Monthly Press Review October 2023

November 8th, 2023 - written by: Migration-control.info

OUT NOW: Our Monthly Press Review October 2023 covers topics such as Eurafrican migration control, migration, and displacement in African countries, and news on the European border regime.

In case there is a news item, report, or campaign you would like to flag in next month’s review please write us via contact@migration-control.info or on Twitter @MigControl.

Please find the PDF HERE

Please find it as text here:

NEW ON MIGRATION-CONTROL.INFO

Blog 01.11.23 Migratory Situation in Mauritania: This note from the European Council Presidency to the Working Party on External Aspects of Asylum and Migration introduces Mauritania as “a key country for stability in the Maghreb and the Sahel”, noting Mauritania’s longstanding cooperation in EU migration control and stressing its general geostrategic significance.

Blog 30.10.23 Sudan RCs: The Political Vision to End the War: We have established a Horn of Africa Media Office. We intend to document migration movements and border politics in this region, as well as developments in post-revolutionary Sudan. Here we document The political vision to end the war in Sudan, by the Sudan Resistance Committees and the signatory forces to the Revolutionary Charter for Establishing People's Power.

Blog 19.10.23 Six Months of War in Sudan: And No End in Sight by Saskia Jaschek: The war between Sudan's two most powerful generals rages on unabated. The people survive thanks to their self-organization.

Library 10/23 Tunisia: borders, migration, solidarity. A country report by Paolo Cuttitta and Nadia Chaouch: This report summarizes the developments of migration-related dynamics and control policies in this country, since Tunisia was co-opted into the European border regime in the 1990s, and sheds light on initiatives from civil society actors in solidarity with people on the move.

Event Documentation 10.10.23 Externalizing the EU Borders: Frontex and Other Security Actors in West Africa: by the migration-control.info project, Brot für die Welt and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation: Our event on border externalization and the role of Frontex in West Africa that took place on October 10 can now also be streamed on on youtube. In case you missed it, have a look!

Special: Turkey’s war

In this month’s issue, we dedicate a special issue to the war of the Turks and their attacks in the north and east of Syria and in the north of Iraq. While the Turkish military claims to be fighting the PKK, civilians are being killed, injured and displaced. The ongoing attacks receive little to no media or political attention, which is why they are highlighted in this edition of our monthly review.

01.10.23: The Guardian: Turkish planes raid Kurdish targets in Iraq after terror attack in Ankara: ”The Turkish defence ministry says its warplanes carried out raids on suspected Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq on Sunday after a suicide attack on a government building in the Turkish capital.”

04.10.23: Middle East Eye: Ankara bombing: Why did the PKK attack Turkey now?: “A PKK attack against Turkey’s interior ministry in Ankara on Sunday came amid an ongoing Turkish military campaign to hunt down the group’s members in northern Iraq and Syria. Shocking to many Turks due to its brazen style, the attack by the Kurdish militant group targeted the headquarters of the Turkish security forces in broad daylight, just hours before the opening of Turkey’s National Assembly.”

10.10.23: Reuters: As Turkey intensifies war on Kurdish militants in Iraq, civilians are suffering: “The strike was part of escalating attacks by Turkish aircraft and drones in mainly Kurdish areas of Iraq and Syria, which have since continued, a Reuters data analysis shows. Western firms have supplied critical components for the drones, which Kurdish and Iraqi officials say Turkey is deploying with increasing frequency.”

15.10.23: ANF Press Release: Internationalist youth delegation deported from Turkey reports mistreatment by security forces: "We call on all people in German society who think something of democratic values and freedom of the press, all journalists, all members of the Bundestag (German Parliament) to take a clear stand and oppose Turkey's war of aggression against the Kurdish population but also against the Turkish regime."

