News from the Borders

News from the Borders 28.06.2023

• New research shows that the Greek coast guard could be mainly responsible for the shipwreck off Pylos. Lighthousereports reports. Tagesschau reports.

• In an interview with Monitor, I criticized the fact that the Greek authorities, with political support, can break laws just like that. The whole article here.

• A London court has ruled that Britain's practice of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda is illegal because Rwanda is not a safe third country. Taz reports.

News from the Borders 28.06.2023 

• The Ocean Viking has rescued 86 people from an overcrowded inflatable boat in distress off Libya. Most of those rescued are unaccompanied minors. Read more SOS Mediterranée.

• Frontex is making serious accusations against Greece in the case of the boat disaster two weeks ago. Internally, there is a debate whether Frontex should withdraw from the country. The taz reports. 

• Half of the boats sighted by Frontex are intercepted by the Libyan coast guard and the people are towed back to the civil war country. Euractiv has reported about it; but you can also find the whole report on here.

News from the Borders 26.06.2023 

• I spoke with the taz about my clear rejection of tightening asylum laws and about what we Greens must do now. You can find the whole interview here at the taz.

• Contrary to the announcement of Interior Minister Faeser, „border procedures“ would also be possible for people from states with high recognition rates – for example Syria and Afghanistan –. The ARD fact finder shows where dishonest communication has taken place.

• The GEAS reform is intended to strengthen Fortress Europe and deter people from fleeing to the EU in the first place. You can find the whole essay in Spiegel International here.

• The survivors of the boat accident off Pylos are now living in dire conditions in Greece. Middle east eye reports.

News from the Borders 23.06.2023 

• At Deutschlandfunk I explained in a discussion on the GEAS why the reform will not bring any improvements and will not prevent boating accidents like the one off Pylos in the future.

• The Libyan coast guard, which is co-financed by the EU, earns a lot of money with the Cooperation with tugboats. 

• Mahtab lives in Berlin and demands the release of her father Homayoun Sabetara, who has been in prison in Greece for 668 days for driving a car as a fugitive.  

News from the Borders 21.06.2023

• There is a crisis of the rule of law at the EU's external borders, and the envisaged tightening of asylum laws would make this even more cement. 

• Greece will receive a total of €819 million from the EU for "border management" between 2021 and 2027. Of this, only €600,000 is earmarked for Search and Rescue – i.e. just 0.07 percent. 

• distress at sea is a Objective condition, which is why the Greek coast guard should have rescued the boat off Pylos.

World Refugee Day 2023 News 

• Currently, there are over 110 million people on the run. The EU must not close itself off more and more when more and more people are forced to flee. 

• A year ago, journalist Lujain Alsedeg visited me as part of a workshop at the European Parliament. Today she writes in the tazhow she had to flee from Sudan.   

• A new law is expected to largely change asylum law in the U.K. abolish. 

• Tomorrow from 18.00 we can discuss togetherwhat we are threatened with with the EU asylum law reform and what we can do against it now. 

News from the Borders 19.06.2023

• Survivors of the boat accident off Pylos tell what happened and why the Greek Coast Guard has a Joint responsibility for the hundreds of dead.  

• Nancy Faeser is in Tunis and wants to use a lot of money to convince the authoritarian ruler Saied to Bouncer for the EU to play.  

• The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Moria, that the conditions constituted inhumane treatment and that there was no adequate access to legal protection.  

News from the Borders 16.06.2023 

• A rescue signal was sent from the ship, which sank in the Ionian Sea with hundreds of people. This was ignored. 

• The Greek ex-deputy Arsenis says that the ship was in tow of the Greek coast guard. It is reasonable to assume that the Greek coast guard contributed to the accident because they wanted to pull the ship into Italian waters. 

• In conversation with ARD I said again that we accept the deaths in the Mediterranean, it has to be said. That perhaps one even partly wants people to die in the Mediterranean Sea in order to deter it.

• eurotopics has collected and translated comments on the disaster from Greece and other European countries. 

News from the Borders 14.06.2023

• At least 59 people drowned off the coast of Pylos in southern Greece. They were on a ship heading for the Italian coast. 

• Currently, there are over 110 million people on the run.
  Here you can find the detailed Annual Report of the UNHCR.  

• At RBB Inforadio I explained why the Council position's tightening of asylum law is a downward spiral that also puts the rule of law at risk. 

News from the Borders 12.06.2023

• In the Tagesthemen I was allowed to tell why the Council's proposal on the GEAS brings no improvements, but many deteriorations. 

• I have seen in a Document summarizes why the concept of Safe Third Countries gives EU members wide latitude in rejecting asylum applications.

• The Commission is holding out the prospect of €900 million to prevent refugees from fleeing to the EU. But the government and the people in Tunisia do not want to Border Police be for the EU.  

News from the Borders 09.06.2023

• The Council of the European Union yesterday agreed on a massive tightening of asylum law communicated. 

• At Twitter I have written down why the agreement is a mistake. And later on, I classified some false assumptions that are currently circulating about the rest position. 

• We Greens in the European Parliament reject the Council's decision. 

News from the Borders 07.06.2023

• In conversation with the RND I was allowed to explain why we are threatened with a Council position that represents a strong encroachment on the right of asylum and is not covered by the Basic Law.

• SOS Humanity has sent the Federal Ministry of the Interior a Petition with over 60,000 signatures handed overin which they call for more commitment from the German government and a coordinated European sea rescue program.  

• German Radio Culture informed about the EU development policy initiative "Global Gateway" and asked me for an assessment.  

News from the Borders 05.06.2023

• More than 100 celebrities remind the federal government in a open letter to their own coalition agreement and criticize its position on the envisaged reform of the European asylum system. 

• Ronen Steinke also criticizes the intended tightening of asylum law and demands: „Let the refugees in."  

• The "Sea Eye 4" and the "Mare Go" have been fixed, because they have saved people's lives.

News from the Borders 02.06.2023

• The Italian government has spoken about its role in the shipwreck off Crotone lied, in which 94 people – including 35 children – died. Frontex has helped them to do this cover up 

• Pro Asylum has clearly presented the dangers of the planned reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). 

• If you live in Germany and need a travel document as an Eritrean, the Eritrean embassy not an option. Because there threaten remorseful statements and monetary claims. 

News from the Borders 31.05.2023 

• Dozens of Syrians report from formalized pushback by German officials in the border area with Austria. Pushbacks would be serious crimes by German authorities, this should be investigated independently.

• Libya's government has coastal towns bombedto curb flight across the Mediterranean. The second ruler, General Haftar, also uses the issue to blackmail the EU. 

• For the first time since the Russian war of aggression against the whole of Ukraine have been two men from Bavaria deported to Russia, even though they face possible recruitment there. 

News from the Borders 26.05.2023

• Over 700 lawyers are calling on the German government to stick to its coalition agreement. You can find the open letter here.

• Der Spiegel accompanies Seawatch on a surveillance flight in the Mediterranean. To the 9 minutes video.

• In Tunisia, black refugees are made scapegoats. The racist attacks are on the rise. 

News from the Borders 24.05.2023 

• According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, 814 asylum applications from Russian men of military age have been processed so far. Only 55 were positively decided, more than 1600 procedures are still pending. 

• FragDenStaat and ZDF Magazin Royale took a look at how the ICMPD, far from public scrutiny, helps shape Europe's migration policy. 

• Stephan Hebel criticizes in the Frankfurter Rundschau irresponsibility with the Geneva Convention on Refugees and the European Convention on Human Rights are questioned.   

News from the Borders 23.05.2023

• At Morning show I was allowed to explain why I am critical of border procedures and why we need better rather than worse standards at external borders. 

• The Turkish opposition is also agitating against refugees. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu hopes to do better in the runoff election in this way. Fatma Aydemir comments in the taz.

• The fighting in Sudan has forced more than one million people to flee. 

News from the Borders 17.05.2023 

• A study commissioned by Green MEP Anna Cavazzini concludes that continuous border controls at Germany's internal borders violate European law. You can find the study on Anna's homepage.

• The Federal government is said to have concluded an agreement with Iraqin order to be able to deport there more easily in the future. 

• Round 50 organizations call on the federal government to, not to compromise at the expense of refugees at the European level.

News from the Borders 15.05.2023

• Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Migration Commissioner Joachim Stamp (FDP) are pushing for Moldova and Georgia to be classified as safe countries of origin, even though the Russian war of aggression is having a massive impact on the two states. We Greens are strictly against this classification. Read more in the RND.

• Most foreign embassies are closed. Now hundreds of Sudanese are without passports, it is impossible to leave the country.

• In the Lebanese camps there, the situation is precarious – high inflation exacerbates poverty, and the government has started deportations to Syria.

News from the Borders 12.05.2023 

• Jens Spahn (CDU) questioned the Geneva Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights yesterday on Lanz. This is a position that only the AfD has taken in the Bundestag so far. 

• The federal government has promised an additional €1 billion for the municipalities. Still, the Association of Cities calls it "quite a disappointment." 

• Deputies from The Greens and SPD sharply criticize the planned tightening of asylum laws.

News from the Borders 10.05.2023 

• In 2022, there were less than 200,000 asylum applications from people who fled to Germany, so the current debate completely misses the reality. The municipalities need more support now, right-wing rhetoric does not solve problems. On my Insta you can find a graphic about it.

• Germany bears a great responsibility for climate change. Independent advisers to the German government therefore propose climate pacts for refugees. zdf heute reports.  

• Around half a million people have died in the Ethiopian civil war and two million have been displaced. In Europe, little is heard of this, because only a few fled to the EU. Navid Kermani was on location for Die Zeit (paywall).
• He spoke with the Deutschlandfunk about his visit. https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/interview-navid-kermani-zu-besuch-in-tigray-und-amhara-erschreckende-bilanz-dlf-a79e647f-100.html 

News from the Borders 08.05.2023 

• Christian Lindner (FDP) calls for more fences at the external borders, because he simply does not want to understand that fences do not prevent people from fleeing and applying for asylum in the EU. The Daily Mirror reports on Lindner's demand.

• Pro Asyl speaks with the current demands from FDP and SPD of a âmenschenrechtlichen Dammbruchâ. Daily Mirror reports.

• The taz reports on the debate in the traffic light on the asylum reform and talked to me about my criticism. 

News from the Borders 5.05.2023 

• âIt is dishonest for the federal interior minister to say that people from Syria or Afghanistan would not fall under the border procedures. In many cases, they would be denied access to asylum procedures.â That’s what I told the Daily Mirror said.

• Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow has called for a blanket recognition of all asylum seekers who arrived after 2014. dlf reports. 

• UN expects 860,000 people to flee Sudan. tagesschau.de reports. 

News from the Borders 3.05.2023

• In an interview with Radio Eins this morning, I explained why mandatory asylum procedures at the external borders would lead to detention of protection seekers and have not worked in the past. Here it's off to the interview. 

• An analysis by âBrot für die Weltâ shows that rescue ships on the Mediterranean Sea have been blocked for a total of 1116 weeks since 2016. The Mirror reports.

• The Bosnian Minister of Human Rights criticizes the detention center at Camp Lipa and does not want to allow protection seekers to be locked up there. Kurir reports. 

News from the Borders 2.05.2023 

• In conversation with the Deutschlandfunk I explain why Nancy Faeser's proposal for compulsory asylum procedures at the external borders is a sucker for right-wing populists. And also with ZDF Today I commented on Sunday (from 0.51).

• Since 2018, Mare Liberum has been monitoring the human rights situation of refugees in the Mediterranean. The association complains about repression â and now stops its work. The taz reports.

• Italy continues to harass sea rescuers, forcing the Geo Barents with 336 survivors on board to sail 1245 kilometers to the north of Italy. A Map of msf sea shows how absurd this is.

News from the Borders 28.04.2023

• After a Post on ZDF about flight from Tunisia across the Mediterranean, I explained why a deal along the lines of the EU-Turkey deal would not work. 

• In the past 10 days alone, nearly 300 deaths have been counted in the Mediterranean Sea. IOM on twitter.

• The third episode of the podcast âBoys Clubâ reveals how âBildâ campaigns against refugees, shifting realities and influencing debates. Click here to go to Episode.

News from the Borders 26.04.2023 

• Sea rescuers take Meloni to court. A doctoral candidate in maritime law explains the rule of law in the Friday. 

• After attacks and incitement by the president, many black people in Tunisia no longer feel safe. World Time talks to them and reports on the situation.

• In the Bosnian camp Lipa, a detention wing is being built, financed by the EU Commission. NGOs fear a deportation prison at the EU’s external border. The Tagesschau reports.

News from the Borders 24.04.2023 

• In a boat accident off Lampedusa died at least one person and about 20 others are missing. 34 people from the boat could be rescued. Rai reports.

• Lithuania allows illegal pushbacks at the border with Belarus, although these are clearly against international law. Patrols by volunteer border guards are also to become possible. The taz reports

• Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer argues on the far right, questioning the pledges for Afghan local forces – that is, for people who are at risk because they have supported the Bundeswehr. tagesschau.de reports.

News from the Borders 21.04.2023

• The European Parliament decided yesterday by a majority of 322 to 290 votes that there will be no EU money for border fences. The conservatives wanted to push this through in an alliance with right-wing populists and extremists. From Germany, the CDU/CSU and the AfD were in favor. More on this at Euractiv.

• In my speech in the plenary I talked about the border fences and how human dignity, human rights and even human lives are subordinated to political goals. You can find the speech on my Insta.

• The EU Parliament has adopted key legislative proposals of a new pact on migration and asylum and thus adopted a position for the trilogue negotiations with the Council and the Commission. You can find my position on the various regulations here. 

• On Wednesday, a fugitive woman was shot dead by police at the border between northern Macedonia and Greece. Yesterday began the joint operation of Frontex with the police in northern Macedonia, in which more than 100 Frontex border guards are sent to the border. InfoMigrants reports on the death of the woman. More about the joint operation here.  

News from the Borders 19.04.2023

• At least 127 people have drowned in the Mediterranean this year because of delays in government-led rescue operations, according to the IOM. The taz reports.

• In the BiaÅowieża jungle on the Polish-Belarusian border last night was found the body of a man fleeing activist:inside. It is the eleventh body found there this year. Gazeta Wyborcza reported (PL).

• Yesterday we confirmed in the European Parliament the visa-free regime for citizens of Kosovo to the EU. They will be able to enter the EU for up to 90 days from January 1, 2024. More info in the Daily Mirror.

News from the Borders 17.04.2023 

• Following calls for closer cooperation with Tunisia, civilian rescue organizations and refugee solidarity networks discuss why Tunisia is not a safe haven for those rescued at sea. The joint statement can be found at here. Here a study by the Böll Foundation, which comes to the same conclusion. 

• At least 32 people were killed in an accident off the Tunisian coast last Wednesday. afp reports. 

• Through a leak, an important article in Die Zeit made it clear that Mathias Döpfner is a right-wing conspiracy theorist who wants to influence democracy with his media. At Insta I have prepared some of his statements. You can find the Zeit article here (Paywall).

News from the Borders 14.04.2023 

• In the first three months of this year, at least 441 people drowned while fleeing in the Mediterranean. The number is the highest since 2017. The reasons are gaps in rescue missions and the failure of EU member states to provide assistance. The dlf reports. 

• With funds from the EU and Austria, a prison was built in Bosnia and Herzegovina to house refugees who were previously pushed out of Croatia. The Standard reports.

• After Germany and France, Austria will now also extend the controls at its internal EU borders. This contradicts the whole idea of free movement through the Schengen agreement. The FAZ reports.

News from the Borders 12.04.2023

• Italy's right-wing government imposes a nationwide state of emergency over arrivals across the Mediterranean. The Mirror reports.

• In the remote Bosnian camp Lipa, refugees are detained who were violently pushed out of Croatia. Funds for the camp also came from Austria. ORF reports.

• Between 2014 and 2022, physical barriers such as fences at the EU's external borders were extended from 315 kilometers to 2048 kilometers. An overview can be found at Schengenvisainfo { "en".) 

News from the Borders 05.04.2023

• The federal reception program for Afghans has been halted for an indefinite period. The German authorities want to introduce another security check. The NGOs welcome this in principle, but once again governmental failure is put on the backs of those seeking protection. Read more on the website of the Kabul airlift.

• The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Italy for inhumane and degrading treatment of Tunisian refugees on the island of Lampedusa. Read more in the Time. 

• Last Friday, the winter deportation stop ended in Berlin. 600 Moldovan refugees, a large part of whom are Roma, now face collective deportation. Pier tweets.

News from the Borders 03.04.2023

• The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Italy for inhumane and degrading treatment of Tunisian refugees on the island of Lampedusa. Read more in the Time. 

• Over the weekend, the Ocean Viking rescued 92 people in the Mediterranean Sea. The Italian authorities assigned the port of Salerno, which is 830 kilometers away. The ZDF reports.

• A plane from Sea Watch has observed on Saturday how 3 boats were intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea by the so-called Libyan coast guard. An aircraft of the Maltese authorities was also briefly on the scene. Photos and the report of Sea Watch can be found on Instagram. 

News from the Borders 31.03.2023

• The Council of Europe's Anti-Torture Committee documents abuses and illegal pushbacks and calls for their end. Der Spiegel reported about it, you can find the whole report here.

• Between December 2022 and January 2023, about 350 people were pushed daily in the Hungarian-Serbian border area. Here you can find the annual report of Klikaktiv { "en".)

• British representative of UN refugee agency warns, that the new anti-refugee legislation in the UK could have a „domino effect“ on other countries and is a threat to international refugee protection. 

News from the Borders 29.03.2023

• Yesterday, we voted in the Interior Committee on the European Parliament's position on the reform of the common European asylum system. This means that the European Parliament now has a position for the negotiations with the Council. Why I voted how and what it's all about, you can find out on my homepage.

• UN investigations confirm serious war crimes by armed forces and militias in Libya. Opera are mainly Black fugitives. Human traffickers are also supported with EU funds. 
• A month after the commission handed over ships to the Libyan coast guard, the UN calls for cooperation to cease. My colleague Tineke Strik and I have asked the Commission to comply with this.

News from the Borders 27.03.2023

• The Ocean Viking was threatened in international waters by the Libyan Coast Guard by firing into the air to stop it from rescuing a boat in distress with about 80 people on board. Here is the video of the Seabird that documented the incident.

• The Italian authorities have approved the Sea rescue ship Louise Michel detained in the port of Lampedusa. 

• Three boats sank off Tunisia late last week. According to reports, at least 29 people died, while 11 were rescued by the Tunisian coast guard. Journalist Franziska Grillmeier classifies the developments on Twitter.

News from the Borders 24.03.2023

• Today, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser is discussing European asylum and migration policy with counterparts from five EU countries. At T-Online, I called on them to work for a "coalition of cohesion". 

• Greece has launched criminal investigation against Norwegian human rights defender and founder of Aegean Boat Report Tommy Olsen. He observes and reports on the situation of people seeking protection in the Aegean Sea.

• Portugal allows migrants to obtain a fast-track residence status. Deutschlandfunk explains how this works.

News from the Borders 23.03.2023 

• The 35-year-old Mohammad D was deported from Frankfurt to Iran by the Federal Policealthough deportation to Iran is not currently planned. The legal basis here was a so-called border procedure, in which applications are rejected so quickly that a serious assessment of the threat is not possible. Pro Asyl demands consequences.

• Annalena Baerbock calls for a new EU sea rescue mission. 

• While attempting to reach the French island of Mayotte from Madagascar, the following are 34 people drowned. 

News from the Borders 20.03.2023

• Given the current situation in Afghanistan, it is legally and organizationally completely unrealistic to conduct repatriations to the Taliban. Here I have written down why this is so.  

• The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders confirms that in Greece helpers are systematically threatened and criminalized by the government. 

• After the adoption of an Italian decree, the work of sea rescuers will be even more affected. Le Monde was on board the Ocean Viking and documented the situation.

News from the Borders 17.03.2023

• In an open letter, human rights organizations call for an end to the EU-Turkey deal and thus a stop to the financing of human rights violations. Here you can find the letter on the homepage of the Seebrücke.

• Algeria deports thousands of people and abandons them in the desert. Between January 11 and March 3 alone, thousands of people arrived. 4677 people on foot arrive in Assamaka, a town in the north of Niger. 

• The strongest cyclone ever recorded claimed more than 400 lives so far in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar. More than 80,000 people lost their homes. 

News from the Borders 15.03.202

• Today in the European Parliament we again discussed the issue of sea rescue. For me, the biggest shame of Europe at the moment is that we apparently prefer to let people drown than to bring them to safety, because we want fewer asylum applications. You can find my speech here. 

• German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has offered the Italian government after the boat accident off Crotone, to bring a part of the survivors „to Germany as soon as possible“.. 

• Radio ZACK spoke with Iranian activist Mahtab, whose father was sentenced to 18 years in prison for driving a car as he fled to Greece. 

News from the Borders 13.03.2023 

• After a boat accident in the Mediterranean Sea 30 people are missing and this although the case was known to the Italian, Maltese and Libyan authorities long before the boat capsized. Here you can find the statement from Alarm Phonewhich reported the emergency already on Saturday morning

• In conversation with the WDR5 Europe Magazine I said that we must not build a wall of dead people in the Mediterranean and that we need a European sea rescue and a fair distribution of refugees in the European Union.

• Right-wing British government plans to abolish individual right to asylum for irregular entrants and thus violate internationally applicable law. 

News from the Borders 10.03.2023 

• In 2022, over 100 people were criminalizedbecause they have helped refugees in the EU. And these numbers are only the tip of the iceberg. You can find the current study of Picum here.

• The Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Border Violence Monitoring Network have published a Guide with practical tips for criminalized human rights defenders brought out. 

• In the ZDF-Morgenmagazin I said on the occasion of the meeting of the EU Ministers of the Interior:insidethat the pragmatic countries must assert themselves against the right-wing populist governments.

News from the Borders 09.03.2023

• Gilda Sahebi explains in the tazwhat the feminist protests in Iran are about and why it is wrong to reduce them to the headscarf. 

• In plenary, I proposed that we should Establish a European scholarship program to enable women* in Afghanistan's neighboring countries to train or study.. 

• Pro Asyl has worked with the Afghan artist and Activist Sara Nabil talked about growing up in Afghanistan, her work, and life in exile..

News from the Borders 06.03.2023

• Today the Egyptian boatman H. Elfallah will be tried in Greece. He faces up to 4760 years in prison. 

• After 2.5 years in prison, the Moria Six were convicted of setting the fires at the Moria camp in September 2020. Today the appeal trial of four of the convicts takes place. Forensic Architectures Research lets Raise doubts about the legality of the judgment.

• Greek security forces have, over the past six years. more than two million € stolen from asylum seekers in Greece. 

News from the Borders 03.03.2023

• In 2022, there were 121 cases of attacks on accommodation for asylum seekers. This is 73 percent more than in the previous year.

• Support structures of refugees in northern Serbia report on violent and systematic evictions from temporary shelters and the undignified conditions in the state camps. 

• The world time has a Radio feature about the situation on the Evros, the border river between Greece and Turkey. 

News from the Borders 01.03.2023

• The FDP wants tightening of ship safety regulation for small ships and thus attacks civilian sea rescue. I will work to ensure that such tightening does not occur and that the German government adheres to the coalition agreement.

• Today, the new Frontex Director Hans Leijtens starts his work. At my homepage you will find a chronology of the accusations against Frontex and my demands to Leijtens. 

• 500 people protested on Monday evening violently against a planned refugee accommodation in Greifswald. In doing so, they attacked the mayor Stefan Fassbinder

News from the Borders 27.02.2023

• More than 60 dead have already washed up in Italy. The crashed boat had bypassed Greece because refugees are disenfranchised and mistreated there. Frontex apparently knew about the boat long before the accident, but no sea rescue was launched. It is a European disgrace. About this I have today Discussed with callers during the day and answered questions 

• Long before the accident, Frontex apparently already knew about the boat, which was on its way from Turkey to Italy, but no coordinated rescue was initiated. Sergio Scandura of Radio Radicale explains it in this thread (Italian).  
• The Tunisian president pretends that fugitives from the sub-Saharan region are apparently part of a conspiracy. Since then, a wave of violence against blacks has rolled through the country.

News from the Borders 24.02.2023

• One year after the beginning of the Russian war of aggression on the entire Ukraine are displaced more than 13 million people – of these, about eight million fled abroad – more than five million are internally displaced. 

• Italian authorities came aboard the Geo Barents and informed the team that the vessel would be detained and fined. 

• Interior politicians from the Green Party demand End of internal border controls. 

News from the Borders 22.02.2023

• A merchant ship was ordered by the Maltese Coast Guard not to come to the aid of 55 fugitives in distress at sea and subsequently changed course. Alarm Phone tweets about the case.

• 45 people were intercepted by Greek authorities immediately after their arrival on the island of Lesbos and abandoned on plastic islands in the Aegean Sea. Aegean Boat Report documents the pushback in detail.

• A Syrian woman died after a fire in a refugee shelter in Berlin-Pankow. The family is now making serious accusations against the police. 

News from the Borders 20.02.2023 

• In Bulgaria are 18 people suffocated in a truck during their escape. Frankfurter Rundschau classifies the case on the Balkan route

• For 100 million € wants Greece extend its fence on the Turkish border by 35 kilometers.

• The Italian Embassy yesterday handed over two speedboats to the Libyan coast guard. 

News from the Borders 17.02.2023 

• In the European Parliament, I have for visas for earthquake victims and effective humanitarian aid. 

• In view of the refugee summit I pleaded for pragmatic solutions at T-Online and proposed to also pay private individuals money when they provide a room to refugees.

News from the Borders 15.02.2023 

• Attempts to reach Europe across the Mediterranean Sea have killed 8,468 people since 2019, according to a study by Save the Children. Study focusing on the Mediterranean and violence against children at external borders.

• 65 members of the Bundestag from four parliamentary groups have sent a letter of protest to the Italian parliament, in which they oppose a tightening of the law on sea rescue in Italy. You can find the letter here.

• Doctors Without Borders has rescued 48 people in the central Mediterranean Sea. They were assigned Ancona as a port, for which they will need 5 days of travel. This map shows which ports would be closer.

News from the Borders 13.02.2023

• Pham Phi Son has lived in Chemnitz since 1987, his daughter was born in the city. Now the two are to be deportedbecause the Saxon Hardship Commission has rejected their application. The CDU could help them, but does not want to. 

• The Federal government wants to simplify the admission of relatives from the earthquake zone.

• At Conversation with radio one, I called for a humane European asylum policy instead of even more isolation. 

News from the Borders 10.02.2023

• With the Frankfurter Rundschau I spoke about the EU special summit and explainedthat the wall-building rhetoric distracts from the real challenges. 

• In Greece, a woman who set herself on fire in a suicide attempt out of desperation in a refugee camp has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for "intentional arson." More about the case at Borderline Europe.

• The Hessian Refugee Council demands an immediate stop of deportations to the earthquake areas in Turkey. 

News from the Borders 08.02.2023

• Annalena Baerbock urges opening of border crossings after earthquake in Turkey and Syria, so that humanitarian aid can get through.

• The Sea-Eye 4 criticized Italian government after rescuing 105 refugeest. Actually, the people would have needed quick supplies, but the ship was directed to a distant port.

• Aegean Boat Report registered 66 illegal deportations in the Aegean Sea in January. 1,881 people were denied their right to apply for asylum.

News from the Borders 06.02.2023 

• Before Lampedusa are nine people died on the flight to Europe, including a four-month-old baby. In the Ãgäis in a boat accident have died five people died. 

• Women's rights groups are demanding that Female genital mutilation victims are granted asylum without exception.. 

• Federal Minister of the Interior Faeser invites the municipalities to a renewed âRefugee summitâ one. 

News from the Borders 03.02.2023 

• The Italian government has extended the migration agreement with Libya for three years. Over the past six years, the Libyan coast guard, with Italian assistance, has 108,000 people dragged back to Libyawhere they face imprisonment and torture.  

• ECtHR condemns Hungary: In 2016, a pair of Syrian brothers, together with other refugees, attempted to cross the border river Tisza to Hungary. Hungarian border guards pushed them back, killing one of the brothers. 

• In plenary, I proposed that we create EU-funded scholarship programs in Afghanistan's neighboring states so that Afghan girls and women can regain access to education. You can find the speech here.  

News from the Borders 01.02.2023 

• The conservatives demand even more fences on Europe's external borders..

• At the end of next week, the Council meets to discuss migration and is apparently increasingly relying on Compartmentalization, externalization and deportations.  

• The Council of Europe Council of Experts on NGO Law Calls on Italy to withdraw the SAR decree of early January. 

News from the Borders 30.01.2023 

• At Conversation with web.de I declare that the conservatives in the European Parliament, and above all Manfred Weber (CSU), are seeking alliances with right-wing extremists. 

• The Italian head of government Meloni offered the Libyan coast guard Five new EU-funded fast patrol boats an. 

• The Swedish Presidency focuses on the closure of the EU's external borders and deportations, rather than on the fundamental rights of refugees. The statement of the Swedish presidency can be found at here.

