Do you want to receive this or other newsletters from ECRE? You can subscribe by following this link.
- INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
SUDANESE REFUGEES (New Arab) UN refugee chief warns Europe of a new influx of Sudanese migrants - “The Europeans are always so worried about people coming across the Mediterranean. Well, I have a warning for them that if they don’t support more refugees coming out of Sudan, even displaced people inside Sudan, we will see onward movements of people toward Libya, Tunisia and across the Mediterranean,” Filippo Grandi said.
US MIGRATION (Washington Post) Senate negotiators release sweeping border and military aid bill - The $118 billion national security package is a top priority for President Biden, but faces stiff opposition from former president Donald Trump and his allies
AGENDA (Alarabia News) Turkey-Syria earthquakes one year on: Deadly disaster continues to haunt survivors - “The humanitarian needs of people in Syria have disappeared from the attention of the media, and it disappeared from the headlines with other emerging conflicts over the past year.”
EU/TURKEY (European Commission) EU provides €26 million in humanitarian aid to support refugees and people affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye - The new funding will also provide protection services to vulnerable communities, like asylum seekers, and people affected by the earthquakes. On top of this, the EU will continue helping refugees with assistance for basic needs such as water, sanitation, hygiene, and specialized health care services.
MEDITERRANEAN (Info Migrants) IOM: Nearly 100 missing or dead in Mediterranean so far this year - The toll revealed by IOM is over twice as high as the figure for the same period of 2023, the deadliest year for migrants at sea in Europe since 2016, according to a statement released on January 29.
BELGIUM (vanguard) Nigerians sleeping in Belgium streets extreme cold weather — Belgian official – “So, for the moment, there are lots of these asylum seekers living in Brussels on the street, and I can assure you the temperature in Brussels is not what it is here in Abuja. It got to minus seven, minus five. Now it’s around zero Celsius”.
GERMANY (bignewsnetwork) Germany to introduce 'payment cards' for asylum seekers - According to Rhein, "with the introduction of the payment card we reduce the administrative burden on local municipalities [and] prevent the possibility of transferring money from state subsidies to countries of origin, and thus combat the inhuman human-trafficking crime."
ITALY (Info Migrants) Riot at Rome CPR after migrant's suicide - "If I were to die, I would like my body to be taken to Africa, my mother would be happy," he wrote in French on a wall of the center, probably with a cigarette butt.
IRELAND (Irish Times) Ireland could pay €13m instead of taking in 648 asylum seekers - Justice Minister Helen McEntee is expected to bring a memo to Cabinet within weeks to advise government to opt in to the deal which was agreed in December.
SPAIN/MOROCCO (KNEWS) Spain urges Morocco to stem transit asylum claims amidst rising numbers - The Spanish government has formally requested Morocco's cooperation in preventing Senegalese passport holders, lacking a Schengen visa in the past two years, from boarding flights with layovers in Spain until February 19.
See more (Info Migrants) Morocco: Armed forces intercept over 200 migrants over weekend - A statement from the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces this weekend confirmed that FAR units responsible for coastal surveillance intercepted 79 migrants on Sunday (February 4).
SPAIN (eldiario) Two people died and at least two in serious condition in a canoe rescued in Gran Canaria - This rescue took place after this morning Salvamento Marítimo took a dinghy to Arrecife with 50 migrants of sub-Saharan and Maghreb origin, five of them women, located when it was sailing 14.2 kilometers southeast of Lanzarote.
UK (Sky News) Bibby Stockholm: 'Claustrophobic' asylum seeker barge risks human rights breach, MPs warn - Chair of the committee, Dame Diana Johnson, said MPs had been "disheartened to see some of the living conditions on the Bibby Stockholm", saying they found "many individuals having to share small, cramped cabins (originally designed for one person), often with people (up to six) they do not know (some of whom spoke a different language to them)".
UK (itv news) Man jailed for piloting inflatable boat carrying 70 migrants who were rescued off Kent Coast - Despite originally arguing that he had not been in control of the vessel at any time, or asked for payment from any of the individuals aboard, he later pleaded guilty to facilitating illegal immigration.
(Human Rights Watch) Joint NGO letter to the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen regarding media freedom in Greece – “Despite the deteriorating climate for the independent press and civil society in Greece, the European Commission has remained largely silent, or inactive, in seeking to hold the Greek government to account. The Commission, including in its 2023 Rule of Law report, expressed concerns about the situation of journalists and civil society, but we regret that neither the report nor the Commission’s related statements on Greece reflect the severity of the situation.”
|