21.10.23: Medyanews: A tale of two genocides – a weekly news review: “Turkey has kept up continuous low-level attacks and targeted assassinations since their 2019 invasion. They have not invaded again because America and Russia refuse to move their forces out of the way, but they have not been prevented from air attacks and from shelling across the border, and between the 5 and 9 October, their attacks were intensive. The impact of those attacks has now been documented: 11 power stations hit, affecting over two million people; 18 water stations out of service; 2 hospitals destroyed; 48 educational sites hit, three industrial facilities out of service, and 44 people killed. The repair bill for the power plants alone will run to tens of millions of dollars. Daily attacks continue, and Turkey has made clear that they are determined to destroy the Autonomous Administration, which is home to some five million people. They promise more and worse to come.”

31.10.23: taz: „Vorreiter der Kriminalisierung“ ("Pioneer of criminalization"): “No other EU state is taking such harsh action against the Kurdish freedom movement as Germany.”

North Africa

Libya

29.09.23: The New Arab: Syrian ‘Cham Wings’ and Haftar’s Libyan army are complicit in smuggling of Europe-bound migrants: “Europe-bound Syrian migrants travel via Eastern Libya on a carrier that was recently taken off EU sanctions list. The Libyan National Army’s Military Investment Authority pockets fees to issue security clearances and allows them into the country.”

Morocco

08.10.23: AJE: By sea, by land: Desperate refugees still transit Morocco to get to Europe: “A month after an earthquake killed nearly 3,000 people, the stream of refugees transiting Morocco to Europe continues. More than 25,000 refugees and migrants have left Morocco this year so far – fewer than those leaving Tunisia and Libya but still significant. At least 600, possibly many more, have died trying to make the crossing.”

Tunisia

02.10.23: Webdo: La Tunisie rejette officiellement l’aide financière de l’UE, annonce Kais Saied (Tunisia officially rejects EU financial aid, announces Kais Saied): “Receiving the head of diplomacy, Nabil Ammar, on Monday 2 October 2023, the President of the Republic, Kais Saied, announced that Tunisia had refused the first installment of a financial package intended to support the State budget, presented by the European Union. The Head of State explained that the disbursement of this sum of money disregards the memorandum of understanding signed between Tunisia and the European side and the results of the Rome conference on migration.”

See also

03.10.23: DW: Tunesiens Präsident Saied lehnt "Almosen" der EU ab (Tunisia's President Saied rejects EU "handouts”).

Tunisia

10.10.23: HRW: Tunisia: African Migrants Intercepted at Sea, Expelled: “The Tunisian National Guard collectively expelled over 100 migrants from multiple African countries to the border with Algeria between September 18 and 20, 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. Those expelled, which included children and possibly asylum seekers, had been intercepted at sea and returned to Tunisia by the Coast Guard, part of the National Guard.”

19.10.23: TIMEP: The EU-Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding: A Blueprint for Cooperation on Migration?;

01.11.: Matthias Monroy: Fewer boat crossings, visit to Frontex: EU and Tunisia implement migration pact: “Despite an alleged repayment of funds for migration defence, Tunisia is cooperating with the EU. Fewer refugees are also arriving across the Mediterranean – a decrease by a factor of seven.”

Tunisia

23.10.23: Zeit: Wie Tunesien die Migranten übers Meer drängt (How Tunisia pushes migrants across the sea): Thousands try to leave Tunisia as soon as possible.

Also see

08.10.23: Spiegel: Hier hausen Schwangere unter Bäumen und kleine Mädchen ertrinken (Here pregnant women dwell under trees and little girls drown).

Central and Subsaharan Africa

DRC

31.10.23: taz: Fast sieben Millionen Menschen auf der Flucht (Nearly 7 million on flight): “Around 6.95 million people in the country, which is believed to have around 100 million inhabitants, are fleeing within its borders, the UN migration agency IOM (International Organisation for Migration) announced on Monday.”

Also see

09.10.23: taz: Schwere Kämpfe im Osten der DR Kongo (Heavy fighting in eastern DR Congo)

Kenya

31.10.23: Guardian: Kenya to scrap visas for all African nationals: “‘By the end of this year, no African will be required to have a visa to come to Kenya,’ Kenya’s president, William Ruto, said at a climate change conference in Congo-Brazzaville.