News from the Borders 27.01.2023 

• The EU asylum agency EUAA concludes that Afghan women and girls should be granted asylum based on their gender alone. In conversation with RND I explain what that must mean now. 

• More than three months after the announcement of the new federal admission program for Afghanistan, so far no No person threatened by the Taliban yet in Germany can be absorbed in this way. 

• In Great Britain 200 asylum-seeking minors disappeared.

News from the Borders 25.01.2023

• Austrian Chancellor Nehammer calls on the EU to finance border fences. In an interview with web.de, I explained, Why such populist demands do not solve problems.  

• In 2015, three fugitives died in Croatia due to a fire that broke out in a border police station. The European Court of Human Rights now ruled that Croatia violates the right to life of the persons has because no measures were initiated to save them. 

• The Court in Rome pronounced a landmark decision on the ship disaster off Lampedusa in 2013: The Italian coast guard and navy are responsible for the deaths of 268 people seeking protection due to the deliberate failure to rescue them.

News from the Borders 23.01.2023

• Thousands of refugees wait in the cold at the Hungarian-Serbian border off.

• T-Online explains why in many major cities there are Problems with the accommodation of refugees while in other places emergency shelters are almost empty. 

• Watson reports about my speech on criminalization of sea rescue and humanitarian aid in plenary. 

News from the Borders 20.01.2022

• In the European Parliament this week we discussed the criminalization of sea rescue and humanitarian aid. You can find my speech on Insta. 

• Lighthouse Reports has researched that asylum seekers:inside, including children, are held in unofficial prisons – sometimes shackled – during the crossing in the belly of passenger ships. Here you can find the TV report from Monitor.

• Against the background of the large number of refugees from Russia, Kazakhstan has Entry and residence regulations tightened. In the future, they will only be allowed to stay there for up to 90 days without a visa. 

News from the Borders 18.01.2022 

• "Ask the state"calls on Frontex officials to report abuses in order to protect human rights. 

• The NGO Caminando Frontereas counts for 2022 Total 2390 victimswho died on the flight to Spain. Among them, 1784 alone on the route to the Canary Islands. 

• At the border between Serbia and Hungary, refugees try to find a way into the European Union. People like the physician Nicolai Kißling stand by them. 

News from the Borders 16.01.2022 

• As recently as August 2022, a judge told Abdelkarim Bendjeriou-Sedjerari, a gay refugee activist from Algeria, that yes, he could live there discreetly and wanted him deported. Now he was recognized as a refugee after all – also thanks to a paradigm shift under the traffic lights. 

• Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has condemned the execution of the Iranian-British politician Akbari and other demonstrators as an inhumane act, and ordered the Iranian ambassador to. Baerbock: "A regime that murders its own youth to intimidate its population has no future." 

• In Afghanistan, the Taliban take legal action against exile media. Employees who remain in the country are summoned. They are threatened with repression.  

News from the Borders 13.01.2022 

• All charges against 22 of the 24 accused aid workers on Lesvos have been dropped. The charges against the international staff were dropped, while those against two Greek staff were not dropped. However, this is not an acquittal and the Greek authorities could re-file charges on other counts. The Legal Center Lesvos explains why this is not the end of the case. Statement from defendant Sean Binder after the fall.

• I talked to the Frankfurter Rundschau on Wednesday about how and why Greece deliberately criminalizes human rights activists.

• In Greece sit Hundreds of boat drivers in custody. However, these people are not reported on as much as cases involving European citizens.

News from the Borders 12.01.2022 

• Frontex surveillance equipment are used by the Libyan Coast Guard to intercept boats in the Mediterranean Sea. In 2022 24,684 persons intercepted on the Mediterranean Sea and taken to Libya, where they face placement in torture camps. 

• Borderline-Europe documents that in the past 12 months, more than 260 refugees criminalized after arrival in Italy were accused of steering a boat or otherwise being "active" on the boat. 

• Many who die in the Mediterranean are not officially considered deceased, but missing - for decades. In Tunisia, their families fight for enlightenment. 

News from the Borders 11.01.2022 

• In 2022, according to UNHCR data. At least 1940 died in the Mediterranean Sea while fleeing to Europe. 

• According to GIZ, the German government has commissioned around 24,000 people rescued from Afghanistan. Among them were people from human rights organizations, the judiciary and the media. 

• Tens of thousands of Armenians:inside were displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 by Azerbaijani attacks. Now they are trying to build a new life in Armenia.

News from the Borders 10.01.2022 

• Today began the Trial of 24 humanitarian aid workers on Lesbos, who were criminalized by Greece after saving lives. 

• According to UNHCR never since World War II have so many people worldwide been displaced as by the war of aggression on Ukraine. More than 7.9 million people have fled the country, and another 5.9 million are displaced within Ukraine. That is more than one third of the population. 

• Italy has assigned Ancona as a safe port to the Geo Barents, although the city is much further awaythan many other ports. With such methods the new Italian government tries to prevent sea rescue. 

News from the Borders 15.12.2022 

• After the resignation of Fabrice Leggeri, everything was supposed to change at Frontex, but now the EU’s anti-fraud agency is investigating interim director Aija Kalnaja, who wants to succeed Leggeri. All info at Mirror (paywall) and a summary at Lighthouse Reports.
• For months, the Iranian regime has been attempting to Suppress protests. 18,000 people have been imprisoned, nearly 500 people have been shot, tortured and killed.  
• The majority of the Ukrainians who fled the country feels welcome in Germany, according to a survey. A third would like to stay for at least a few years.  

News from the Borders 14.12.2022 

• After the corruption scandal, we have yesterday Eva Kaili was removed as Vice-President of the European Parliament by 99.5% of the votes cast. 
• Amnesty International has published a report with Witness statements on the violence in Melilla published. The organization holds the authorities jointly responsible for the numerous deaths. 
• Frontex is considered to be non-transparent. Now âask the stateâ has a Database with over 4,000 documents they have collected through inquiries. 

News from the Borders 13.12.2022 

• Yesterday we froze the visa negotiations with Qatar in parliament because there is a suspicion that they tried to influence democratic decisions by corrupt means. You can find my speech on Insta here. 
• I spoke with the RND about the fact that the accused of corruption Eva Kaili called me and showed great interest in visa facilitation being granted to the Gulf emirate quickly and without too many conditions. 
• The EU Commission is making around â'¬2 billion available to work with African countries to improve To make it more difficult to flee across the Mediterranean Sea. 

News from the Borders 12.12.2022 

• If it turns out that Qatar wanted to influence political decisions through corruption, there must be severe consequences. In this situation, of course, there can be no visa liberalization for Qatar. This is what I also said yesterday in the tagesschau explained.
• Border Forensics and Human Rights Watch conducted extensive research to show how the Data from Frontex air surveillance misused become 
• The Geo Barents and Humanity 1 arrived on Sunday morning with a combined good 500 rescued people on board arrived in Salerno and Bari.

News from the Borders 9.12.2022 

• At yesterday's EU Council there were No majority for the instrumentalization ordinancewhich is why it was not voted on. The regulation would threaten massive tightening of asylum laws and illegal pushbacks could be covered up even more easily.
• Croatia is allowed into the Schengen area, but not Bulgaria and Romania. Austria blocked both states with absurd justifications. The conservative ÖVP is primarily interested in using the so-called Balkan route as a campaign issue again. 
• Yesterday, NGOs in the European Parliament presented a new Black book on pushbacks at the EU borders presented. 

News from the Borders 8.12.2022

• At the Bulgarian external border, refugees are locked up for days in converted dog kennels, under the eyes of Frontex officials, and then pushed back. Tagesschau has the Findings of the investigative research summarized. Here it goes to the Research from Lighthouse Reports (English).
• Today, the EU interior ministers vote on the instrumentalization regulation. The taz explains how the regulation will affect the Asylum law further undermined.
• On the Geo Barents of Doctors Without Borders a mother gave birth to her child at sea last night. Meanwhile, the mother and her four children have been evacuated to Lampedusa. 

News from the Borders 7.12.2022

• In the conversation with ARD I demanded that the Shots at a Syrian on the Bulgarian border need to be investigated. It is scandalous that such incidents only come to light when investigative research uncovers them. 
• I talked to Ippen.Media about how Putin is trying to EU to blackmail with refugees and how we should respond.  
• Tomorrow the EU interior ministers will vote on the Instrumentalization Ordinance ab. 35 organizations call on the federal government to vote against this erosion of the right to asylum at the external borders. 

News from the Borders 6.12.2022

• Footage shows a young Syrian man being shot at the EU's external border. Analysis of the video and eyewitness accounts suggest that the shot was fired from the Bulgarian side. Lighthouse Reports has the Violence video published (Content Warning).
• The heads of state and government of the 27EU states are meeting today in Albania with their counterparts from the countries of the Western Balkans. The focus is on EU enlargement and the so-called Balkan route. Migration Researcher Judith Kohlenberger on Twitter to the Balkan route.
• This year, more than 12,000 Albanians have entered the United Kingdom - many of them irregularly across the English Channel. The Tagesspiegel names the reasons.

News from the Borders 5.12.2022 

• The crews of the Humanity 1, the Geo Barents, and the Louise Michel have completed around 270 people rescued from distress at sea.
• The EU Commission wants to Making it more difficult to flee via the Balkan routeAlthough most of the people seeking protection currently come from Syria and Afghanistan, there are no safe escape routes for them. 
• According to the Iranian prosecutor general, the morality police in Iran is said to have been dissolved. However, it is feared that this is only a diversionary tactic in view of the three-day protests communicated as of today. 

News from the Borders 2.12.2022

• Today, the Bundestag passed the Opportunity Residency adopted. It offers many people the chance to get out of the system of chain toleration and the fear of deportation and to obtain a secure residence status. 
• Yesterday in the Bundestag on the Facilitation of the naturalization law discussed. The CDU/CSU became populist, while the traffic lights countered with facts. 
• The Interior Committee of the European Parliament voted yesterday, with me as rapporteur, in favor of a Visa liberalization for Ecuador, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar. This will pave the way for citizens of these countries to travel visa-free to the EU for up to 90 days. 

News from the Borders 01.12.2022

• Three men are on the rudder blade of an old tanker from Nigeria to the Canary Islands for eleven days and six hours. Europe's isolationist policies are pushing people onto ever more dangerous routes. 
• The federal government has agreed on new regulations for the immigration of skilled workers. agreed.
• The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), Sea-Watch and other civil society organizations have filed criminal complaints with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against 13 high-ranking officials of EU Member States and EU authorities. Click here for the Sea-Watch press statement.

News from the Borders 30.11.2022

• Several major media outlets have collaborated to reconstruct the Melilla massacre, in which at least 23 people died and dozens remain missing. They use visual evidence, on-the-ground reports, and witness testimony to prevent a cover-up of the crime by Spanish and Moroccan authorities. The 16-minute video and a summary can be found at Lighthouse Reports. A German translation is available at the Mirror (Paywall).  
• The new âChancenaufenthaltsrechtâ is intended to offer tolerated persons who have been in Germany for a longer period of time a possible perspective for staying. The Süddeutsche Zeitung spoke with my colleague from the Bundestag. Filiz Polat talked about it.
• Berlin's Senator of the Interior wants to quickly deport 600 people from Moldova, because she needs accommodations for refugees from Ukraine. With this proposal, the SPD politician clearly violates the coalition agreement with the Greens and the Left, which stipulates that no deportations should be carried out in winter for humanitarian reasons. 

News from the Borders 29.11.2022

• Until further notice no more people deported from Germany to Iran become
• For over a year, Poland has been militarizing its border with Belarus and trying to prevent people from applying for asylum in the EU. NDR Info publishes a extensive radio feature on the subject. 
• Many lesbian and gay people leave Uganda and fto neighboring Kenya. But even there they experience homophobic violence again and again, especially in the refugee camps. 

News from the Borders 28.11.2022 

• The federal government plans to simplify naturalization and make it possible more quickly. Deutschlandfunk summarizes the planned changes together.
• Kherson continues to be shelled and lacks electricity, water, food and medicine. The export of grain is also delayed. Zeit Online summarizes the Location together.
• After the delays of the admission program for endangered Afghans by the German government, fraudsters are now taking advantage of the situation to rip people off. The taz shows how the scam works.

News from the Borders 24.11.2022

• Greek militias are said to have mistreated Akram Abdulkadir, a Syrian on the run, and left him to die. His brother was there and is now going public with it. The Frankfurter Rundschau describes the inhumanity and humiliation that the two have experienced 
• The taz draws a Critical assessment of the refugee and migration policy of the traffic light coalition and has also asked me for assessments for this. It's good to finally get going, but there's still a long way to go to the finish line. 
• The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have agreed on a Ceasefire for Eastern Congo communicated.

News from the Borders 23.11.2022

• In the European Parliament today we discussed sea rescue and I tried to explain especially to the conservative MEPs what is actually happening in the Mediterranean and how also their language contributes to the situation as it is. Here you can find my speech about it.
• The Sea Punk I is on its way to the shipyard in Spain, bringing another rescue ship to the Mediterranean. 
• Many people wait in Calais for good weather to dare the dangerous crossing over the English Channel into the United Kingdom. ARD reporter Srdjan Govedarica was in Calais and has documented the life of the refugees there.

News from the Borders 22.11.2022

• The protests in Iran have been going on for nine weeks. In a new podcast, journalists Gilda Sahebi and Sahar Eslah shed light on developments. The podcast, published today second episode deals with the attacks on Kurds and the bloody November. 
• Yesterday, the European Commission published its âAction Planâ for the central Mediterranean Sea. Above all, the Commission should demand that the member states comply with the law and rescue people in distress at sea.  
• On the way from Turkey to Italy, a ship with 400-500 refugees got into distress south of Crete. The Greek coast guard is currently trying to rescue the people under difficult conditions. Read here why people are choosing increasingly dangerous routes to reach Europe.

News from the Borders 21.11.2022 

• The Iranian regime is using massive force in the Kurdish-majority city of Mahabad. According to eyewitness reports Security forces fired indiscriminately at demonstrators have.  
• The Turkish government bombed Kurdish-majority areas in northern Syria and northern Iraq in an attack that violated international law, and killed at least 31 people in the process. Federal Minister of the Interior Faeser is leaving today for a two-day visit to Turkey. 
• A week after the arrival of the "Ocean Viking" France has 123 refugees refused entry â it is impossible to carry out a constitutional procedure for so many people in such a short time. 

News from the Borders 18.11.2022 

• 14,000 people have reportedly been arrested since the protests began in Iran, and some face assassination by the regime. Ze.tt introduces people facing execution.
• Since the beginning of the year, 240,000 people from Turkey and Iran have been deported to Afghanistanalthough the Taliban are in power there. 
• In a joint action helpers from several NGOs support refugees on the Balkan route by installing stoves, distributing firewood, and installing windows and doors in numerous shelters in the Serbian border region.

News from the Borders 17.11.2022 

• Aleksandar VuÄiÄ (Serbia), Viktor Orbán (Hungary) and Karl Nehammer (Austria) have signed an agreement to stop âAsyltourismâ. Migration researcher Gerald Knaus discusses these right-wing populist policies and rhetoric at Pulse 24.
• In Afghanistan, Sharia penalties are to become mandatory nationwide on the orders of the Taliban chief. Similar to neighboring Iran, the following have now also been sentenced for ârebellionâ Protesters threatened with the death penalty. 
• One month ago burned down an asylum shelter for Ukrainians:insideafter a swastika was smeared on the building. The fire was presumably set by a firefighter.  

News from the Borders 16.11.2022 

• France wants Directly deport 44 rescued from Ocean VikingIt is not possible to conduct a constitutional procedure in such a short time.
• 31 years after the deadly arson attack on a home for asylum seekers in Saarlouis, Germany, the Trial against 51-year-old neo-Nazi Peter S. He allegedly started the fire that killed 27-year-old asylum seeker Samuel Yeboah in 1991. 
• In Latvia, the Internal Security Bureau under the Ministry of Interior declared that its investigation did not reveal any human rights violations at the Latvian-Belarusian border. Amnesty International had previously documented massive human rights violations. 

News from the Borders 15.11.2022 

• In a letter, Italy, Malta, Greece and Cyprus call for civilian Further restricting rescue at sea. You can find the content of the letter in the ekathimerini (English).
• Croatia is expected to join the Schengen area soon, which should lift border controls with other EU countries. Now, however, Slovenia is considering its own Introduce border controls at the border with Croatia. 
• Thuringia has received the green light from the Ministry of the Interior for its state admission program for people from Afghanistan. The program allows relatives of Afghan nationals who are already living in Germany to join them. The taz explains how the program works. 

News from the Borders 14.11.2022 

• With the Deutschlandfunk I talked about Italy’s policy and how it benefits the right-wing populists when 27 EU states cannot agree on the basics of a constitutional asylum policy. 
• The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation's new Atlas of Migration deals with global mobility in times of crises and wars. Here you can look at it for free as a pdf or order it.
• On Saturday, the Guardian published an ArticleAccording to the report, the British and French coast guards discussed for hours in November who should rescue a boat from distress until 27 people drowned. The United Kingdom and France have just signed an agreement. Agreement for ⬠72.2 million signed for the coming year to prevent flight across the English Channel.

News from the Borders 11.11.2022 

• Yesterday, we voted in parliament for Croatia to join the Schengen area. However, on the condition that a functioning and independent human rights monitoring mechanism is established to stop the violence at the EU's external border. You can find my speech here.
• The German government strengthens the civilian rescue at sea in the budget and supports United4Rescue with two million â¬. The deputy Jamila Schäfer on twitter. 
• The Brandenburg state parliament has cleared the way for the construction of the deportation center at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport. Starting in 2026, 315 million euros will be used to finance rent and leasing. More than 60 organizations criticize the project.

News from the Borders 10.11.2022 

• The EU Commission demanded that the 234 people on board the âOcean Vikingâ at the nearest port, but the Italian government did not comply. In the meantime, the ship has been assigned a safe port in Toulon, France. 
• I have worked with Radio One The new Italian government’s unacceptable behavior towards people rescued from distress at sea.  
• The âNadirâ has helped yesterday to rescue over 200 people from distress at sea. 

News from the Borders 09.11.2022 

• On the âOcean Vikingâ, 234 people rescued from distress at sea have been waiting for a safe port for 19 days. The ship is now on its way to Marseille after Italian authorities failed to assign them a port. Current updates are available here at SOS Mediterranee.
• In Catania the remaining 250 rescued people were finally allowed to leave the rescue ships âGeo Barentsâ and âHumanity 1â. Before that, the 89 rescued people from the âRise Aboveâ were already allowed to go ashore in Calabria. 
• Five months ago, at least 37 people died at the Spanish border fence near Melilla. The Spanish Interior Ministry claimed that no excessive force had been used, but new findings refute the. 

News from the Borders 08.11.2022 

• The situation in Catania continues to deteriorate, three people jumped into the water yesterday out of desperation. The captain of the German ship Humanity 1 refuses to leave the port. The Ocean Viking has been waiting for 18 days to be assigned a safe harbor. I spoke with the Berliner Kurier talked about the situation. 
• In the first three quarters of 2022, nationwide. 65 Attacks on refugee shelters almost as many as in the entire previous year. 
• The Traffic light government considers pushbacks in the Balkans to be illegal and criticizes them. But at the same time, the SPD-led Ministry of the Interior supports the border police forces of the Balkan states with millions of euros, even though they carry out the pushbacks. 

News from the Borders 07.11.2022 

• After 35 rescued people were forbidden to go ashore in Italy, SOS Humanity has now Legal action initiated against Italy, to take action against the manifestly unlawful collective rejection. 
• From the Geo Barents of Médecins Sans Frontières, the new right-wing government in Italy does not want to let even 215 people ashore in order to make an unlawful example of them. The rescued on the Ocean Viking have been waiting for a safe haven for 16 days. 
• While the Italian government is escalating the situation, breaking the law and endangering people, on Thursday the Sea Watch 5 christened in Hamburg. We will not allow the saving of lives to be prevented by right-wing radicals in Rome. 

News from the Borders 28.10.2022 

• I spoke with Bremen Zwei about the threat to sea rescue posed by the new Italian government and the Libyan coast guard. Click here for the interview.
• The Libyan coast guard threatened in the Maltese search and rescue zone that they would Shoot down Seabird reconnaissance aircraft. 
• The crew of the Geo Barents of Doctors Without Borders rescued 268 people yesterday.

News from the Borders 27.10.2022 

• Doctors without Borders report about mistreated refugees on Lesbos. When they were called out on an emergency mission, there were  22 completely disturbed people â several of them tied up and injured.
• The ECJ has ruled that unaccompanied refugees who are minors may bring their families to Germany even if they reach the age of majority during the proceedings. The Federal government wants to implement the ruling quickly. 
• In Germany Acts of violence and attacks on refugees and their accommodations. 

News from the Borders 26.10.2022 

• More than 5,600 people have died since the beginning of 2021 while fleeing from North Africa to Europe and on escape routes within Europe. At least 252 people have been killed as a result of pushbacks, it said. You can find the IOM report here. A summary is available at ORF.
• With Deutsche Welle I have talked about a possible "sea blockade the new far-right government in Italy and explained why this would not work at all. 
• Despite the most serious human rights violations, the EU Commission yesterday recommended that Frontex in Albania, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina is to become active. It provided €39.2 million in financial assistance for "border management" in the Western Balkans.

News from the Borders 25.10.2022 

• Syrians in Germany have to apply for Syrian passports through Assad's embassy in Berlin and pay a lot of money for them. Adopt a Revolution estimates that this results in over 100 million € from Germany to Assad regime flow.  
• During fighting in eastern Congo around 23,000 people displaced. 
• Due to lack of funds the UNHCR has to stop supporting some 70,000 refugee families in Lebanon, can no longer guarantee water supplies in camps in Chad, or help fight Ebola in Uganda.  

News from the Borders 24.10.2022 

• Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) argues that the Balkan route must be closed because so many people are not eligible for protection. Yet the adjusted protection rate in Germany is currently 71.6 percent and almost 100 percent for people from Syria and Afghanistan â who mainly come via the Balkan route â. 
• According to Human Rights Watch Report Turkey has deported hundreds of already recognized refugees to Syria with massive force.  
• World reporter Carolina Drüten accompanied me to the Turkish-Greek land border and speaks in her article of "Europe's most brutal border". 

News from the Borders 21.10.2022 

• In the interview with Der Spiegel, I demand that helpers should receive 500 € per month for the private accommodation of refugees and explain how this would also save the state money. You can find the interview here (Paywall).  
• Time and again, the Internet is shut down in Iran, depriving people of the opportunity to report on the protests. According to research, also a German company involved to restrict the Internet in Iran. How to help the people in Iran to circumvent these restrictions has the WDR summarized.
• The European Court of Human Rights ruled that courts must independently review cases involving charges of racial profiling. The sea bridge has a Thread made to this.

News from the Borders 20.10.2022 

• Because of a Brandes refugees from Ukraine had to leave their accommodation in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Arson is suspected; no one was injured. On the very day of the fire, the police had visited the accommodation because of a swastika graffiti on the entrance sign. 
• Nancy Faeser is again pitting refugees from Ukraine against refugees from Afghanistan and Syria and wants to limit irregular entries via the Balkan route.
• Serbia responds to pressure from the EU and tightens entry requirements for people from India, Burundi, Cuba and Tunisia. 

News from the Borders 19.10.2022 

• The plenary of the European Parliament yesterday denied Frontex the discharge for 2020 with a clear majority. The agency must now Mandatorily implement demands of the European Parliament. A slap in the face for the member states, which should oversee the EU agency on the board.
• Elnaz Rekabi landed at Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran at 03:40 local time. People have come to the airport to greet her with âHero Elnazâ. For more on the protests in Iran, see the Twitter profile of Shoura Hashemi.  
• The Bundestag today discusses the first reading of the Opportunity ResidencyWith this program, the federal government wants to enable foreigners who have been tolerated for many years to fulfill the requirements for a right to stay in Germany. 

News from the Borders 18.10.2022 

• The federal government decides on admission programs for Afghan:in at risk and wants to accommodate 1000 people per month. Pro asylum Criticizes the program as insufficient  
• Latvia hires protection seeker cruel ultimatumEither they accept the âvoluntaryâ return to their country or they remain stranded at the border and face detention, unlawful repatriation and torture. 
• In Greece, hundreds of boaters are in jail because they are sentenced to absurdly high prison terms on flimsy grounds. Two defendants have now been, after four years of imprisonment, finally acquitted. 

News from the Borders 17.10.2022 

• After in Greece 92 almost naked and partly injured migrants were found, Turkey and Greece accuse each other of being responsible for the incident.
• Natalie Amiri explains in an interview with DLF that Iran is not about "headscarf protests" but about radical change in the country. 
• At the EU Conference of Interior Ministers on Friday it was decided to extend the directive on temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees and to put pressure on Serbia to show visa-free regime with other states. 

News from the Borders 13.10.2022 

• Interior Minister Nancy Faeser pits refugees from Ukraine against refugees from Syria and Afghanistan. Criticism of it also comes from the Jusos. 
• Friedrich Merz and others have been talking more and more in recent days about pull factors being relevant for flight movements. How outdated this approach is, you can see at tagesschau.de read up. 
• The NGO Front-Lex sues Frontex director Aija Kalnaja before the European Court of Justice and demands the immediate cessation of cooperation with the Greek Coast Guard. 

News from the Borders 12.10.2022 

• In an interview with Welt TV, I explain why the extended border controls to Austria are probably against European law, the current numbers of arrivals via the Balkan route are no reason to panic, and we will not have a migration crisis if the EU states take their responsibility. You can find the 5-minute interview here.  
• Omid Nouripour and Katharina Schulze also have a Guest article at t-online, in which they explain why internal border controls are the wrong way to go. 
• In Thuringia, the day before yesterday, in the immediate vicinity of a refugee shelter, where 147 people who had fled from Ukraine live, there was a Arson. 

News from the Borders 11.10.2022 

• With the "World Time" I have talked about my visit to Greece and the human rights violations at the EU's external border. The feature also deals with how the Greek government spies on opposition members and journalists.
• The South German Newspaper explains again why the level of social benefits paid in the destination country is not a decisive factor for which country war refugees go to and why the argument of the "pull factor" is nonsense. 
• Over the weekend, around 50 people were rescued from Maltese waters by the Libyan coast guard towed back to Libya again. 

News from the Borders 10.10.2022 

• Air alerts were sounded in almost all of Ukraine, and the center of Kiev was also bombed. Dead and injured.  
• 32 Afghan local forces, activists and family members have died since the Taliban took power. Nine were killed by violence.  
• Yesterday, the French navy 367 floors rescued from distress on the way to Great Britain. 

News from the Borders 7.10.2022 

• Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser has spoken out in favor of all federal states Suspend deportations to Iran should.
• After the two boat accidents off the Greek coast demanded SrÄan Govedarica yesterday in the Tagesthemen a migration policy in which not masses of people must die. 
• Racial profiling is obviously practiced at the German-Czech border, which is also indicated by a Judgment of the Administrative Court of Dresden has been confirmed. Bavaria's Interior Minister Herrmann has now issued a Intensified dragnet in the border areas with the Czech Republic and Austria which will lead to even more racial profiling. 

News from the Borders 6.10.2022 

• Two shipwrecks off the coast of Greece tonight have killed at least 20 people drowned. Today, the bodies of 15 women and a boy were recovered off Lesbos. Due to the illegal pushbacks, refugees are forced to take increasingly dangerous routes.
• On the evening of June 24 at least 27 people died at the border fence in Melilla73 others are missing. Research suggests that Morocco deliberately escalated the situation and carried out a massacre to send a signal to Spain and the EU.  
• Ten years ago, refugees occupied Oranienplatz in Berlin. To mark the anniversary, Angela Davis will speak on site today at 6:00 pm. You can find the program here.

News from the Borders 5.10.2022 

• The Hessischer Rundfunk has accompanied us Green MEPs to the Greek external border and shows in his contributionhow the Greek authorities prevent us from our work, do not let us talk to refugees and do not let us to the border, although everything is financed with EU money. From minute 38 is reported about our visit.  
• With a lie, the Passau district office summoned an Iranian prisoner and had him arrested. Now he is supposed to deported to Tehran â even though the biggest unrest there in years is taking place.
• The Czech government will continue the current Continue border controls with Slovakiaalthough this contradicts the Schengen Agreement on internal border controls.

News from the Borders 4.10.2022 

• This September alone, there have been 117 documented pushbacks in the ââ'¬â€œ ââ'¬â€œ ââ'¬â€œ affecting 3302 people. Since January 1, 2017, pushbacks of over 43,0 00 people have been documented. In the Aegean Boat Report you will find more details and figures.
• The Heads of Government of Austria, Hungary and Serbia have met in Budapest and are working together for an illiberal and anti-human rights asylum policy. Pushbacks and serious human rights violations were not an issue at the meeting. 
• To escape mobilization in Russia, many Russians fled to Georgia. A country that became a center of Russian migration due to the war.

