Strict prohibitions against arbitrary detention are a central element in any system that celebrates liberty. It is time to learn the lessons of history and extend this right to migrants.
Policy on migration in Europe bears more relationship to ideology than evidence. And humanity is sorely lacking.
Twelve months ago, Europe’s conscience was pricked by the sight of the bodies of hundreds of migrants shipwrecked at Lampedusa. But the continued stigmatisation and criminalisation of migrants has allowed securitisation to prevail over protection.
The discovery by the Italian navy of 30 bodies in a fishing boat at the weekend highlights the deadly trail of migrants from north Africa—for whom a chaotic Libya represent another hazardous transit point.
Many people will be affected by the results of the Euro-elections in Greece and across the continent—including those fetching up at its borders.
In an increasingly unequal Sweden, the far right has been able to capitalise on growing insecurity for its xenophobic ends—but it faces strong public resistance as Swedes go to the Euro-polls
In sharp contrast to wider Europe, Turkey has taken in many refugees from the Syrian civil war—but its hospitality is starting to excite social frictions and sectarian tensions
People who fetch up at the borders between Greece and Turkey are treated as if they were less than human, in unaccountable operations for which the European Union must take responsibility.
Fighting racism in Europe is not easy when Europe has two hands tied behind its back—debilitated by neo-liberal policies on the one hand and the securitisation of minorities on the other.
Most undocumented migrants in Europe are not products of irregular entry and humanitarian crises such as that at Lampedusa are not unavoidable tragedies. As the EU starts work on a new programme on migration it must shift approach from control and surveillance.
An Amnesty International report has highlighted the huge gap between the Syrian refugee crisis and the global response. Fortress Europe needs to discover an ethos of hospitality
New immigration rules in the UK designed to help stateless people come into force at a time when legal aid has been removed from nearly all immigration cases. How far will those who are stranded in the UK have a chance to rebuild their lives?