Costly and time-consuming visa requirements, as well as high air fares, have long created barriers to inter-African travel for African passport holders; 32 out of 54 African countries still require the nationals of half or more countries on the continent to obtain a visa.”

South Africa

07.10.23: DW: Südafrika: Neuer Grenzschutz soll illegale Migration stoppen (South Africa: New border guard to stop illegal migration): “A new border protection agency is to ensure that people and goods only enter South Africa through legal channels. According to South African authorities, 139 stolen vehicles have been intercepted and 35,000 people have been prevented from crossing the border into South Africa illegally since the new Border Guard Agency was established.”

East Africa

Sudan

03.10.23: Guardian: Sudan conflict ‘like planning for the apocalypse’, say aid workers: “Humanitarian officials say the widening conflict in Sudan has left them trying to ‘plan for the apocalypse’ as aid supply lines are disrupted and more people are displaced both internally and across the country’s borders. At least 5.4 million people have already been displaced by the fighting.”

Sudan

17.10.23: NZZ: Vermittlerin im Krieg im Sudan: «Ganz ehrlich? Hoffnung habe ich keine» (Mediator in the war in Sudan: "Honestly? I have no hope") : Six months after the war began, more than one million people have fled to neighbouring countries, and inside Sudan more than four million people are on the run. Thousands of bystanders have been killed. International mediation efforts have had little success, as the German political scientist Annette Weber has also experienced.

Sudan

19.10.23: TNH: How mutual aid in Sudan is getting international support: ”As international NGOs and the UN struggle to access certain areas, decentralised mutual aid networks – known as emergency response rooms (ERRs) – have stepped in to fill the vacuum.

In acknowledgement of this reality, donors, international NGOs and UN agencies are trying to shift their programmes to support these local volunteer-led networks, but deep-seated bureaucracy – standing in stark contrast to mutual aid groups’ nimbleness and agility – has meant that only a fraction of the millions of dollars promised to them have been received by ERR volunteers.”

Sudan

20.10.23: Guardian: Thousands of refugees in danger as Sudan fighting spreads from Khartoum: “Fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has spread south of Khartoum towards Gezira state, endangering the lives of thousands of people who have fled there from the capital.

The conflict is also intensifying in South Kordofan state, where a large rebel force, the SPLMN, that mobilised in June, has been relentlessly attacking army barracks, and in Darfur, where Arab militias backed by or affiliated to the RSF have been accused of conducting a brutal campaign of ethnic violence.”

Sudan/Germany

20.10.23: taz: Steuergelder für die Miliz (Tax money for the militia): “At the beginning of October, a joint investigation by several European media such as Zeit Online and NZZ am Sonntag revealed that European taxpayers' money had also indirectly contributed to the rise of the RSF: via the security company Shield Protective Solutions, which is part of the RSF's shadow economy and which, until the outbreak of war, guarded - and in some cases still guards - buildings of Western institutions in Sudan on a large scale.”

See also

01.10.23: Zeit: Sudan: Unfreiwillige Helfer (Involuntary Helpers).

Sudan

26.10.23: Guardian: Sudanese paramilitary group says it has seized country’s second-largest city: “Claim by Rapid Support Forces to have taken the trade hub of Nyala could mark a turning point in the war.”

01.11.23: taz: RSF-Miliz in Sudan erobert mehr Städte (RSF militia in Sudan captures more cities): “After their capture of Nyala, the largest town in the western Sudanese region of Darfur and hometown of RSF leader Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, known as Hametti, last Thursday, the RSF militias also took control of the town of Zalingei, capital of Central Darfur province, on Tuesday. … On Monday evening, the RSF had reported the expulsion of the government army from Balila airbase in West Kordofan state, which borders South Darfur. The military airbase at Balila had previously been used by Sudan's government forces for air strikes and had been "liberated with great success", the RSF announced. At the same time, they had taken control of the Balila oil field. Before the war, it was one of Sudan's most important oil fields remaining after the secession of South Sudan.”