News from the Borders 03.10.2022 

• On October 3, 2013, a cutter with 545 people on board sank off Lampedusa. The Italian Coast Guard and local fishermen rescued 155 people, 366 were confirmed dead. The anniversary of this tragedy reminds us that sea rescue is a duty. Regardless of who is in power in Italy at the moment. 
• The 88 from the âLouise Michelâ rescued people went ashore yesterday on Lampedusa. Already on Friday, nearly 80 people rescued by the âDoctors Without Bordersâ operated âGeo Barentsâ went ashore in the Italian port of Taranto.
• During our visit to Greece, we Green MEPs met a country that deliberately builds a system of deterrence and lawlessness on lies and is rewarded for it with EU funds. You can find our joint report here.

News from the Borders 30.09.2022 

• In my Letter to the Commission I call, together with 34 other MEPs, for the EU to establish a coordinated mechanism for Russian dissidents and renegades. 
• The Louise Michel rescued 88 people from distress at sea in the Mediterranean. 
• Solidarity for Ukraine in Latvia is great. Elena Post is a Moldavian in Latvia and supports Ukrainian refugees in Riga. 

News from the Borders 29.09.2022

• Libyan militias and police units have been at least 581 civilians murdered â including people tortured to death in prisons and refugee camps. 
• So far there are No deportation stop for Iranian asylum seekers. In 2017, a court ruled that the removal of the headscarf was not relevant to asylum. An Iranian woman had her headscarf forcibly put on by German police officers.  
• After Moria burned down two years ago, new camps were built on the Greek islands with EU funds. The However, conditions there are often more reminiscent of prisons.than to appropriate places for those seeking protection. 

News from the Borders 28.09.2022 

• CDU chairman Friedrich Merz has accused Ukrainian refugees of âsocial tourismâ, feeding base instincts and indignation. This is not a slip, but has been the right-wing strategy of the Union for years. The Tagesschau summarizes what Ukrainian refugees are getting and that it is No findings on social abuse gives.
• In Greece, automated and EU-funded drones are to track people seeking protection as they cross the border starting in November. More details on the new surveillance technology can be found at Algorithm Watch.
• Third country nationals from Ukraine are only granted protection in Germany under certain conditions. Many could be threatened with deportation.

News from the Borders 27.09.2022 

• Sea Watch has a new ship and wants to continue rescuing people in the Mediterranean and entering Italian ports even after the victory of the far-right alliance in Italy. The taz has Mattea Weihe interviewed by Sea Watch.
• The Greek government says they have prevented tens of thousands from entering the EU. How they did it, they do not reveal; because there is no legal way to prevent people from applying for asylum. The Frankfurter Rundschau reports about my visit to Greece. 
• Czech Republic leads Border controls with Slovakia â for ten days for the time being. 

New from the Borders 26.09.2022

• A quarter of Italy's voters have chosen a fascist party. Experts warn of more anti-refugee policies than in Greece. To find out why Brussels is worried, go to the Tagesschau.
• After a girl was reported to have died at the Evros, there are increasing indications that the Government blackmailed the familyto change their statements. An NGO was pressured to make pro-government statements about the case.
• In Germany, too, more and more voices are being raised that Asylum for Russian deserters demand. However, this would require a clear renunciation of isolation and pushbacks at the external borders of Eastern Europe. 

New from the Borders 23.09.2022

• On the German-Polish border, the Protection seekers turned away without asylum procedure. From January to July, a total of 46 refugees were sent back to Poland by the federal police without asylum procedures after crossing the German border. 
• The ECJ ruled that the Right of Protection Seekers to Information Unjustly Restricted in Hungary (Case C-159/21). The ECJ has already overturned significant parts of the Hungarian asylum system in previous rulings.
• Spiegel research shows how criminal businessmen exploit fugitive women from Ukraine. 
  - The text in German (paywall)
  - The text in English (freely available)

New from the Borders 22.09.2022

• We should keep our borders open for fleeing Russian reservists and start an EU reception program. Since the partial mobilization, Russians of military age who resist participation in combat operations face up to ten years in prison. More on my demand at watson.
• One year after the opening of the first Closed Access Center on Samos, the refugees who are housed there say that they are how animals are treated when they are put in jail.... 
• The Border Violence Monitoring Network has launched its August Report about the violence against refugees in the Balkans and Greece.

New from the Borders 21.09.2022

• We need a reception program for those who want to flee from Russia's neighboring countries before the mobilization. Those who cannot find a safe escape route now as reservists could soon be forced to shoot at our allies. My Twitter.
• The federal government wants better protect queer asylum seekers. Bamf should no longer be allowed to require queer refugees to keep their sexual orientation or gender identity secret in their home country. 
• The EU states try in many ways to ward off fugitives. The FR has the Location on different borders summarized compactly. 

New from the Borders 20.09.2022

• This year alone, the bodies of 51 people have been found in the Greek border region. I met with Dr. Pavlidis, who is a volunteer in these cases, trying to find out for the relatives if their missing sons, daughters or parents are still alive. More about this with me on Twitter.  
• âThatâs what we call a prisonâ â This video was made by a group of escaped women who talk about their reality of life on Lesbos. Watch the video here.
• Violent pushbacks by criminal groups are taking place in Greece. A Affected person describes his ordeal in the Frankfurter Rundschau.  

News from the Borders 19.09.2022

• I am now with a delegation of our group a few days on the Evros, in Athens and on Lesbos, to inform myself about the situation of the refugees. Currently, hundreds of people per week are illegally and often violently prevented from seeking asylum in Europe. Read more on my Twitter profile.
• The Humanity 1 urgently needs a safe haven for its 398 rescued people, as drinking water is scarce. The Sea-Watch 3 finally landed in Reggio di Calabria on Sunday. Read more at SOS Humanity on Twitter. 
• 13 aid organizations practice Sharp criticism of the admission program on Afghanistan. 

News from the Borders 16.09.2022

• The European Commission has pledged €80 million to Egypt to keep people from fleeing. EU taxpayers' money should rather be used to prevent suffering and support refugees, not to pay dictators to keep people away. Statewatch reports on our request to the Commission.
• After 13 long days, the Sea-Eye 4 finally gets a safe haven for the 129 rescued people on board. However, 843 people are still holding out on board the Sea-Watch 3 & Humanity 1 and their situation is deteriorating daily. Latest info at Sea-Watch.
• Last Sunday I was at a Panel discussion on the topic "Exile-place-Germany invited. In conversation with the other participants, it became clear how dysfunctional the German bureaucracy still is when it comes to dealing with refugees.

News from the Borders 15.09.2022

• The Humanity 1 currently has 415 people on board rescued from distress at sea and urgently needs a safe haven. Current info on the Twitter profile of SOS Humanity.
• In Germany 47 percent of people can imagine volunteering for war refugees from Ukraine â 17 percent would even be willing to temporarily take people in at home. 
• Frontex establishes with member states a Network for more effective coordination of deportations. 

News from the Borders 14.09.2022

• Turkey and Greece blame each other for the Death of people in the Aegean Sea responsible. The Turkish Coast Guard claims to have rescued 73 people pushed from Greece, with six people recovered dead. 
• Borderline Europe takes a critical look at the policy of redistributing people held in hotspot camps in Greece. 
• Jordan: Due to a lack of funding, the over 750,000 refugees at risk. 

News from the Borders 13.09.2022

• The German Association of Cities sees Bottlenecks in the accommodation of refugees. The federal and state governments must work quickly to establish more decent housing, because otherwise there will be major problems in the winter.
• Currently waiting 765 Rescued on theSea-Watch 3, theSea-Eye 4 and theHumanity 1 to safe harbor. This year, according to the IOM 1196 people drowned in the Mediterranean Sea or are missing. 
• A study showsthat all children and young people who flee via the Balkan route experience violence and that the perpetrators are often police officers or smugglers. The inhumane conditions in many camps are also particularly traumatizing for children. 

News from the Borders 12.09.2022

• The Greek government claims it could not prevent the death of 5-year-old Maria on the Evros River because they could not find the Syrian girl. A DW research now shows that this claim is not credible in view of the EU-funded surveillance system at the border. 
• After eight months of war, more and more apparently flee Ukrainian men of military age. across the green border into Romania 
• In the current inflation debate, refugees are rarely discussed, yet they are particularly hard hit. 

News from the Borders 9.09.2022

• After only two days in the field, the SeaWatch 3 has already rescued 267 people from distress at sea. On Twitter you can find current info about the rescues.
• Detailed accounts from survivors show the brutal and unlawful violence against fugitives on the Evros. 
• Once President ErdoÄan welcomed refugees from Syria with open arms â now he has them deported. Sometimes at gunpoint. The Spiegel reports (paywall) and Giorgos Christides summarizes Results of the research on Twitter together.  

News from the Borders 8.09.2022

• âNo more Moriasâ was promised by the EU Commission when there was a fire on Lesbos two years ago. This promise has been broken. Instead, people are systematically abandoned at sea and mistreated. I talked to the FR about the current situation on the Greek islands spoken. 
• The Geo Barents was able to dock in Taranto, Italy, with 267 rescued people on board. Previously, the crew asked the authorities of Italy and Malta 17 times without success, according to their own information.
• Horst Seehofer promised Italy to take in every fourth person rescued from distress at sea. Currently, the quota is just 0.2 percent. 

News from the Borders 7.09.2022

• A four-year-old girl died in the hospital of Chania in Crete. She came from a boat that sent a distress call when it was on its way from Lebanon to Italy. Ant 1 reported (Greek).
• Greece wants to extend a concrete and barbed wire fence on its northern border with Turkey many times over. The 40-kilometer-long fence is to be extended by another 140 kilometers be expanded. 
• Yesterday saved The Humanity 1 from SOS Humanity and the Nadir from Resqship 111 people from distress at sea.  

News from the Borders 06.09.2022

• The Interior Committee of the European Parliament yesterday refused to discharge Frontex because of its involvement in human rights abuses. A strong signal to the EU member states that perpetrate and cover up crimes against refugees.
• This morning, a joint deportation flight took off from Munich to Islamabad, Pakistan, even though a large part of the country is flooded and millions of people had to flee to safety from the floods. The Bavarian Refugee Council criticizes the.  
• At current report of the BVMN is about pushbacks from Northern Macedonia to Greece, deportations from Bosnia to Pakistan and mass deportations from Turkey to Afghanistan. 

News from the Borders 5.09.2022

• Pro Asyl has awarded its human rights prize to the Polish lawyer Marta Górczyńska and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. who are particularly committed to helping people seeking protection on the Belarusian border. The laudation was held by the Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Luise Amtsberg (Greens).
• The Ocean Viking has allowed 459 rescued people to land in the southern Italian city of Taranto.
• Total 2.9 million people were registered as refugees in the German Central Register of Foreigners at the end of June.

News from the Borders 02.09.2022 

• Alan Kurdi would have been ten years old today, but he died exactly seven years ago while fleeing to Europe. His death obliges us to this day to show solidarity with refugees, writes Uwe Becker in the taz.
• The taz also summarizes the current situation on the Mediterranean Sea together and talked to me about what the traffic lights need to do now.
• The Kenyan author Lorna Likiza applied twice for a visa to visit Germany â and got none. In the Frankfurter Rundschau she tells how humiliating the reasoning is for her.

News from the Borders 1.09.2022 

• The Greek government is not only letting people die at their border, they are Now also massively attacks journalists, which report on it. 
• At Riga bus station volunteers run a drop-in center for Ukrainian refugees. Most of them fled the occupied territories via Russia. 
• Migration researcher Judith Kohlenberger is committed to legal escape routes and has recently written her book âdas Fluchtparadoxâ. In the Dissent Podcast she talks in detail about her research.

News from the Borders 31.08.2022

• A new Amnesty report documented Iranian and Turkish security forces firing on refugees from Afghanistan at the borders. At least 14 people were killed. Summary in the standard.
• The U.S. had Afghan evacuees brought to Kosovo and promised to get them out soon. More than a year later many of them are stuck there. 
• According to the UN, 6 million people in Afghanistan threatened by famine. A total of 19 million suffer from food insecurity. 

News from the Borders 30.08.2022

• The death of Maria, a 5-year-old girl, is shaking up many people in Greece. She died because Greek authorities refused to rescue her at the Evros River. The parents blame the Greek government. The Spiegel reports (Paywall).
• Greek government attacks Spiegel reporter Giorgos Christides because it reports on the death of Mary and the pushbacks on the Evros. EFSYN (Greek, but there is Google Translate and DeepL).
• The Border Violence in a Report highlights several cases of pushbacks on the Evros River and shows their systematic nature. 

News from the Borders 29.08.2022 

• While the 1992 attacks are being commemorated in Rostock, in Leipzig a Attack on a refugee residence have been perpetrated. 
• The Ocean Viking of SOS Méditerranée rescued 466 people in the Mediterranean Sea and is waiting for a safe harbor. The Nadir of Resqship was able to bring 59 rescued people ashore in Lampedusa and also the Geo Barents of Médecins Sans Frontières and the Humanity 1 of SOS Humanity are currently on a rescue mission. Time Online reports.
• Hundreds of people sleep in the open and the hygienic and medical care is poor. It is absolutely undignified how refugees are treated in the Netherlands. 

News from the Borders 26.08.2022 

• In the Dutch asylum center Ter Apel, hundreds of refugees have been forced to sleep outside for days. Now a three month old infant died. Greens and Social Democrats demand clarification, the UNHCR describes the situation as "no longer acceptable". 
• In Greece, people seeking protection demonstrate against the Eviction of the camp in Athens Eleonaswhere conditions were better than in other camps. The police responded with violence. 
• As Answer to my inquiry the Commission has said it will provide €80 million in support to the Egyptian Coast Guard over the next two years to repatriate fugitives. 

News from the Borders 25.08.2022

• 21 EU member states agreed on a insufficient mini recording program and thus justify the further disenfranchisement of people at the external borders.  
• Due to the systematic pushback by Greece, many more protection seekers were forced to leave this year's wide and more dangerous route from Turkey to Italy to take.  
• The Greens and the SPD are campaigning in the Saxon state parliament for the Pham/Nguyen family to remain, who, after more than 35 years in Germany, have been given the Deportation threatened.

News from the Borders 24.08.2022 

• Since February 24, 2022, 967,546war refugees from Ukraine have come to Germany, at least temporarily. Of these, around 36 percent are children and young people under the age of 18. The Ministry of Interior informs.
• Abdelkarim Bendjeriou-Sedjerari is fighting against his deportation because he fears for his life in Algeria due to his homosexuality. Nevertheless, the Administrative Court of Frankfurt dismissed his complaint. 
• "Illegal migration: you will fail," reads one of the advertisements that Austria in eight countries of origin and transit to keep people away. Experts believe that such campaigns are pointless. 

News from the Borders 23.08.2022 

• Pham Phi Son came to Germany in 1987 as a GDR contract worker and has now lived in Saxony for over 35 years. Nevertheless, he and his family are to be deported. Tens of thousands protest in an online petition against the decision of the Saxon Hardship Commission.  
• The crew of the Geo Barents from Doctors Without Borders rescued 106 people from distress at sea and brings them to Sicily. 
• Calls have been growing louder in the EU for weeks, no more tourist visas to people from Russia to be awarded. 

News from the Borders 22.08.2022 

• They witnessed the pogrom of Rostock-Lichtenhagen 30 years ago. At Time Online they tell what they can't forget - and what became of them. 
• From Germany in the first half of 2022, a total of 6198 people deported. The main target countries were Northern Macedonia, Albania and Georgia. 
• The Greek government announced that it would extend the border fence with Turkey by 80 kilometers and has applied for financial aid from the EU for this purpose.

News from the Borders 19.08.2022 

• Greece has taken in a first group stranded on an island in the Evros River after the death of 5-year-old Maria and public pressure. Now strand again almost 50 people on the uninhabited island. 
• Since April, the Bamf has received approx. 18,500 asylum seekers granted protectionwho had already found refuge in Greece. This corresponds to a protection rate of almost 90 percent. 
• Dispute over planned "authority center in the red-black-green Brandenburg government. The Greens speak of a deportation prison and want to prevent its construction. AskTheState has published documents on this.

News from the Borders 18.08.2022 

• In Afghanistan there are still hundreds of local workers who are eligible for entry into Germany. 
• Solidarity for Ukrainian refugees in Germany continues to be huge, but many volunteers are at the end of their tether. 
• Australia holds people without valid visas in prison for an average of almost two years. At the end of April, 1,414 people were in detention centers, 61 % of them for visa cancellation.   

News from the Borders 17.08.2022 

• We continue to evacuate people from Afghanistan with the Kabul airlift. My colleague Ruben Neugebauer talked to Watson about it. 
• Baden-Württemberg creates better prospects of staying for rejected asylum seekers who have integrated well. 
• A right-wing alliance is on the verge of electoral victory in Italy and advertises a naval blockade against refugees in the Mediterranean Sea. 

News from the Borders 16.08.2022 

• A year ago, the Taliban captured Kabul. In an interview with RND I call for the creation of an official focal point for persecutees to advise and process applications, to establish a reception program and reform the local staff procedure, and to develop a common strategy for Afghanistan as an international community.
• The group of 39 refugees on an island on the Evros River has now been officially found by the Greek police. Previously, the Greek authorities refused a rescue, which led to the death of 5-year-old Maria. More info at Giorgos Christides on Twitter.  
• Saxony wants to deport a former GDR contract worker from Vietnam who has been living in Germany for 35 years without a criminal record. He gets a lot of support, but the commissioner for foreigners remains stubborn. The taz reports.

News from the Borders 12.08.2022 

• The Taliban have been in power in Afghanistan for a year now - and are thus also showing the Failure of German and international development aid. 
• The Green member of the Bundestag Julian Pahlke is on the Sea Eye 4which was finally assigned a safe haven yesterday after eleven days. 
• In May, the sea rescuer held Iasonas Apostolopoulos gave a speech in the European Parliament criticizing pushbacks. The Greek government then made him a target of right-wing agitation. 

News from the Borders 11.08.2022 

• VorRhodos are probably at least 40 people drowned. Because Greece systematically abandons and mistreats those seeking protection at sea, many now try to come directly from Turkey to Italy. This route is much longer and more dangerous.
• Because Greece does not fulfill its legal obligations, the five-year-old Maria A. had to die on a Greek island in the river Evros. Der Spiegel has reconstructed the case (Paywall).
• In Germany, statistically Two asylum seekers per day victims of attacksHowever, the number of unreported cases is probably much higher. Most of the acts are motivated by right-wing extremism. 

News from the Borders 10.08.2022 

• I have a in-depth interview on the anniversary of the Taliban's takeover of Kabul led. What happened back then was a disaster for which we should be ashamed. I also talk about what needs to happen now and what has already changed under the new federal government. 
• In the USA evacuated afghan:inside be able to obtain U.S. citizenship. Meanwhile, about 76,000 of them have entered the United States on temporary visas. 
• At the Greek-Turkish border, Greek authorities systematically refuse to accept asylum applications. In one group is now probably a 5 year old died, because the authorities have not let the group leave the island on the Evros for days.

News from the Borders 9.08.2022 

• You can watch the four-part documentary series "Kabul Airlift Mission"Watch it now in the ARD Mediathek. It is about the evacuation work of our NGO. 
• In attacks in the Afghan capital Kabul over the weekend alone, more than 120 people killed or injured been.
• Selenskyj has warned of a Chernobyl-like situation in view of the shelling of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.

News from the Borders 8.08.2022 

• All 659 people rescued by the "Geo Barents" in the Mediterranean Sea are landed in Italy. The last people were able to leave the civilian rescue ship on Saturday in the port of Taranto. 
• Matteo Salvini visited Lampedusa to campaign with anti-refugee positions and meets with criticism and resistance there. 
• Ukraine examines nearly 26,000 cases of war crimes. However, most of the alleged war criminals are fugitives. 

News from the Borders 29.07.2022

• The European Anti-Fraud Office has found serious misconduct by Frontex officials in a report. Deliberately covered up information about pushbacks and thus ensured that human rights were violated at the EU's external borders and that those seeking protection were put in danger of their lives. 
• In recent months, there have been in the region of Evros in Greece again and again to Pushbacks by Greek border guards. In some cases, even the European Court of Human Rights had asked the Greek authorities to help the people, which was simply ignored several times. 
• After a total of eleven rescues in a few days, the sea rescue ship Geo Barents of the organization Doctors Without Borders e.V. now has 659 survivors on board. 

News from the Borders 27.07.2022

• Information on cross-border security cooperation (including with the Libyan coast guard) in Italy is now Secret matter and can no longer be viewed by the public. In this way, Italy restricts independent control of the government. 
• In so-called "double tap" airstrikes, targets are attacked twice in quick succession, the second time when rescue forces have arrived after the first attack. This cruel procedure has a report now Russia and the Assad regime in Syria proven. 
• In a report, Amnesty International concludes that. Women in Afghanistan systematically oppressed and discriminated against by the Taliban become 

News from the Borders 26.07.2022

• Nearly 50 people seeking protection from Syria have been stranded on a Greek island on the Evros River since July 14, 2022. The European Court of Justice has ordered Greece to help the people. So far, the Greek authorities have not complied with this request, thus breaking EU law once again. 
• The World Health Organization (WHO) has studied health care for people seeking protection in Europe and concludes that it is Deficient in many areas is. Among other things, the risk of illness, mental health problems and also the risk of death are significantly higher among pregnant persons than in the rest of the population. 
• In the Mediterranean Sea, numerous people were rescued from distress at sea again in the last few hours. Thus rescued the Geo Barents of Doctors without Borders 52 people, the Ocean Viking of the organization SOS Mediterranee 80 people and now has a total of 387 survivors on board. 

News from the Borders 25.07.2022

• In the last days hundreds of people were rescued by civilian sea rescue organizations in the central Mediterranean. Around another 1,000 people were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard, and several hundred landed independently on the island of Lampedusa. 
• Because female teenagers in Afghanistan are not allowed to go to school, secret schools are springing up in the country. There learned and taught at risk of life. 
• In the wake of the Corona pandemic, the Greek government has increasingly restricted the right to asylum in the country. The scientist Phevos Simeonidis explains in the RND article how the restrictions on freedom of movement came about and criticizes Greece's human rights violations at the EU's external border. 

News from the Borders 22.07.2022

• Many Ukrainian refugees who have found protection in Germany want to return as soon as possible. But there are also some who want to stay here. Deutsche Welle spoke with two of them. 
• Although they face drastic personal consequences, protest women in Afghanistan against the systematic cuts in their rights by the Taliban. The newspaper "die Welt" spoke with two women. 
• Jungle World talked to the founder of the sea rescue organization RESQSHIP Ingo Werth about the Situation in the Mediterranean and civilian rescue at sea entertain. 

News from the Borders 21.07.2022

• Although the Taliban had officially pledged to respect human rights after taking power in Afghanistan, in recent months repeated serious violations of human rights known. A team of the United Nations has now looked at the situation on the ground and describes a disastrous situation. 
• 33 people were sentenced yesterday in Morocco for trying to flee to Europe. 28 other people will stand trial at the end of July. 
• Many Ukrainian protection seekers who had been accommodated in Germany or other countries are returning to Ukraine. The Story of three women and their motivations wrote the Spiegel. 

News from the Borders 20.07.2022

• The federal government is planning a new "right of opportunity to stay", Hesse is already leading the way with this. Those who have lived lawfully in Germany for five years and reside in Hesse should already no longer be deported.
• According to a Study by PICUMcommissioned by the Green Group in the European Parliament, 89 people in the EU were criminalized for helping protection seekers between January and March 2022 alone. 
• For years, a Syrian family has been waiting to be reunited. The story of the al-Addays family shows that dysfunctional system of family reunification for protection seekers in the EU and thus also in which area we urgently need improvements. 

News from the Borders 19.07.2022

• Forensic Architecture has uncovered over 1000 crimes by Greek border guards. I talked to the nd about the research and what steps we now need to take.
• Over the weekend, the Turkish Coast Guard used a drone to film how Greek coast guard People exposed on the open sea has. 
• A team from ARTE has Crew of the Ocean Viking accompanied on their mission in March 2022 and documented the work and operations.

News from the Borders 18.07.2022

• According to a survey conducted by UNHCR, would two thirds of Ukrainian protection seekers registered in Germany remain in the country for the time being. Unlike other protection seekers, they are also allowed to work immediately and take advantage of integration offers.
• 2,812 Refugees from Greece have been admitted by the German government for humanitarian reasons since 2020. According to the federal government, there are currently no further plans for admission.
• The rescue ship of the organization Mission Lifeline, "Rise Above", on Saturday noon. deposited in Licata and in the first 24 hours also already Be able to help people in distress at sea. 

News from the Borders 15.07.2022 

• Forensic Architecture today released a interactive mapwhich documents over 1000 crimes committed by Greek border guards in the Aegean Sea. Frontex is said to have been directly involved in over 100 of them. 
• As of now, all eight parts of the Spotify podcast series "Memento Moria"and you can listen to it in one piece. I also have my say in it. 
• The Würzburg Regional Court has Sister Juliana Seelmann from the Oberzell convent near Würzburg acquitted. Because the convent granted church asylum to two women from Nigeria to protect the women from forced prostitution, the nun was alleged to have committed a criminal offense. 

News from the Borders 14.07.2022 

• The EU Council wants to make right-wing refugee policies mainstream and put arriving asylum seekers in camps in the future and classify them as "non-arrivals" to further disenfranchise them. I am committed to ensuring that these tightenings do not pass through the European Parliament. The taz explainswhat reforms are now planned. 
• A study commissioned by the Green Group in the European Parliament analyzes the Status on the criminalization of solidarity with refugees in the European Union.. You can find the study and a summary on my Homepage
• A survey by the UNHCR revealed that a Majority of Ukrainian refugees want to returnHowever, 65 percent want to wait until peace has returned. 

News from the Borders 13.07.2022 

• After the death of many people at the border fence of the Spanish exclave of Melilla, the EU Commission to support Spain and Morocco in the "fight against traffickers. This is a transparent diversionary tactic, because precisely at this border tugboats do not play a major role at all. 
• Lebanon is planning to start soon with the Repatriation of Tens of Thousands of Syrian Refugees to begin, despite objections from the United Nations and numerous human rights groups. 
• According to the IOM, last week 299 Pullbacks to Libya carried out. The figure for the full year 2022 thus rises to 10,272 people who were dragged back to a country of civil war where they face torture and ill-treatment. 

News from the Borders 12.07.2022 

• While millions of people from Ukraine have been able to flee to Poland, Poland is closing itself off to refugees from other countries. The story of an Afghan shows how differently people are treated. 
• Alla Shelapova fled with her daughter from Ukraine to Munich three months ago and is now looking for her third place to stay. The SZ about it, how difficult it is for refugees to find housing.
• To the 314 rescued on the Geo Barents was finally assigned a safe port in Taranto, Italy after five days.

News from the Borders 11.07.2022 

• The crowded and littered Camp on Lampedusa is cleared. The problem here is not the moderate number of arrivals, but the poor distribution within Italy and Europe.
• Frontex, together with the police agency Europol, is preparing a large-scale surveillance project at the EU's external borders. Why this is a holdover from Fabrice Leggeri and poorly compatible with fundamental rights, you can read in the Spiegel. 
• On the Geo Barents Currently waiting 314 Rescued people on the allocation of a safe harbor. 

News from the Borders 8.07.2022

• Greece must 330,000 € fine for failure to provide assistance to drowned refugees pay. This ruling was made by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The head of government had claimed this week that border security is always in accordance with all laws.
• The Hessian state government would like to prevent rapid deportations because of the new right of residence. Green faction leader Mathias Wagner said, "It would be wrong to deport people who would be allowed to stay here a few weeks later."
• The Finnish parliament on Thursday approved an amendment to the law that would make the Closure of border crossings made possible. Instead of increasingly walling off the EU, however, those seeking protection should be given access to procedures based on the rule of law. 

News from the Borders 7.07.2022

• In view of massive Russian attacks on the city of Slovyansk in eastern Ukraine, local authorities have called on the civilian population to flee. 
• Today the sixth part of the podcast series "Memento Moria" was released, in which it is about Pushbacks, violence and the role of Frontex in it goes. 
• The Süddeutsche Zeitung asked what refugees and companies would like to see in the future. Expect from the opportunity right of residence. 

News from the Borders 6.07.2022

• With the âOpportunity Residencyâ people without a residence permit should have an easier time obtaining the right to stay in the future. 
• At Virgin forest between Belarus and Poland are still people trying to get into the EU. Volunteers who try to help them are persecuted and intimidated. 
• After twelve days could 306 rescued finally leave the Ocean Viking and go ashore in Pozzallo, Italy. 

News from the Borders 5.07.2022 

• Today the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited us in the Parliament. Under his responsibility refugees are disenfranchised, blackmailed and pushed. Time Online almost the inconsequential brutality against people on the run together in Greece. Here you can watch his speech and the reactions of the political groups to it.
• Although the European Court of Justice has ruled that a Lithuanian law on handling refugees a violation of EU asylum law the Lithuanian government intends to adhere to the law. 
• For the time being, France does not intend to deport any foreign students who have fled Ukraine until September. Currently holding about 3500 non-Ukrainians:inside in France who have fled Ukraine. 

