WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE UNITED KINGDOM - STATEWATCH - Bi-weekly bulletin: issue 25/17 - 7 November.

 

issue 25/17 7 November

welcome Dear Statewatcher, In this edition we have two new publications to highlight, both of them looking at important but under-examined issues. If you have followed our work in recent years, you will know that immigration and border control in the EU is increasingly reliant on digital technologies fuelled by personal data. Our new Data Protection Handbook on Asylum and Migration in Europe will help lawyers, case workers and volunteers supporting people in the EU’s immigration system(s) understand this complex landscape. It also provides a foundational understanding of data protection law and principles – a crucial tool for seeking redress. The second publication, a special report by investigative journalist Giacomo Zandonini, looks at the often-murky links between tech companies and EU policing agency Europol. US tech billionaires, Israeli surveillance technology, conflicts of interests and revolving doors – the report features all this, and more. With the European Commission planning to massively extend Europol’s powers and double its size in 2026, it is vital to understand these public-private alliances now. This week we also published: the latest edition of Outsourcing Borders, our regular bulletin on European border externalisation policies, which now has its own dedicated mailing list; a statement co-signed with nearly 300 other organisations, calling on the UK to uphold the European Convention on Human Rights and the principles it embodies. And, as always, you can find below our round-up of news from across Europe and beyond. Chris Jones Director, Statewatch

