Category Archives: News

by | 17 Apr 2010 · 16:38

Maroni: Italy’s Push-Back Agreement with Libya Has Resolved Italy’s Migrant Problem

Roberto Maroni, Italy’s Interior Minister, speaking to the Italian Parliament’s Schengen Committee, said that as a result of Italy’s 2009 push-back agreement with Italy, migratory flows have been mostly diverted to the west to Spain and to the east to Greece.  According to Maroni, to the extent that migrants are reaching Italy by sea, they are doing so by routes from Tunisia and other countries, but not from Libya.  Maroni said that “this resolves Italy’s problem, but not Europe’s problem.” [“Questo risolve i problemi dell’Itala, ma non dell’Europa.”]

According to Maroni there has been a 96% decrease in the arrival of irregular migrants in Italy over the first three months of 2010 compared with the same period last year: from 1 January to 4 April there have reportedly been 170 arrivals compared with 4,573 arrivals over the same period in 2009.

Maroni praised the push-back agreement by saying “We’ve had 28,000 fewer arrivals [since its May 2009 implementation] and we’ve saved countless lives. It’s an unprecedented and concrete achievement which is the result of Berlusconi’s diplomacy and the agreement he struck with Libya.”.

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

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by | 16 Apr 2010 · 04:24

Frontex Research Tender: Ethics of Border Security

As noted on NeoConOpticon, Frontex’s Research and Development Unit has issued a tender calling for proposals to conduct research and provide studies to Frontex on two subjects: 1) Ethics of Border Security and 2) Forward Study on European Border Checks.  Proposals are due 21 May.

The Ethics of Border Security tender calls for various issues to be addressed, including:

  • an analysis of “the ethical guidelines under which member states’ border guard services operate”;
  • an investigation regarding “the possible conflicts between current and planned future border guard operational practice against the relevant international legal provisions governing the protection of human and fundamental rights”; and
  • the “development of an analytical framework of ethical issues raised by EU border control practice (in all its aspects, including at air, land and sea borders, at BCPs, during patrols and search and rescue operations).”

Click here for link to Frontex tender request.

Click here for the NeoConOpticon post.

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by | 16 Apr 2010 · 04:18

8th Conference of the Foreign Ministers of the Western Mediterranean (“5+5”)

Foreign Ministers from the so-called “5+5” countries, France, Spain, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, and Tunisia, are meeting this week in Tunis to discuss a variety of issues including migration, which will be discussed at the plenary session on 16 April.

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

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by | 15 Apr 2010 · 05:43

Frontex Operation Chronos Delayed Pending Talks With Malta

Times of Malta reports that Frontex will delay the start of its central Mediterranean enforcement mission, Operation Chronos (known in previous years as Operation Nautilus), pending talks between the European Commission and the Maltese Government regarding the new Frontex guidelines governing enforcement operations at sea.   EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström is scheduled to go to Malta for meetings with the Maltese Government on 30 April.  The Times of Malta article states that “Ms Malmström had already announced she would continue speaking to Malta over the Frontex guidelines because she considered the island an important player in the fight against illegal immigration, a Commission official in Brussels said. ‘Ms Malmström has decided to personally visit Malta later this month to engage the government in more talks to try to find a solution acceptable to both parties,’ the official said.”

Click here for article.

Click here, here, and here for related posts.

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by | 12 Apr 2010 · 04:39

UNHCR Reports 50% Reduction in African Migrant Flow to Yemen

UNHCR reports a significant decline in the numbers of migrants travelling by sea from the Horn of Africa to Yemen.  UNHCR said that “violence within Somalia could be preventing many would-be migrants from reaching their port of departure.  An estimated 9,400 people from across the Horn of Africa have reached the shores of Yemen since the beginning of this year, compared to nearly 17,000 between January and March 2009….”

Click here for UNHCR statement.

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by | 12 Apr 2010 · 04:25

Vatican Criticises Italy-Libya Migration Agreement

Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, criticised the Italian agreement with Libya in a speech in Rome for the second European conference on the issue of human rights in the training of European lawyers.

”Confermo – conclude quindi mons. Marchetto – la mia posizione di condanna a chi non osserva il principio di non refoulement, che sta alla base del trattamento da farsi a quanti fuggono da persecuzione. E mi domando se in tempo di pace non si riesce a far rispettare tale principio fondamentale del diritto internazionale umanitario, come si fara’ a richiederne l’osservanza in tempo di guerra. E la domanda si puo’ estendere alla questione della protezione dei civili durante i conflitti, che viene cosi’ indebolita nella sua radice, comune, umanitaria”.

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

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by | 12 Apr 2010 · 03:25

Frontex Operation Indalo 2010

Operation Indalo, which focuses on the interception of migrants travelling from North Africa, primarily Algeria, to Spain, will take place from June to September this year and will focus primarily on migrant arrivals on the coasts of the Spanish provinces of Murcia and Almeria.

Last year’s Operation Indalo took place in September and October, used assets from Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany and Portugal, and resulted in the detention of approximately 500 migrants.

Click here for article (ES).

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by | 10 Apr 2010 · 04:38

CONCORD Briefing Paper on Revisions to Cotonou Agreement

CONCORD, the European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development, prepared an updated briefing paper regarding the ongoing negotiations concerning revisions to the Cotonou Agreement for the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly session held 27 March to 1 April in Tenerife.

Excerpts regarding Article 13 (Migration) from an updated CONCORD Cotonou Working Group Briefing Paper:

“Migration, still unresolved – The revision of Article 13 on Migration is a major stumbling block to the negotiations.  The two sides failed to reach an agreement by the extraordinary ACP-EU Council on 19 March. EU and ACP states agreed in a joint declaration to continue dialogue on the migration article and report to the joint ACP/EU Council in June 2011.

