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Issue 24/12, 4 July
Welcome to the latest edition of Statewatch News, featuring:
- New border externalisation bulletin now available
- EU agency cosies up to Arab League policing body
- UK: Prospective MPs must end hateful rhetoric
We also have our regular round-up of new material from across Europe and beyond, and recently our team have had their work and comments published elsewhere: an article by our researcher Romain Lanneau, part of a collection of essays, has been translated into Spanish by the Digital Freedom Fund; and our researcher Yasha Maccanico is quoted in articles in both Italian and French on deportation flights from Italy to Tunisia.
The newsletter is also available as a PDF.
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New border externalisation bulletin available
The second edition of Outsourcing borders: Monitoring EU externalisation policies, published with migration-control.info, includes analyses of multi-billion increases in the EU's budgets for border externalisation and the growing use of visa sanctions to coax third states into cooperating with EU deportations.
It also includes an extensive update to the document archive, with almost two dozen documents from the secretive Operational Coordination Mechanism for the External Dimension of Migration, MOCADEM, a body also examined in the editorial.
Many of the documents added to the archive have been summarised in the bulletin's section on thematic and regional developments, intended to provide a useful overview of key issues, themes and events.
Read the full issue here.
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EU agency cosies up to Arab League’s political extradition body
An investigation co-published with The New Arab shows how CEPOL, the EU police training agency, is collaborating with the Arab League’s political extradition body in spite of its human rights obligations.
CEPOL has sought to collaborate closely with the Arab Interior Ministers’ Council on the collection and exchange of information on terrorism matters in the MENA/SWANA region, despite the AIMC’s failure to include safeguards against human rights abuses into its existing information-sharing systems.
Full story here.
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UK: Prospective MPs must end “hateful and inflammatory rhetoric”
Candidates in this week's general election in the UK should shun "hateful and inflammatory rhetoric" against migrants and support policies for "digital sanctuary," says a letter signed by 37 organisations, including Statewatch.
Providing "digital sanctuary" for people means "ending the hostile digital environment, establishing robust privacy protections for migrants’ data and promoting inclusive digital policies," says the letter.
Read it here.
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New material
Frontex: democratic oversight, role in new Pact, abuses in Bulgaria and Greece ----- Greek coast guard again abandons children in the Aegean ----- Germany: Far-right AfD's gains driving immigration debate ----- Julian Assange leaves UK after striking deal with US justice department ----- Greece introduces ‘growth-oriented’ six-day working week ----- Prison revolt in Rome: “The conditions of detention are unacceptable” ----- New Dutch government sworn in amid concerns over far-right ministers
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New material
Asylum, immigration and borders
Asylum, immigration and borders
UNITED List of Refugee Deaths: 2024 update
“In the ‘‘UNITED List of Refugee Deaths’’, UNITED has been collecting reliable data on refugee deaths related to Fortress Europe since 1993. In the period 1993-2024 at least 60.620 documented refugee deaths can be attributed to the ‘Fatal Policies of Fortress Europe’. Ten thousands more are never found.”
Why Externalisation Policies Fail: A Critical Analysis
“The article explores the failures of EU externalisation policies in managing migration. The study highlights the limitations of externalisation practices in reducing migrant arrivals and dismantling smuggling operations. It delves into the structural biases and Eurocentrism embedded in these policies, leading to unequal power dynamics and resistance from third countries. By analysing factors such as the agency of partner countries, social dynamics of migration, and hidden diplomatic agendas, the research uncovers key phenomena challenging the effectiveness of EU externalisation policies. Through a comprehensive examination of multidisciplinary literature, including political science, international affairs, law, and civil movement studies, the study sheds light on the complexities and shortcomings of externalisation as a tool for migration management.”
Call to halt ongoing mass deportations of Gambian nationals from EU
“In light of the recent developments concerning the deportation of Gambian nationals from Germany, we, as advocates for the rights and dignity of all Gambians, urge the Gambian government to take immediate action to halt the ongoing mass deportations.”
And see: Deportations: EU considers stepping up visa sanctions after Iraq and Gambia change policies
Shipwreck in the Ionian Sea, 17.6.2024. The Silenced Dead and Institutional Silence
“On the night of June 16-17, off the Ionian Sea, a boat that departed from the port of Bodrum in Turkey with about 67 people on board (including 26 minors) sank approximately 120 miles off the coast of Calabria.”
Asso 29 case, ruling comes: Libya is not a safe place to take migrants
“Sentenced the Ministries of Defence, Transport, the Presidency of the Council, the Captain of the Asso 29 and the ship-owning company Augusta Offshore to pay damages to five claimants who were taken back to Libya by the Italian merchant ship in 2018.”
