energy, and migration. Read more. Dangerous journeys: Saving lives and responding to missing migrants and refugees Dangerous journeys are taken every day by refugees and other migrants, often with tragic consequences. This issue explores how more lives can be saved on land and sea and how disappearances can be prevented or resolved. Read more. EU to Africa: No more free cash  The European Commission wants to strengthen the link between foreign aid and domestic priorities like energy and migration.  Read more.  The harms of anti-smuggling narratives and legislation on migrants: a comparative study of Italy and the UK This article investigates how anti-smuggling political narratives and legislation in Italy and the UK are used to justify institutionalised harm on migrants, using thematic analysis of legislation, NGOs’ reports, press, and social media coverage on migration and smuggling in the last two years. Read more. coercion and control UK will look into more ‘transactional’ approach to granting visas, says Starmer The UK will look into penalising countries that refuse to take back people who are refused asylum by making visa applications for their nationals harder, Keir Starmer has said at the G7 summit in Canada. Read more. Ireland: Department of Justice warned of prison overcrowding The head of the Irish Prison Service warned the Department of Justice that a crackdown on undocumented migrants would result in dangerous and high-risk prisoners being granted early release to ease overcrowding. Read more. Report: The shrinking space for journalism in Croatia The International Press Institute today joins the Media Freedom Rapid Response consortium in publishing a new report on the state of media freedom in Croatia following an advocacy mission to Zagreb between 19 and 21 May 2025. Read more. crime and collusion TU Eindhoven starts new research projects with Israeli partners TU/e is starting at least four new Horizon Europe projects with Israeli partners in the period between May and October 2025. Read more. The obligations of the EU and its Member States to prevent impunity for international crimes The Meijers Committee raises concerns about EU Member States undermining their obligations to arrest and surrender individuals wanted by the International Criminal Court. Read more. Israel furious as France shuts weapons stands at Paris Airshow France shut down the main Israeli company stands at the Paris Airshow on Monday for refusing to remove attack weapons from display, sparking a furious response from Israel and inflaming tensions between the traditional allies. Read more. Netherlands: New collaborations with Israel suspended immediately; existing collaborations under reassessment TU Delft will not initiate new collaborations with Israeli universities and organisations due to serious concerns regarding potential involvement in genocidal violence and human rights violations within the context of the Israel–Gaza conflict. Read more. Leak of EU's full 2024 Gaza report piles pressure on Israel Even though a suspension of commercial ties between the EU and Israel remains unlikely, the publication of an internal EU paper from 2024 spelling out Israel's "war crimes" in Gaza will make it harder to claim Tel Aviv deserves to keep free-trade perks. Read more. discrimination and racism Locked up: Detention based on the aliens law in Switzerland Every year, about 3,000 persons are held in administrative detention for up to one and a half years, not because of an offence, but solely because of their migration status. Detention under the law of aliens is a coercive measure of administrative law aimed at guaranteeing the departure of persons in an irregular situation. It constitutes a profound attack on the fundamental right to personal freedom guaranteed by the Constitution. Read more. Public discourse on migration shaped by misinformation and conspiracy theories Better communication is essential to counter misconceptions, biases and lack of accurate information.  Read more. resistance and solidarity MPs vote to decriminalise abortion for women in England and Wales MPs have voted to change abortion legislation to stop women in England and Wales being prosecuted for ending their pregnancy. Read more. S&D, Green, Renew MEPs to attend banned Budapest Pride, in defiance of Orban A number of MEPs are heading to Budapest to attend the banned Gay Pride march set to take place on 28 June — as pressure mounts for the EU to strip Hungary of its voting rights.  Read more. Spain: Recognition of EH Bildu MEP Pernando Barrena as a victim of police torture The Left Group welcomes the long-overdue decision by the Government of Navarra to officially recognize its Member, EH Bildu MEP Pernando Barrena, as a victim of police torture, along with 20 others affected by state and far-right violence. This acknowledgment, while necessary, comes far too late. For decades, countless individuals in the Basque Country have suffered in silence, with no justice, no recognition, and no reparations.  Read more. surveillance and snooping UK: Police forces to get authoritarian powers to extract data from online accounts Digital rights campaigners Open Rights Group has condemned the last minute addition of extreme powers to the Crime and Policing Bill. The new additions would give the police the powers to extract data through a seized device to any online accounts that have been accessed by that device. This could be done without any judicial oversight, just the sign off by a senior police officer. Read more. Facial recognition technology needs stricter regulation The rapid expansion of biometric surveillance raises serious concerns about accuracy and ethics, but oversight is patchy and voluntary, says Ada Lovelace Institute  Read more. UK: Police use controversial AI tool that looks at people’s sex lives and beliefs  Senior MPs and privacy campaigners have expressed alarm at the deployment of Palantir’s AI-powered crime fighting software with access to sensitive personal information. Read more.  Spyware and state abuse: The case for an EU-wide ban   EDRi’s position paper addresses the challenges posed by state use of spyware in the EU. It also tackles how spyware should be legally defined in a way that shields us from future harms, as well as the dangers of the proliferation of commercial spyware in Europe. After conducting a values-based analysis into spyware, the paper concludes that the only human-rights compliant approach is a full ban.  Read more. UK: Dangerous Data Bill Affects Us All, Not Just Creative Industries Digital rights campaigners, the Open Rights Group have warned that the Data Use and Access Bill contains dangerous provisions that will not only make it harder for people to have control over their personal data and lives, but also threaten adequacy status with the EU. Read more. Public Services Card database of millions of Irish people’s faces declared illegal After 15 years, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) partially welcomes the Data Protection Commission’s (DPC) findings today that collection of facial (biometric) data for the Public Services Card (PSC) is unlawful. However, the decision is more than a decade late and inadequate. Read more. war and peace Attorney general warns UK joining war on Iran may be illegal Britain’s attorney general has warned ministers that getting involved in Israel’s war against Iran could be illegal beyond offering defensive support, it has emerged. Read more.  Commission seeks links between civil and military research funds As well as supporting dual-use projects in Horizon Europe, more links will be sought with programmes such as the European Defence Fund. Read more. Malaysian groups plan 'Thousand Ship flotilla' to break Israel's siege of Gaza  Malaysian civil society organisations on Saturday announced a plan to launch what they describe as the largest maritime mobilisation in the world to break the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip. Read more.  Don’t kick Israel out of Horizon Europe, says German universities chief The head of the German Rectors’ Conference has pleaded with the EU not to eject Israel from the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, as the bloc weighs how to respond to the country’s starvation of Gaza.  Read more. European Defence Fund millions benefiting Israeli state-owned drone manufacturer A European subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries is currently involved in 15 EU defence projects, including a multi-million euro drone development programme co-funded by European governments. Read more. ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Statewatch 88 Fleet St, EC4Y 1DH, London