make a donation in EUR >> make a donation GBP >> news European Parliament: Development committee report pushes to use aid as migration leverage The European Parliament’s Committee on Development (DEVE) is set to debate a report today that supports using development aid to encourage migration control cooperation by non-EU states. read more >> UK: Politicians must "stop using our human rights as a scapegoat" Almost 300 organisations, including Statewatch, have called on the UK government to defend the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Government ministers and opposition politicians in both the UK and across Europe are demanding changes to, or even withdrawal from, the ECHR, claiming it prevents them from introducing more restrictive immigration policies. read more >> Data Protection Handbook on Asylum and Migration in Europe The EU’s immigration and asylum system is governed by a complex set of rules. As well as being regularly amended by legislators, those rules are also subject to frequent interpretation (and re-interpretation) by the courts. The increasing use of digital technologies and databases for the enforcement of immigration and asylum law adds a further twist to this complicated scenario. read more >> Behind closed doors: Europol’s opaque relations with tech companies As part of its research into the expanding—and largely unchecked—use of AI by EU security agencies, Statewatch delves into largely uncharted territory: Europol’s links with the private sector. A survey of this landscape reveals conflicts of interests, secrecy and opacity, and a whole array of intrusive and invasive technologies that Europol would like to adopt, and make more widely available to European police forces. read more >> events UK: Orgreave: A Long Road to Truth Justice and Accountability (11 November, online) The Government’s announcement of a Public Inquiry into the events at Orgreave in 1984 and its aftermath has been described as both historic and momentous. In this seminar, speakers will explore the events that took place at Orgreave, examine the enduring impact on those involved, and reflect on the campaign for justice that has spanned over four decades. 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 Belfast records highest number of immigration raids in the UK A parliamentarian has called on the Executive to raise the increasing number of immigration raids with the Home Office after a report found more had been carried out in Belfast since 2018 than any other part of the UK. Read more UK: Home Office squandered billions on ‘failed and chaotic’ asylum accommodation The Home Office has squandered billions of pounds on asylum accommodation due to long-term mismanagement of a “failed, chaotic and expensive” system, according to a report published by a powerful parliamentary committee. Read more ICE detains British journalist after criticism of Israel on US tour Trump ally Laura Loomer took credit for Sami Hamdi’s detainment in move denounced as ‘affront to free speech’ Read more EU embraces authoritarian Egypt for help on Gaza, migration As the EU held its first-ever bilateral summit with Egypt, activists said the bloc was rewarding an authoritarian government Read more UK use of AI age estimation tech on migrants fuels rights fears UK to use facial recognition tech to decide ages of lone child asylum seekers but critics say biases could rob many of safeguards. Read more Europe: Human rights defenders excluded by discriminatory Schengen visa system Visa systems in Europe’s Schengen area function like an obstacle course for human rights defenders from different parts of the world, preventing many from participating in key decision-making forums. Read more Portugal: 9 million euros for a new coastal patrol vessel The aim is to enhance the ability to address threats identified in maritime zones, including combating international drug trafficking, irregular immigration and human trafficking, smuggling and cross-border crime, terrorism and arms trafficking, illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, and maritime environmental crime. Read more Ghanaians are pushing back against the government's deportation deal with the US The Ghanaian government has been accepting deportees from the US who are nationals of other West African states. Despite claiming to have received no benefits for doing so, the Ghanaian governent has sought a relaxation on US visa restrictions. Meanwhile, deported people have been dumped in neighbouring countries of which they are not citizens. Read more coercion and control UN expert: property damage in the course of protest cannot be considered terrorism "Mere property damage, without intentionally causing death or serious personal injury," cannot be considered terrorism, "especially when it occurs in the course of protest in a democratic society." This is according to the UN Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights. Whether or not it is directed at the UK or not, the statement clearly fits the proscription of the direct action group Palestine Action. Read more European far right follows Trump in calling for antifa to be declared terrorists article or report title Where Donald Trump leads, Europe’s nationalists and far right follow. After a Truth Social post last month, when Trump announced the US would designate antifa, the decentralised anti-fascist movement, “a major terrorist organisation”, his international allies swung into action. Read more UK: Resist new laws restricting ‘cumulative protests’ If the government wants to avoid repeated protest marches, maybe the answer is to look at its cumulative support for injustice, its cumulative destruction of the environment and its cumulative complicity in genocide. Read more Democratic Education in a Tempest: Balancing Protection and Pluralism in Education Political and cultural disagreements are increasingly scripting what students can read and discuss. Whether through age-based platform bans, curriculum directives, or book removals, the effect is similar – young minds are shielded from contested ideas rather than equipped to engage with them. Read more EU and Western Balkans ministers make new commitments on justice and home affairs In the margins of the Forum, on 30 October 2025, the European Union and the Western Balkan partners signed the new Joint Action Plan on Preventing and Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism for the Western Balkans. Read more USA: How Designating Antifa as a Foreign Terrorist Organization Could Threaten Civil Liberties To understand why an Antifa FTO designation would be so consequential, one must first grasp the extraordinary scope of authorities that such designations unleash. The FTO system was deliberately constructed to maximize governmental power against international terrorist threats. Read more Time to restore a human rights approach to freedom of expression online, says UN expert The rules of freedom of expression online are being reset by powerful political and corporate interests with alarming consequences for the