The Italy-Albania Agreement on Migration: From the Fiction of Non-Entry to Functional Entry
“The Italy-Albania Protocol ratified by Law No. 14/24 allows Italy to examine applications for international protection on Albanian territory, but under Italian jurisdiction
The agreement applies only to migrants intercepted by Italian vessels in the Mediterranean, not those who arrived on Italian soil first
The Protocol can be considered an entry point to new approaches to territoriality. It will contribute to consolidate the legal fiction of non-entry and will contribute to the introduction of new mechanisms based on a functional extraterritoriality.
The Protocol establishes a “functional territoriality”, since Italian law is being applied in an extraterritorial space
It legally requalifies the notion of territory based on a fictio iuris aimed at equating areas belonging to the Albanian state to Italian border areas”
Morocco-Spain: Demand truth and justice on the massacre of June 24, 2022 (Nador-Melilla)
“An associative collective made up of human rights NGOs and the movement for the defense of people in migration announces the organization of a sit-in to commemorate the crimes committed on the border between Melilla and Nador on June 24, 2022
This symbolic action is to demand the opening of a national and international investigation to shed light, in complete independence, on these events, those responsible and the consequences of migration policies financed by the European Union (EU) and implemented. place by the States.”
Frontex's expanding mandate: Has democratic control caught up?
“This article analyses to what extend the rapid growth of Frontex has been accompanied by adequate democratic accountability, whereby the author draws on her experiences as a Member of Parliament. She elaborates on the safeguards in legislation but also on their application in practice, with a focus on the lessons the Parliament learned from its own inquiry on the role of Frontex in pushbacks. The contribution subsequently puts democratic control to a test on two relatively recent tasks of Frontex: return and external cooperation.”
Frontex and the new Pact on Migration and Asylum
“Frontex’s role in the implementation of the New Pact is multidimensional. All four pillars require attention from the Agency, however the main areas of action are the following Commission-identified Building Blocks:
Building Block 2 covering a new system for the border, which aims to ensure the screening and the border procedures for asylum and return work together in a seamless process with all guarantees;
Building Block 5 covering efficient and fair returns, which aims to expedite return procedures and create a close link between the asylum and the return process.”
African and Asian artists condemn ‘humiliating’ UK and EU visa refusals
“Musicians, authors, producers and festival managers have hit out at “humiliating” and costly visa-rejection rates for African and Asian artists visiting Britain and European Union countries, saying it is having a chilling impact on cultural diversity.
Analysis shows the UK last year raised £44m in fees for visa applications that were then rejected, mainly coming from low- and middle-income countries. The EU made €130m (£110m).”
Germany: Far-right AfD's gains driving immigration debate
“Faster deportations, third-country asylum procedures — after the EU election, there is growing pressure in Germany to restrict immigration even more.”
EU: The Complex Landscape of Asylum Border Procedures in the new Asylum Procedures Regulation
“The extensive regulation of border procedures in the final APR underscores their role as a crucial ‘migration management tool’. The persistence, during negotiations, to uphold border procedures at any cost resulted in intricate and complex provisions, emphasising their importance in ensuring responsibility of first-entry states. However, by containing asylum seekers at external borders, the EU risks exacerbating existing deficiencies, leading to overcrowd reception and detention centres and consequently violation of human rights. This directly impacts both asylum seekers, that will have to navigate asylum procedures with limited safeguards, and states grappling with overburdened capacities.”
Egypt's EU-funded border guards 'implicated in Sudanese abuse'
“Egypt’s border guards have been accused of mass deportations of Sudanese refugees, according to a new report by Amnesty International.
The border guard received a slice of some €80m in EU funds two years ago”
“On June 5th, the Refugees Platform in Egypt (RPE), along with 40 civil society organizations, expressed in a joint statement their deep concern over Italy’s decision to classify the Arab Republic of Egypt as a “safe country of origin” under Legislative Decree No. 25/2008, paragraph 2-bis.
The organizations urged the Italian government to publicly disclose the criteria followed in their country review of Egypt, and to reconsider the decision. This comes in line with the Italian government’s expanded efforts to strengthen relations between Egypt and the EU through a number of agreements, including the Mattei Plan, ATIPPA Training, and other agreements directly related to migration or development.”