West Africa

Benin

24.10.23: taz: „Den Frauen brechen die Einnahmen weg“ ("The women are losing their income"): “Military rule in Niger is having a devastating effect on its southern neighbour Benin,” says Beninese conflict researcher Kamal Donko.

Burkina Faso

06.10.23: Andalou: Le Burkina Faso et l’Iran signent 8 accords de coopération ( Burkina Faso and Iran sign 8 cooperation agreements): Burkina Faso and the Islamic Republic of Iran signed eight cooperation agreements on Thursday, notably in the fields of energy, town planning, higher education, town planning and construction, with the aim of boosting the Ouaga-Tehran axis, diplomatic sources said on Friday.

Also see

12.10.23: Burkina 24: Construction d’une centrale nucléaire au Burkina Faso: Un mémorandum sera signé vendredi à Moscou (Construction of a nuclear power plant in Burkina Faso: a memorandum to be signed in Moscow on Friday).

Mali/Sahel

15.10.23: DW: Sahel: Military regimes under pressure to succeed: ”The military regimes in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger continue to struggle with terrorism, and the goodwill some of them have enjoyed is beginning to erode. With pressure rising, coup leaders are turning to repression.”

Mali

02.10.23: taz: Malis Norden versinkt im Krieg (Mali's north drowns in war): “Fighting between Mali's government troops and Tuareg rebels for control of military bases is escalating. Islamists are increasingly involved.”

Niger

19.10.23: VoA: L'UE met en place un pont aérien pour les médicaments essentiels au Niger: ”The European Union (EU) announced on Thursday that it had set up a humanitarian airlift to transport essential medicines and medical supplies to Niger, hit by international economic sanctions since the coup d'état of July 26.”

Senegal

05.10.23: AJE: Senegal cracks down on Europe refugee boats: Will others follow?: “In posts updated almost daily on social media, Senegal’s navy details how its patrol boat, Walo, reroutes vessels crammed with refugees trying to get to Europe. Photos show people disembarking from the boats, their faces blurred out: women in flowing chiffon dresses, barefoot children, a man wearing an ‘Mbour Sport Academie’ shirt.

Last year, Senegalese authorities intercepted just one known boat headed for Europe. But just in the space of a week this September, more than 600 would-be refugees were turned back by the country’s navy, just as their canoes started inching across the turbulent Atlantic on a dangerous but popular journey.
The surge in the numbers of people headed off from the high seas highlights how the West African country – a major departure point for Senegalese, but also Gambians and Malians – is stepping up to stem irregular migration flows. Some 1,500 people have been transferred to local authorities since May, Senegal’s navy claims, more than 95 percent of all recorded interceptions in 2022.”

See also

24.10.23: Jambaar (Les forces de défense et de sécurité) on Youtube: Lutte contre l’émigration clandestine 338 migrants arrêtés in extremis à Dakar Sénégal and further posts of this sort;

17.10.23: Senalioune: L’Espagne annonce le renforcement des opérations de surveillance sur les côtes de la Mauritanie et du Sénégal (Spain announces increased surveillance operations on the coasts of Mauritania and Senegal): In October, the military regime announced a 40% cut in the national budget for 2023, as a result of the various sanctions affecting the economy of Niger, a country that is heavily dependent on foreign partners. The Prime Minister appointed by the military, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, recently explained that he was going to draw up an austerity programme.; 31.10.23: InfoMigrants: Spain sends drones, personnel to Senegal to stop boats departing for Canary Islands.

West Asia

Gaza: There will be a Blog documentation on history, borderwork and recent developments.

Pakistan / Afghanistan

01.11.: Tagesschau: Zehntausende Afghanen verlassen Pakistan (Tens of thousands of Afghans leave Pakistan): ”The Pakistani government plans to deport illegal migrants on a large scale. The two million undocumented Afghans in the country would be particularly affected. More than 100,000 are said to have already left the country.”

