Category Archives: News

by | 05 May 2010 · 04:15

Eurostat 2009 Asylum Statistics Released

Eurostat released asylum statistics for 2009 showing that the largest total numbers of applicants were in France, Germany, and UK and the largest per capita numbers of applicants (relative to member state population) were in Malta, Cypress, and Sweden.

From the Press Release:

“In 2009, there were nearly 261 000 asylum applicants registered in the EU27, or 520 applicants per million inhabitants. The main countries of citizenship of these applicants were Afghanistan (20 400 or 8% of the total number of applicants), Russia (20 100 or 8%), Somalia (19 100 or 7%), Iraq (18 700 or 7%) and Kosovo under UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (14 200 or 5%).”

“In 2009, the highest number of applicants were registered in France (47 600 applicants) followed by Germany (31 800), the United Kingdom3 (30 300), Sweden (24 200), Belgium (21 600), Italy (17 500), the Netherlands (16 100), Greece (15 900) and Austria (15 800).  When compared with the population of each Member State, the highest rates of applicants registered were recorded in Malta (5 800 applicants per million inhabitants), Cyprus4 (3 300), Sweden (2 600), Belgium (2 000) and Austria (1 900).”

“In some Member States, a large proportion of the applicants came from a single country. The Member States with the highest concentrations were Malta (60% of the applicants came from Somalia), Lithuania (54% from Russia), Poland (54% from Russia), Hungary (38% from Kosovo under UN Security Council Resolution 1244) and the Netherlands (37% from Somalia).”

Click here for Eurostat News Release.

Click here for Times of Malta article.

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by | 04 May 2010 · 18:10

Gadhafi Suggests EU-Funded Program to Combat Illegal Immigration

As noted on Euromed-Migrasyl, in an interview with Der Spiegel, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, has suggested that the EU pay Libya €5 billion “to combat illegal immigration”:

“SPIEGEL: In recent years, thousands of people have drowned as they tried to flee from Africa across the Mediterranean to Europe. What can you do to help end this tragedy?

Gadhafi: The European Union should annually pay Libya €5 billion ($6.6 billion) via a special fund to combat illegal immigration. We have a precisely calculated plan to solve this problem.

SPIEGEL: What kind of plan is this?

Gadhafi: We will organize housing and employment projects in the refugees’ African countries of origin so they remain there. We will do the same for those who are already in Libya, give them a place to live and create jobs for them. Furthermore, we are bolstering our border security on land and water with modern radar equipment and vehicles.”

During the interview Gadhafi also called for dissolution of Switzerland and said that his “closest friend in Europe is Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.”

Click here for Der Spiegel article.

Click here for second article.

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by | 04 May 2010 · 05:24

LIBE Considering Legal Challenge to Council and Commission Over New Frontex Guidelines

Times of Malta reported on Monday that Maltese MEP and LIBE Committee member, Simon Busuttil, who is the EPP coordinator on LIBE, has received a positive legal response to his question regarding whether sufficient grounds exist to bring a legal challenge against the Council and the Commission in regard to the recently approved Frontex sea operation Guidelines.  This report follows by a few days Commissioner  Malmström’s first visit to Malta and the reaffirmation by Malta that it will not host Frontex’s Operation Chronos.

The Times of Malta states that “The EP’s legal unit advised there were enough grounds to take the EU Council and European Commission to court on the basis that the rules exceed the two institutions’ powers under the EU Treaties.”  MEP Busuttil was quoted as saying “I have already gone on record saying that I will not let this one go and this legal advice opens the way to court proceedings to invalidate these rules. I am reasonably confident that the European Parliament has a good case and the European Commission would do well to take this possibility into account and start thinking about Plan B.”

Click here for article.

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by | 03 May 2010 · 04:17

Malmström: Frontex Sea Operation Guidelines May Be Re-Negotiated by Participating Member States

Commissioner Cecilia Malmström was in Malta on 30 April for meetings with Maltese officials.  Malta recently reaffirmed its decision not to host Frontex’s Operation Chronos.  Malmström trip was planned before Malta’s announcement.  There is no indication that Malta changed its position during Malmström’s visit.

