AT LEAST 102 PEOPLE CRIMINALISED FOR HELPING MIGRANTS IN EUROPE IN 2022
Between January and December 2022, at least 102 people faced criminal or administrative proceedings in the EU for acts of solidarity with migrants. The figures stem from extensive media monitoring of national news conducted by PICUM and our network of volunteers over the past year.
In addition to judicial proceedings, human rights defenders and NGOs face other forms of harassment. Our media monitoring recorded at least 11 different cases of non-judicial harassment, in addition to the 102 cases mentioned above, concerning at least four people and 15 NGOs.
People have been criminalised for actions including helping with an asylum application; driving people by car; buying or giving money to buy public transport tickets for migrants; giving food, water and/or shelter to migrants; and occupying abandoned buildings to shelter migrants.
Three out of four people in the study were charged with facilitation of entry, transit or stay or migrant smuggling. Our study also shows that the criminalisation of solidarity with migrants does not only target search and rescue operations at sea, as half of the cases concerned acts of solidarity at land.
Find more data in our report.
AT LEAST 102 PEOPLE CRIMINALISED FOR HELPING MIGRANTS IN EUROPE IN 2022
Between January and December 2022, at least 102 people faced criminal or administrative proceedings in the EU for acts of solidarity with migrants. The figures stem from extensive media monitoring of national news conducted by PICUM and our network of volunteers over the past year.
In addition to judicial proceedings, human rights defenders and NGOs face other forms of harassment. Our media monitoring recorded at least 11 different cases of non-judicial harassment, in addition to the 102 cases mentioned above, concerning at least four people and 15 NGOs.
People have been criminalised for actions including helping with an asylum application; driving people by car; buying or giving money to buy public transport tickets for migrants; giving food, water and/or shelter to migrants; and occupying abandoned buildings to shelter migrants.
Three out of four people in the study were charged with facilitation of entry, transit or stay or migrant smuggling. Our study also shows that the criminalisation of solidarity with migrants does not only target search and rescue operations at sea, as half of the cases concerned acts of solidarity at land.
Find more data in our report.