In Lipa, hundreds of people are currently seeking shelter and are freezing. The Bosnian armed forces have put up at least a few winter tents in the past few days, but they are nowhere near enough for all the people. It is expected to take at least three more months before the camp is ready. As it stands at the moment, people will be freezing until then. The …
Interview Die ZEIT: The plight of Greek refugee camps
I have been to the Greek mass camps many times in recent years. In an interview with DIE ZEIT, I talk about why the misery there, as well as the failure of the authorities, is politically deliberate. You can read the interview here.
What is the European Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF)?
— English version below — The Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) is the EU's main financial instrument to support the implementation of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), refugee integration, return and resettlement and humanitarian reception. The fund for the 2021-2027 EU budget has long been under negotiation between co-legislators. Last week, the …
FR: Moria 2 is a slum despite EU promises
In September 2020 the EU Commission announced that there should be no more "slum camps" like Moria on the territory of the European Union. Some three months later, little remains of this promise; rather, Moria continues to sink into misery. The Frankfurter Rundschau reports on my criticism of the ongoing crisis.
The strategy of the German Council Presidency has failed
Press release on the EU interior ministers' meeting on asylum on 14 December 2020 At today's EU interior ministers' meeting, the European interior ministers will discuss, among other things, the proposal for a European migration and asylum pact. My comment: "The German Presidency's strategy has failed. It wanted to force a European solution by demanding that the suffering at the external borders be dealt with only by a European consensus;
20 questions and answers about flight
I receive many inquiries from citizens about my work and my topics of flight and migration. Most of them are guided by honest interest and I am also very happy to answer them. Unfortunately, there is also a loud minority that repeatedly tries to impose its racist and right-wing populist worldview on others. Of course, we must not allow that to happen. …
Question: Reception facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina
In order to be able to exercise my parliamentary control function as an MEP, I have the opportunity to put questions to the European Commission. Together with other Members, I have put the following questions to the Commission: Subject: Adequate EU funding and long-term reception facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including for vulnerable groups The Commission has been funding measures since 2018 …
Interim assessment of the German Council Presidency
We MEPs from the Green Group on Europe have drawn up an interim balance sheet and are now providing an overview of the various topics. In asylum and migration issues, Germany has blocked a lot and achieved little during this period, and the crises at the external borders have worsened during the German Council Presidency. Here are the assessments of my areas of work at a glance: Mass camps for …
How the EU facilitates deportations to the most dangerous country in the world
In 2016, the EU and Afghanistan signed the Joint Way Forward Agreement during the Brussels Donor Conference. The aim is to facilitate deportations to Afghanistan. It is an informal, non-binding legal instrument and the European Parliament was not involved in the agreement. Because the agreement expired on 6 October this year, the EU would like to have a new agreement in place by the end of …
Berlin sues Seehofer
Things are finally moving forward: the state of Berlin is taking legal action against the Federal Ministry of the Interior so that Berlin can finally take in refugees. The lawsuit is promising, because Interior Minister Horst Seehofer wants to prevent the admission despite legal leeway. More information can be found in the press release of the Berlin state government. Who wants to deal more intensively with the legal framework: I have a …