Malmström was interviewed during her visit by the Times of Malta and said that the new guidelines governing Frontex enforcement operations at sea could be negotiated by member states on a mission by mission basis.  The new guidelines require that intercepted migrants be taken to the country hosting the Frontex mission, but  Malmström said there is the possibility before a mission starts that the participating member states agree on different rules of engagement, which might include the sharing of responsibility where not all intercepted migrants would be brought to country hosting the mission.

Presumably participating member states would not be permitted to negotiate substantive mission by mission changes to the guidelines so as to undercut the very reasons for which the guidelines were recently adopted.

Click here for Times of Malta article.

Click here for video of Times of Malta Interview.

Click here, here, and here for other articles regarding the visit.

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by | 01 May 2010 · 20:38

14th Ministerial Meeting of Africa-EU Dialogue

The 14th Ministerial Meeting of the Africa-EU Dialogue was held in Luxembourg on 26 April.  The meeting topics included preparation for the second Action Plan (2011-13) and the upcoming 3rd AU-Africa Summit which will be held in November 2010.  For more information on the Africa-EU Partnership and Dialogue see the EC Development web site and the Europafrica web site.  One of the eight thematic partnerships of the Dialogue is Migration, Mobility and Employment.

Click here for the Ministerial Meeting Communiqué.

Click here for the EC Development web article.

Click here for the 2007 Action Plan on Migration.

Click here for information on the Partnership on Migration, Mobility and Employment from Europafrica.net

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by | 30 Apr 2010 · 04:15

Malmström: Right to Seek Asylum At Sea Should Be Respected

Commissioner Cecilia Malmström held meetings in Italy yesterday and has meetings in Malta today.  In her meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini she suggested that any possible future migration agreement between the EU and Tripoli ”would not follow the model of the [current migration] agreement between Italy and Libya.”  ANSA reported she said that while it is ”important to try and begin dialogue” with Tripoli, ”if there is an agreement, it is clear that the fundamental condition for Libya must be adherence to the Geneva Convention or the equivalent among African states ”on the rights of political refugees.”

In regard to current practices, Malmström said that the right to seek asylum should be respected even when one is already at sea. (”Bisogna comunque – ha concluso la Malmstrom – rispettare il diritto di chiedere asilo quando si e’ gia’ in mare”.)

Click here (IT), here (EN), and here (IT) for articles.

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by | 29 Apr 2010 · 05:28

Malta Says Frontex Chronos Mission Not Needed Due to Success of Italy-Libya Push-Back Agreement

Malta previously said that it would not host Operation Chronos, Frontex’s annual central Mediterranean enforcement operation, formerly known as Nautilus, due to the recently approved guidelines governing Frontex enforcement operations at sea which require that intercepted migrants be taken to the country hosting the mission under certain circumstances.

But the Times of Malta is reporting that a Maltese government spokesperson said that the decision not to host Frontex is not because of the new guidelines, but is due to Malta’s view that there is no longer a need for Operation Chronos because of the success of the Italy-Libya migration agreement. “The reason why we decided not to take part in this year’s mission is that we feel there is no need for this year’s EU patrol.  We have noticed that, following the introduction of joint patrols by Libya and Italy last year, the number of illegal immigrants reaching Malta has dropped significantly. We feel that, as long as this operation remains in place, there is no real need for another anti-migration mission on behalf of the EU.”

The Times article reports that 84 boats carrying 2,775 migrants arrived in 2008 and that this number was reduced in 2009 to 17 boats carrying 1,475, with the majority of arrivals occurring in the first half of 2009 before the Italian push-back policy was implemented.

Commissioner Cecilia Malmström travels to Rome and Malta this week for meetings with officials on asylum and migration issues.

Click here for article.

Click here, here, and here for earlier related posts.

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by | 28 Apr 2010 · 03:44

Spain Adds New SIVE Radar Stations

The Spanish Ministry of Interior is investing €3.8 million to expand the SIVE network in Valencia.  The two new SIVE radar stations are in addition to the four SIVE radar stations that operate on the Alicante coast in Cabo Roig, Santa Pola, Sierra Frost, and Denia.  According to ABC, the Ministry of Interior acknowledges that SIVE has numerous problems and that since its entry into operation last September in Alicante, SIVE has detected only four of the fifteen illegal boats discovered on the coast.