News from the Borders 4.07.2022

• In an interview, following new research on pushbacks in Greece, I called for "Germany should be a Call for infringement proceedings and, if the Commission remains inactive, initiate one itself."
• Italy's parliament wants to grant minors from foreign families the Allow the acquisition of Italian citizenship. So far, they can only apply for it at the age of 18, even if they were born in Italy. Right-wing parties are up in arms against this.
• At the Border between Jordan and Syria there are 10,000 refugees. There is hardly any help. Assad's troops besiege the camp and prevent access. 

News from the Borders 01.07.2022

• The responsible EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson is finally urging Greece to end the pushbacks. So far, unfortunately, the Commission has remained inactive. 
• At least three people have died during their flight to Europe drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. Three others are missing, eleven could be rescued. According to UNHCR at least 777 people drowned or went missing in the Mediterranean Sea in the first half of the year.  
• Poland has completed the construction of the 187 kilometer fence completed on its border with Belarus.

News from the Borders 30.06.2022 

• Lithuanian authorities arbitrarily detain thousands of people for months in dilapidated detention centers under military command, where they are Torture and other ill-treatment are exposed. They are denied access to fair asylum procedures so that they return to the countries âvoluntarilyâ. 
• The European Court of Justice condemns Lithuania for this action because it is a clear violation of the Procedures and Reception Directive and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. 
• This Study commissioned by the Green Group in the European Parliament analyzes the state of criminalization of solidarity with refugees in the European Union. 

News from the Borders 29.06.2022 

• The United Nations has issued a independent investigation into the rush to the Spanish exclave of Melilla called for, so that those responsible for the many deaths will be held accountable.  
• On the board of the Geo Barents one person on board died after a dramatic rescue operation. In total, the crew was able to rescue 71 people from sinking inflatable boats. More than 30 people are missing. 
• Hundreds of thousands of refugee children from Ukraine live in Poland. But the Polish state is doing little to integrate them into the school system. That is why numerous Ukrainian private schools founded. 

News from the Borders 28.06.2022 

• In Greece, meanwhile Refugees enslaved to mistreat other refugees and illegally back to Turkey. If this continues without consequences, the EU will no longer have to claim to represent any values. You can find the research in the Mirror.
• Annalena Baerbock reacted promptly to the reports and Calls for clarification of the illegal pushback.  
• Tourists have yesterday the Bodies of two men found on a beach in Lesbos, who apparently tried to reach Greek soil from Turkey. 

News from the Borders 27.06.2022 

• In Spain, an operation near Melilla is praised by the head of government, in which 37 people died are. Severely injured people were apparently tied up and not cared for, dead people were thrown into mass graves without being examined. It is an intolerable disgrace for Europe. 
• The Syrian, Naima, who wanted to flee to Europe with her two sons, has been abandoned at sea by the Greek coast guard. The responsible Greek minister Notis Mitarachi lied to us MPs again today in Parliament and claims that such systematic pushbacks do not exist at all. 
• The crew of the Ocean Viking rescued 66 people from distress at sea this morning. A total of 156 people are now on board the ship. Meanwhile, another 304 people are waiting on board the Sea Watch and 59 people on Louise Michel to a safe haven.  

News from the Borders 24.06.2022

• With Introduction of the so-called screening regulation the EU wants to register asylum seekers at the external borders in centers and detain them there.
• The new Sea-Watch operated Rescue ship Aurora has been arrested immediately after the completion of the first operation in Lampedusa. 
• The UN Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor criticizes the criminalization of civil society in Greece.  

News from the Borders 23.06.2022 

• I talked to Deutschlandfunk Kultur about politically intended pushbacks and why I don't believe in a new start at Frontex. The interview is followed by a feature on the pushbacks. 
• There are increasing indications on the fact that pushbacks from Greece to Turkey are now being carried out by armed criminal men in ski masks. 
• The British government wants the European Court of Human Rights no longer accept as the final authority on human rights issues, because they prevented a deportation flight to Rwanda last week. 

News from the Borders 22.06.2022 

• The people of Afghanistan are suffering so much and now a huge earthquake with over 1000 dead. I hope that the international community will support the survivors and that humanitarian aid will be provided quickly. 
• Over 900 rescued people urgently need a safe haven! They are waiting on the Aita Mari, Sea Eye 4 and SeaWatch4 to be able to go ashore and have their rights respected.More on the channels of Sea-Eye, SeaWatch and maydayterraneo.
• In Uganda receive refugee families a hut and a piece of land at their disposal. The residents can thus provide for themselves and also have the right to seek other work or education. 

News from the Borders 21.06.2022 

• The UN is significantly reducing food rations for refugees in Africa. For many people in East Africa, the Food rations halved. The World Food Program is short of money and the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine is causing food prices to rise. 
• After the European Court of Human Rights Prevented deportations from UK to RwandaThe government of Boris Johnson is now considering breaking away from the European Convention on Human Rights instead of simply respecting human rights. 
• Green youth spokesman Timon Dzienus and Green politician Tareq Alaows call for a Reform of the asylum policy and an end to the unequal treatment of refugees. 

News from the Border 20.06.2022

• The Situation for refugeeswho want to come to the EU has been getting worse rather than better for about a decade. That's what I was talking about with Nd.
• I talked to RND about the fact that the EU governments cynical and that there are double standards when it comes to refugees. 
• On the occasion of World Refugee Day, my colleague, Luise Amtsberg, Human Rights Commissioner of the Federal Government, demands that the Admission program for Afghanistan implemented faster must be. 

News from the Borders 16.06.2022

• Since today the third episode of the Spotify podcast series "Memento Moria" outside. In it you can hear, among other things, how I explain why the terrible conditions on the Greek islands are politically desired, how we make laws in parliament and what my two cats are called.
• More than 100 million people worldwide are displaced â 42 percent of them children. Today, UNHCR launched its new report on escape The report with a lot of information and statistics can be found at here.
• A journalist has worked with the Protection seekers on board the British plane to Rwanda spoken. People talk about everything from being picked up in their cell to having their flight canceled at the last second. 

News from the Borders 15.06.2022 

• For the time being, Boris Johnson's Plan to fly protection seekers to Rwanda failedbecause the European Court of Human Rights has intervened. Asylum seekers â for example from Albania â are to be deported from the UK to Rwanda without asylum procedures. Instead of defending the right of asylum as an essential international responsibility, asylum foes such as Boris Johnson want to shift this responsibility away. Here a classification by Maximilian Pichl on Twitter.
• The crew of theSea-Eye 4 performed three rescue missions... 416 people rescued from distress at sea. Not far from a rescue mission of Sea-Eye, in turn, a rescue mission of the Spanish rescue ship AITA MARI was disrupted by the Libyan coast guard, who have taken people remaining on the dinghy to Libya. 
• Why do refugees from Ukraine return in the middle of the war? Because they are homesick - and because they feel everything can be better endured together in one placesays 22-year-old Darina Kostuchenko, who has returned to Kiev. 

News from the Borders 14.06.2022 

• Today should be at 10:30 pm the first deportation flight with seven people from England to Rwanda take off. However, following a decision by the European Court of Human Rights, it is now unclear whether the plane will take off. The judges assume that the people would not have access to fair, efficient and constitutional procedures. 
• Despite ongoing pushback in Greece, the government refuses to open an investigation and thus defies fundamental principles of the rule of law. 
• 64 percent of Poles think their country should offer Ukrainian refugees protection until they can return to Ukraine. Almost 30 percent were in favor of allowing them to settle permanently in Poland. 

News from the Borders 13.06.2022

• The British government was supposed to deport dozens of asylum seekers to Rwanda starting tomorrow, but most of them could be sue successfully. Among the remaining eleven people to be flown to East Africa tomorrow are four Iranians, two Iraqis, two Albanians and one Syrian. 
• Food prices continue to rise, with now already over half of the people in Afghanistan do not have enough to eat. Up to 97 percent of the population is at risk of falling below the poverty line. 
• Associations for the support of conscientious objectors call for granting asylum to deserters and refuseniks from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. 

News from the Borders 9.06.2022 

• After exhausting days the 344 rescued on the SeaWatch3 ashore in Pozzallo. 
• Hundreds of Russian journalists flee before Putin's crisis regime, entire editorial offices are being set up in exile. A fund and visa facilitation are supposed to help.
• Arndt Dohmen was with the organization Medical Volunteers International for seven weeks in the refugee camp Mavrovouni on Lesbos, to help there as a doctor and says that nothing is good at Europe's external borders. 

News from the Borders 8.06.2022

• Human rights groups have filed an injunction with the High Court in London. requested to prevent the first mass deportations of asylum seekers to Rwanda scheduled for next week.(English)
• Ahead of the meeting of EU interior ministers next Friday, the Austrian Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) very far to the right and proposes to carry out asylum applications outside the EU in the future in order to get rid of people. 
• Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth visited Odessa and the Republic of Moldova. In Chisinau, she assured Moldova of support in caring for the refugees. Moldova has received the most refugees from Ukraine in terms of population. 

News from the Borders 7.6.2022

• People who have been living in Germany for five years or longer with only a toleration permit are to be given the opportunity in the future, to stay here permanently legally. This is an important point from the coalition agreement that we Greens have been particularly committed to. 
• Federal Foreign Minister Baerbock has announced in Pakistan that it will bring additional former Afghan local forces of the German Armed Forces as well as persons at risk to Germany.
• People fleeing the Ukraine war to Poland can move freely there. Other refugees sit there in Internment camps fixed.

News from the Borders 6.06.2022

• Ukraine continues to be attacked, but Millions of refugees are said to have already returned. Krystyna Kuschynska is back with her husband in Lviv â and feels calmer despite air alarms.
• Thousands of people are deported from Libya and Algeria, according to Doctors Without Borders, and left to fend for themselves in the desert in Niger. Among them are severely injured, survivors of sexual violence and severely traumatized people. 
• Every year the Norwegian Refugee Council publishes a List of 10 refugee situationswho are politically and medially forgotten in the world. 

News from the Borders 2.06.2022 

• The Polish government would like to Suspend payment to Ukrainian refugees of €9.33 a day from July 1. People with disabilities, pregnant women and large families should continue to receive support â all others not (Polish).
• The vice president of the EU Commission, Margaritis Schinas, claims in an interview with de Volkskrant that there is a need in the EU no systematic problem with pushbacks and that NGOs and independent media should not be relied upon in this matter.Julia Verheul recorded parts of the interviews on Twitter translated into English.
• The Deportation agreement between Great Britain and Rwanda is to be enforced starting next week. The first people have already received their deportation notices. 

News from the Borders 01.06.2022

• Russian menThose who evade military service do not yet have good prospects of obtaining the right to stay in Germany.
• Roma refugees are accused, among other things, of not coming from Ukraine, because some no Ukrainian passports possess. However, such accusations fail to recognize the reality of life for Roma in Ukraine. 
• The conference of interior ministers begins today in Würzburg. Human rights organizations call for a Deportation stop by the countries and rapid implementation of the reform of the right to stay.

News from the Borders 31.05.2022

• The first mission of Sea Watch's new rescue ship "Aurora" was successful: 85 people were rescued and quickly brought to a safe port on Lampedusa. 
• Yesterday spoke the Interim Head of Frontex, Aija Kalnaja, before the Interior Committee here in Parliament, and said that Frontex employees were "traumatized" by the current situation. 
• Currently, thousands of people are brought from Afghanistan to Germany, yet there are bs justified criticism of the treatment of the former local forcesbecause it takes too long. 

News from the Borders 30.05.2022

• The Greek government intends to Completely seal the border with Turkey in the northeast of the country. The existing 35 kilometers of border fence are to be extended by 80 kilometers for this purpose. 
• The future Slovenian government, consisting of Green Liberals, Social Democrats and Left Border fence with Croatia by the end of this year.
• After a long wait, last night Ocean Viking was finally given a safe harbor in Sicily assigned where the 296 rescued can disembark. 

News from the Borders 25.05.2022

• 75 people missing in the Mediterranean Sea. After a boat capsized with around 100 people fleeing to the EU, the Tunisian coast guard was able to rescue 24 people. More than 70 people are missing. 
• The Sea Watch 3 sets off on its mission. After leaving Sicily behind, the ship & crew are now on their way to the Libyan search and rescue zone. 
• The Dispute over refugee policy has overshadowed the meeting of ministers from the five German-speaking countries. Luxembourg promotes a more generous admission, Austria blocks. 

News from the Borders 24.05.2022 

• A sailing ship of the German NGO Resqship has off the coast of Libya 75 people rescued from distress at sea. The people were handed over to the Ocean Viking, which now has nearly 300 rescued people on board after several rescues. Resqship stated that the Libyan coast guard had previously approached and demanded a handover of the people. The crew refused, citing international, European and German law.
• As of today, refugees from Ukraine can submit their exchange Ukrainian banknotes for euro. Up to 300 euros can be exchanged per person. 
• Refugees from Ukraine can immediately Hartz IV applications submit. Applications can also be submitted online. As of June, they will be entitled to Hartz IV benefits if they have a residence permit and are in need of assistance and capable of working. 

News from the Borders 23.05.2022

• The UN announces that for the first time more than 100 million people are on the run worldwide. 
• DGB chief Yasmin Fahimi has a Rethinking German migration policy demanded. Refugees should quickly be entitled to basic benefits and direct access to the labor market. 
• In Sicily ended on Saturday after a three-hour hearing the preliminary proceedings against 21 sea rescuers. It remains unclear whether a main hearing will take place.

News from the Borders 17.05.2022 

• Although it violates the case law of the European Court of Justice and the Federal Constitutional Court, the BAMF continues to cause Deportations of gay men in states where homosexuality is punishable by death. 
• TheSea-Watch 4 has a safe harbor. Last night, authorities designated Augusta as the port of disembarkation for the 145 people the crew has rescued over the past two weeks.
• On Saturday, Sicily will host the Trial against 21 sea rescuers for alleged trafficking will begin. It is the largest trial to date, and ex-Interior Minister Matteo Salvini is also involved. 

News from the Borders 16.05.2022

• In Switzerland, a vote was held yesterday to decide whether the country should Expansion of Frontex and finance it. 71.5% voted in favor. The clear result also came about because the proponents of Frontex stoked fears that Switzerland would be kicked out of the Schengen area in the event of a "No" vote. 
• In 2017, the Iuventa crew rescued a total of 14,000 people from the Mediterranean Sea. This week, a total of ten sea rescuers of the organization âYouth rescuesâ on trial in Italy.
• Currently there are around 830,000 refugees from Ukraine in Germany. Currently, around 2,000 arrive every day, compared with 15,000 in mid-March. At the same time, around 20,000 refugees from Poland returned to Ukraine â including some from Germany. 

News from the Borders 13.05.2022 

• More than six million people fled Ukraine, according to the United Nations. Within Ukraine, more than eight million people have fled. However, 1.6 million Ukrainians have also entered the country since the war began. 
• Only a few days ago, Erdoğan had announced that the Return of one million Syrians* to their home countries was being prepared. Now the Turkish president is apparently backing away from this.
• At Civil Fleet Podcast Luiza Izuzquiza explains why Sea Watch and FragdenStaat sued Frontex. 

News from the Borders 12.05.2022

• In view of increasing repression by the Taliban, the Greens insist on a forced admission of people from Afghanistan in Germany.
• Abdelfetah Mohamed comes from Eritrea and fled across the Mediterranean to Europe ten years ago. Today he is volunteer on the Ocean Viking and saves even people from drowning. (English)
• A fire in a completely overcrowded Cypriot refugee camp has killed At least six people injured have been. The Pournara camp is intended for up to 1,000 people, but twice as many now live there. 

News from the Borders 11.05.2022

• During his time as Frontex Director, Fabrice Leggeri has been increasingly radicalized. Spiegel reports how Frontex made this possible and what happened in the days and weeks leading up to his resignation.(Paywall)

English version (Without paywall)

• Millions of Syrians are dependent on humanitarian aid, the War in Ukraine worsens the supply situation. At a Syria donor conference in Brussels, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Federal Foreign Office pledged 1.05 billion euros in aid for the coming years.
• The Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration (SVR) has appealed to political parties and decision-makers to Working conditions for immigrants in the health care sector significantly improve. Without migration, the industry would face collapse. 

News from the Borders 10.05.2022

• With Watson in Switzerland I spoke about the situation at the external borders, the upcoming Frontex referendum next Sunday and my role as part of the Frontex investigation team. 
• UN Secretary General Guterres has more international aid for the Republic of Moldova in the care of Ukrainian refugees.
• The German ships âSea-Watch 4â and âSea-Eye 4â at the weekend. 122 people rescued in the Mediterranean Sea. 

News from the Borders 5.05.2022

• Yesterday we voted in Parliament on the budget of Frontex: with a majority of 492 votes, the budget was not released for the time being. The refusal of the budget discharge is an important call for the Reform of the Border Management Agency. Crimes at the external borders must finally have consequences in the EU again. 
• Andrea Costa, who helped refugees at the train station in Rome and was on trial yesterday because of it, was acquitted. A victory for solidarity! 
• Yesterday, the EU-funded Libyan coast guard has Sea-Eye 4 threatened and asked to leave "Libyan territory" even though they were in international waters. The Sea Eye rescued 57 people. 

News from the Borders 3.05.2022

• The 101 rescued on board the Geo Barents have a safe harbor assigned and were able to go ashore in Sicily. The 295 people on board the Ocean Viking continue to wait for the allocation of a safe port. 
• Glazier Andrea Costa has helped refugees at the train station in Rome get a place to sleep, a hot meal and medical care. Now he is threatened with Prison sentence for providing tickets to refugees for bus travel within Italy bought. 
• In the future, Great Britain wants to Ship asylum seekers directly to Rwandano matter where they come from. There are already some refugees from Afghanistan living in the country. 

News from the Borders 2.05.2022

• The Bundestag decided on Friday to extend the mandate for German soldiers to participate in the EU mission âIriniâ off the coast of Libya by one year. Unlike before, however, the training of the Libyan coast guard is no longer included.
• Fast 400 people waiting on board the Ocean Viking and Geo Barents to its safe harbor. 
• According to UNHCR 3,000 people died last year in an attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea in the direction of Europe. The number of unreported cases is probably much higher.

News from the Borders 29.04.2022 

• After various lies, dozens of scandals, and thousands of pushbacks, must beFrontex Director Leggeri finally resigns. The fact that it took so long and that mafia-like structures became possible at Frontex is a scandal that goes far beyond Leggeri.
• I had already called for this several times, most recently at the beginning of March when the Report of the EU Anti-Fraud Authority Olaf was presented. 
• A deaf 17-year-old Briton was arrested by the police mistreated because he is black. The police put him in custody for deportation at Gatwick Airport and registered him as a Nigerian. The young man is a British citizen who has never left his home country.
• The three young men charged in the El Hibu case in Malta have given their testimony on the crossing from Libya to Malta. The court has Your side of the events still not heard. 

News from the Borders 28.04.2022

• A joint investigation reveals that Frontex has documented pushbacks in its own database and has labeled them as "Prevention of departure" classified. The Mirror was involved in the research (paywall).
• With the support of FragDenStaat sues Sea Watch Frontex before the ECJ because of the systematic and illegal pushbacks. They demand that Frontex release its information. 
• Denmark pays Kosovo € 15 million per year, so that up to 300 foreign inmates serve their sentences there. After that, they are to be deported. 

News from the Borders 27.04.2022

• The EU Commission has published the so-called Rule of Law Mechanism against the Government in Budapest activates what we as the Green Group in the European Parliament have been calling for for a long time. This could cut Hungary's financial support by billions. 
• Great Britain would like Rwanda as a "deportation station and transport refugees there, although human rights are massively disregarded there. 
• The border controls from Austria, which have been reintroduced and steadily extended since 2015, are, according to the Case law of the ECJ unlawful. A new threat is required for an extension, which did not exist. 

News from the Borders 26.04.2022

• Within two days off the coast of Libya, the Ocean Viking has more than 160 fugitives rescued from distress at sea. Yesterday, the crew of the ship rescued 94 people from an overloaded inflatable boat. Already on Sunday, the ship had rescued more than 70 fugitives. More information can be found on the SOS Mediteranée social media channels.
• At the end of March 2021 17 people deported from Germany to Ethiopiaalthough civil war is raging there. The deportation cost about 430,000 € and was accompanied by 76 police officers. 
• Because the Lebanon almost completely dependent of grain from Russia and Ukraine, a hunger crisis is looming in the country. Development Minister Svenja Schulze was on site and promised help. 

News from the Borders 25.04.2022

• In the past few days several boats sunk off the Tunisian coast, with at least 26 people drowned. 320 fugitives were rescued. 
• The United Nations World Food Program does not have sufficient funds and has had to reallocate them. Fayness Alpha lives in the Dazeleka refugee camp in Malawi and can now no longer feed their children. 
• The Bavarian Integration Commissioner Gudrun Brendel-Fischer (CSU) wrote last week: "Ukrainian refugees do not need to be told how a washing machine works or that cooking is not allowed on the floor of the room." The Refugee Council reads the statement as if she distinguishes here between "civilized" European refugees and other "uncivilized" ones and demands her resignation.

News from the Borders 22.04.2022

• There were over 10,000 documented pushbacks in the Aegean last year. The Pushback Report 2021 from Mare Liberum shows how normalized and commonplace brutal pushbacks at the border between Greece and Turkey have become.ND summarizes the findings here together.
• 756 German officials, 11 Italian airplanes, 62 Bulgarian patrol cars and 101 Austrian deportation officers: AsktheState has researched how the individual European countries have supported Frontex in the years 2015 â 2021. 
• Around the final report of the state parliament inquiry committee on the death of the innocently imprisoned Syrian Amad A. there are political dispute. The 1450-page report was published on Wednesday after three and a half years of investigative work. The SPD and the Greens cast a special vote and distanced themselves from the report.

News from the Borders 21.04.2022 

• After the fire in Moria one and a half years ago, six Afghans were sentenced, yet there are justified doubts about their perpetration and the judicial process.The Guardian has written a longread about the criminalization of refugees and helpers and reworks the story of Moria. 
• According to a court ruling, the Netherlands may no longer transfer foreign nationals to Croatia under the Dublin Regulation, without first conducting an examination of the factual circumstances.
• At Explosions at a school in the Afghan capital Kabul at least six people were killed. Members of the Shiite Hasara, who are frequently attacked by the IS terrorist militia, live in the neighborhood.

News from the Borders 20.04.2022

• Five million people were according to UNHCR displaced throughout Ukraine since the beginning of Putin's war of aggression. This is the largest movement of refugees in Europe since the end of the Second World War. 
• The European Court of Human Rights ruled that refoulement of people to Greece is legal.What this means for the fight for human rights is discussed by Lore Graf and Maximillian Pichl in the Friday.
• Poland welcomes millions of Ukrainian refugees - the Border with Belarus, however, Warsaw continues to keep closed. Concerned and activists report increasing violence. (paywall)

News from the Borders 19.04.2022

• At Border river Evros a fugitive has been shot dead while trying to reach Greece from Turkey in a rubber dinghy.
• Again and again people die while trying to cross the river Evros. from Turkey to the EU. The Greek government is doing everything it can to cover this up.
• In Greece, after a shipwreck, one of the survivors faces over 200 years in prison & a father is arbitrarily charged for the death of his 6-year-old child. Here is all the info about their case and how you can support the Samos2.

News from the Borders 8.04.2022 

• Ukraine reports At least 39 killed in attack to the Kramatorsk railroad station. There thousands of fugitives were waiting for evacuation. 
• The Council of Europe has Increase in unlawful refoulement of asylum seekers at the European external borders. These pushbacks happened systematically and across Europe.
• In Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia, an estimated 15 million people affected by drought. 

News from the Borders 7.04.2022

• The Lesbian and Gay Association (LSVD) has Sharp criticism of German deportation practice The country has been a persecuting country, where the death penalty is imposed on homosexuality.
• LeaveNoOneBehind turns two years old. Therefore we make today at 19:00 a Insta-Livewhere you can ask Patrick from our task force team your questions. 
• Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is currently home to 80,000 refugees and 3.2 million displaced in the country. 

News from the Borders 6.04.2022 

• At the Polish-Belarusian border pushbacks continue to take placewhile Poland allows millions of Ukrainians to enter the country. 
• For more than half a year, the Taliban in power in Afghanistan. Since then, many people in the population are afraid and the need is growing. 
• The Italian authorities assigned the Sea-Eye 4 the port of Augusta. 

News from the Borders 4.04.2022 

• For years, the EU has been Detention centers for refugees financed. Now it has become known that at least one prison continued to operate even after the Russian invasion began.
• According to UNHCR almost 100 people drowned on the flight to Europe after their completely overcrowded boat capsized off the Libyan coast. Four people could still be rescued. 

• During his visit to Malta, Pope Francis took advantage of the History of St. Paul to draw attention to the situation of boat refugees and call for more compassion. He also spoke with the El Hiblu 3, who are currently being tried. 
• The Pope with the El Hiblu 3

News from the Borders 31.03.2022 

• Because Zi Faámelu is trans, she was not allowed to simply leave Ukraine and had to flee under very bad circumstances. In Germany, she wants to use her voice to help the community. 
• While the EU welcomes Ukrainians, it operates a regime of deterrence in West Africa, says sociologist Olaf Bernau. Blame is also a false myth.
• On Monday afternoon rescued the Crew of the merchant ship KARINA under the command of Ukrainian captain Vasyl Maksymenko, saved 32 people from drowning in the international waters off Libya. 

News from the Borders 30.03.2022

• Numerous organizations call for The German government is calling on federal politicians to support deserters and conscientious objectors from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, especially Russians, who could otherwise be unintentionally implicated in crimes. 
• The Libyan coast guard was also trained by the Bundeswehr. That is now a thing of the past. Instead, there is a Commitment to rescue at sea.
• As of the reporting date December 31, 2021, approx. 1.95 million protection seekers registered in the Central Register of Foreigners with different residence titles. 

News from Borders 29.03.2022

• Human rights experts stated yesterdaythat many Libyan detention centers for refugees continue to be sites of horrific systematic abuses, including crimes against humanity.
• The Sea-Watch 3 is on its way to the central Mediterranean. 
• If you want to become active in sea rescue yourself, you will find here free jobs and internships at Sea-Eye.

News from the Borders 28.03.2022 

• On Friday, Ocean Viking rescued 128 escapees from an overcrowded inflatable boat, with rescue coming too late for two people. They are among the approximately 350 people who have died this year on their flight to Europe, according to the IOM.
• The case of El Hiblu 3 in Malta shows according to critics:insidehow Black refugees are treated in a racist manner. 
• Ethiopia declares âhumanitarian ceasefireâ in Tigray. Since the fighting began, thousands of people have been killed and more than two million others have been forced to flee, according to UN figures. 

News from the Borders 25.03.2022 

• Four activists of Grupa Granica were detained in Poland only because they provided humanitarian aid to a family with seven children who have been stuck in the Polish-Belarusian border area for three months. The Statement of the group you can find on Instagram.
• Thousands of people have died in the Mediterranean Sea. Volunteers create a place of memory for some of them on Lampedusa. 
• Girls in Afghanistan should be allowed to go back to school. On the very first day, however, the Taliban rulers issued another ban. The students are stunned.

News from the Borders 24.03.2022 

• Eurostat has published the asylum statistics for the year 2021, according to which 535,000 people submitted an initial application. Accordingly, there are 1.2 asylum applicants per 1000 EU citizens. You can find the dates here.
• While millions of people from Ukraine receive protection, the rule of law continues to be undermined at other external borders of the EU. Franziska Grillmeier took a look at the situation along the Ukrainian border and on Lesbos.
• In Russia and Belarus, people are evading deployment in wars that violate international law. But there are also conscientious objectors in Ukraine. Pro Asyl demands: Those who flee the war effort must be given protection. Demands and info at Pro Asyl.

News from the Borders 23.03.2022

• At least 52 people were detained in Poland after they fled Ukraine. The reason is that they come from Africa and are black. Der Spiegel has researched the cases and talked to a student from Kamerum who is in jail.  
• The government in Greece distinguishes between "real" and "fake" refugees in order to justify that Ukrainians are currently taken in while others are mistreated, beaten or simply thrown into the open sea. SRF reports in this 6-minute radio feature.
• The Open Arms is finishing its 89 mission in which they saved 28 people from drowning. Learn more at Open Arms on Twitter.

News from the Borders 22.03.2022

• While the world looks to Ukraine, the Taliban in Afghanistan have begun a wave of house-to-house raids. A woman affected reports in Zeit Online.
• Iranian mother and 13-year-old daughter deported after 10 years in Germany. The Hessian Refugee Council accuses the state of Hesse of violating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child when deporting them. Here is the press release of the Refugee Council.
• While people from Ukraine are welcomed with open arms in the EU, brutal and illegal pushbacks continue to take place at the other external borders. The Border Violence Monitoring Network reports on 19 pages about the current developments on the Balkan route.

