BORDERS
At least 23 die under police brutality at Melilla borders
At least 23 migrants died as they tried to cross into Spanish enclave Melilla from Morocco, on 24 June. Video and photographs show Moroccan security forces kicking and beating people, while Spanish Guardia Civil launched teargas at men climbing the fences. While the Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez blamed “mafias” for the crossing attempt, Moroccan authorities prosecuted 65 migrants over accusations of facilitating “illegal crossings” and failed to carry out autopsies on the bodies of the victims. The UN Human Rights Office called on both Spain and Morocco to investigate the incident, while human rights groups are calling for a complete rethink of EU’s migration policies.
978 people have died in the Western Mediterranean since January 2022
A new report from Caminando Fronteras, a collective that defends the rights of people and communities on the move, finds that 978 people lost their lives when trying to reach Europe through the Western Mediterranean during the first semester of 2022. Most of the victims were registered in the Canary route, which continues to be the deadliest. 800 people died in this route in a total of 28 shipwrecks. The victims came from 23 different countries, including Morocco, Algeria, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Syria. Most of the victims (88 per cent) disappeared at sea, and their bodies were never recovered.
Frontex to end border surveillance operations in Lithuania
The EU border agency announced on 12 July its intentions to stop supporting Lithuania’s border surveillance and shift personnel to other destinations such as the Central Mediterranean. The decision arrived two weeks after a CJEU ruling finding that Lithuania’s national legislation on asylum was in breach of EU law. Frontex denied the decision being connected to the CJEU pronouncement. The agency’s interim Director also proposed to increase the presence of Frontex in EU states where human rights violations were taking place, such as Hungary, defending that the agency’s presence would lead to less violations. That affirmation was challenged by MEP Tineke Strik, reminding that it hasn’t been the case so far. The involvement of Frontex in illegal pushbacks at EU borders has put the agency under scrutiny and triggered the resignation of its director in April this year.
Greece: illegal pushbacks defy European court rulings
A recent report by the Border Violence Monitoring Network about illegal pushbacks in Greece looks into three cases where groups of migrants were left stranded on islets in the Evros river over May and June 2022. In all three cases, in response to calls from civil society organisations, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Greece to provide temporary access to its territory and material reception conditions for these groups. Despite the Court’s rulings and broad public documentation of the cases, all three groups were eventually pushed back to Turkey without food, water, or medical care.
UN Child Rights Committee to review complaints over pushbacks in Croatia, Slovenia
A Rohingya child who faced multiple pushbacks from Croatia and a “chain” push back from Slovenia (in which he was forcibly removed from Slovenia to Croatia and then to Bosnia Herzegovina), accompanied by violent beatings and inhumane treatment by Croatian border guards, has submitted complaints against Croatia and Slovenia at the UN Child Rights Committee for multiple violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The complaints are supported by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and Blindspots. This is the first time complaints of this kind have been submitted against these two states.
BORDERS
At least 23 die under police brutality at Melilla borders
At least 23 migrants died as they tried to cross into Spanish enclave Melilla from Morocco, on 24 June. Video and photographs show Moroccan security forces kicking and beating people, while Spanish Guardia Civil launched teargas at men climbing the fences. While the Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez blamed “mafias” for the crossing attempt, Moroccan authorities prosecuted 65 migrants over accusations of facilitating “illegal crossings” and failed to carry out autopsies on the bodies of the victims. The UN Human Rights Office called on both Spain and Morocco to investigate the incident, while human rights groups are calling for a complete rethink of EU’s migration policies.
978 people have died in the Western Mediterranean since January 2022
A new report from Caminando Fronteras, a collective that defends the rights of people and communities on the move, finds that 978 people lost their lives when trying to reach Europe through the Western Mediterranean during the first semester of 2022. Most of the victims were registered in the Canary route, which continues to be the deadliest. 800 people died in this route in a total of 28 shipwrecks. The victims came from 23 different countries, including Morocco, Algeria, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Syria. Most of the victims (88 per cent) disappeared at sea, and their bodies were never recovered.
Frontex to end border surveillance operations in Lithuania
The EU border agency announced on 12 July its intentions to stop supporting Lithuania’s border surveillance and shift personnel to other destinations such as the Central Mediterranean. The decision arrived two weeks after a CJEU ruling finding that Lithuania’s national legislation on asylum was in breach of EU law. Frontex denied the decision being connected to the CJEU pronouncement. The agency’s interim Director also proposed to increase the presence of Frontex in EU states where human rights violations were taking place, such as Hungary, defending that the agency’s presence would lead to less violations. That affirmation was challenged by MEP Tineke Strik, reminding that it hasn’t been the case so far. The involvement of Frontex in illegal pushbacks at EU borders has put the agency under scrutiny and triggered the resignation of its director in April this year.
Greece: illegal pushbacks defy European court rulings
A recent report by the Border Violence Monitoring Network about illegal pushbacks in Greece looks into three cases where groups of migrants were left stranded on islets in the Evros river over May and June 2022. In all three cases, in response to calls from civil society organisations, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Greece to provide temporary access to its territory and material reception conditions for these groups. Despite the Court’s rulings and broad public documentation of the cases, all three groups were eventually pushed back to Turkey without food, water, or medical care.
UN Child Rights Committee to review complaints over pushbacks in Croatia, Slovenia
A Rohingya child who faced multiple pushbacks from Croatia and a “chain” push back from Slovenia (in which he was forcibly removed from Slovenia to Croatia and then to Bosnia Herzegovina), accompanied by violent beatings and inhumane treatment by Croatian border guards, has submitted complaints against Croatia and Slovenia at the UN Child Rights Committee for multiple violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The complaints are supported by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and Blindspots. This is the first time complaints of this kind have been submitted against these two states.