safety and rights of billions of people who are dependent on social media for their communications and information needs, a UN expert said today. Read more UK: Police decisions on use of force now have more room to be classed as "honest mistakes" The UK government has changed to the rules on police use of force: "This will help ensure that police officers will not be penalised for making genuine mistakes, to reflect the incredibly high pressure they work under," according to the government. Read more crime and collusion Exclusive: Germany Coordinated ICJ Testimony on Arms Exports With Israel As Germany faces accusations of "complicity in genocide" at the International Court of Justice, documents from its own defense ministry suggest Berlin may have provided incomplete testimony. Read more UK: Government made ‘unlawful decisions’ over Chagos Islands, High Court told Three people should be allowed to bring a High Court legal challenge against the Foreign Office over alleged “unlawful decisions or omissions” in relation to the Chagos Islands, the High Court has been told. Read more UK and the CIA rendition programme: court clarifies when British agencies are "complicit" in torture In a ground-breaking ruling, senior UK judges have for the first time clarified what it means for UK intelligence services to be “complicit” in torture or other ill-treatment by foreign States during intelligence operations. Read more Israel's genocide in Gaza impossible without global complicity, UN report says A new United Nations report reveals that more than 60 countries are complicit in the "collective crime" of enabling Israel's genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. Read more discrimination and racism Don’t be too relieved: Dutch election result not ‘end of populism’ or far-right Hailed as victory for the centre, and with results still trickling in, the Dutch parliamentary elections on the surface might show a shift away from Geert Wilder’s Freedom Party, yet below lurks the fact that the number of seats going to the far-right block remains unchanged. Read more UK: Man charged with rape of woman in Walsall after ‘racially aggravated’ attack, say police A man has been charged with rape after an alleged attack police have said they are treating as racially aggravated. Read more EU: Court should reject "ethnically stratified citizenship" in Danish "ghetto" case Seeking to treat citizens differently based on race and ethnicity is a form of law-making that has historical precedent in Europe, and appears to be returning because of the resurgent influence of nationalist political practices across several of the member states. The CJEU has an important opportunity to rule on the practice in an upcoming case. Read more UK: Handsworth: the colour Jenrick couldn’t see Mukhtar Dar, a founder of Sheffield Asian Youth Movement, political artist and activist, and now director at Kalaboration Arts reflects on shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick’s observations about Birmingham Handsworth’s lack of whiteness and, hence, integration. Read more New Report by 7amleh Exposes Biased Content Moderation Practices on LinkedIn During the Genocide in Gaza The report documents, through fifteen user testimonies and interviews with LinkedIn and Microsoft employees, the violations resulting from biased content moderation practices and their impact on Palestinian human rights defenders amid Israel’s ongoing war and genocide in Gaza. Read more secrecy and transparency EU transparency advocate wins backing to shine light on government secrecy In a campaigner's yearslong legal fight over the release of preliminary migration-pact documents, judges found the EU can’t rely on speculative claims to keep its lawmaking process in the dark. Read more Albania is Showing the Perils of Outsourcing Democracy to Algorithms Imagine an administrative assistant ascending to a cabinet minister position in seven months. Now imagine that the minister is an OpenAI chatbot running on Microsoft's cloud, speaking through the avatar of a woman in traditional clothing, overseeing government contracts worth millions. In Albania, my homeland, the solution to governmental corruption apparently lies in a Silicon Valley chatbot. Read more Civil rights organisations insist on independence of Irish data protection oversight The appointment of former Meta employee Niamh Sweeney as the new Irish data protection officer continues to cause outrage. More than 40 non-governmental organisations are now addressing the EU Commission in an open letter. Read more surveillance and snooping Databroker Files: Targeting the EU Precise locations and revealing movement patterns: the mobile phone location data of millions of people in the EU is up for sale. Collected supposedly only for advertising purposes, this data can also be used for espionage. European data protection is failing – even top EU officials in Brussels are affected. The EU Commission says: “We are concerned.” Read more France plugs into DNA databases to catch Louvre art thieves France’s trove of DNA profiles has helped solve high-profile crimes and was used to find some of the Louvre suspects, and it is growing. DNA of the accused was found on a ladder, a window frame and a scooter. Read more ICC replacing Microsoft workplace software with OpenDesk The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague is switching from Microsoft’s Office Suite to the German office software, OpenDesk. It all started back in February, when United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order to sanction ICC officials over arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu connected to war crimes in Gaza. Read more Germany: 548 Million Passenger Data Records Searched – 1525 Suspects Arrested The German police and other law enforcement agencies compare data from flights within the EU and to third countries with police wanted notices and patterns, which are intended to enable early detection of terrorist and serious criminal air travelers. However, according to the lead Interior Ministry, the yield remains comparatively low. Read more HMRC pauses child benefit crackdown after 23,500 families caught up in data error Parents say they were treated as fraudsters because Home Office travel records failed to show their return to UK Read more Italy: City council and police agree to share migrants' data in Turin Police personnel will be able to access consultation platform linked to the town council's database. The police headquarters will, on a monthly basis, send to the municipality a list of stay permits issued and delivered to foreign nationals living in Turin. Read more Colombia orders World shut-down, citing biometrics compliance failures The competition regulator of Colombia has ordered an “immediate and permanent” closure of digital identity project World over data protection law violations, less than two months after the company opened its largest brick-and-mortar store yet in the country’s capital of Bogotá. Read more ­

­ ­ ­ ­ Statewatch 88 Fleet St, EC4Y 1DH, London