News from the Borders 21.03.2022 

• The bodies of 17 people were discovered off the Tunisian peninsula of Cape Bonwho wanted to flee to Europe. According to the IOM, 234 refugees have died in the Mediterranean so far this year. The data of the IOM finder you here.
• The military in Myanmar has killed thousands of people from the Rohingya Muslim minority and displaced hundreds of thousands. The USA now wants to classify these crimes as genocide. 
• On one of the last British flights out of Kabul, instead of people, there were dogs and cats. This could become a problem for Boris Johnson. 

News from the Borders 18.03.2022 

• The UN High Commissioner urged more international aid for suffering people in Afghanistan. According to Filippo Grandi, it is not only in Ukraine that misery reigns.
• On foreign pressure Taliban allow girls to attend high schools. 
• So far this March, only one refugee boat with 56 people reached the Canary Islands, which is far below the average of the past two years.

News from the Borders 17.03.2022 

• Frontex chief Fabrice Leggeri covered up the brutal operations of Greek border guards - apparently against the will of his staff. Der Spiegel reports (paywall).  
• Activist Olaf Bernau has written a book about the importance of migration in Africa. In the taz Talk he talks about âFluchtursachenbekämpfungâ.
• In the shadow of the war in Ukraine, the Taliban seem to have little regard for world opinion. Journalists' lives are in acute danger, according to Reporters Without Borders. 

News from the Borders 16.03.2022

• Salvini must stand trial for statements against sea rescuer Carola Rackete. The mirror reports about it.
• The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig ruled that the federal government may stop admission programs of the states for refugees.
• Marina has made her house on the Polish border a shelter for refugees and is seen as a hero. Dorota did the same on the border between Poland and Belarus and could end up in prison for it. The Independent reports on the two women.

News from the Borders 15.03.2022

• Priest Gábor Iványi was a confidant of Viktor Orbán, but now they are no longer friends. Today, Iványi cares for those whom Hungary's government does not want - and now also for Ukrainian refugees. Time Online has potraitted him.
• Tens of thousands of people in Somalia are fleeing - from the drought that has taken away their livelihoods. And because of the war in Ukraine, even less aid is arriving than before. Der Spiegel reports in this video about the situation.
• Omar fled Syria in 2015. Today he lives openly queer in Berlin-Neukölln. The story of a self-discovery. The Taz tells the story of his self-discovery.

News from the Borders 14.03.2022

• The Greek Coast Guard rescued 101 people from a sinking boat on Sunday who were on a route from Turkey to Italy. Refugees are increasingly taking this long and deadly route because they face pushbacks and mistreatment in Greece. Tagesspiegel reports here.
• In 2021, there were more fatalities than ever before on the so-called Atlantic route. DW discusses the backgrounds to this.
• Europe distinguishes between good and bad refugees, and if the continent were as civilized as people here like to claim, everyone would be treated equally, says Mohamed Amjahid. You can find his text in the taz here.

News from the Borders 11.03.2022

• Important ECJ ruling: Refugees who are to be deported may not be detained together with criminals. Learn more at Pro Asylum.
• Geo Barents calls for a safe haven for 111 gerrette. 52 of the people are minors, the youngest being a four-year-old child. More on Twitter at MSF Sea.
• Yesterday saw the release of the fourth of six episodes of the podcast "Inside Kabul Airlift." To be heard at Spotify.

News from the Borders 10.03.2022

• I talked with Sally Starken and Ralph Ruthe on their podcast "Generally Educated" about how to help refugees from Ukraine now. You can listen to the episode here listen
• Italy will start a trial against sea rescuers on May 21. A pre-trial hearing will determine whether charges of aiding and abetting unauthorized entry into Italy will be dropped or whether a years-long trial will begin that could end with a 20-year prison sentence. The statement of the Iuventa crew can be found at here.
• Greece's practice of systematically rejecting asylum applications as inadmissible and referring protection seekers to Turkey blatantly violates EU law. RSA and PRO ASYL call on the EU Commission to initiate infringement proceedings against Greece. Background information at Pro Asylum.

News from the Borders 09.03.2022

• For the deportation of a single person to Zimbabwe who was required to leave the country, the federal government last year spent nearly 198 775 € issued.
• The 23-year-old Masouma Tajik fled from the Taliban to Kiev half a year ago and now had to flee to Poland again. The Guardian has spoken with her.
• The Thuringian Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow advocates expropriating the yachts of Russian oligarchs and transferring them to Sea-Watch for sea rescue.

News from Women's Fight Day 2022 

• Refugee women and girls are affected by gender-specific discrimination. On the occasion of International Women's Day on March 8, PRO ASYL and state refugee councils call for asylum procedures to finally be gender-sensitive and to ensure the protection of refugee women and girls in Germany. You can find the press release here.
• Foreign Minister Baerbock expressed her appreciation above all for the women in Ukraine ahead of International Women's Day on March 8. âWe see you. We stand by your side,†she said in Berlin at an event on gender justice with activists from around the world. tagesschau.de reports.  
• On Women's Day, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian women face persecution and sexual abuse. Women are particularly unprotected in times of war. This must change. Anastasia Tikhomirova's commentary at Zeit Online.

News from the Borders 7.03.2022 

• About 5000 Afghans live in Ukraine, many of them hoped for a better life there. Now quite a few of them are fleeing the war - for the second time. Der Spiegel reports (paywall).
• Doctors Without Borders rescued 31 people in the Mediterranean Sea yesterday. When Geo Barents reached the boat, it was already sinking.More about the rescue at MSF Sea on Twitter.  
• Yesterday, hundreds of refugees demonstrated in front of the UNHCR headquarters in Libya. They denounce that the processing of their asylum applications has been pending for years and that some of them are thrown into prisons. Refugees in Libya on Twitter.

News from the Borders 04.03.2022

• NGOs have been documenting pushbacks in Croatia for six years â in 2021 alone there were 9114, and in 2020 there were as many as 16,400. 16 European organizations condemn the actions in this statement.
• Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi referred to Ukrainians in parliament as "real refugees" and played them off against people from other states to justify Greece's unlawful treatment of refugees. Human Rights Watch criticizes him for.
• Half a year after the Taliban took power documents the photographer Stefanie Glinski how the country has developed. 

News from the Borders 03.03.2022 

• Several hundred people managed to cross the meter-high border fence into the Spanish exclave of Melilla in northern Morocco.
• Anyone who wants to leave Afghanistan needs a passport. That makes the head of the passport office a powerful man. The FAZ visited him and shows how desolate the system in Afghanistan is. 
• The Commission has proposed to the Council to recommend Greece to conduct independent investigations into all serious allegations of ill-treatment by the Greek police and the Greek coast guard at the external borders. Statewatch explains what this means in concrete terms.

News from the Borders 02.03.2022

• For many Syrians in Germany, Russia's attack reminds them of what happened in their homeland. Tareq Alaows appeals not to repeat mistakes of that time.
• Representatives of the British House of Lords voted late Monday night by a clear majority against the right-wing Home Secretary's plans to criminalize protection seekers who enter the country on irregular routes. 
• Today the crew of the Sea Punks is on the road, to get a new ship.

News from the Borders 01.03.2022

• EU anti-fraud report: Leggeri lied to the European Parliament and covered up the illegal dragging of refugees to the open sea, even though he knew about it. You can find a detailed report in the mirror (paywall) and a Summary at ORF.
• The bodies of six refugees, three women and three men, were found this morning on Lesvos.
• At least nine people drowned yesterday trying to flee to the European Union.

News from the Borders 28.02.2022 

• On Saturday, the SeaWatch 4 reached the port of Porto Empedocle in Italy, bringing 129 rescued people ashore.

• Omar El Manfalouty from Egelsbach is involved in sea rescue as a pilot: In his spare time, the 29-year-old flies to the Mediterranean to spot boats in distress from the air.
• Baran C. was an aid worker for the Bundeswehr in Afghanistan. He saved himself from the Taliban and came to Germany. Three sons, however, had to stay behind. Der Spiegel tells its story (paywall).

News from the Borders 25.02.2022 

• ProAsyl has compiled important information for Ukrainians on entering and remaining in Germany.
• A Syrian with protection in Austria wanted to join his daughters in Belgium. There it may be rejected, says the ECJ. But family ties must be respected in the future, he said. 
• Tobi Schlegl works as an emergency paramedic and has a Book about his volunteer work on the Sea-Eye 4 written.

News from the Borders 24.02.2022

• In Kiev and other Ukrainian cities, long lines of cars are forming heading west. People hope to find safety in the west of the country. Check out the New York Times for live updates on the situation.
• U.S. expects as many as five million people to fleeif Putin continues to escalate the situation in Ukraine. Initially, Ukraine's Eastern European neighbors would be particularly affected.
• Poland must prepare for a large number of fleeing Ukrainians. But that doesn't even bother the ruling right-wing populist PiS, which has otherwise opposed taking in refugees.

News from the Borders 23.02.2022 

• According to the Advocate General at the ECJ, Sea-Watch ships may in principle be inspected in Italian ports. The Italian authorities may now find themselves vindicated in having rightfully detained Sea Watch 3 and Sea Watch 4 under absurd pretexts.
• Using patrol boats, the Italian Coast Guard rescued 573 people. The operation took place about 100 kilometers off the coast of Calabria. 
• So far in 2021, the police have counted more than 1,250 crimes against refugees and their accommodations. Most of the acts were motivated by right-wing extremism. 

News from the Borders 22.02.2022 

• UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi warned against a ânormalizationâ of illegal pushbacks. âWhat is happening at Europe’s borders is both legally and morally unacceptable and must stop.â
• 2,400 refugees from Afghanistan are currently still living in relatively good conditions in hotels in Albania. Most are waiting to continue their journey to the USA.
• The EU is using development aid funds to finance a deployable radar system for the Libyan coast guard. The force, known for its brutality, wants to use it to drag refugees back to the civil war country.

News from the Borders 21.02.2022

• With the Kabul Airlift, we have so far helped around 1,600 people to leave Afghanistan. The six-part podcast "Inside Kabul Airlift" about the first weeks of our project appears on Spotify. The first part is released on 17.02., every week comes a new episode.
• Six months after the Kabul airlift, 12,000 Afghans are still stranded in Abu Dhabi. Actually, the emirate was only meant to be a stopover on the flight from the Taliban's revenge, but the U.S. is stalling.
• Since 2014, up to 1.5 million people have fled the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Concerns are growing about an invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Some countries are preparing to receive large numbers of fleeing people in the event of an emergency.

News from the Borders 18.02.2022

• Together with other members of my group, I have submitted a question to the Commission in which we ask questions about Croatia's systematic pushbacks. The Commission refuses to act and justifies its inaction with a monitoring mechanism that is not independent and obviously does not work. You can find my request and the answer here.
• According to the âSpiegelâ and other media such as the âGuardianâ, Greek border guards allegedly threw three people seeking protection into the sea in September 2021, two of whom drowned. BR24 summarizes the results in German and without paywall.
• 13-year-old Husein S., who has spent half his life in Austria, has been deported to Azerbaijan.

News from the Borders 17.02.2022

• Greek border guards probably threw two men into the sea and killed them. Reports are mounting that the deaths of people are being accepted in order to avoid asylum applications. The Guardian reports without paywall.

• The Greek Efstratia Mavrapidou, who gained international attention for her help to refugees on Lesbos, died Tuesday at the age of 96. President Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou praised her commitment as "deeply human".
• The EU is allowed to cut funds to member countries that violate the rule of law. This is what the European Court of Justice has ruled - and thus dismissed claims brought by Poland and Hungary.

News from the Borders 16.02.2022

• Poland's government expects up to one million refugees in the event of a possible Russian attack on Ukraine. Cities and towns have now been asked to prepare.
• Thuringia's Migration Minister Dirk Adams (Greens) wants to stick to plans for a program that would allow Afghan nationals to come to Thuringia: "The situation in Afghanistan has not changed. The need to help here is undisputed." 
• In Greece, people seeking protection after boat accidents are criminalized and subject to extremely high penalties. Most often, the criminalized are themselves people on the run, punished for allegedly steering the boat.

News from the Borders 15.02.2022

• In a joint statement Pro Asyl, Kabul Airlift and the Afghanistan Sponsorship Network have presented a 10-point plan to rescue persecuted people from Afghanistan.
• Kicking and beating with iron bars and agonizing days in detention: People on the run report inhumane conditions in Romania and mistreatment by the police there.
• Two-thirds of the refugees who arrived in Britain in small boats after crossing the English Channel suffered from hypothermia. Hundreds also had burns and broken bones.

News from the Borders 14.02.2022

• The Ocean Viking ship of SOS Méditerranée rescued more than 200 people from the Mediterranean Sea in four rescue missions within 24 hours.
• The Spanish coast guard said Friday it has rescued more than 290 people from distress at sea. They had tried to cross the Atlantic to the Canary Islands.
• Photographer Alea Horst has photographed children in refugee camps in Greece.

News from the Borders 11.02.2022

• Croatian police officers have received an internal instruction not to be filmed during pushbacks and the mistreatment of fugitives in the future. The pushbacks are to continue, but reporting is to be prevented. Croatia came under pressure because journalists filmed how Croatian police mistreated refugees and deported them illegally. The document proves that the pushbacks are ordered. 
• Ijaz K. drowned on December 28th during his escape in Croatia. His friends reported it to the police and were then illegally deported to Bosnia. They now demand that the Croatian authorities at least search for the body of their friend.
• 400 people protested on Wednesday against the planned deportation center at BER. Commissioning is planned for 2025, according to the Brandenburg Ministry of the Interior. The Green Party and the Left Party are critical of the construction project.

News from the Borders 10.02.2022 

• Poland is fortifying its border with Belarus at a cost of 366 million euros. A wall more than five meters high is to prevent people from entering the EU. Spiegel explains the background in this four-minute video analysis.
• Next week, the EU-Africa Summit will take place. Development funds are unfortunately increasingly being used to move the EU's external borders to Africa and seal itself off.
• For the year 2021, IOM counts 1977 people who died or went missing while fleeing across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. The dead were commemorated at the port of Senglea in Malta.

News from the Broders 09.02.2022

• Following evidence of torture by Greek officials, I told Der Spiegel: "This has nothing to do with border protection anymore, these are crimes against humanity."
• Almost 41,000 people who have previously received protection in Greece are waiting for an asylum decision in Germany. German courts have ruled that those seeking protection in Greece were at risk of homelessness and hardship and therefore should not be sent back there.
• Thousands of people continue to be stranded in Belarus on the border with Poland. The Guardian reports and publishes a photo series showing the current situation.

News from the Borders 08.02.2022

• Refugees and migrants in Lithuania receive 1,000 euros when they fly back to their countries of origin. This is financed from EU funds. A minority, nearly 272 people, agreed in 2022.
• Luxembourg has not deported people to Afghanistan as a matter of principle since 2015 and also wants to maintain this policy and help those seeking protection to arrive.
• On Sunday, hundreds of refugees and Greeks protested in Athens against the pushbacks of the Greek government and its inhumane treatment of protection seekers. Already on Saturday there was a similar demonstration in Istanbul. 

News from the Borders 07.02.2022

• After 19 people froze to death following a suspected pushback, UN refugee agency now also investigating Greece for mistreatment and human rights violations. In this article, Deutschlandfunk explains how the systematic pushbacks work.
• At the last minute, the deportation of Heybet Sener from Munich to Turkey was prevented. The 31-year-old is threatened with imprisonment in Turkey for political reasons. Activists and representatives of churches, the Green Party and the Left Party successfully campaigned against the deportation.
• 1.7 million people, mainly women and children, are enduring sub-zero temperatures in Syrian refugee camps. Welthungerhilfe fears a humanitarian catastrophe.

News from the Borders 04.02.2022

• At the informal meeting of EU interior ministers in Lille the member states agreed that EU members that do not take in refugees should pay contributions in the future. At the same time, according to the plans, refugees are to be registered more comprehensively after their arrival and filtered with regard to their asylum prospects. In addition, a Schengen Council is to be established.
• Ibrahim B. has been living in Germany for seven years and has a residence status, but when he was on vacation in Greece, he was kidnapped by Greek officials and dumped on the open sea off Turkey.
• A state reception program in Schleswig-Holstein was supposed to offer endangered Afghans the chance to be accepted in the state. But the Federal Ministry of the Interior under Horst Seehofer did not allow the program. In the meantime, other federal states have also launched reception programs - but even under Minister Faeser, the Ministry of the Interior has not yet announced whether it agrees.

News from the Borders 03.02.2022

• The bodies of twelve people were found on the Greek-Turkish border, which Turkish officials say were previously pushed back from Greece.

• After France took over the Council Presidency on January 1, the interior ministers of the EU member states are meeting today in Lille. Macron promotes more deportations and partitioning and wants a "reform of the Schengen area."
• In Malta, the El Hiblu 3 are on trial for flimsy reasons, because as teenagers in 2019 they convinced the ship's captain to take them and more than a hundred other people to Malta rather than tow them back to Libya.

News from the Borders 02.02.2022

• Greek officials are resorting to increasingly brutal means to keep asylum seekers out. The Iranian Parvin A. was pushed six times, tied up and reports beatings with wooden clubs â and has now called in the UN.
  Here, Parvin describes her story and Forensic Architecture lay out how they researched.

• The institution deals in its current issue with human rights violations by Frontex and presents a detailed fact check. 

• The EU has been working with Libya for five years to stop people fleeing. In that time, over 82,000 people have been trafficked back to Libya. Amnesty International calls for an end to cooperation with Libya.

News from the Borders 01.02.2022   

• Barbed wire, soldiers, border police. The taz took a look at how a new wall is being built across Europe in Poland.

• In this 20-minute film Isabel Schayani describes the current situation on the Polish border with Belarus for WDR and tries to explain how it could come to this.

• Thousands of Yazidi children fled with their families from IS. Photographer Kilian Foerster has accompanied some of them over seven years.

News from the Borders 31.01.2022

• At the Federal Delegates Conference I was elected to the party council of BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN and am very much looking forward to this task.

• The European Commission welcomes the German government's proposal to participate in a „coalition of those willing to take in“.
  
• Taliban apparently killed more than 100 local forces and ex-government employees.

• A pregnant journalist wants to return to her native New Zealand, but she is denied entry. Instead, she gets help from the Taliban in Afghanistan. In New Zealand, this sparks a discussion about humanity, in Afghanistan about the staging of the Taliban.

News from the Borders 28.01.2022 

• The Polish activists of Grupa Granica consider the construction of the wall with Belarus illegal. In addition, the construction would endanger an important nature reserve. The new wall is 5.50 meters high, 186 kilometers long, costs around €353 million and is scheduled for completion by June.

• Every tenth person in the initial reception facility in Giessen is Corona-positive. Hundreds of people are in quarantine in temporary halls. The Hessian Refugee Council is clearly critical of the conditions.

• Six people died in a boat accident off the Tunisian coast, 30 others are missing.

01/27/2022: EU continues to fund Libyan coast guard +++ Endangered Chechen faces deportation +++ Commission considers Greek processing of asylum applications to be contrary to European law

• The Libyan coast guard mistreats refugees and drags them back to undignified conditions. The EU program for their training and funding is nevertheless to be continued.
  
• German authorities refuse asylum to a young Chechen and his mother -. although it is indisputable that the murderous regime of Ramzan Kadyrov is after him.
• Greece rejects asylum applications on the grounds that Turkey is a "safe third country", but Turkey does not allow the rejected applicants to enter the country. From a question of mine it now emerges that the EU Commission classifies this procedure as contrary to European law. My request, the answer and a short assessment on my homepage.

• One of the last British evacuation flights from Kabul had dogs and cats on it, but no people, which outraged many Britons. Prime Minister Johnson claimed to have known nothing. Now it came out that he himself approved the operation.

01/26/2022: Seven people frozen to death off Lampedusa +++ Amnesty calls for release of Afghan women's rights activists +++ 439 on Geo Barents continue to wait for safe haven 

• Seven people froze to death in an overcrowded wooden boat fleeing from North Africa to Lampedusa. 280 people could be rescued from the boat, which was about 20 meters long.
• Amnesty International has called for the release of two women's rights activists in Afghanistan who were reportedly tortured. The two had taken part in protests against the Taliban.

• The 439 rescued on the Geo Barents continue to wait for safe harbor. You can get updates on the situation on Twitter at MSF Sea. 

• For four weeks, photographer Sebastian Sele accompanied the 25-member crew of the Ocean Viking on the Mediterranean.

01/25/2022: Greek government leaves one-third of refugees on islands starving +++ 23 million people in Afghanistan at risk of hunger +++ Poland begins construction of border fence with Belarus 

• In the overcrowded camps on the Greek islands, one third of the refugees go hungry. Of the 16,559 people there, more than 6,000 are currently not receiving adequate access to food, according to the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Around 40 percent of the people in the camps are children.

• According to the UN, 55 percent of Afghans, or 23 million people in total, are at risk of hunger. According to the UN, the country needs at least $4.4 billion to overcome this crisis. It is only because of this emergency that international representatives are meeting with the Islamist Taliban in Oslo.

• Construction of a controversial fortified border fortification has begun on the Polish-Belarusian border. The government in Warsaw decided on the €353 million project last year. The wall is to be 5.5 meters high and 186 kilometers long.

• The snow and freezing temperatures continue to have a firm grip on the refugee camps in northern Syria. The situation, which has already been critical, continues to worsen. The humanitarian catastrophe is just around the corner. Euronews reports in this short video.

• The UNHCR issued an appeal yesterday, requesting $59.6 million for some 100,000 refugees from Cameroon and internally displaced people in Cameroon. The clashes in Cameroon began on December 5 in the village of Ouloumsa on the border with Chad and are also related to dwindling water resources due to climate change.

01/24/2022: Hundreds of people at Poland's external EU border still need help +++ 439 rescued on Geo Barents await allocation of safe haven +++ 16 EU states call for EU to fund border fencing

• According to Polish aid workers, the situation of refugees on the border with Belarus has not yet been resolved. Thus, in the first three weeks of January, 345 people in the border area „had asked for humanitarian, medical or legal assistance“, said Monika Matus of the action alliance Grupa Granica. The Polish Border Guard said that 810 people had tried to cross the border irregularly from Belarus so far in 2022. Der Spiegel interviewed the new human rights commissioner of the German government, Luise Amtsberg, on the subject.

• After several days on rough seas, the people rescued from distress by the Louise Michel and the Mare Jonio were able to set foot on Italian soil. Meanwhile, 439 people are still waiting on the Geo Barents on the allocation of a safe port. Malta, as the nearest safe port, should provide this, but does not.

• At a border management conference in Lithuania, 16 EU countries signed a joint declarationin which they call on the EU to support measures against refugees and to seal off the country. The main issue is EU funding for border fences and surveillance technology at the external borders. The EU Commission rejects demands to cover the costs of building border fences.

• Talks have begun in Oslo with representatives of the Islamist Taliban on the situation in Afghanistan. On the other side, representatives of Norway, the EU, the U.S. and other countries, as well as representatives of Afghan civil society, including Afghan women, journalists and human rights activists, will take part in the meeting.

• Haitian DJ Peterson crossed the Colombian jungle with his family and then got stuck in Mexico. Now he is on his way to the USA - although he is threatened with deportation to Haiti.

01/21/2022: Refugees at external borders not adequately protected from Corona +++ Three NGO ships rescue over 600 people in the Mediterranean +++ Snowstorms worsen refugee situation in Syria and Lebanon 

• At the external borders, too little is still being done to protect refugees from Corona. Unfortunately, the pandemic is also being used as an excuse to close camps and restrict access to the press. I spoke to watson.de about the current situation.

• The Geo Barents of "Doctors without Borders", which Mare Jonio of Mediterranea Saving Humans and the Louise Michel currently have over 600 people on board, whom they rescued from distress at sea in recent days. In several of these missions, the call for help of people in distress at sea had been received via the emergency hotline of the initiative „Alarm Phone“.

• The Spanish Coast Guard rescued a total of 130 people from five boats in distress yesterday and in the morning hours and brought them to Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria. The largest rescue involved a boat with 62 people, which was still more than 80 kilometers off the coast of Fuerteventura. Cope reports (Spanish).

• Icy temperatures and snowstorms lasting for days exacerbate the suffering of thousands of refugees in Syria and Lebanon. Three children died after snowstorms in Syrian camps.

• UNHCR is deeply concerned on the deteriorating situation of Eritrean refugees in the Tigray region. Those affected report twenty preventable deaths in the past six weeks. There is a lack of medicines in particular.

01/20/2022: Switzerland to hold Frontex referendum +++ Fabrice Leggeri honored by Greek migration ministry +++ Refugee councils publish multilingual asylum guide for refugees 

• Activists in Switzerland have collected enough signatures for a referendum on Frontex. In the fall, Parliament tripled the contribution to the EU border protection agency Frontex to 61 million francs. This is now to be put to the vote in a referendum on May 15, if the Federal Chancellery concludes that there are more than 50,000 valid signatures. Here you can find the initiative on Twitter.
  I spoke to the Swiss WOZ in November about the referendum.

• The Greek Migration Ministry wants to honor Frontex Director Fabrice Leggeri for his "merits" in "managing the migration crisis." This is an exposing decision by the Greek government, because Leggeri lied to us MPs in the Frontex investigation group several times and prevented the investigation of serious human rights violations, and probably gets the prize mainly for preventing a full investigation of the Greek pushbacks.
• The Bavarian and Munich Refugee Councils have developed multilingual explanatory videos on the asylum procedure for those affected. They are intended to serve as signposts in the asylum procedure and to support refugees in being able to handle their asylum procedure in an informed and independent manner.

• The Geo Barents of Doctors Without Borders rescued 109 people this morning. The location of the inflatable boat could be determined thanks to AlarmPhone.

• Yesterday, the European Union Asylum Agency (EUAA) officially became operational, replacing the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). EASO will thus be transformed into a fully-fledged EU agency. This is a sub-item from the Commission's proposed Pact on Asylum and Migration, but there has otherwise been no progress in implementing it so far.

01/19/2022: Over 1500 dead on the central Mediterranean route in 2021 +++ First dead on the English Channel this year +++ Germany approved record arms exports in 2021 

• The IOM lists more than 1500 dead or missing on the so-called Central Mediterranean Route in 2021. According to internal UN report 30,990 people had been intercepted by the Libyan Coast Guard and returned to Libya as of Dec. 14, nearly three times the number in 2020.

• Last Friday, a refugee fell from an inflatable boat on the English Channel and drowned. This is the first known fatality on this route in 2022. 30 other people were rescued from the inflatable boat.

• The grand coalition approved a record €9.35 billion in arms exports in 2021. In 2020, the figure was €5.82 billion. The biggest customer for German arms exports is the autocratic regime in Egypt. The current government has agreed on a more restrictive approach to arms exports and is working to enact stricter rules.

• There are currently around 3.6 million internally displaced persons in Afghanistan. The withdrawal of aid from abroad after the Taliban came to power crippled the economy and led to a hunger catastrophe, which mainly affected those who had to flee within Afghanistan.

• Restrictions on freedom of movement, dress codes, occupational bans: According to a UN report women in Afghanistan are systematically discriminated against and marginalized.

01/18/2022: Beating Croatian police back on duty after three months +++ Absurdly high prison sentences for refugees in Greece +++ Iraq flew nearly 4000 people out of Belarus 

• In October, a research network reported about violent pushbacks at the EU's external border with Bosnia-Herzegovina and also published a video. On it, police officers could be seen systematically torturing refugees and beating them with a baton. In response, three intervention police officers were suspended, but they are now back on duty.

• In Greece, refugees driving the boats in the Aegean Sea are often unjustly criminalized. They receive absurdly high prison sentences of up to 146 years because they are accused of smuggling. Often, these are people who take the helm because they themselves cannot pay for the crossing.

• According to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman. In the past two months, eleven return flights were carried out by the Iraqi government, during which a total of 3,817 Iraqis were flown out of Belarus and 112 from Lithuania.

• Hesse's only "safe house" for queer refugees and its 28 residents have moved from the industrial park on the outskirts of Frankfurt to the city center.

• Behrouz Boochani fled persecution from Iran to Australia in 2013 and was detained there on Manus Island for six years. The poet and filmmaker took the Đoković case as an opportunity to write about it, How inhumane Australia's refugee defense is and how quickly the attention to the situation of those affected evaporates again.

01/17/2022: Interior Minister Faeser works on "coalition of the willing" +++ German government wants to take in more people from Afghanistan +++ More than 40 people presumed dead in Moroccan waters 

• In order to end the blockade in EU asylum policy that has been going on for years, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser wants a „Coalition of host member states“ forge. Such a coalition could move forward and thus set in motion the further development of the European asylum system, the SPD politician said after a meeting with EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson.

• Germany evacuated around 10,000 people from Afghanistan by the turn of the year. But thousands are still fleeing the Taliban in their own country. Many of them are hoping for help from Germany. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock shows herself ready to do so. In this feature, Deutschlandfunk reports on the situation and also lets the Kabul Airlift have its say.

• Three underage teenagers made it to Rome in August on one of the last evacuation flights from Kabul. When they try to join their uncle in Germany, they are detained by federal police officers and end up in Bavarian deportation custody instead.