Frontex Officers Failing to Report Migrant Abuses on Albania-Greece Border
“According to the officer, whose account was also obtained by BIRN in redacted form, so-called ‘pushbacks’ – in which police send would-be asylum seekers back over the border without due process, in violation of international human rights standards – are “a known thing within Frontex” and all the officer’s colleagues were “told not to write a serious incident report because it just went that way there”. Pushbacks, he was saying, were regularly occurring on the Albanian-Greek border.”
'Fear of repercussion' thwarts Frontex rights abuse reports
“Redacted documents and minutes from the EU's border agency Frontex paint a picture of mounting frustration for its fundamental rights officer, Jonas Grimheden.
His reports to Frontex's management board, as well as the board's minutes, suggest that the agency's internal system to flag abuse against migrants is being actively undermined.”
And see: Greek border deaths: Frontex management board knew about "systematic" violations
“Several recent investigations show how the Hellenic Coast Guard is driving refugees to their deaths. The Fundamental Rights Officer at Frontex considers the claims to be credible.”
Greek Asylum Case Law Report | Issue 1/2024
“The new issue of the Greek Asylum Case Law Report released today provides excerpts from 57 decisions by administrative and civil courts, the Independent Appeals Committees and the Asylum Service, mainly issued in the first half of 2024.”
Rwanda plan being ‘abandoned’ by Home Office staff despite Sunak flights pledge
“The Rwanda asylum plan is already being “quietly abandoned” by the Home Office according to insiders despite Rishi Sunak’s vow that flights will take off next month if the Tories win the election.
Speaking in a television debate last week, the Prime Minister insisted that the first plane would leave for Kigali on 24 July, adding: “We’ve already started detaining people, the airfield’s on standby, planes are booked.”
But on the same day he made the statement the Home Office was freeing asylum seekers from immigration centres.”
Civil liberties
Julian Assange leaves UK after striking deal with US justice department
“Julian Assange has been released from a British prison and is expected to plead guilty to violating US espionage law, in a deal that would allow him to return home to his native Australia.
Assange, 52, agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents, according to filings in the US district court for the Northern Mariana Islands.”
And see: Julian Assange may be on his way to freedom but this is not a clear victory for freedom of the press; Experts warn Julian Assange plea deal could set dangerous precedent
Italy: An alarming case of intimidation of a court judge
Emilio Sirianni has had their career advancement and salary increase blocked for their friendship with and advice to Mimmo Lucano, a mayor accused of organised crime for his solidarity work.
Crotone judge annuls Humanity 1 detention and orders government to pay costs
“The administrative detention order to which the ship Humanity 1 belonging to the German NGO SOS Humanity was subjected last March has been definitively annulled.”
And see: Final court decision: Detention of Humanity 1 was unlawful!
Greece issues arrest warrant for Norwegian helping refugees
“Human rights defender Tommy Olsen, from Norway, is facing up to 20 years in prison after Greece issued a national warrant for his arrest last month.
"We have just seen the files, and there isn't one single piece of evidence against me," he told EUobserver on Thursday (6 June).”
How does the UK public define its own security?
“How the British people understand their own security is a question that ought to be central to security policy analysis. Yet public opinion polling on security issues almost always seeks to gauge reaction to and validation of a small range of established security threats and responses. New research by Rethinking Security and Coventry University sought to let people define their own security and how it relates to the UK state and society. The responses were startling.”
Greece introduces ‘growth-oriented’ six-day working week
“Companies in countries worldwide may be toying with the idea of implementing shorter working weeks, but in Greece employees have been told that, henceforth, they can put in a sixth day of labour in an unorthodox step aimed at turbocharging productivity.”
Law
Revisiting systemic (in)justices: Community reflections
“In total, 40 community organisers, campaigners, and activists from 19 countries agreed to speak to us about the challenges they face and the harms they experience. We have organised these conversations into the themes of: climate justice, access to justice, policing, social protection, anti-racism, and free movement.”
Military
Against all apartheid regimes and borders: ceasefire and freedom of movement in Palestine
“As a Euro-African network of human rights organisations, activists, and researchers, Migreurop stands for freedom of movement for all. With this statement, Migreurop wishes to join the many calls for an immediate ceasefire and to denounce the complicity of most European states with the state of Israel in the ongoing massacres in Palestine. Migreurop condemns all forms of hindrance to mobility, of which the occupation of Palestine and the blockade of Gaza are among the most extreme examples. The closure of borders and the outsourcing of migration control by or with the support of the European Union and its member states contribute to maintaining and reinforcing mobility apartheid and the hierarchisation of people’s rights and lives to the detriment of Palestinians.”
Police search Thales offices in three countries in corruption probe
“Police in France, Spain and the Netherlands searched the offices of French military equipment provider Thales between Wednesday and Friday as part of a corruption probe, a judicial source told Reuters on Saturday.
