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- INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
CANADA (Reuters) Canada is weighing extra border measures for asylum seekers from Mexico - "We're looking at a number of measures that would, in fact, put us in a position to have done what's necessary to ensure that these flights directly from Mexico don't become sort of an indirect way to get access to Canada and to claim asylum," said Public Safety Minister, Dominic LeBlanc.
US MIGRATION (abc News) A caravan of migrants from Honduras headed north toward the US dissolves in Guatemala - Authorities had been monitoring three border crossings and said part of the caravan advanced a few kilometers (miles) into Guatemalan territory before the migrants were stopped by migration officials who processed them, prioritizing the minors.
DEPORTATION (Amnesty) Europe: Halt returns of people from the North Caucasus to Russia where they are at risk of torture and abuse – “It is scandalous that despite claims to have frozen all judicial cooperation with Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, several European states are threatening to send people who fled persecution in Russia’s North Caucasus back to the very place where those abuses have occurred”
EU-TUNISIA (Asharq Al-Awsat) Tunisian National Guard Intensifies Search for 40 Missing Migrants - The search operations, conducted at sea and by helicopters, are focused on the Sfax and Mahdia coasts.
BULGARIA (MSF) MSF provides medical care to asylum seekers arriving in Harmanli - In their quest for safety and protection, those arriving in Harmanli confront a myriad of challenges, fleeing persistent conflicts, grappling with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake, and contending with an inadequate humanitarian response.
FRANCE (nation world news) Criticism is growing over the new immigration reform in France - In Paris, about 25,000 people took to the streets to demonstrate against measures that would impose stricter conditions for arrival and residence for non-EU immigrants.
See more (rfI) Opponents of France's immigration reform protest law that 'disfigures the Republic'
FINLAND/RUSSIA (Reuters) Asylum seekers 'missing' after crossing Russia border to Finland - Some 160 people who applied for asylum at Finland's eastern border last year have since disappeared, amid a sudden surge of asylum seekers arriving via Russia, Finland's immigration authority said.
GERMANY (euronews) Germany approves legislation easing asylum seeker deportations - The legislation authorizes residential searches for documentation that enables officials to establish a person’s identity and removes authorities’ obligation to give advance notice of deportations in some cases.
GERMANY (France 24) Some 250,000 turn out to protest German far right's mass deportation plans - The wave of mobilisation against the far-right party was sparked by a January 10 report by investigative outlet Correctiv, which revealed that AfD members had discussed the expulsion of immigrants and "non-assimilated citizens" at a meeting with extremists.
HUNGARY (EU Observer) Hungary digs in against EU over migrants and LGBTi rights - The country is still in line to receive another €20bn of EU funds linked to issues dealing with LGTBQI rights, academic freedoms and asylum.
HUNGARY (Schengen Visa Info) Hungary to Restrict Visas for Foreign Temporary Workers - The country will issue only 65,000 visas for temporary workers from non-European Union countries.
IRELAND (Irish Independent) Ireland will provide funding rather than take in refugees from the rest of the EU - Leo Varadkar said given Ireland’s housing crisis and lack of emergency accommodation for asylum seekers meant a financial contribution was more likely.
See more (the Journal) Varadkar: Govt will 'likely' pay money instead of accepting more migrants - Speaking at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos today Leo Varadkar said that Ireland “has an option to provide financial resources as an alternative to accepting more migrants under the pact”.
ITALY (Nation World News) Italy fines and blocks Open Arms ship for 20 days for “obstructing Libyan patrol boat” during rescue - Italian authorities received a report from Libya that Open Arms had obstructed one of their patrol boats during the rescue of 45 people who were on a boat in the waters of the rescue area.
SLOVENIA/CROATIA (Info Migrants) Migrant 'handling facilities' planned at Slovenia-Croatia border - The Slovenian government says that the temporary facilities for migrants are needed because local police stations in the area lack the capacity to deal with the increase in the arrival of migrants.
UK (Sky News) Home Office 'hires aircraft hangar' to practice forcing asylum seekers onto Rwanda flights - The Home Office has not denied reports it has hired an aircraft hangar and fuselage for security guards to practice forcing "disruptive" asylum seekers on flights to Kigali if and when the Rwanda scheme gets off the ground.
UK (Byline Times) The Refugees Turned Out on to Freezing Streets to Clear Rishi Sunak’s Asylum Backlog - The Scottish Refugee Council’s caseworking team are also struggling to cope with an increase in housing enquiries from newly granted refugees. “We’ve seen a doubling in the number of people presenting as homeless, with around forty people a week coming in now,” says Gary Christie, Head of Policy.
UK (BBC) The House of Lords has called for the new UK - Rwanda treaty to be delayed until Kigali improves its asylum procedures - "There is more than enough reason to delay the ratification of the treaty until the conditions for its lawful operation are actually in place,” said Lord fox, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson. Peers backed a motion calling the government not to ratify the treaty by 214 votes to 171.
OF INTEREST:
Irish Times: Ireland is not full and no asylum applicant is ‘unvetted’. But we need a better system – “We are fortunate to live in a prosperous and peaceful country and are more than capable of treating people fleeing war and persecution decently. A State-owned accommodation system is now critical so that we treat asylum seekers with dignity, process their applications quickly, and provide them with temporary shelter while they await decisions on whether they should be allowed to remain to build new futures in Ireland.”
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