• More than 40 people are presumed dead on the flight to Europe. There were 55 people on board a boat leaving the Moroccan town of Tarfaya, ten of whom were rescued. According to Alarm Phone, Moroccan authorities intervened only eleven hours after they were informed about the case. You can find the message at Copa (Spanish).

• The small Hessian town of Witzenhausen declares its solidarity with people on the run and becomes a safe haven.

01/14/2022: HRW criticizes Germany for handling people from Afghanistan +++ Yemen needs $3.9 billion in humanitarian aid +++ Spanish coast guard rescues 73 people 

• Human Rights Watch sees serious failures in the withdrawal of the Bundeswehr from Afghanistan. The coalition at the time largely ignored the need of human rights activists, journalists, and local staff to leave the country before the withdrawal of international troops, HRW said in its annual report. The Human Rights Watch World Report, which also criticizes European refugee policy, can be found here.

• I talked about it with zdf-todayhow those in charge at the time blocked our attempts to rescue as many people as possible from Afghanistan in the summer.

• The UN estimates that Yemen will need about $3.9 billion in humanitarian aid this yearto help around 16 million people survive there. Last month alone, more than 15,000 people were displaced in Yemen. The UN estimates that 377,000 people have been killed since the war began.
• Off the coast of Gran Canaria, the Spanish coast guard rescued 73 people from boats during the night. 

• Sport helps many refugees on Lesbos to get through the harsh conditions on site. The NGO Yoga and Sports with Refugees supports them to be able to do sports at all. We have also supported the NGO several times with LeaveNoOneBehind funds. 

Jan. 13, 2022: 17 children pushbacked in the Aegean +++ Space Eye wants to use satellites for civilian sea rescue +++ Open letter calls for Dresden to be made a safe haven 

• On January 9, 25 people fled to Lesvos, including 17 children. They could not apply for asylum, were imprisoned, beaten and abandoned at night at sea on a rubber dinghy without a motor. These crimes are simply unbearable.

• High-resolution images from Earth observation could help with civilian sea rescue operations in the Mediterranean. However, these have to be purchased from commercial providers because openly accessible images from EU satellites are of low quality. An initiative now wants to enrich this data with other sources and evaluate it with algorithms. 

• In an open letter, Seebrücke calls on the city council in Dresden to join the Safe Harbors Alliance. 

• According to Libyan media, more than 600 people were arrested. The refugees had been in front of the local headquarters of the refugee agency UNHCR protested against their living conditions.

• War has been raging in Syria for ten years. According to UNHCR, 13 million people have fled since then, and about 2.8 million of them live in northwestern Syria. Some families have settled in ancient settlements and are somehow trying to establish themselves among dangerous rubble. ntv publishes an impressive photo series about the people in the ancient ruins.

12.01.2022: "Pushback" is the unword of the year +++ Ocean Viking fixed again +++ Most asylum applications in Germany come from people from Syria and Afghanistan 

• The "Unwort" jury criticizes the use of the term "pushbacks".because it "whitewashes an inhumane process" that deprives people fleeing their homes of the opportunity to exercise their right to asylum. According to the jury, the use of the term conceals the violence associated with the act of pushing people back.

• Italian authorities have once again detained the rescue ship "Ocean Viking" of the organization SOS Méditerranée on flimsy grounds.

• Last year, 190,800 applications for asylum were filed in Germany. 17.5 percent of the applicants are infants born in Germany. Most applications come from people from Syria (over 70,000) and Afghanistan (around 31,000).

• Five months after the Taliban took power, numerous refugees in Berlin are still waiting for their relatives to be evacuated from Afghanistan. Many local forces have not yet been evacuated – although they have long had promises of admission.

• Lebanon's refugee camps are home to 1.5 million people from Syria, who make up more than one-fifth of the total population. A generation without prospects is growing up here.

Jan. 11, 2022: 600 refugees detained in Libya +++ UN says €4.5 billion in aid needed for Afghanistan +++ More than 35,000 people attempted to cross the English Channel into the United Kingdom irregularly in 2021 

• In Libya, some 600 refugees were detained in Tripoli on Monday morning, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and International Rescue Committee (IRC). The aid organizations demanded that the Libyan authorities release the people and protect them from violence.

• For assistance in Afghanistan and neighboring countries with Afghan refugees, the UN needs at least €4.5 billion this year. This is the largest humanitarian appeal the United Nations has ever made for a country.

• More than three times as many refugees wanted to cross the English Channel last year. In 2021, 1,360 cases were recorded with more than 35,000 people on board. In 2020, authorities recorded around 870 attempted crossings with a total of about 9,550 people.

• The UK Home Office has told a Syrian asylum seeker that he can return to Syria because it is safe there. It is the first case of its kind. It concerns a 25-year-old man who fled forced recruitment by Bashar al-Assad's army, where he might have been forced to torture and murder other people. Should he return to Syria, he faces forced recruitment and torture.

• Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio stress that they want to cooperate more closely on refugee policy and will not simply accept the deaths in the Mediterranean. Baerbock also stressed that it was important for some states to take the lead.

01/10/2022: Thousands of refugees detained in Poland +++ Several bodies discovered in the Aegean +++ Frontex asks court to drop case 

• After dramatic weeks on the border strip, thousands of people have made it from Belarus to Poland. There, they are often interned in detention centers. For those affected, this perpetuates the trauma.

• At the end of December, several refugees died in accidents on boats in the Aegean Sea. Now several bodies, including that of a three-year-old child, have been discovered. The death toll could be much higher.

• Frontex demands from the judges of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, to dismiss a lawsuit and also wants to shift the costs of the lawsuit to the two plaintiffs, a minor asylum seeker and a recognized refugee. The two plaintiffs argue that Frontex contributed to fundamental rights violations that the two suffered during their flight to Greece.

• Australian authorities have placed tennis star Novak Đoković with refugees in a hotel. This hotel also houses people who have been incarcerated for up to nine years and were previously detained at the notorious offshore camp in Nauru.

• The traffic light coalition wants to take in more refugees legally, reunite more families - and offer protection seekers better prospects in Germany. In all likelihood, the new Federal Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, will no longer put the brakes on the involvement of local authorities in the same way as her predecessor, Horst Seehofer of the CSU. But it is still unclear how the municipalities will be involved in the coming years.

Jan 07, 2022: New classification of Afghanistan by BMI +++ Doctors without Borders leaves Polish-Belarusian border region +++ Climate refugees in focus of Migration Policy Institute podcast

• In the future, Afghanistan will be considered a "country of origin with good prospects of remaining". How Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser came to this decision and what this now means in practice for people from Afghanistan.

• For three months, the organization Doctors Without Borders has been trying to provide humanitarian aid to the people on the Polish-Belarusian border. The ZEIT has written about why the aid organization is now leaving the region.

• Climate flight will determine migration movements more and more in the future. The Migration Policy Institute podcast recorded an episode explicitly on this topic.

• Under the title "Fortress Europe", the Telegraph the border fortifications in the EU graphically processed. How many Berlin walls this adds up to and where there are walls everywhere, you can see here.

• Many people from Syria are still missing from their relatives. With "Gone but not forgotten", the BBC has published a report on this topic. Here you can have a look at them.

Jan 06, 2022: 70 people illegally returned to Tunisia +++ Winter onset in Afghanistan poses major problems for people +++ Lithuania ends state of emergency on Belarus border 

• 70 people who had rescued themselves on an oil platform in the Mediterranean Sea were returned to Tunisia by the Tunisian authorities. Aid organizations consider this illegal, at Euractiv you can read the background.

• Millions of people in Afghanistan do not have enough to eat, now also comes the onset of winter with snow.

• Lithuania will phase out the state of emergency on the border with Belarus.

• Time and again, human rights violations occur at the maritime border between Greece and Turkey. The NGO Aegean Boat Report has once again been able to clearly prove a pushback with the help of visual material.

• Local protest on Chios has prevented heavy machinery from being unloaded from a ship. Presumably, they were to be used for the construction of the new closed camp, at the greek-speaking Efsyn you can learn more.

05.01.2022: Over 11,900 pushbacks at the EU's external borders in 2021 +++ Woman dies on escape route from Afghanistan to Turkey +++ Escape across the English Channel up significantly in 2021

• Over 11,900 pushbacks at Europe's borders were documented in 2021. More information can be found at Borderline Europe. 
• A woman has died in a snowstorm on the Iranian-Turkish border after fleeing from Afghanistan to escape the Taliban. You can read more about the life-threatening circumstances of the escape route in the Mirror.
• More than three times as many people tried to flee across the English Channel from France to Great Britain in 2021 as in the previous year. The background and what consequences are drawn from this, you can read at the ZDF read.
• A total of 127 people have been rescued by sea rescue organizations in the last 24 hours, all of them trying to reach the Canary Islands. More in the Spanish-language newspaper EFE.
• The Taliban are having mannequins removed from stores in Afghanistan, and some of them are having their heads chopped off. In the tagesschau you will learn the background.

Jan 04, 2022: More than 4,000 people drowned on Atlantic route in 2021 +++ Aid organizations criticize federal government's local forces procedures +++ People on Chios protest against closed camps on island

• More than 4000 people drowned last year fleeing towards the Canary IslandsThe number of unreported cases is significantly higher.

• The Federal Government wants to facilitate the local forces procedure and thus accelerate the departure from Afghanistan. The Tagesspiegel has written about why aid organisations are criticising this and what their demands are.

• The Greek government has defended its plans for closed camps on the Aegean islands despite clear protests against them from the island's population. You can read more in the Greek-language Politis Chios.

• A former local employee from Afghanistan is now safe in Schleswig-Holstein. The man spoke to NDR about his situation and that of his relatives and friends in Afghanistan.
  
• Not even 40,000 people tried to flee across the border from Belarus to Poland into the EU last year.

We are back from vacation and wish you all a happy and hopefully healthy new year!

Jan 03, 2022: 16 people drowned in the Aegean on Christmas +++ Sea rescue organisations save hundreds of people over Christmas +++ Germany to speed up admissions from Afghanistan 

• A total of 16 people drowned off the Greek island of Paros at Christmas while trying to reach Italy via the Mediterranean Sea from Turkey. You can read a detailed report in the Berliner Zeitung.

• In the days over Christmas, civilian sea rescue organisations saved the lives of hundreds of people in the Mediterranean. The rescued are now safe in Italy after authorities delayed landing them for days.

• Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wants to considerably simplify the admission of Afghan local staff and thus speed up their departure.
• Hundreds of people are still being denied entry and access to an asylum procedure in the EU at the Polish-Belarusian border.
• The number of arrivals and rescues via the so-called "Atlantic route" from the West African coast towards the Canary Islands continues to increase. The Spanish-language newspaper EFE has summarized the situation in recent days.

22.12.2021: Interview on EU refugee policy in Migazin +++ Analysis of the new Greek strategy on asylum policy +++ Press freedom in Afghanistan further restricted

• In recent days, hundreds of people have been rescued from drowning in the Mediterranean. I explain in Migazin why I think the debate in the EU is tainted.

• With the newly opened closed camps and the reduction of crossings due to human rights violations, the Greek government has adopted a new strategy. Statewatch analyzed them and wrote them up here.

• With the Taliban coming to power, the situation of the press in Afghanistan has changed dramatically. Now more media outlets have been closed.

• The situation for women in Afghanistan has worsened dramatically in recent months. Die Zeit has done research on former women's shelters and their residents.

• Absurdly high penalties for people who cannot afford to cross the Channel and therefore control the inflatable boats have been in place in Greece for some time. Now such a sentence has also been pronounced in Great Britain, after the crossing of the English Channel. You can read about the background in the English-language Independent.

We are taking a holiday. The next news will be on January 3, 2022. Stay healthy and come well into the new year!

21.12.2021: 6,000 Afghans still have to wait for entry to Germany +++ Situation on the Sea Eye 4 comes to a head +++ New self-help organisations founded on Lesbos

• More than 6,000 Afghans with families in Germany are waiting for a visa to enter the country. About their situation and why they are particularly threatened.

• An Iraqi mother, a football fan from Yemen, a teenager from Syria: At least 17 people have died in the border area between Belarus and Poland since September. The Mirror tells of their dreams, fears and goals.

• The Hazara are a minority in Afghanistan who have been threatened with persecution and torture since the takeover. You can read how many of them are now trying to leave the country at tagesschau.

• The "Rise Above" of the sea rescue organization Mission Lifeline has been assigned a port. But over 200 people on the Sea Eye 4 are still waiting for a port. The situation on board continues to deteriorate.

• In the spring of 2020, two refugee self-help organizations formed on Lesvos. About the work of the "Moria White Helmets" and the "Moria Corona Awareness Team".

20.12.2021: New evidence of human rights violations at the EU's external border with Belarus +++ Activist reports on her flight to Kiel +++ State reception programme in Thuringia for Afghan relatives under discussion 

• Human rights were violated on the EU's Polish-Belarusian border, for which the human rights organization Amnesty International has presented new evidence.

• An activist from Afghanistan was on the run for more than 10 weeks, now she is safe in Kiel. The NDR reports about the escape and the background.

• The federal state of Thuringia intends to present a state admission programme for Afghan nationals. The SZ explains how it is to be better designed and why it is to cost around 1.5 million euros.
  
• Many people in Afghanistan are currently waiting for a passport. After some time, the Taliban have now started issuing passports again.

• The Sea-Eye 4 has rescued over 200 people from distress at sea in the last few days. The ship is now waiting for a port to be allocated by the Italian authorities.

17.12.2021: Denmark wants to rent 300 places for people in detention pending deportation in Kosovo +++ Violence against refugees in Germany is not sufficiently recorded +++ Commission proposes tightening the Schengen Borders Code

• The Danish government's goal is to stop taking in any protection seekers at all and to process asylum applications abroad, if at all. Now Denmark also wants to rent 300 prison places in Kosovo, where people are to sit until they are deported. People could be in prison for a very long time because deportation to home countries like Syria is currently not possible, but Denmark revokes people's residence permits anyway.

• According to a report by the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, the police crime statistics in particular do not reflect the current extent of right-wing extremist or racist incidents against refugees. There had been many cases where refugees had become victims of the most serious violence without the case appearing in the crime statistics or being made public in a press release. The brochure "Lives in Danger – Violence against Refugees in Germany" can be found at here.

• The Commission has proposed to tighten the 2016 Schengen Borders Code to make it even more difficult for those seeking protection to access procedures based on the rule of law and to further criminalise migration and flight. The New York Times reports.

• Sea-Eye and Mission Lifeline have rescued a total of almost 200 people from distress at sea in the central Mediterranean. During their mission, the crew of the „Rise Above“ south of the Italian island of Lampedusa took more than 65 people on board, the Saxon organization Mission Lifeline said. The team of the „Sea-Eye 4“ rescued elsewhere in two missions a total of just over 125 refugees from drowning. 

• People demonstrated in the southern English coastal town of Hastings against the inhumane refugee policy of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel. When another rubber boat with landed on the coast in Hastings, citizens rush to the beach and provide people with wool blankets and warm drinks.

16.12.2021: SOS Méditerranée rescues 114 people and publishes annual review of sea rescue +++ UK fails to adequately support protection seekers who arrive +++ Up to 14 million children face hunger in Afghanistan

• The Ocean Viking of SOS Méditerranée rescued 114 people from distress at sea this morning. In addition, SOS Méditerranée published its annual review of sea rescue operations for 2021, which shows that this year more people drowned in the Mediterranean and many more were brought back to Libya than last year. Here you can find the review of the year. 

• Inspectors found out that suicidal women who had been repeatedly raped by people smugglers were not adequately supported once they arrived in the UK. Similarly, a girl who suffered fuel burns while crossing the English Channel did not receive proper medical care for two days, leaving her scarred for life. 

• Aid agencies estimate that up to 14 million Afghan children will go hungry in the winter. They demand exemptions from the sanctions against the Taliban.

• The Syrian civil war has driven countless people from their homes. Many are seeking safety in the opposition region of Idlib. Francisco Seco, photographer for the US news agency AP, was in Sarmada at the end of November and captured moments from the lives of the refugees. 

• Cisse, Christian and Narcisse were among the first rescued from the sea rescue ship „Sea-Watch 4“. One year later, they are still fighting for a future in Europe. evangelisch.de visited them in Lyon, Toulouse and Asti in northern Italy.

15.12.2021: Between July and October only 2505 asylum seekers from Afghanistan and the Middle East arrived in Poland +++ More than 100 local forces murdered by Taliban +++ Taliban no longer allow federal government to fly charter flights from Kabul

• Poland registered 2,505 asylum seekers from the Middle East and Afghanistan from July to October - a really manageable number of people, because of which governments of Member States, the Commission and the Council have lapsed into completely excessive war rhetoric. Asylum seekers are being held there in isolation in detention camps for the duration of the procedure. Fifteen people have already died at the EU's external border with Belarus in recent months. 

• A new report from the UN states, that over 100 local staff, as well as several activists and media workers, have been murdered in Afghanistan.. The real number, however, could be far higher than the one currently mentioned. In addition, the Taliban recruited child soldiers and oppressed women. Especially the security situation of women in the judiciary is alarming. You can read the short report of the UN read here also directly.

• The Taliban prevent federal government from continuing to fly people out on charter flights. In recent weeks, there had been two charter flights in cooperation with Qatar that had brought people to Germany via Doha.

• Berlin wants to take in human rights activists, journalists, artists and opposition figures from Afghanistan. To this end, the Senate decided on Tuesday to establish a state admission programme, under which about 100 Afghan nationals will be admitted each year for the next five years. 

• Italy has quietly resumed cooperation with the Libyan coast guard and sent a military ship there. And this despite the fact that the Libyan coast guard is responsible for illegal pullbacks and the dragging of people into torture camps and has also shot at people and prevented rescues.

12/14/2021: Former Danish integration minister sentenced to two months in prison +++ Trial of Salvini continues +++ Around 1000 people at border fence between Belarus and Poland

• Denmark's former Minister of Integration Inger Støjberg has been sentenced to 60 days in prison for misconduct in office. The court ruled that Støjberg had acted intentionally in the case of the separation of an asylum-seeking couple from Syria. 

• Matteo Salvini must stand trial on Friday for his anti-refugee policies. The trial against the Lega leader for deprivation of liberty and abuse of office continues in Palermo. Salvini faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. 

• First they camped at the border fence, now they sleep in a warehouse: At Poland's external border, around 1000 people are hoping that they will be able to exercise their right to apply for asylum in the EU after all. 

• At least 30,000 people have fled violent clashes in northern Cameroon to neighbouring Chad. Last week, fighting broke out between herders, fishermen and farmers in the village of Ouloumsa over dwindling water resources, which has since spread to neighbouring villages. Ten villages have been burned to the ground. 

• Hundreds of thousands of people from Haiti sought a better future in Chile. But now more of them are leaving the country than immigrating. Racism and hardly any chances for visas and work are driving them away - towards the USA. Der Spiegel took a look at the situation in Chile.

12/13/2021: Situation on the English Channel comes to a head +++ Libya drops refugees in the middle of the desert +++ Baerbock calls on Poland to allow humanitarian aid on Belarus border 

• Mahmoud wants to go to England, like all the others from Iraq, Sudan and Eritrea. But for now they are stuck - on the French side of the English Channel. The taz was on site and talked to the people.

• More than two weeks after a boat capsized in the English Channel killing at least 27 people fishermen have found a body in the net of their cutter off Calais.. Two survivors made serious accusations against British and French authorities. From their sinking boat they had alerted the French coastguard and the British police. Both had referred to the other side and no one had helped.

• I spoke to WDR about pushbacks, the situation at the external borders and Lukashenko's blackmail. The basic problem remains that there is no common European refugee policy. You can listen to the interview here listen up.

• As reported by the UN Human Rights Office. Libya apparently transported a group of 18 Sudanese across the desert and abandoned them to their fate at the border with Sudan.. Recently, children and pregnant women have probably also been taken out of the country in this way. 

• Foreign Minister Annalena During her inaugural visit to Warsaw, Baerbock called on Poland to allow humanitarian aid for migrants and refugees in the region on the border with Belarus. 

10.12.2021: 15 EU states want to take in 40,000 people from Afghanistan +++ People seeking protection continue to die at the border with Poland +++ Frankfurt creates more places for LGBTIQ refugees

• Germany and 14 other EU states announced yesterday at the EU conference of interior ministers, that they want to take in 40,000 particularly vulnerable people from Afghanistan. Germany alone is to take in 25,000 people through the resettlement programme. As recently as August, the Council refused to give a concrete figure.

• Afghanistan's economy is in the doldrums. Many people do not know where to get food, the health system has collapsed. The result: more and more children are malnourished.

• The body of a Nigerian man was discovered by Polish police on Wednesday. This is the 14th documented fatality on the Polish-Belarusian border. Five days earlier the Kurdish Iraqi Avin Irfan Zahir, mother of five children, died. The Süddeutsche Zeitung reports.

• The "La Villa" shelter for refugees from the LBGTIQ community gets a new location in Frankfurt. There are more places there - and thus a safe place for more people. Before Christmas, the 21 people are to move into a vacant, somewhat aging hotel in the city center.

• A sensational trial against two fugitive men is taking place in Samos. In an interview with "das Lamm", German activist Julia Winkler talks about the trial and why the discourse around smugglers does more harm than good. You can read the interview read here.

Dec 9, 2021: EU interior ministers:inside meeting on migration issues +++ Britain legalises pushbacks +++ Berlin takes in people, in Bavaria conservatives and right-wingers vote against state admission programme

• The EU interior ministers meet today on the proper handling of refugees at the external border. The EU Commission has already granted Poland, Latvia and Lithuania the possibility under Article 78, paragraph 3, to restrict the fundamental right to asylum and to detain people for up to 5 months. Germany is no longer represented by Horst Seehofer, but by the new Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.

• The British House of Commons has voted in favour of a significant tightening of asylum legislation. It is planned that people who try to cross the English Channel by boat may be forced out of their own waters again by British authorities. In addition, irregular entrants are to be prosecuted more severely and their asylum claims are to be assessed less favourably, although there are hardly any legal opportunities to apply for asylum in the United Kingdom. 

• From 11 to 14 December, the second edition of the charity event „SOS SESSIONS“ will take place – to raise money for the mission of SOS Méditerranée. I will be there, too, and that's why I talked to Radioeins about sea rescue in the Mediterranean. You can listen to the five minute interview listen to it here.

• Within the framework of the state admission programme, Berlin has 95 refugees received from Lebanon. These are people from Syria who are particularly in need of protection and who previously lived in Lebanon. Next year, 100 more people are to be taken in.

• In Bavaria, the Greens demand a state admission programme for people rescued from distress at sea in the Mediterranean. The motion was supported by the SPD, while CSU, Freie Wähler and AfD voted against. The FDP abstained. 

8.12.2021: Kabul airlift already evacuated 1000 people +++ Activists in Switzerland collect signatures for a Frontex referendum +++ In Belarus only about 7000 people still want to enter the EU

• The 2-year-old Afat is the 1000th evacuee of the Kabul Airlift. I am very happy that through commitment and donations so many people could be evacuated in the meantime and hope that the new government will quickly take more responsibility for people in Afghanistan. Click here to go to the Homepage of the Kabul Airlift. In the Leaves for German and International Politics I wrote in detail how the German government abandoned many people in Afghanistan and then we founded the Kabul Airlift.  

• Thousands of local Afghan forces and their families still waiting to leave for Germany. Despite almost 25,000 promises of admission, only about 7000 people have come so far.

• Switzerland is not a member of the EU, but it is part of the EU border guard and also pays for Frontex. Now a referendum is being promoted asking whether Switzerland should increase funding for Frontex. If Switzerland doesn't, it would be tantamount to abandoning the Frontex system. The Republic reports and also talked to me about the issue.

• According to the Polish Government's estimates, the following are still in existence still about 7000 persons in Belarus who want to enter the EU irregularly. At present, the number of attempted illegal border crossings at Poland's border with Belarus is decreasing.

• The day before yesterday the Spanish coast guard rescued 57 people from distress off the Canary Islands, just a few days earlier they rescued 283 people spread over five boats . In the first 11 months of this year, just under 20,000 people arrived in the Canaries this way. IOM counts 936 fatalities, whereby the number of unreported cases on this route could be significantly higher. 

7.12.2021: ECHR obliges Poland to take aid measures at Belarusian border +++ 600 people wait at Minsk airport to return to Iraq +++ The Guardian publishes a review of high-tech surveillance systems at the EU's external borders

• The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has obliged Poland in several cases toThe judges ordered that the situation of those seeking protection at the border with Belarus be improved through emergency measures. In some cases, the judges ordered that the people be provided with food, water and clothing, that they be allowed to contact their lawyers or that they not be deported to Belarus. It remains to be seen whether Poland has complied with the orders.

• Rebin, Heara and Bijan tried to cross the border between Belarus and Poland. They failed and were forced to return to northern Iraq. Soon they want to try again. Ze:tt spoke to them.

• More than 600 people from Iraq are waiting at Minsk airport – they are mostly Kurds who have fled and who have been waiting for a return flight for days without getting anything to eat. Now, apparently, a plane from Baghdad is on its way to Belarus. The Spiegel reporter Christina Hebel tweets from Minsk airport. Already three days ago she wrote a Articles about the situation (paywall).

• From military drones to sensor systems to experimental technology, the EU and its member states have spent hundreds of millions of euros over the past decade on technology to detect and stop people seeking protection at their borders. The border between Poland and Belarus is becoming the frontline for this technology after Poland last month approved a €350 million wall with advanced cameras and motion sensors. The Guardian has a Overview of the growing number of high-tech monitoring systems created.

• Rohingya sue Facebook for $150 billion in damages. Facebook's algorithms allegedly fueled violence against Rohingya in Myanmar and their displacement. The UN had described the displacement of the Muslim-majority ethnic group from Myanmar in 2017 as genocide. 

• In a conversation with ego-fm I explainedThe new Federal Government's plans for Afghanistan. Humanitarian aid is to be provided directly on the ground, and support is to be provided to neighbouring countries to create prospects for refugees there. The local forces procedure is to be reformed and legal and safe means of escape are to be created in order to prevent people from embarking on life-threatening escape routes out of helplessness.

6.12.2021: 38-year-old refugee from Iraq dies in Poland +++ Because of Corona two million migrants less worldwide +++ Pope visits Lesbos and calls for respecting human rights instead of building walls 

• The 38-year-old Kurdish refugee Avin Ifran Zahir died in the hospital of Hajnówka near the Belarusian border. The pregnant woman was found in the forest by refugee helpers in November. While she was dying in the hospital, a group of refugees found her near the border. a concert with Lou Bega and Las Ketchup takes placewho played for the Polish troops "defending" the external borders.

• On Saturday again took off from the capital Minsk a plane bound for Erbil. According to information from Minsk, 419 people were on board. 

• The Corona crisis has restricted mobility worldwide - with extreme consequences for migrants and refugees, as an IOM report shows. For the year 2020, the report counts around 281 million migrants worldwide - two million fewer than had been expected before the pandemic. The Mirror reports. You can find the IOM report here.

• The Pope visited the new Moria on Lesbos. In his subsequent homily in Athens, Francis said it was bitter that there were still people in Europe who acted as if this problem did not concern them. Without naming individual states, he called for human rights to be upheld in dealing with refugees instead of building walls.

• According to IOM st least 1255 people have died fleeing to Spain this year up to 3 December.. Among them 937 on the way to the Canary Islands alone. 

• In Afghanistan according to Human Rights Watch over a hundred former security forces have been killed or disappeared. EU and US call on Taliban to grant amnesty to security forces. 

12/3/2021: Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee publishes serious allegations against Croatia +++ Court rules: Asylum seekers may apply in Germany even if previously promised protection in Greece +++ Arrivals from Belarus decline

• The Council of Europe's anti-torture committee criticises systematic pushback of asylum seekers by Croatian police in report. There is no longer any doubt – this borders on crimes against humanity. This is no way to become a Schengen member. The press release and the 39-page report of the Council of Europe you can find here.

• According to a ruling by the Higher Administrative Court of Bremen, Greece is not a country where the basic and human rights of refugees are secured. Therefore, under certain circumstances, refugees are allowed to file a second asylum application in Germany, even if Greece has previously granted them protection. 

• In November, fewer people arrived in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia on the route via Belarus and Poland. Dhe responsible Federal Police Directorate Pirna registered 1099 irregular entries with reference to Belarus last month - after 1794 persons in October. 

• France has rejected Britain's proposal for joint patrols of the English Channel. In a letter, French Prime Minister Castex stated that it was unacceptable for British police or military personnel to patrol the coasts of France - this was not possible for reasons of sovereignty alone. 

• A meeting with refugees is considered the most important moment of the second day of the Pope's trip. According to the Cypriot government, Francis plans to take 50 people from Cyprus to Italy after his visit.

12/2/2021: EU Commission wants to make access to asylum at external borders more difficult +++ MEPs criticise prison-like refugee camps in Greece +++ Press freedom at EU external borders to be restricted

• The EU Commission wants to soften certain asylum rules for those seeking protection at the border with Belarus. For example, the asylum process could be extended and deportations simplified. In addition, the authorities are to have four weeks, instead of the current maximum of ten days, to register asylum applications. In total, protection seekers could now be detained for up to 20 weeks. In addition, the Commission wants to allow simpler and faster deportations. On Deutschlandfunk I criticized this proposal (from minute 2.27).