A spokesperson for Thales confirmed to Reuters that searches had taken place but gave no further details beyond saying that the company was cooperating with authorities.”
Policing
“We launched the G7 Coalition to prevent and counter the smuggling of migrants.
(…)
Through this initiative, we will promote enhanced cooperation on investigative capacities, engaging relevant authorities in countries of origin, transit, and destination. We will encourage advancements toward improved and reliable data exchanges, crucial for evidence-based joint enforcement actions against smuggling and trafficking networks. We will utilize a “follow the money” approach to effectively identify, investigate, and disrupt organized crime, tackling financial aspects, including enhanced cooperation on asset confiscation. We also recognize the importance of raising awareness and informing potential migrants on the risks associated with migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons, to deter them from embarking on perilous routes. We task our G7 Interior and Security Ministers, in coordination with other relevant Ministers, to create a dedicated Action Plan to advance the G7 Coalition, to be adopted at the upcoming Interior and Security Ministers meeting. In implementing this Action Plan, we will ensure the Coalition works through ongoing partnerships and mechanisms, including with UNODC and other relevant United Nations bodies, the Financial Action Task Force, INTERPOL, EUROPOL, the EU’s Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling, and through G7 frameworks such as the Roma-Lyon Group and the Venice Justice Group.”
“Despite an instruction from the Federal Constitutional Court, the judiciary in Dresden had a person from the left-wing scene wanted on a warrant handed over to the Hungarian police. Now there is a threat of a repeat offence.”
Using AI to Fight Trafficking Is Dangerous
“Sweeping calls to collect data on marginalized populations and automate decisions about what constitutes a human trafficking pattern are dangerous. Women of color, migrants, and queer people face profiling and persecution under surveillance regimes that fail to distinguish between consensual adult sex work and human trafficking.”
Prisons
Italy: Rome: Revolt in Regina Coeli. The Ombudsman: “The conditions of detention are unacceptable”
“‘Regina Coeli is an illegal prison, a place where people, in those conditions, should not and cannot stay. The only thing that can be done there is to get half of the people who are detained there out, nothing else can be done.’ This is the lapidary comment of Valentina Calderone, Rome's guarantor of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty, on the riot that broke out in the capital's prison against overcrowding. The protests began after a search was carried out this morning in some cells where sharp metal objects and sticks, which were considered to be weapons, and self-produced schnapps were found. The inmates set some objects on fire; there were no injuries and the situation returned to normal in the early afternoon.”
UK: Jails to run out of space in days, governors warn
“Jails will run out of space within days, putting the public at risk, the body representing 95% of prison governors in England and Wales is warning political leaders.
The Prison Governors’ Association (PGA) says police officers will be unable to detain people because there will be nowhere to put them.
“The entire criminal justice system stands on the precipice of failure,” it says in a letter.”
Turkey: Öcalan increasingly isolated. Appeal to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture
“For three years the Kurdish leader has not communicated directly with anyone. He has been in the prison-island of Imrali since 1999. After yet another visit ban addressed to his lawyers, an appeal was sent from Italy to Alan Mitchell, president of the Council of Europe body, of which Turkey is also a member”
Racism and discrimination
New Dutch government sworn in amid concerns over far-right ministers
“The development aid minister has argued that development aid should be abolished, the asylum and immigration minister has referred to “population replacement”, and the housing minister was a vocal anti-lockdown campaigner.”
How France’s far-right National Rally plans to secure its absolute majority in parliament
“Buoyed by its resounding success in the first round of the snap legislative elections, France’s far-right National Rally party (RN) is hoping to secure an absolute majority in the second round on July 7. Before it can achieve this however, NR’s President Jordan Bardella will have to fend off both the leftist New Popular Front and President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble coalition.”
Indian farm worker in Italy ‘left to die on road’ with severed arm
“A trade unionist has called for a crackdown against “barbaric exploitation” after an Indian farm worker died when he was allegedly being left on a road by his employer following an accident that severed his arm.”
Far right using climate crisis as bogeyman to frighten voters and build higher walls
“A disrupted climate and diminished natural world are widening the dividing lines of ideological debate. Left unchecked, this will undermine democracy.
That may not be the first thing on the minds of British voters as they go to the polls on Thursday. It is probably also a minority view in the rest of Europe or the US, where people are too much in the thick of a polycrisis to consider anything outside politics and economics as usual. But from a distance, in my case from the Amazon rainforest, there is a very different explanation for the tremors being witnessed in the old world and the new.”
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