The bulk of the disagreement lies on the clause on readmission. The EU side would like the clause on readmission in the Cotonou Agreement to become self-executive and binding for all ACP countries without needing complementary bilateral agreements. This will imply unmanageable obligations for many countries and hence an increased risk of migrants rights violations throughout the process of readmission.

In no way should EC and MS ODA [Official Development Assistance] be dependent on the signature of readmission agreements (being bilateral or multilateral).  By making development aid conditional on cooperation on border control, the EU is turning development aid into a tool for implementing restrictive and security-driven immigration policies which are at odds with its commitment to make migration work for development.

Article 13 should rather be focusing on concrete opportunities for increased mobility and ensuring that ACP states are assisted in their national efforts to ‘make migration work for development’ (countering of the negative economic and social effects of brain drain and care drain, sustainable migration opportunities, facilitating remittances…). This would bring progress towards Policy Coherence for Development in the migration area. Opportunities of legal migration, including for low skilled workers, and respect of migrants’ rights are necessary conditions for exploiting the development potential of migration. Provisions on legal migration should be as strong and binding. Finally, EU and ACP states should ratify the UN Convention on Migrants Rights and ratify it themselves.”

Click here for full text of CONCORD Cotonou Working Group Briefing paper.

Click here and here for earlier related posts.

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by | 10 Apr 2010 · 04:13

28th Franco-Italian Summit – Agreement on Joint Maritime Patrols

The 28th Franco-Italian Summit was held 9 April in Paris and resulted in the signing of approximately 25 agreements between France and Italy.  Among the agreements is a joint declaration on immigration which highlights the leading role played by France and Italy in controlling illegal immigration in the Mediterranean region.  The agreement provides for, among other things, joint French-Italian maritime patrols to monitor the countries’ territorial waters.  The agreement also stresses the need to strengthen the role of Frontex and calls for cooperation with both Libya and Turkey on immigration matters, including readmission of migrants.

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

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by | 09 Apr 2010 · 04:24

Annual GDISC Asylum Conference

From 8-10 March the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees and the Directors General of Immigration Services Conference – GDISC – organised the annual GDISC Asylum Conference in Nuremberg.

Representatives from 24 European countries, the EC, UNHCR, and IGC discussed the current situation in the field of asylum as it relates to the issues of unaccompanied minors, quality management of asylum services, the impact of the proposed changes on the EU directives to the field of asylum, and the functioning of the asylum support teams within the European Asylum Support Office (EASO).  The next GDISC conference will be held in Prague on 15-15 June 2010.

Click here for the Draft Summary Conclusions of the Conference.

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by | 08 Apr 2010 · 04:06

Conference for Heads of Coast Guards of EU States and Schengen Countries

The Second Conference for Heads of Coast Guards from the EU Member States and Schengen Associated Countries is being held in Málaga, Spain.  According to Santiago Macarrón, el general de Fiscal y Fronteras de la Guardia Civil, the conference represents an ongoing effort to standardize actions within the EU.  Among the topics being discussed at the Conference is the question of where migrants who are intercepted at sea are to be taken. Frontex’s Deputy Director Gil Arias stated that where migrants are to be landed is not clear under international law and has caused problems in the past, especially in the Mediterranean.

Click here for article (Spanish).

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by | 06 Apr 2010 · 04:30

UNHCR Comments on Malta’s Decision Not to Host Frontex Missions

Times of Malta reports on comments made by the head of UNHCR’s Malta Office, Jon Hoisaeter, who said that “international law was not clearly defined when it came to the disembarkation of migrants after rescue operations.”

“There are situations when urgent health and safety considerations would require that those rescued are brought to the nearest safe port of call. In fact, even the new Frontex guidelines acknowledge this… Asylum seekers should be brought to a territory where their situation and claims can be individually assessed in a fair manner.  Of course, close cooperation among relevant states will often be crucial to successfully undertake rescue-at-sea operations.”

“The UNHCR supports the development of guidelines that can facilitate rescue and reduce the risk of lives being lost at sea. However, with or without support from Frontex, search and rescue operations are primarily the responsibility of states.”

Click here for article.

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by | 31 Mar 2010 · 04:16

Público: La llegada de inmigrantes en cayucos a España ha caído hasta mínimos históricos

«La llegada de inmigrantes en cayucos o pateras a España ha caído en los últimos meses hasta mínimos históricos. Entre enero y febrero de este año hubo sólo 126 detenciones, por 1.432 en el mismo periodo de 2009, lo que supone un 91,2% menos. Es el arranque de año con menor migración marítima desde que el Ministerio del Interior empezó a contabilizar losdesembarcos, en 1999. »

[“The arrival of immigrants in cayucos or pateras in Spain has fallen in recent months to historic lows. Between January and February of this year there were only 126 arrests compared with 1,432 during the same period in 2009, representing a 91.2% reduction.  These are the smallest numbers of beginning of year arrivals since the Interior Ministry began tracking arrivals in 1999.”]

Click here for article.

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by | 30 Mar 2010 · 05:21

ECRE Interview with Frontex Spokesperson

ECRE interviewed Frontex spokesperson Michal Parzyszek about the changes to Frontex’s mandate.  The interview took place before the 25 March European Parliament’s vote which allowed the changes to take effect.

Click here for the interview.

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by | 30 Mar 2010 · 04:55

US Navy Ship Rescues Stranded Somalis

US Navy Photo

A US Naval vessel participating in counterpiracy operations off the Somali coast rescued 30 Somali men, women, and children approximately 100 miles of the Somali coast on 25 March.  The Somalis had been drifting for four days after their boat’s motors stopped working.  The Somalis were returned to Somalia.

Click here for article.

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