• Together with my group colleague Alexandra Geese I have written a letter to the Commissionin which we explain how refugees in the new camps on the Greek islands are monitored around the clock and locked up like felons. The situation is almost certainly contrary to EU law, yet the camps are being financed with EU money from the Corona reconstruction fund, which is not earmarked for this purpose. 

• At the EU's external borders in Poland, Croatia and Greece, there are massive restrictions on the freedom of the press. The EU Commission, many member states and political parties in Europe tolerate the daily violation of the law at our external borders, because to them compartmentalisation is more important than the rule of law. The taz reports about the phenomenon and has also included a comment of mine in the text.

• Greek security authorities arrested German journalist Tim Lüddemann on Monday. The freelance filmmaker had taken pictures of a refugee camp on Lesbos. After a few hours he was released. 

• The ship mechanic Raphael Reschke from the „Sea Punks“ sets off with six others on a sailing ship to the Mediterranean to save lives. SWR accompanied them and filmed this 45-minute documentary.

1.12.2021: Frontex translator pushed into Turkey by Greek border guards and mistreated +++ Around 10000 people still want to reach Poland via Belarus +++ Refugee councils demand stop of deportations to Ethiopia 

• A Frontex interpreter reported that Greek border guards mistook him for an asylum seeker, assaulted him and then forced him across the border into Turkey along with dozens of refugees. He said he and many of the protection seekers he was held with were beaten and forced to undress, and that police confiscated their phones, money and documents. His attempts to tell the police who he was were met with laughter and beatings. The New York Times reports.  

• According to the Polish border guard, there are still about 10,000 people in Belaruswho want to come to the EU. That is a manageable number of people whom the EU could easily grant their right to asylum procedures with a better asylum policy. 

• The Polish parliament has approved a law that temporarily restricts freedom of movement and freedom of the press at the EU's external borders with Belarus. Access for journalists is decided by the head of the border guard. According to the opposition and human rights organisations, the law violates the Polish constitution.

• The Bavarian and Hessian Refugee Councils call on the interior ministers of the federal states to stop deportations to Ethiopia.. The conflict in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray is spreading and threatens to plunge the entire country into civil war. The occasion is also the conference of interior ministers starting today in Stuttgart. 

• Just seven months after he was hired, Frontex's fundamental rights officer Jonas Grimheden is voicing his frustration. The EU agency does not follow his advice when it comes to possible violations. Grimheden said that while Frontex was not necessarily involved in violations itself, it appeared to be supporting national authorities that were breaking fundamental rights.

11/30/2021: Over a hundred security forces killed or disappeared in Afghanistan +++ New Yorker details Libyan torture camps +++ Greece opens closed camps on Leros and Kos 

• The Taliban leadership had promised a general amnesty to former security forces. A report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) now documents over a hundred cases in which security forces have been murdered or disappeared. 

In this one-minute video, HRW describes the situation.

Here you can find the 25-page report by HRW (English)

Spiegel Online summarizes the results

• The Taliban have asked the EU for help in running Afghanistan's airports. Both sides agreed that the airports must remain open, the European External Action Service (EEAS) said after talks in Doha. The Taliban reiterated their promise to allow people to leave the country if they so wished. The press release of the European External Action Service can be found here (English).

• The EU has created a shadow system that stops people seeking protection before they reach the EU's shores. Libyan militias then send them to inhumane detention centres where torture, sexual violence and starvation are on the agenda. The New Yorker reports in detail on the detention centers and publishes shocking footage from the camps.

• The Greek government has opened two more closed camps on the islands of Leros and Kos. The camps are secluded and surrounded by barbed wire fencing and equipped with surveillance cameras and X-ray machines for security checks. There are also magnetic doors and gates that remain closed at night.

• So far this year, the German Federal Police has registered about 10,600 irregular entries from Poland via Belarus.. In November, the number was around 2800.

11/29/2021: British police resist government pushback plans +++ Another death at Belarusian border +++ People take action in front of Reichstag demanding immediate reception of refugees at Belarusian border 

• The British Border Police union is fighting back against Home Secretary Priti Patel's plans, which wants to make it legal to push back small boats in the English Channel, thus legalising pushbacks. Last Wednesday, 27 people died crossing from France to the UK. 

• Refugee organisations in Berlin drew attention to the situation of refugees at the Polish-Belarusian border with a sea of lights made of thousands of green candles.. In large illuminated letters, the initiators demanded on Sunday at the action in front of the Reichstag building, a „recording Now“. 

• Hundreds of Iraqis are being flown back to Iraq from Belarus, but the situation remains tense. The Belarusian border guards also reported one death on the Lithuanian border. The man, who was about 30 years old, was found on the Belarusian side in a sleeping bag with no signs of life.

• SWR1 interviewed journalist Theresa Breuer, who works with me on the "Kabul Airlift". In three quarters of an hour she tells us in detail how our work works and how we currently continue to save people. 

• When the last German soldiers left Afghanistan, Deniz Ahmadi and Mohammad Rasol gave the go-ahead. Shortly thereafter, they began fleeing the Taliban. Now the air traffic controllers are stranded in Pakistan. They must not stay long.

11/26/2021: Iraq brings back 617 more citizens from Belarus +++ Switzerland could soon hold a referendum against Frontex expansion +++ ECHR rules: Croatian police guilty in death of 6-year-old girl

• Two special flights had left Baghdad for Minsk to bring back 617 Iraqi citizens.said a spokesman for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. A week ago, more than 430 mainly Iraqi Kurds had already been returned.

• A referendum against the expansion of Frontex could soon be held in Switzerland. As a member of the European Parliament's Frontex Inquiry Group, I spoke with them about problems and mismanagement at the EU's largest agency. You can read the interview here.

• Madina Hussiny died at the age of six when Croatian police denied her and her family the right to apply for asylum in 2017, forcing them to return to Serbia on foot, where the girl was hit by a moving train. After four years of litigation, the European Court of Human Rights has now ruled that the Croatian police were to blame for Madina Hussiny's death. The Guardian reports.

• According to the responsible Advocate General at the European Court of Justice (ECJ), Germany is not allowed to place deportation prisoners in normal prisons under a special rule. The EU Return Directive stipulates that third-country nationals to be deported must in principle be accommodated in special detention facilities. If such detention facilities are not available, they can be housed in normal prisons, but separately from criminal prisoners.

• Pope Francis visits Cyprus while arranging transfer of refugees from Mediterranean island to Italy. How many there will be is still unclear.

• The Sea Watch 4 has been assigned Augusta, Sicily as a safe port. Thus, the 461 rescued people on the ship can soon go ashore. 

11/25/2021: 27 dead in the English Channel +++ German government continues to fail to evacuate local Afghan forces +++ Human Rights Watch accuses Belarus and Poland of serious human rights violations

• At least 27 people have died when a boat capsized in the English Channel. The accident occurred off the coast of Calais. 

• The German government is making slow progress in rescuing endangered local forces of the Bundeswehr and other German institutions from Afghanistan. The Home Office now acknowledged that a total of 3813 local staff are still waiting to leave. 

• Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Belarus and Poland „of serious human rights violations“ against people in the border area. „While Belarus has created this situation without regard to the consequences for the people, Poland shares responsibility for the acute suffering in the border area,&#8220 said Lydia Gall of HRW on Wednesday. Belarusian border officials may also have used torture against migrants.

• After the fire in Moria, the EU supports the construction of new camps on the Greek islands. They are closed and far from towns. Critics remind them of prisons.

• Without migrants and refugees, the German labour market would be largely unviable.. A comprehensive Study by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation shows where they are particularly needed as skilled workers - and what that means for the future.

11/24/2021: 25-year-old Iraqi dies north of Guben +++ Poland, Lithuania and Latvia receive 200 million euros from the Commission +++ Belarus deports protection seekers to their countries of origin 

• On Tuesday morning, a fugitive was found dead on the border to Poland, north of Guben.. According to the Federal Police, it is a 25-year-old Iraqi. Already at the end of October, an Iraqi who was traveling with several refugees was found dead near Görlitz.

• The EU Commission provides Poland, Lithuania and Latvia with an additional 200 million euros for "border protection and in return expects the countries to examine the asylum claims of those seeking protection. The additional funds may not be used for the construction of fences or walls, but for surveillance technology or border protection vehicles. 

• According to its own statements, Belarus is continuing the repatriation of protection seekers from the border region with Poland. 118 people would have left the country on Monday via the capital's airport in Minsk. 

• The Belarusian opposition leader Tikhanovskaya gave a speech at noon today in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. She spoke of the people's struggle for freedom against the Lukashenko regime, the political prisoners and how the regime instrumentalises those seeking protection. And she stressed once again that Lukashenko is not the legitimate President of Belarus, must not be recognised and sanctions must continue to apply. Yesterday there was also a debate on the situation of refugees in Belarus and on the EU's external border with Poland.

• Many of those seeking protection at the Polish border are Kurds from northern Iraq. The prime minister of the autonomous Kurdish region Masrur Barzani is now asking the EU for help to crack down on smugglers. 

11/23/2021: Croatian police restrict press freedom by arresting German journalist +++ Greens demand reception of people at Polish EU external border +++ Sea-Watch 4 rescues over 480 people 

• Tagesspiegel journalist Sebastian Leber was arrested by Croatian police on flimsy grounds and had to spend a night in prison. He was accused of "people smuggling" because he reported from the border area between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the Croatian police systematically torture and pushback people on the run. However, the public prosecutor's office did not see any evidence for the crime of human smuggling and released the journalist. Here, Sebastian Leber himself recounts how he was suddenly suspected of being a trafficker and put on trial (paywall).

• The Greens in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have called on the state government toto support the admission of people on the Belarusian-Polish border and to reaffirm its own willingness to accept them. The Federal Government, which is still in office, has so far rejected admission from Belarus.

• The Sea Watch 4 rescued another 107 people from a wooden boat in distress. Among them is a newborn baby that was born on the boat. After the evacuation of the woman, the newborn and five other people for medical reasons, there are now 475 people on the Sea-Watch 4, which needs a safe haven as soon as possible.

• Since Saturday, 589 people have been rescued from distress at sea in 14 operations off the Canary Islands and brought to Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria.

• The German government has so far taken 8500 local personnel and their families out of Afghanistan, more than twice that number are still stranded, according to the German Foreign Office. Criticism is growing over the slow pace of evacuations.

• 32-year-old Abdullah Aryan came to Germany from Afghanistan on an evacuation flight. His escape almost failed due to German bureaucracy, but thanks in part to the Kabul Airlift, the former Bundeswehr and GTZ translator was able to be evacuated. He tells his story in Der Spiegel (paywall).

19.11.2021: Situation in Belarus still unresolved for many protection seekers +++ Sea Watch 4 rescues people from distress at sea and is threatened by Libyan coast guard +++ My interview with DLF Kultur on the trial of Sean Binder, Sarah Mardini and co. 

• Meanwhile, some people from Belarus were brought back to IraqFor many, however, it is still unclear what is happening to them. A first case of corona has now also been discovered in the emergency shelter.

• The Sea Watch 4 rescued a total of 120 people from distress at sea yesterday. Subsequently, she was threatened by the Libyan coast guard although she was in international waters. The situation has since eased.

• Yesterday was the first day of the trial of Sean Binder, Sarah Mardini and 22 other people who were criminalized for providing humanitarian aid. After one hour, the court adjourned the trial to the next higher instance. I spoke to DLF Kultur yesterday afternoon about the background and why I don't think the trial is about the rule of law.

• For the first time since the Taliban took power, German diplomats have met for talks with Taliban representatives. Der Spiegel has the background.

• People continue to flee at risk of their lives via the route from the West African coast to the Canary Islands. Again, there were also fatalities, the Spanish-language newspaper Canarias7 reported.

18.11.2021: Trial of sea rescuers in Greece postponed +++ Frontex helps deport Iraqis from Belarus +++ Ten people die in a wooden boat off the Libyan coast 

• Helping people in need and ending up in court for it? This is now commonplace in Europe. Today, the trial of Seán Binder, Sarah Mardini and 22 other defendants was to begin in Greece. They face up to 25 years in prison. But now, despite years of waiting, the trial has simply been postponed again. Seán Binder explains here how absurd the postponement of the trial is and what the real background to the charges against her is.
  The taz reported on the case.
  Leave No One Behind tweeted live from the courtroom.

• The head of the EU border agency Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, announces support for the repatriation of up to 1700 Iraqis. Frontex is working with the Polish authorities on this, he told the AFP news agency. Flights are to be chartered for this purpose in the coming weeks.

• Ten people died in an overcrowded boat off the Libyan coast. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said that 99 survivors were recovered from the wooden boat by the team of the rescue ship "Geo Barents". According to MSF, these are "ten avoidable deaths".

• Nearly 2400 people are in detention pending deportation in Greece – often in deplorable conditions, shielded from the public and completely in the dark about what will happen next for them. The journalist Franziska Grillmeier spoke for the Fluter with one of the refugees in deportation custody.

• Legal scholar Maximilian Pichl talks to ND about the breaches of law on the EU's eastern border. 

17.11.2021: Thousands of fugitives at the Polish border spent the night in a warehouse +++ World Organisation against Torture criticises criminalisation of human rights activists +++ In Greece, the detention of refugees is becoming the new norm

• After people at the Kuźnica border crossing were attacked by Polish police with water cannon and tear gas, Belarusian ruler Lukashenko let fugitives sleep in a warehouse. But there was not room for all the people there.

• Angela Merkel was the first Western leader to speak to Lukashenko on the phone since his "re-election" in 2020. The German chancellor was thus de facto the first EU head of government to recognise Lukashenko as the official election winner and legitimate ruler. Green Party politician Omid Nouripour criticizes Merkel's phone call on Deutschlandfunk radio.

• The World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) accuses Spain and Morocco of deliberately criminalising human rights activist Helena Maleno. The founder of the aid organisation "Caminando Fronteras" (Border Crossings), who lives in northern Morocco - is one of 20 cases from eleven countries examined in a report published in Geneva entitled "Europe: Open Season on Solidarity".
  You can find the whole report here.
  The taz reports about the attacks against Helena Maleno.
• In Greece, the detention of refugees has become the new norm, criticize the Greek Refugee Council and Oxfam. According to EU directives, administrative detention should only be used when all other means have been exhausted. Escape is not a crime.

• Because they were used by people for their passage to United Kingdom could be used, the sporting goods retailer has Decathlon stopped selling kayaks in the outlets of two towns in northern France. No more kayaks would be sold in the shops of Calais and Grande-Synthe „due to the current situation“.

11/16/2021: Poland uses water cannon and tear gas against people seeking protection +++ Reports from the exclusion zone between Belarus and Poland +++ More than 84 million people fleeing worldwide 

• Poland uses water cannons and tear gas against refugees at the border. This is the Polish government's reaction to people who do not want to freeze to death in the freezing cold, but who are not allowed to walk back even on the Belarusian side.

• In the jungle on the Belarusian border with the EU, thousands are trying to escape the cold and hunger. Their choice is: smugglers or pushback? And some residents are already afraid of a possible civil war because of the many soldiers. Zeit Online took a look around the Polish restricted area on the border with Belarus.

• This morning, Radioeins interviewed me about the situation in Belarus. In it, I say that we, as the European Union, must not allow ourselves to be blackmailed, nor must we suspend fundamental human rights, freedom of the press and our values, just because people are standing at our external borders and want to apply for asylum. You can listen to the 5-minute interview here.

• According to the UN, for the first time, more than 84 million people worldwide are on the run. You can find the UNHCR report here.

• The Spanish coast guard has found two dead bodies on a refugee boat off the coast of Gran Canaria. Four more people have been taken to hospital by helicopter. The boat with a total of 42 people on board has been discovered about 180 kilometers south of the Canary Island.

11/15/2021: Liveticker on situation at Polish-Belarusian border +++ Kabul airlift rescues 148 people on donor-funded plane +++ Eight people die off Canary Islands 

• People have run from the temporary camp in Belarus to the border crossing and are now face to face with Polish border guards. EU foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss further sanctions against Belarus and dictator Lukashenko now claims he is trying to repatriate people to their home countries. Iraq is also offering a first repatriation flight for people on the Belarusian-Polish border. The Frankfurter Rundschau has created this news ticker to keep you up to date.

• Thousands of people are still hoping to reach the EU via Belarus. Other groups of people are making their way from Minsk. The hope of many refugees is fading a little more with each passing day. Der Spiegel took a look at the situation on the ground (paywall).

• I am convinced that, in this situation on the Belarusian border, we must rely on a coalition of states that are willing to accept people, which must, of course, include Germany. We also need safe and orderly escape routes so that people no longer have to rely on smugglers in future and a system of state smuggling, as operated by Lukashenko, no longer attracts so many people. I spent half an hour talking to the Tagesschau about possible solutions....

• On Saturday, we were able to evacuate 148 people from Afghanistan using the Kabul airlift, including local Bundeswehr personnel. After many smaller evacuation operations, this was the first donor-funded flight towards Germany since August.

• Eight people were killed on the voyage from mainland Africa to the Canary Islands – their boat apparently drifted in the sea for a week without propulsion. Off the Calabrian coast, 500 people were rescued from two boats. 

12.11.2021: Thousands of people at the border to Poland urgently need help +++ taz and Spiegel show how Lukashenko operates state smuggling +++ Bulgaria is also increasingly becoming a transit area for refugees 

• Shelter seekers spent another night in freezing temperatures in makeshift camps. Thousands of people are still stranded there with no quick help in sight.

• The European press review eurotopics has collected 16 commentaries from nine countries on the situation on the border between Belarus and Poland and translated them into German. Here you can get a good overview of how the topic is discussed in Eastern Europe.

• The federal government flew 329 people out of Afghanistan on Wednesday on its first charter flight. In addition, the Ministry of Defence has recognised the work contracts of 13 Afghan air traffic controllers.

• The Norwegian Refugee Council estimates that between 4000 and 5000 Afghans are currently fleeing to Iran every day. Since the Taliban took power, at least 300,000 people are said to have fled from Afghanistan to Iran. You can read more on the page of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

• The government in Cyprus wants to suspend the processing of asylum applications.

11/10/2021: Green MPs on Belarus border +++ Afghan air traffic controllers sue federal government +++ Pastor sentenced for church asylum 

• The newly elected Green MPs Julian Pahlke and Merle Spellerberg went to Poland as observers – and are shocked.
• Two major groups of fugitives are said to have broken through the border from Belarus to Poland at two points on their hoped-for way into the EU, according to a Polish media report.
• Thus Görlitzer:innen help the refugees who arrive in Germany from Belarus.

• Ten Afghan air traffic controllers work for the Bundeswehr for years. But when the Bundeswehr ends its mission, they are left behind. Now one of the men is suing the federal government.

• Because he granted church asylum to a person from IranPastor Stefan Schörk had to answer to the Bayreuth district court. Now he's been convicted. Unfortunately, church asylum, which has existed for 1600 years, is increasingly criminalized in Germany. 

09.11.2021: On the day of the fall of the Berlin Wall, activists bring relief supplies to the EU's external border +++ Seehofer calls for a new iron curtain in Europe +++ Poland uses tear gas against people seeking protection

• Leave No One Behind, Seebrücke and Cadus try to bring relief supplies to the border with Belarus todayThe day of the fall of the Berlin Wall is a reminder that the lesson to be learned from 9 November 1989 is that we must not build a new iron curtain across Europe.
  You can find out more on the homepage of "Mauerfall Jetzt". 

• On the day the Berlin Wall came down, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer called for Poland not to be criticized for protecting its borders "with permissible means" despite its serious human rights violations and illegal pushbacks. He also welcomed the construction of a fortified border fortification...However, Seehofer will not be Interior Minister for much longer.

• The initiative "Fall of the Wall Now" is calling for an end to the injustice on the EU border with Belarus and to prevent further deaths. On the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, they are travelling to the Belarusian border and calling for a humanitarian corridor. You can also find a video of "Mauerfall Jetzt" on Twitter.

• The government of Alexander Lukashenko is striving to increase air connections from the Middle East to Minsk to expand. Dozens of flights from Istanbul, Damascus and Dubai are to land in Minsk every week in the future. According to the latest landing plans of the Minsk airport, about 40 flights a week from Istanbul, Damascus and Dubai are planned until March.

• Four women's bodies were found in a house in Mazar-i-Sharif. Among them was a women's rights activist. They may have been lured into a trap when they tried to leave the country after the Taliban took power.

• Turkey expels Syrians for allegedly 'provocatively' eating bananas.

• After several days and nights in the field together. with Mission Lifeline's Rise Above, the sea rescue ship Sea-Eye 4 rescued more than 800 people and brought them to Trapani in Italy.

11/05/2021: At least three dead around Calais +++ Belarusian soldiers threatened to shoot at Polish soldiers +++ MEP watches pushback by Greece 

• A regional train has hit a group of people in Calais, killing one person and injuring three others. On a beach south of Calais, one dead and two hypothermic shelter seekers were also found next to a small boat on Thursday. One person had already died in a boat accident the day before, and another is missing.

• Belarusian soldiers have threatened to shoot at Polish soldiers in the border area, according to the Polish Ministry of Defence. Belarusian soldiers who were accompanying people seeking protection had threatened to "open fire".

• Tonight Sea Eye and and Mission Lifeline rescued over 400 people from a double-decker wooden boat. When the Rise Above of Mission Lifeline arrived at the boat, there was already a leak in the boat through the water. Several people were in the water without life jackets and had to be rescued from the sea. One person was successfully resuscitated on the way to Sea-Eye 4. There are now more than 800 people on the Sea-Eye 4, which has set course for Lampedusa. 

• Emergency services have rescued more than 400 people from the English Channel between France and Britain. According to French figures, some 15,400 people attempted to cross the Channel between January and the end of August alone. 

• The Taliban banned the use of all foreign currency on Tuesday. They are reacting to the shortage of foreign currency in the country, which was triggered by de facto sanctions. The US government, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and European central banks froze Afghan foreign assets after the Taliban took power. 

• The rescue ships Sea-Eye and Rise Above of Mission Lifeline received a distress call from the AlarmPhone on Tuesday night. By Tuesday morning, the crews of both ships were able to save 325 lives from a total of 5 boats. Earlier in the morning, the two ships were called to another sea rescue case involving 72 people crowded on a wooden boat. There are now 397 survivors aboard the Sea-Eye 4. Read more at the Homepage the Sea-Eye and at Sea-Eye on Twitter.

• On Tuesday night, nearly 120 Afghan protection seekers reached the port of Portopalo di Capo Passero in southern Sicily. Although, according to the IOM, more than 1500 people have already died this year trying to reach Europe via the Mediterranean, more and more Afghans are choosing this route because the others are closed.

• In the next few weeks, 112 people in particular need of protection will arrive in Berlin from Lebanon, including 21 families with children. They are the first Syrian refugees who will have a safe home through a Berlin reception program - after fleeing to neighboring Lebanon during the civil war.

• On Tuesday, 56 people, local Afghans and their families, were received at Frankfurt Airport. The sponsorship network Afghan Local Forces flew the people out to Germany without government support. The costs for flight and visa were also covered by the association. The association criticizes the outgoing German government for its lack of political will to save the people.

• Future protection seekers from Afghanistan will probably find work in Germany more often and be able to settle in more easily than compatriots who arrived here in recent years. This is what researchers at the Nuremberg Institute for Employment Research (IAB) predictwho have analysed current data on the Afghan community in Germany and those who are likely to arrive soon.

29.10.2021: Kabul airlift evacuates 579 people +++ 75 percent of Afghans who appeal against rejection of asylum application are proven right in court +++ Saxon police discover body of Iraqi refugee 

• My colleague Theresa Breuer explains in the NZZhow we have evacuated 579 people from Afghanistan so far.
• More and more asylum seekers who appeal against the rejection of their asylum application in Germany are successful in court. In the first half of 2021, 35.1 per cent of all appeals before the administrative courts that were decided on the substance ended in favour of the refugees. Refugees from Afghanistan receive as much as 75 per cent of the rightwhich indicates that the Bamf systematically makes wrong decisions here.
• On the A4, police officers discovered a van with 30 refugees. One of the people found, a 32-year-old Iraqi, was dead. The police department Görlitz is now investigating in coordination with the federal police, what exactly happened there.
• The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) sounds the alarm in a new report because of the increasing number of climate refugees. It points out that in 2020, around 30.7 million people were displaced by natural disasters - more than three times as many as by conflict and violence, namely 8.9 million. You can read the entire 60-page report here.
• The Italian village of Riace was a model of integration. Refugees brought new life to the dying village on the Ionian coast of Calabria. But now the former mayor Domenico Lucano has been sentenced to 13 years in prison on flimsy grounds. In this 53-minute feature, Deutschlandfunk reworks the whole story about Riace, the refugees and Mimmo Lucano.

10/28/2021: Germany abandons thousands of local workers +++ Kretschmer (CDU) promotes border wall +++ Doctors Without Borders brings 367 rescued to Palermo 

• Thousands of local forces and human rights activists' lives are in danger in Afghanistan. They want to leave, but Germany has closed its rescue list.
• Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) wants to keep those seeking protection from Belarus out of the EU with fences and walls. The head of the umbrella organisation of GDR victims criticises this: "Walls and barbed wire have never stopped anyone from seeking their way to freedom". The EU Commission rules out financial support for walls at the external borders.
• According to a Research by WDR and NDR German authorities have already warned in spring of a scenario in which dictators like Lukashenko abuse people seeking protection to put pressure on the EU.
• The Geo Barents of Doctors Without Borders was able to go ashore in Palermo with 367 rescued. There, the refugees, among them 172 children according to the aid organisation, were to be tested for the coronavirus and then distributed to reception and quarantine camps. 
• Der Spiegel has done extensive research... analysed the violations of the law at the European external borders and showed the systematics with which those seeking protection are kept away by force. They also spoke with those affected and tell how they were brutally and unlawfully pushed back. An alternative to the isolation would be resettlement.

Oct 27, 2021: Four children drowned in the Aegean +++ Doctors Without Borders rescues 367 people and needs a safe haven +++ Poland allows pushbacks by law

• Four children between the ages of three and 14 died when a boat sank in the Aegean Sea. 22 other fugitives were rescued.
• A group of refugees from Iraq reached the coast of Greece's Peloponnese peninsula in September. Local residents provided for them. But Greek authorities claim the people never reached the coast.
• In five rescue operations within two days, MSF teams aboard the Geo Barents rescued 367 people from distress in the Mediterranean Sea. Of these, 172 were minors and some were small children. The high number of rescued children and young people is unusual even for experienced sea rescuers. 134 minors were on the dangerous crossing without parents. Many rescued people were already hypothermic and dehydrated when the rescuers arrived. 
• With the "Aliens Law" that came into force today, fugitives can be expelled from the country immediately after an unauthorized border crossing into Poland is logged. Poland is thus legalising a pushback practice that is incompatible with EU laws and values, as well as with international refugee law.
• Those who flee from Belarus via Poland to Germany usually end up in Brandenburg. The authorities there are then responsible for the initial reception. This is to change - a faster distribution of refugees to other federal states is planned.

10/26/2021: Poland increases number of soldiers to 10,000 +++ Commission won't fund walls at external borders +++ Mediterranean route shifts to Calabria

• Poland wants to increase the number of soldiers on its border with Belarus to 10,000 because of the rush of people seeking protection. Defence Minister Blaszczak announced that 2,500 more soldiers would be sent to support the border guards. According to Polish sources, on the weekend around 60 to 70 people seeking protection tried to force their way across the border into the country. 
• Meanwhile, Green Party deputy leader Jamila Schäfer is calling for help for people in the Belarusian-Polish border region. "EU Member States have a duty to ensure access to an asylum procedure in the EU at all times, as guaranteed by international and European law.", she told the German Press Agency. "Now, with the help of the UNHCR, people are to be provided with humanitarian aid on both sides of the border."
• Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed that the EU would not finance barbed wire or walls at the external borders. A number of government leaders, most notably the new Austrian Chancellor Schallenberg, called for just that. 
• In the Mediterranean, flight routes are shifting. The island of Lampedusa is increasingly being replaced by the coast of Calabria in southern Italy as the destination for many people wanting to reach Europe.
• Greece has declared Turkey a "safe third country" for refugees from five countries. Therefore, even people from Syria currently have hardly any chance of asylum in Greece. The Greek lawyer Yiota Massouridou from Refugee Support Aegean explains the situation in an interview with PRO ASYL.