ABC also reports that despite the problems with SIVE on the Alicante coast, Frontex’s coming summer enforcement operation, Operation Indalo, will not extend to Alicante.  Operation Indalo, using patrol boats and helicopters from Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Malta and Luxembourg, will be deployed along the Spanish coast from Granada to Murcia.

Click here (ES) for article.

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by | 27 Apr 2010 · 04:40

MEPs Lambert and Iacolino on CEAS

MEP Jean Lambert (Green – UK) writes in New Europe in regard to the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) that  the Greens “want to see a fair and efficient system which will deliver consistent and high quality decisions for those in need of protection. Amongst the major challenges at present are the inconsistencies across the EU in both the practical delivery of Member State’s asylum systems and the outcomes of their decisions. It would be fair to refer to the ‘European Asylum lottery’ when faced with statistics on the divergences in protection rates between Member States – 73.2 % of Iraqi applicants were granted subsidiary protection at first instance in Sweden in the first quarter of 2007 compared with 0% in Greece.”

Click here for full article.

MEP Salvatore Iacolino, Vice Chair of LIBE, (Christian Democrat – Italy) writes “we must ensure, on the one hand, access to efficient and streamlined procedures for persons seeking international protection, and, on the other, consistent application of rules in order to build mutual trust between Member States.  We cannot just think of a national dimension for the strategies for immigration and asylum, but it is essential to create a mechanism for equitable sharing of responsibilities.”

Click here for full article.

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by | 26 Apr 2010 · 06:32

Commissioner Cecilia Malmström’s blog – Mitt Europa

This is not new, but I just noticed Cecilia Malmström’s blog, Mitt Europa.   It is in Swedish but easily accessible using Google Translate.   Given the difficulty in accessing information concerning the European Commission and Frontex, perhaps some interesting information will turn up from time to time.

Click here for blog.

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by | 26 Apr 2010 · 06:22

LIBE-Odysseus Network Round Table (26 April) and LIBE Meeting Agenda

A Round Table on “Towards a Common European Asylum System: A study on some horizontal issues” will be held on 26 April at 15.00 – 18.30. The meeting is organised by the LIBE Committee and the Policy Department Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs with the participation of the National Parliaments and the Odysseus Network.  The Round Table meeting precedes the two day meeting, 27-28 April, of the LIBE Committee which will be considering numerous agenda topics including:

  • Creation of an immigration liaison officers network;
  • The establishment of a joint EU resettlement programme;
  • Discussion concerning the European Refugee Fund; and
  • Institutional aspects of accession by the European Union to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

The final agenda item is a Meeting with UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonió Guterres on matters relating to asylum policy, co-chaired by the Committee on Development and the Subcommittee on Human Rights.

Click here for Round Table agenda.

Click here for LIBE meeting documents.

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by | 26 Apr 2010 · 06:03

France Agrees to Accept 92 Refugees from Malta for Resettlement

French Ambassador Daniel Rondeau announced that France will shortly accept 92 additional refugees from Malta as part of the EU voluntary resettlement programme.  The Times of Malta reports that the Ambassador said “These people are prepared to die to live anywhere except their country; so many die in the Mediterranean Sea. It is really a tragedy and Malta was affected by it… we have to share this tragedy with the Maltese and with the immigrants. It’s our sea and it’s at our door, we cannot look the other way.”  France resettled 95 refugees from Malta last year.  Several other countries, including Germany and the UK have voluntarily accepted refugees from Malta.

Click here for article.

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by | 23 Apr 2010 · 16:02

Italian Prosecutor Brings Charges Against Heads of Immigration Directorate and Guardia di Finanza in Connection with Push-Back Operation to Libya

The Syracuse Prosecutor’s Office (La Procura della Repubblica di Siracusa) has brought criminal charges against Rodolfo Ronconi, the head of the Italian Immigration Directorate and Border Police (la direzione centrale dell’immigrazione e la polizia delle Frontiere) and Vincenzo Carrarini, the head of the Finance Police (Guardia di Finanza) in connection with the forcible return of 75 migrants who were intercepted at sea in international waters by a Guardia di Finanza ship in August 2009 and returned to Libya pursuant to the Italy-Libya migration agreement.