See also

taz 09.10.23: Afghanen als Sündenböcke (Afghans as scapegoats)

Syria

11.10.23: taz: Regierungskritische Proteste in Syrien (Anti-government protests in Syria): ”Last Friday, Karama Square in the southern Syrian city of Suwaida was once again filled with colourfully striped Druze flags. Media and activist footage shows hundreds, if not thousands, of protesters. Men and women have been taking to the streets for over six weeks.”

Europe

Germany

15.10.23: Spiegel: Aufnahmeprogramm bietet nur 13 Afghanen Schutz (Reception programme offers protection to only 13 Afghans): “A year ago, the German government promised to take in 1000 threatened Afghans per month. However, the programme's record so far is meagre: only 13 people have entered Germany through the programme.”

Germany

17.10.23: NorthAfricaPost: Germany’s increased financial support to ECOWAS aims to stabilize West Africa: “Germany’s announcement last month that it would provide greater support to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in its efforts to secure peace in the region and prevent future crises, suggests that European leaders see the organization as crucial to the future stability of West Africa.

The agreement to provide greater financial support to ECOWAS was reached at talks in Berlin (29 September) between Germany’s Development Ministry and the ECOWAS Commission. Berlin has committed support totaling some 81 million euros to be used for the purposes of peace-building and economic development.”

Germany

25.10.23: taz: Mehr Härte und mehr Tempo bei Abschiebungen (More harshness and more speed in deportations): “On Wednesday, the Federal Government wants to adopt stricter deportation rules. Already more deportations than last year - even to Russia.”

Germany/Morocco 30.10.23: ZDF: Marokko: Faeser schließt Migrationsabkommen (Morocco: Faeser concludes migration agreement): “Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) has called for more cooperation in Morocco on security issues as well as migration and deportations. She and her Moroccan counterpart, Abdelouafi Laftit, signed a declaration of intent to this effect in the capital Rabat on Monday [30.11.23].”

Germany

31.10.23: Tagesschau: Chancellor Scholz visit to Nigeria: Call for cooperation in migration issues.

30.10.23: GFP: Abschieben und abwerben (Deport and entice away).

European Union

20.10.23: ERCE: With More Than Half of Gaza’s Population Displaced EU Struggles for Consensus and Focuses on Prevention of Arrivals Through a Deal with Egypt: As more than one million people have been displaced in Gaza the EU is in a diplomatic melt-down over response to the crisis while the Commission reportedly seeks a deal with Egypt to deter potential arrivals.

See also

11.10.23: EUobserver: Gaza war 'pressing' EU on Egypt anti-migrant deal: The prospect of Palestinians fleeing the Gaza Strip into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula appears to have spooked the European Commission into fast tracking a possible migrant-busting deal with Cairo.

18.10.23: European Council: EU Action Plan for Eastern Mediterranean migration: ”This Action Plan on the Eastern Mediterranean migration route is the latest part of the commitment to meet the challenges of irregular migration in an operational way. This plan outlines measures to prevent irregular departures, combat smuggling and provide legal pathways. Moreover, the actions under the plan will improve border management, support return and readmission cooperation, and support reception capacity. This is a part of the Team Europe strategy which works with partners along whole routes, in order to improve migration management and save lives.

At the extraordinary meeting of the European Council of 9 February 2023, Heads of State and Government called on the Commission to present an Action Plan for the Eastern Mediterranean route, with a view to alleviating the pressure on the most affected Member States and effectively preventing irregular arrivals. This Action Plan identifies operational measures to address ongoing challenges, complementing the EU Action Plans for the Western Balkans, Central Mediterranean, Western Mediterranean and Atlantic routes.” Find the action Plan here.

19.10.23: Statewatch: Spanish Presidency: more funds needed for border externalisation if EU is to stay "credible vis-à-vis key third countries”: “The Spanish Presidency's recent proposal for a ‘preventive’ approach is to be debated further, with discussion focusing on ways to ‘optimise’ the EU's current "toolbox" for externalisating migration controls and how to ensure "robust, efficient and coordinated financial support," including direct funding to third countries so that the EU can remain "credible".

