Italian Police Forcibly Removes Migrants Stranded Near French Border
Last summer, the Italian police denied entry and forcibly removed hundreds of migrants attempting to cross the French-Italian border. Since then, the displaced constructed a makeshift camp at Ventimiglia and resisted eviction with the support of many activists. The camp was eventually closed in September. French police has been patrolling the Italian border in accordance with the Chambery agreement.
Europe Migrants: Austria Builds Brenner Border Centre Despite Criticism
Since September 2015, the migrant flow has increasingly moved from the French-Italian to the Austrian-Italian border. Austria is concerned that the closure of the Balkan route will put more pressure on the Brenner crossing.
EU – Turkey agreement: Turkey negotiates readmission agreements to better deport
Amnesty International has earlier reported about the Turkish deportations to Afghanistan and Syria without allowing people to apply for asylum. Now, Turkey is negotiating the readmission agreements with 14 countries, including Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, in order to deport them more conveniently.
One of the most contested spots on the Balkan migration route is the border between Greek and Macedonia. Between August 21 and 23, 2015, Macedonia closed its border and started to build a wall along the Greek border to stop and control the migrant's flow.
At the beginning of 2016 Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Austria have agreed that the main screening of the migrants would take place in Macedonia on the border with Greece, and that those who pass the control will be transported under police escort all the way to the Austrian border. On the 18th of November 2015, Slovenia closed its borders for refugees who are not from Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq. Just a little later, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia also adopted this practice of segregation and since February 2016, only Syrians and Iraqis are allowed to enter.
In this way, the Macedonia-Greece border has increasingly become an open air prison for thousands of migrants. Since the closure has become effective, many protests have taken place in Eidomeni. Over the last few days,police intervention has been extremely violent.
The following articles report on the protests and state violence on the Greek-Macedonian border:
Obama Immigration Plan Seems to Divide Supreme Court
The Supreme Court seemed sharply divided during an extended argument over President Obama's Plan that would shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation and allow them to work in the country legally.
[Lesvos] Eviction of the No Border Camp The No Borders Camp on the island of Lesvos, with a population of 300-400 people, was forcefully evicted. Around 6 o’clock in the morning the people in the camp were brought to the detention center Moria in overcrowded buses. This camp is known for deportingpeople seeking asylum back to Turkey without a fair examination of their asylum application.
News from the border
A group of almost 60 migrants pass the French-Italian border in sign of protest. 25 of them have been violently stopped and been deported. Many abuses occured during the process.
Migration Research Center at Koç University (MiReKoc) was established in August 2004 as a grant-giving program by the joint initiation of Koç University (Istanbul) and the Foundation for Population, Migration, and Environment (PME, Zurich).
As of 2010 MiReKoc has become a fully functioning research center aimed at developing the research capacity to address migration issues in Turkey.
In addition to being an institutionalized hub for Turkey-related migration research, MiReKoc also initiates conferences, workshops, meetings and seminars aimed at engaging students, academics, bureaucrats, policymakers, stakeholders and civil society organizations (CSO).