Charges were not brought against individual Guardia di Finanza military personnel who carried out the interception and push-back of the migrants on the grounds that they were acting under orders from superiors and that those orders were not manifestly illegal (per ordini superiori non manifestamente illegittimi).

The charges allege that the two officials were complicit in private violence (concorso in violenza private).  According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the charges are not based on the act of refoulement, but rather are based on the failure to apply Italian law.  After being intercepted, the 75 migrants were brought aboard the Guardia di Finanza ship which then transported them to Libya.  According to the Prosecutor, Italian laws applied once the migrants were taken onto the Guardia di Finanza ship because the ship is the equivalent of Italian territory.  The charges are based on allegations that the migrants were taken to Libya against their will and were denied access to procedures for the protection of refugees and prevented from exercising other rights available to them under domestic law and international law incorporate within domestic law.

At least nine similar interdiction operations were conducted by Italy in 2009 in the Channel of Sicily which resulted in the forcible return of at least 834 migrants to Libya.  The first such interdiction operation in May 2009 is at issue in the case of of Hirsi and others v Italy, Requête no 27765/09 now pending before the European Court of Human Rights.

The other interdiction operations consist of the following:

  • 7 May – About 230 migrants intercepted in three boats in the Strait of Sicily and returned to Libya.
  • 8 May – A boat with about 80 people in difficulty off the coast of Libya was towed to Tripoli.
  • 10 May – A naval patrol returned more than 200 people to Libya who were intercepted in the Channel of Sicily.
  • 19 June – A boat with 76 migrants near Lampedusa, intercepted by a Coast Guard patrol, and the immigrants, including women and children, were then transferred to a Libyan patrol boat and returned to Tripoli.
  • 1 July – 89 migrants (including 9 women and 3 children) located on a raft about 30 miles from Lampedusa were taken on board a Navy ship and transferred to an Agip oil platform off the coast of Libya. From there a Libyan patrol boat took them to Tripoli.
  • 5 July – About 40 migrants rescued near Lampedusa by a patrol boat of the Guardia di Finanza.  Many of whom were later reported to be in Tripoli.
  • 29 July – A boat with 14 people was rescued by a patrol boat of the Guardia di Finanza. Passengers were taken to Tripoli.
  • 30 August – A boat with 75 migrants on board (among them 15 women and 3 children) was intercepted south of Capo Passero. Passengers were transferred to a patrol boat of the Guardia di Finanza and returned to Libya.

Click here (IT) and here (IT) for articles.

Click here for previous post on Hirsi and others v Italy.

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by | 21 Apr 2010 · 03:03

Exchange of Letters Between COE HR Commissioner and Greece

COE Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg has released copies of the correspondence between his office and the Greek government concerning his February visit to Greece and his concerns over a variety of issues, including Greece’s treatment of asylum seekers.  According to the Commissioner’s web site “[t]he letters focus on the human rights of migrants, especially asylum seekers, minorities, and the conduct of members of law enforcement agencies.  In view of long-standing, serious shortcomings in the field of asylum, the Commissioner highlights the urgent need for the authorities to support the ongoing reform in this field with the necessary institutional capacity and tools for implementation. The Commissioner also urges the authorities to address the situation of unaccompanied or separated migrant children.”

Click here for link to the statement and the letters.

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by | 21 Apr 2010 · 02:47

6 Month Refugee Boat Stand-Off Ends in Indonesia

200 Sri Lankans, mostly Tamil refugees, have agreed to leave the boat on which they have been living since October 2009.  The boat has been under guard in the Indonesian port of Merak since it was intercepted by Indonesian authorities at the request of Australia.  The boat and its passengers were trying to reach Australia.  The migrants have been moved to the Indonesian immigration centre at Tanjung Pinang where their claims for asylum will be assessed by UNHCR.  Australia has reportedly been paying the Indonesian government to intercept migrants seeking to sail to Australia.  Some of the migrants on the boat recently managed to escape and reportedly used smugglers to reach Australia’s Christmas Island where they are now seeking asylum.

Click here and here for articles.

Click here for earlier post.

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