Also see:

06.10.23: AJE: European Union leaders meet in Granada to discuss enlargement, migration;

06.10.23: taz: Öffnen und abschotten (Open up and seal off): At a meeting in Spain, EU leaders discuss the end of the unanimity principle. Hungary and Poland block the declaration on migration;

05.10.23: Statewatch: Spanish Presidency’s call for “a preventive model” for migration: more of the same.

04.10.23: European Council: Migration policy: Council agrees mandate on EU law dealing with crisis situations: In a situation of crisis or force majeure, member states may be authorised to apply specific rules concerning the asylum and the return procedure. In this sense, among other measures, registration of applications for international protection may be completed no later than four weeks after they are made, easing the burden on overstrained national administrations.

EU/Iraq

11.10.23: Statewatch: EU seeking informal agreement to boost deportations to Iraq: The plan is being pushed ahead by the Council and Commission (pdf) despite acknowledgement that the Iraqi government announced in March this year that “it denounced the previous policy of general non-acceptance of non-voluntary returns and… committed to start cooperating on all returns.”

A “non-binding agreement” would not require the scrutiny or consent of the European Parliament, unlike a formal readmission agreement, and would come on top of the existing EU-Iraq Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, as well as the threat of visa sanctions against Iraq, which have been under discussion since 2021 when it was determined that the country’s cooperation with deportations was “insufficient”.

The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement includes clauses obliging both sides “to readmit their illegal migrants,” while the possibility of the EU making visa issuance more complex and time-consuming for Iraqi nationals remains under discussion in the Council.

Frontex

05.10.23: Statewatch: Frontex: deportations at record high in first half of 2023: Frontex facilitated the deportation of nearly 18,000 individuals from EU territory during the first half of 2023, marking an unprecedented peak. This surge in removals, executed through both scheduled flights and "voluntary" return procedures, demonstrates a 60% upswing in deportations compared to the corresponding period in 2022.

Italy / Mediterranean

03.10.23: AJE: Refugees who died off Italy 10 years ago remembered as new crisis flares: Two tragic shipwrecks off Lampedusa shook the hearts of European leaders in 2013. Now, policies and rhetoric towards those migrating are harder than ever. Survivors of the 2013 shipwrecks and relatives of the victims on Tuesday accused Italian and European institutions of prioritising their borders over lives.

Reports and Long Reads

01.10.23: DW: Marokko: Zukunft für Migrantinnen trotz Widrigkeiten (Morocco: Future for migrant women despite adversity): According to the latest figures from the United Nations, 48.5 per cent of regular migrants in Morocco are women. The labour market in Morocco is on the move: More and more, the country is changing from a transit station for (mainly male) labour migrants on their way to Europe to a destination country - especially for women who want to support their families with better-paid jobs. The Moroccan call centre industry has boomed in the last 15 years, making it easier for many French-speaking migrants to find work.

02.10.23: Guardian: Beatings, dog bites, and barbed wire: life and death on the Poland-Belarus border: “Activists helping people in forested grey zone say dehumanisation of migrants is increasing as Polish election draws nearer.”

16.10.23: African Center for Strategic Studies: Unresolved Conflicts Continue to Drive Africa’s Food Crisis: “An estimated 149 million Africans are facing acute food insecurity—an increase of 12 million people from a year ago. This equates to a risk category of 3 or higher (Crisis, Emergency, and Catastrophe) on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) scale of 1 to 5.

Some 122 million of those facing acute food insecurity are in countries experiencing conflict—82 percent of the total—accentuating that conflict is the primary driver of acute food insecurity in Africa.

8 of the top 10 African countries experiencing acute food insecurity are facing conflict.

The 149-million-person figure represents a 150-percent increase in the number of Africans facing acute food insecurity since 2019 when 61 million people were in this category.”

18.10.23: ACLEAD: Non-State Armed Groups and Illicit Economies in West Africa: JNIM: “The series brings new material and updated analyses using the ACLED database and qualitative research, examining how armed groups survive in their political and economic environments.

