External Dimension
Following a Greens/EFA initiative, MEPs met today with High Representative Josep Borrell to discuss the appalling situation in Afghanistan.
In this letter forty MEPs request full information on the status and interim results of the preparation of the legal basis for the arming of Frontex.
In this letter, eight MEPs urge the European Commission to address the issue of pushbacks in the European Union as a matter of priority and to do everything possible to prevent these incidents and take appropriate action.
Pushback policies and practice are an increasing phenomenon at Europe’s borders, in clear violation of the rights of asylum seekers and refugees, including the right to seek asylum and the protection against refoulement, which are at the core of international refugee and human rights law. There are persistent reports and evidence of inhuman and degrading treatment by member States and their agencies in the framework of those pushbacks, through intimidation, taking or destroying migrants’ belongings, and even through the use of violence and depriving migrants of food and basic services.
Pushbacks at our external borders have become a widespread practice. Why are these violations so persistent, and what can be done to stop them? We need a wider scope of the newly proposed monitoring mechanism, stricter enforcement of the rules and stronger scrutiny from the European Parliament and Commission.
In this letter, forty-eight MEPs call on Bosnian authorities as well as on the European Commission, the European Council and EEAS to take immediate action and humanitarian measures to protect migrants in Bosnia Herzegovina.
On Wednesday 9 December, 17:00-18:30 CET, MEPs Damien Carême and Tineke Strik hosted a webinar with several experts from both the EU and UK side as well as organisations working on the ground. Speakers discussed the current situation, consequences and recommendations towards a smooth transition which will safeguard the right to asylum.
As the end date of the transition phase for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU approaches, there are still many uncertainties for both sides of how the future relationship will look like in various policy fields. This is also the case for the field of asylum and migration. As the Brexit deadline approaches, the number of people trying to reach the UK in small and unstable boats or hidden in trucks is rapidly increasing with a rise also in incidents and deaths.
Great uncertainty exists about how the cooperation with regards to Dublin, Family Reunification, Returns and other migration agreements will look like.
(Photo by Abdul Saboor)
Tineke Strik is rapporteur for the draft report "Human rights protection and the EU external migration policy" in the DROI Committee.
In this webinar hosted by TOBB Brussels in collaboration with the EU Turkey Forum, Tineke Strik intervened at minute 31:10.