This report focuses on the central role of illicit economies in JNIM’s governance strategies and in financing and resourcing the group’s operations in the Sahel. Additionally, the report tracks how JNIM has evolved organizationally, with these internal changes dictating shifts in its regional priorities that have underpinned the group’s expansion into new geographies, its retention of influence in areas of control, and its resilience to disruption.”

20.10.23: Alarmphone and Boza Fii: Crossings from Senegal to the Canary Islands: a society in the grip of economic despair, political repression and European interference: “In recent months, there has been a series of acts of repression that show how the Senegalese government is seeking to intimidate the entire population, and especially the migrant population. The authorities are using the army, gendarmerie and police to stifle any situation that might lead to controversy in the country [...].”

20.10.23: Guardian: Europe will never discourage African migration while it funds the corruption that drives it: “The idea that Africans aren’t aware of the dangers of migration, or haven’t tried to ‘build up their own countries’ ignores the terrible despair they feel at the state of their governments.”

22.10.23: Spiegel: Callcenter in Casablanca statt Asyl in Europa: “Many migrants from southern Africa have stayed in Morocco until now, finding work in one of the countless call centres. But in the meantime, the conditions are so bad that they are dreaming of life in Europe again.”

25.10.23: Guardian: ‘We are already dead here’: last residents of Tunisian ghost town set sights on Europe: “Diyar al Hajjaj’s population has halved in less than two years as its young people try again and again to cross sea.”

10/23: Dr Maria Hagan and Dr Sébastien Bachelet: “We know who you are”. Hostile Migration Politics and the Criminalisation of Solidarity Actors in France and Morocco: “Those who act in support of migrant people often come under fire from state authorities, who in many countries are constantly working to extend the scope and strength of their migration control and deterrence strategies. [...] [T]his report focuses on insidious practices of everyday criminalisation (e.g. intimidation, surveillance, harassment etc.) that solidarity actors face, and on how this impacts them in their wellbeing and capacities to pursue their acts of solidarity and resistance to degrading and violent border regimes.”

Campaigns

12.10.: AK Asyl und Flüchtlingsräte: Debatte über Arbeitspflicht, Abschiebungen und Bezahlkarten für Flüchtlinge stärkt rechte Diskurse (Debate on compulsory work, deportations and payment cards for refugees strengthens right-wing discourses): PRO ASYL and the refugee councils of the German federal states strongly criticise the current proposals to further disenfranchise refugees. This includes the proposal to introduce a payment card and compulsory work for those seeking protection at the conference of the Minister Presidents, which begins today. This is justified with the aim of reducing the number of refugees arriving in order to relieve the municipalities.

Donations for Alarmphone: On 11 October 2014, we launched the Alarm Phone : an emergency hotline aimed at assisting people in distress at sea or in overland emergency situations on their way to Europe and to initiate appropriate rescue measures (https://alarmphone.org/de).

Over the last nine years, the number of people in need of help has steadily increased and so have our telephone costs - one of the Alarm Phone's biggest expenses:
in 2020: 28 900€
in 2021: 54 800€
in 2022: 143 800€

To ensure that our financial situation does not limit our work, we are launching an international fundraising campaign to mark the Alarm Phone's ninth anniversary. Every donation can help us to continue our vital task and to keep the hotline running day and night.

https://www.betterplace.org/de/projects/127506-alarm-phone-seenotrettung-benoetigt-spenden-fuer-steigende-telefonkosten#

Events

26.11.2023, Demonstration in Berlin: Stop CEAS! For a Europe that builds bridges!: At the beginning of December, the EU Parliament will discuss another aggravation of the Common European Asylum System (GEAS). The parliament will vote on a whole bundle of regulations that will fundamentally tighten the European asylum system. As a result, there will be systematic human rights violations. The fundamental right to asylum is at stake. Together to the streets against the abolition of the right of asylum in Europe!

Posted in Monthly Reviews