10/25/2021: EU gives 276 million euros to Greece for new Morias +++ In Brandenburg, neo-Nazis call for hounding of refugees +++ Greens call for distribution of protection seekers arriving in Poland

• The ZDF magazine Royale reported on Friday evening about the conditions in the closed camp on Samos. It is surrounded by double rows of barbed wire fences and resembles a prison. The EU provides Greece with a total of 276 million euros for such camps.
  You can find the article here (from minute 12). You can find out more about the camp at theneuemoria.eu 
• Deutschlandfunk was on Samos, spoke to those affected and produced a 19-minute piece.
• In Guben, the neo-Nazis of "Dritter Weg" called for the hunting down of people seeking protection. On Saturday, people from Guben and Berlin demonstrated against the action of the right-wing extremists. But in Guben, where the AfD is also strong, there is unfortunately also a lot of understanding for the action of the neo-Nazis. Zeit Online was there and spoke with an Eritrean refugee who describes the situation.
• The Green politician Luise Amtsberg has called for a distribution of the protection seekers coming from Belarus among the EU states. "If it doesn't work, then it will just have to work with some," the politician said on ZDF, referring to a smaller group of EU states.
• Rising gas prices, starving people and a state that is running out of money: Afghanistan is threatened with bankruptcy. Now the Taliban want to set up an employment program in which people are paid with wheat instead of money.

10/22/2021: Body of Syrian refugee discovered at border with Belarus +++ EKD welcomes "change of lane" and calls for more active naturalization culture +++ Sea Watch 3 assigned safe haven 

• On Wednesday Polish divers found the body of a 19-year-old man in the river bordering Belarus. This means that eight people have died in recent weeks trying to apply for asylum in the EU.
• Watson has summarized the current situation on the border between Poland and Belarus. The EU Commission must not simply accept Poland's actions, but must now initiate infringement proceedings and make it clear that Poland will be deprived of funds if the government does not comply with applicable EU law.
• The chairman of the EKD Council, Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, welcomes the "change of track" formulated in the exploratory paper. This means that people can switch from the asylum system to forms of labor migration. He "expressly" supports this, Bedford-Strohm said on Thursday at the presentation of a basic statement by the two major churches on migration and flight entitled: "Shaping migration in a humane way." In the document, the churches call for "a more active culture of naturalization." You can find the whole document here.
• The Sea Watch 3 has a safe harbor. After days of waiting, the Italian authorities have assigned Pozzallo as the port to disembark the rescued. A woman who was already evacuated the day before yesterday was able to give birth to a healthy daughter in Trapani.
• Albania has taken in more than 1000 refugees from Afghanistan and housed them in hotels on the Adriatic coast. It is a counter-model to Moria, where refugees are treated well and appropriately.

21/10/2021: Socialists call for infringement proceedings over pushbacks +++ Council of Europe also calls for end to pushbacks +++ Asylum seeker sues Frontex 

• Yesterday evening, pushbacks were debated in the plenary of the European Parliament. The responsible Minister of the Interior, Ylva Johansson, criticised the current Polish practice and stressed that pushbacks must never be normalised and legalised. With the Social Democrats, the second largest group in the European Parliament is now also calling for infringement proceedings against Poland, Greece and Croatia.
  You can watch the plenary debate watch at this link (from 20:30) 
• The Council of Europe is also calling for an end to pushbacks. The Council of Europe also criticises attempts to legalise pushbacks.
• Omar B. and his family were deported to Turkey by the EU border guard in 2016, although he had applied for asylum in Greece. Now he is suing the EU border protection agency Frontex for damages at the ECJ. His lawsuit should not remain an isolated case.
• For more than two months 31 refugees have been held at the border between Poland and Belarus and are not allowed to enter either country. In order not to freeze to death they tried to cross the barbed wire yesterday and were then forced back with pepper spray. You can find a video of it on Twitter at Ansgar Gilster.
• I did a longer interview about this with Daily Perspectivehow we can stand up for the rights of refugees in Europe. I was also allowed to speak about my book "Europe is abolishing itself". 

20/10/2021: Polish Prime Minister in the European Parliament +++ Seehofer wants to support Polish police despite human rights violations +++ Two dead refugees discovered in Austria  

• Yesterday the Polish Prime Minister spoke in the European Parliament and delivered a propaganda show to justify the undermining of the rule of law. He also talked about refugees and the situation on the border with Belarus in order to divert attention from his own authoritarian restructuring of the state. I spoke with Deutschlandfunk about the speech and the situation in Poland.
• Although the Polish police illegally pushback hundreds of people every day, and at least six people have already died on the border with Belarus, Horst Seehofer offers Polish police help in sealing off. However, Seehofer will also soon leave his post as Federal Interior Minister. The Greens in the Bundestag called on the German government and the EU not to generally turn back refugees. It is a pan-European task to guarantee adequate accommodation and a fair asylum procedure for those seeking protection.
• Soldiers in Austria have found almost 30 people crammed into a very small space when they checked a minibus near the Hungarian border. Two refugees were already dead. The trafficker escaped.
• Afghanistan's economy will shrink by up to 30 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This is all the more dramatic because the country is already operating at an extremely low level.
• The Border Violence Monitoring Network has released its pushback report for September. A solidifying trend in the documentation of pushbacks is sexual violence by Croatian officials at the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, a boy from Afghanistan died on September 16 while trying to cross from Serbia into Croatia. You can read the 16-page report here.

19.10.2021: Protests against pushbacks in Poland +++ Protection seekers continue to freeze and starve at the border with Belarus +++ Thousands hold out in Tripoli outside UNHCR building 

• Thousands of people demonstrated in Poland against the pushbacks on the border with Belarus. Under the slogan "Stop torture at the border", people in Warsaw marched in front of the Sejm, the first chamber of parliament. A rally was also held in Krakow. 
• For two months 31 protection seekers stuck at the border between Poland and Belarus. Neither side wants to let them into the country. The Belarusian border guards won't let the people back and the Polish border guards won't let them into the country. The people fear that they will not get out of this zone alive.
• Belarus continues to attract people and now wants to lease aircraft in Ireland to do so. The EU foreign ministers now want to prevent this with new sanctions. The EU should finally create safe escape routes so that it can no longer allow itself to be blackmailed so easily by a dictator. 
• More than two weeks after security forces stormed their shelters, several thousand people seeking protection in Tripoli are living on the streets. According to Libyan human rights activists, up to 4,000 people sleep on the pavement every night around the UNHCR headquarters in the Serrakh district alone. They wait in vain for a meal or medical care. 
• In Lebanon, food prices have increased more than six-fold in the past two years. Many people barely have enough to eat. Syrian refugees in the country are suffering particularly, with 67 percent now having to skip meals, according to the UNHCR.

18.10.2021: Sea-Watch 3 rescues 120 people +++ First reception centres in Brandenburg full to capacity +++ EU wants to give Libyan militia ships for refugee defence 

• The Sea Watch 3 is finally back in action and has already saved 120 people from drowning this weekend.. Since the beginning of the year, according to the (IOM), 1456 people have already died fleeing across the Mediterranean. The number of unreported cases is higher. For more info, follow Sea-Watch on Twitter.
• Belarus is allowing protection seekers to pass through to Poland in an organised manner in order to get back at the EU sanctions. Poland tries to stop the entry with illegal means such as pushbacks and physical violence and accepts deaths for it. 
• Since August, thousands of people seeking protection have reached Germany via Belarus and Poland to apply for asylum. Most of them arrive in Brandenburg. Zeit Online visited an initial reception centre in Eisenhüttenstadt.
• Despite massive criticism from the UN Human Rights Office, the EU continues to adhere to the planThe European Commission has decided to provide new search and rescue vessels for the Libyan coast guard for the first time. The Libyan coastguard often takes people to Libyan camps where they face torture and death. 
• Many families in Afghanistan have invested heavily in their children's school careers over the past 20 years. Because the Taliban disregard the value of education, it was all for nothing, says teacher Tamina Sarwari.

15.10.2021: EU supports Libyan coast guard +++ Poland erects "barrier" to Belarus +++ French government calls for migration deal with UK 

• Despite massive criticism from the UN Human Rights Office, the EU continues to adhere to the plan, to provide new search and rescue vessels for the Libyan coast guard for the first time. 
• Poland's government has announced plans to replace the barbed wire fence on the border with Belarus with something more solid. The word wall is avoided. A budget of the equivalent of 366 million euros has been earmarked for the project.
• France is calling for a migration deal between the EU and Britain. French Interior Minister Darmanin said on Sunday that he was in favour of a European treaty that would solve the problems of asylum applications, deportations and family reunification.
• The German artist collective "Peng" wants to help a family of refugees to buy their way into the European Union as investors. 
• Many people were killed in the terrorist attack at Kabul airport on August 26. Among the victims is also 24-year-old Nasir, who lived in Bavaria.

10/14/2021: Repatriation of people rescued at sea to Libya is a crime +++ German Foreign Office uses extortionate methods against family reunification +++ 10,000 more displaced in Yemen 

• A court in Naples finds that returning people rescued at sea to Libya is a crime. The captain of the Asso28 was sentenced to one year in prison for bringing 101 protection seekers back to Tripoli. From now on, those responsible for any civilian ship involved in pushbacks can be tried and convicted. Der Spiegel reported on the Asso 28 case back in August 2018.
• Thousands of refugees had to go to court until the Foreign Office allowed their families to join them. Lawyers call the ministry's conditions extortionate. A large part of the lawsuits concerning family reunification do not lead to a verdict, but end in a "Berlin settlement". Learn more about it at fragdenstaatwho uncovered this together with the magazine Kontraste and Ippen Investigativ. 
• Fighting around the Yemeni city of Marib has displaced some 10,000 people in the past month. One of the worst wars of our time has been raging in Yemen for years. This should be borne in mind when people from Yemen now come to the EU via Belarus to claim their right to apply for asylum. So far, more than four million people in Yemen have lost their homes because of the war.
• Nearly 100 people were rescued by the Spanish coastguard off the Canary Islands on Tuesday. The people were taken to Gran Canaria.

13.10.2021: Thousands of protection seekers are taken to Libyan torture prisons +++ At least 15 people drown off Libyan coast +++ Protection seekers reach Brandenburg

• In Libya, some 4000 people seeking protection have been arrested and taken to camps where they are systematically tortured. The Libyan coast guard, which is co-financed by the EU, also brings people into these camps.. 
• At least 15 people have drowned off the coast of Libya as the Libyan coastguard forced back a boat carrying people seeking protection. This is what the 90 survivors reportwhich were towed back to Libya by the coast guard. Regular updates on the situation on the Libyan coast you get at Safa Msehli, IOM Press Officer.
• Since August, more than 4,300 people have entered Germany via Belarus and Poland. These come primarily from Iraq as well as Syria, Yemen and Iran. 
• The Croatian ambassador to Switzerland is sharply attacking Swiss radio for publishing evidence of pushbacks. The Croatian government still does not admit that the pushbacks are systematic and now simply goes about downplaying the human rights violations and calling the journalists names...who are carrying out important educational work. 

10/12/2021: Right turn in Turkish refugee policy +++ Croatian government admits mistreatment of protection seekers +++ 348 people rescued in the English Channel 

• Turkey makes a U-turn in its refugee policy and systematically starts illegal pushbacks to Iran. After taking in millions of people seeking protection, partly at Europe's request, Turkey now wants to close its borders and deport many refugees.
• The Croatian Minister of the Interior, Davor Božinović, admits to mistreatment of refugees by police officers, but pretends that these are isolated cases. This is a white lie, because in reality the interior minister himself is responsible for the violence against those seeking protection, and we can only hope that the Croatian government will be held accountable for these crimes. I talked to Der Spiegel about the systematic pushbacks.
• German government urges investigation into pushbacks by Croatia. The new reports and pictures were "noted with great concern". The Croatian authorities must clarify this quickly and comprehensively, a Federal Foreign Office spokesman said in Berlin on Monday. 
• 348 people were rescued from distress in the English Channel near Calais at the weekendwho were trying to cross the strait to the UK in small boats. French rescue ships and two military helicopters from France and Belgium were involved in the more than 20 rescue operations.
• The number of people arriving irregularly in Germany via Belarus and Poland is increasing. In Brandenburg, 392 persons were apprehended in the German-Polish border area over the weekend. The people come primarily from Iraq as well as from the civil war and crisis countries Syria, Iran and Yemen.

11.10.2021: UN report paints shocking picture of situation in Libya +++ 12 ministers from member states demand money for border fences +++ HRW report on criminalisation in Greece 

• Mass arrests, torture, rape: The situation for refugees in Libya is catastrophic. In the last few days six people have been shot dead in a prison and thousands thrown into such prisons and camps. The Libyan coast guard, according to a new UN report, also mistreats refugees and transfers them to detention centres where they are threatened with torture and sexual violence. The coast guard was trained and equipped by the European Union.
• So far the EU Commission has not funded border fences and walls. Ministers from twelve member states have now a joint letter to the EU Commission and call for this regulation to be changed. The demand comes from Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia. 
• Human rights activists in Greece are criminalized and prevented from doing their work. They are subjected to intimidation, threats and attacks, also from the official side. The report can be found at Human Rights Watch.
• Prior to Gran Canaria 40 people were rescued from distress at sea and on Lampedusa, twenty people reached the European mainland. 
• Malte Lehming demands in the Tagesspiegel a new beginning in German refugee and migration policy and believes that the humanitarianism of the Greens and the economic friendliness of the FDP could miraculously complement each other.

08.10.2021: Monitoring mechanism will not prevent pushbacks in Croatia +++ EU Commissioner Johansson announces investigation into pushbacks +++ Report traces how sea rescue is criminalised 

• At the Croatian EU external border, an ARD research team filmed brutal abuse and pushbacks. The team also accompanied a family on their way from Bosnia to Croatia. The article ends with my assessment of the new surveillance mechanism in Croatia, which unfortunately is only a fig leaf and will not prevent pushbacks and abuse. At Monitor, you'll find the entire research, including my commentary on the planned rehash (starting at minute 16).
• Following renewed reports of violence at the EU's external borders, Commissioner Ylva Johansson has spoken out. She condemned the violence and announced investigations. However, it has often expressed concern about the situation in the past, without any improvement so far. 
• Rescue at sea continues to be criminalised and prevented. How this works in Italy, has been written down by the organization Borderline Europe.
• The bodies of 17 people washed up on the Libyan coast. They drowned while trying to flee to Europe. IOM counts 1369 deaths in the Mediterranean so far this year alone. 
• The human rights organization Human Rights Watch has made accusations against the French police. The latter is alleged to have deliberately forced shelter seekers into homelessness and harassed them. 

7.10.2021: New videos of brutal pushbacks by Croatian border police +++ Greek and Croatian special forces are used for pushbacks +++ Poland carries out pushbacks quite openly 

• New research showsthat the illegal rejections by Croatia are systematic and state-organised and also take place by force. A research team has filmed and evaluated pushbacks. The brutal operations are also supported with money and material from the European Union and the German government. Der Spiegel did an even bigger piece on the subject (paywall).
• Not only in the Balkans, but also in Greece, according to the findings, human rights violations at the external borders occur again and again. Der Spiegel has investigated who is responsible for the human rights violations at the EU's external borders and comes to the conclusion that special police units are systematically used for this purpose. You can also find the detailed report in Spiegel (paywall).
• In the border area between Poland and Belarus, people on the run are being instrumentalised as pawns between politicians. Belarus brings them there by force and the Polish border police uses illegal pushbacks to prevent them from applying for asylum in the EU. The journalist Franziska Grillmeier describes in her report for the Tagesspiegel (paywall) the situation.  
• On their way to the USA, they covered thousands of kilometres and crossed the almost impenetrable Darién jungle between Colombia and Panama. Now their dream of the USA has been shattered. They are back in Haiti. The NZZ visited them on site (paywall).

6.10.2021: There was no pull effect from Merkel in 2015 +++ U.S. announces record low in refugee admissions +++ Smuggling gangs on the English Channel growing more powerful 

• Social science accounts prove that there was no "pull effect" from German refugee policy in 2015. The authors of the study conclude that the "Merkel effect", the attracting effect of German refugee policy on refugees, is a delusion. 
• The U.S. has allowed 11,411 protection seekers into the country in the past 12 months, which is very few. The background is the Corona crisis and the aftermath of Donald Trump's term in office. For the coming year, Joe Biden announced in September that he would take in up to 125,000 people seeking protection. 
• As Britain invests millions in security measures, refugees on the ground say the gangs controlling the Channel are growing more powerful. Because the more dangerous the routes become, the more people rely on the smugglers. The Guardian has spoken to those affected.
• Refugees have been stuck on the Polish-Belarusian border since August. The Jungle World was on site in the Polish village of Usnarz Górny, shortly before the Polish government declared a state of emergency there and closed the area to journalists and human rights activists.
• This year already 1819 people with 120 boats landed on the Balearic Islands. Most of the people seeking protection come from Algeria. 

5.10.2021: Interview on the situation at the Polish-Belarusian border +++ Crimes against humanity in Libya +++ Camps on Greek islands emptying out 

• Franziska Vilmar from Amnesty International and I spoke with Detektor FM about the situation of refugees on the border between Poland and Belarus. People's lives are at stake there and we must finally take action. You can listen to the ten-minute piece listen here.
• An United Nations Commission of Inquiry in Libya says it has strong indications of War Crimes as well as for crimes against humanity in prisons and against refugees. 
• On Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos, the Greek government still registered 4490 people at the end of September. In 2020, the number was just over 40,000 for several months. Most of them are still in Greece, sent to Athens by the Greek government, where many end up homeless due to lack of support. Another reason why the numbers are so low is the systematic pushbacks by the Greek coast guard, preventing people from reaching the islands at all.
• Horst Seehofer's time as interior minister is coming to an end. His term of office includes numerous tightening of asylum laws, detention pending deportation and a blockade attitude towards the admission of refugees. PRO ASYL summarizes, in which areas intolerable conditions became the new normality under Seehofer.
• For years Turkey has taken in millions of people seeking protection from Syria and other crisis regions - also at the request of the EU. But now the government is taking a radical turn in its refugee policy and wants to get rid of refugees again instead of taking in more refugees from Afghanistan. Deutschlandfunk has produced this 19-minute feature on the subject.

4.10.2021: People drowning on Atlantic route +++ German government calls for humanitarian aid for refugees at Polish EU external border +++ Refugees from war zones arrive at German border with Poland

• Dozens of people drowned after their boat capsized on the way to the Canary Islands - Among the dead are said to be twelve children. Another boat with 62 people on board is missing in the Atlantic. According to Caminando Fronteras, in the first six months of this year alone, at least 2087 people died trying to reach Spain and thus the EU by water. The Data of Caminando Fronteras you can find here (Spanish, but thanks to graphics and illustration well understandable).
• The Federal Government calls for rapid support for persons seeking protection in the border area between Belarus and Poland. It is now important that "humane solutions are found quickly for these people", said government spokesman Steffen Seibert in Berlin. They must be provided with clothing, food and medicine, "especially now when temperatures are dropping". 
• Belarus continues to let refugees through to neighbouring countries. Now also the Number of people on the German-Polish border has risen sharply. By the end of September, federal police officers had taken a total of 1556 people into custody, as the Federal Police Headquarters in Berlin announced on Friday - 1305 of them in September alone. The people come mainly from Syria, Yemen, Iran and Iraq. 
• The EU border protection agency is demanding that the small organisation "Ask the State" reimburse it for over 10,000 euros in legal fees. Frontex boss Leggeri is thus demonstratively opposing the European Parliament, which had called for the demand to be dropped. Read more on the Homepage of FragDenStaat.
• Almost three months after the suspension of medical aid due to several worrying incidents, Médecins Sans Frontières has resumed work in two detention centres in Tripoli, Libya. The aim is to restore vital medical care to the migrants and refugees detained there. Here you can find the press release of Médecins Sans Frontières Sync and corrections by n17t01.

1.10.2021: Domenico Lucano sentenced to 13 years imprisonment +++ Poland extends state of emergency +++ BGH rules that adults may not be adopted to prevent deportation +++ 

• Domenico Lucano, as mayor, invited hundreds of refugees to his village of Riace and created a model of coexistence. But for helping refugees, he has now been sentenced to 13 years in prison by an Italian court. In Italy, people are showing solidarity with him under #MimmoLucano and #IoStoConMimmo. 
• The Polish parliament has extended the state of emergency on the border with Belarus by 60 days. The press and aid organisations are thus further denied access. 
• For more than seven weeks, 32 refugees from Afghanistan have been stuck on the Polish-Belarusian border near the village of Usnarz Górny. In addition, several people have died in recent days after being pushed by Polish police.
• The Federal Court of Justice ruled that the adoption of an adult refugee is inadmissible if its main purpose is to make deportation more difficult. Specifically, the case involved a couple from Andernach and a young Afghan who had come to Germany at the beginning of 2016. In August 2016, the couple took in the young refugee, who was about 17 years old at the time, into their household.
• Amnesty International and Pro Asyl have demanded from the parties involved in the future federal government to anchor a strengthening of refugee rights in the coalition agreement. They demand that human rights violations at the EU's external borders be punished and that a European sea rescue service be set up.

30.09.2021: EU Commission to crack down on smugglers +++ Amnesty accuses Poland of pushbacks +++ Poland sends SMS to deter fugitives

• The EU Commission wants to take stronger action against "smugglers", according to a new action plan. The Commission is selling this as a success, but the focus on the fight against smugglers is meant to conceal the fact that no progress is being made with the common European asylum policy as a whole. Moreover, there are hardly any safe escape routes to the EU and most refugees rely on smugglers. You can find the action plan here.
• Amnesty International has accused Poland of illegally returning refugees. The Polish border guards, meanwhile, make no secret of the fact that they carry out pushbacks and even announce this proudly on their Twitter channel. Amnesty also calls for an end to the state of emergency. 
• Poland is trying to deter fugitives via text message, but is also sending a signal to its own population. All people in a certain zone around the border are currently being sent the following message: "The Polish border is sealed. Belarusian authorities have told you lies. Go back to Minsk! Don't take pills from Belarusian soldiers." 
• After the fire in Moria, Germany took in 2812 people from Greece - officially. In fact, many more set out because they are treated inhumanely in Greece and have no prospects. 
• This year, the refugee agency UNHCR's highest award goes to a humanitarian organization in the conflict-ridden country of Yemen.. The relief organization Dschihl Albena stands for humanity, compassion and dedication.

09/29/2021: Polish police proudly announce human rights abuses +++ 17,000 people reached England irregularly across the English Channel this year +++ US government raises cap on refugees

• The Polish Border Guard proudly announced on Twitter that a new record was set yesterday and 473 people were prevented from crossing the border or pushed back. These are clear human rights violations. The photo was accompanied by a hooded policeman posing at the border post. You can find the tweet in Polish here. You can use the translation function on Twitter.
• This year, around 17,000 people reached England irregularly across the English Channel. In the whole of 2020, there were still 8400. Since Brexit, the British government can no longer send people back to France so easily. Now Boris Johnson's government is considering systematically carrying out pushbacks on the high seas and thus endangering people's lives. 
• Joe Biden's administration has pledged to take in up to 125,000 refugees a year. In the meantime, his predecessor Donald Trump had lowered that cap to just 15,000 people.
• The Geo Barents has finally been assigned a safe port after a long wait. The 60 people on board can now be brought to Augusta in Sicily. Learn more on the Doctors Without Borders Twitter channel.

09/28/2021: Poland to extend state of emergency +++ 16-year-old Iraqi dies after pushback from Poland +++ Mediterranean states advocate EU distribution mechanism

• Poland wants to extend the state of emergency on the EU's external border with Belarus by 60 days. As a result, aid organisations and journalists still have no access to the border. According to government figures, around 1200 refugees made it across the border in August. They were arrested and taken to guarded reception camps. 
• There was another death at the Polish-Belarusian border. This time a 16-year-old Iraqi died after pushback by the Polish border guards. Gazeta Wyborcza reports (Polish).
• Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Malta and Greece spoke out in favour of a "predictable and binding mechanism" for distributing refugees in the EU after a meeting in the southern Spanish city of Malaga on Saturday. EU member states such as Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have strictly rejected such regulations for years.
• The European Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control recommended freezing parts of Frontex's budget. The budget for 2022 should only be fully released when Frontex fulfils certain conditions. The press release of the European Parliament can be found here.
• More than 750 people seeking protection have arrived on Lampedusa in several boats. Crammed into an old fishing boat, 686 people initially reached the island, where they were able to go ashore. Shortly after, the coast guard discovered four much smaller boats with 67 people.  

27.09.2021: I spoke to Deutschlandfunk about the lack of solidarity at the Polish EU external border +++ 122 people rescued by the Ocean Viking go ashore +++ 2021 at least 1392 refugees killed while trying to cross the Mediterranean. 

• I gave an interview to Deutschlandfunk about the current situation at the Polish external border. In it, I say that we in the EU lack solidarity and only make ourselves vulnerable to blackmail because we lack a robust asylum system based on the rule of law. 
• Several refugees have died at the border between Poland and Belarus. The low profile shows: We have become accustomed to the atrocities. The taz criticizes this in this commentary.
• The crew of the rescue ship "Ocean Viking" had in the past days 122 people rescued from a total of four boats in the Mediterranean. Now the ship was allowed to dock in Sicily to bring the refugees ashore. So far this year According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 1,392 refugees have died in the attempt toto cross the Mediterranean. 
• In Sri Lanka, the Tamil and Muslim minorities face daily repression. The federal government knows this - and continues to deport there. 
• Thousands of refugees are waiting at the US-Mexican border, most of them in vain. They have gone through hell - because the human drama begins for them thousands of kilometres further south. Der Spiegel accompanied them and shot this 6-minute video.

09/24/2021: Another death at the border with Belarus +++ Frankfurt am Main becomes a safe haven +++ Turkish refugee policy becomes more restrictive 

• At least five refugees have died between Belarus and Poland this week alone. It is very cold there at night and frostbite occurs. But the Polish police are pushing back the people and aid organisations and journalists are not allowed to enter the border region. BBC managed to film this 6 minute piece about the situation on the ground, despite restrictions on press freedom.
• The fifth death this week on the border between Belarus and Poland is believed to be a man from Iraq who died of a heart attack. He is said to have suffered this heart attack after the Polish police picked him and a group of men up. 
• In response to the cynical abuse of protection seekers by Belarus, the taz demands: "Recording now! Otherwise, the dead will not have been the last victims." 
• Frankfurt am Main becomes a safe haven. The city councillors voted on Thursday evening by a majority for the motion of the coalition of the Greens, SPD, FDP and Volt to join the alliance of cities and take in refugees beyond the number provided for under the Königstein Key.
• Turkey is becoming increasingly restrictive in its refugee policy. Afghans do not want to accept the country in large numbers and many Syrian refugees are also afraid of having to leave the country soon.

23.09.2021: "Cologne Declaration" criticizes EU refugees +++ 30 documented cases of pushbacks on Balkan route in August +++ Mounted U.S. Border Patrol agents chase refugees from Haiti 

• More than 80 celebrities from art, science and politics practice in the "Cologne Declaration" harsh criticism of the European Union for its treatment of refugees. The letter was initiated by IIPM, LeaveNoOneBehind, Sea-Watch, Seebrücke, ECCHR, Equal Rights Beyond Borders, medico international, School of Political Hope and NTGent. 
• The Border Violence Monitoring Network has published its report for August. It documents 30 pushbacks on the Balkan route alone, affecting 324 people. It also deals with violence against refugees from Afghanistan and the use of sexual violence by the Croatian side. You can download the 21-page report here read.
• Images of mounted U.S. border patrol agents hunting refugees from Haiti cause uproar. The US government announces an investigation.
• Asylum seekers in Samos move into the new mass camp. The EU Commission and the Greek government are celebrating the camp as a new era of "migration management". But the people would rather not stay in Samos at all - they want a normal life at last. Deutsche Welle accompanied them and made this short film.
• Currently Greece builds a 40-kilometer wall along the border with Turkeyplus a surveillance system with cameras, radar and drones. The main aim is to keep people out of Afghanistan.

22.09.2021: Dead Iraqi woman presumably dragged from Poland to Belarus +++ Conditions in Bosnia-Herzegovina still inhumane +++ The taz presents my book

• In the past few days. four refugees died at the external border between Poland and Belarus. Now there are more and more eyewitness reports according to which an Iraqi woman was already in Poland and her body was later dragged back to Belarus. At present, it is almost impossible to verify the events independently, because journalists currently have no access and freedom of the press is severely restricted. 
• Nine months after the great fire in the Bosnian camp Lipa, the living conditions on site are still absolutely inhumane. Many of the people fleeing come from Afghanistan, yet they are denied the right to apply for asylum in the EU. 
• The taz has my book "Europe is doing away with itself" reviewed and in it sums up well what I was about when I wrote it. 
• Doctors Without Borders criticizes the conditions in the closed mass camp on Samos and states: "All we can do for our patients anymore is help them survive." 
• In Namibia, the parliament has again postponed the ratification of a genocide compensation agreement with Germany. This was preceded by a protest rally by descendants of the ethnic groups affected by the genocide committed by the Germans and a debate. Several hundred people entered the parliament.

Sep 21, 2021: People die at Polish external border, but Merkel does not criticize Poland +++ Polish president speaks of refugees as "organizing storm attack" +++ Millions of people in Germany may not vote on Sunday

• The Polish government confirms the death of three fugitives on the border with Belarus. During her state visit to Warsaw Angela Merkel expressed no criticism of Poland but instead stressed the relevance of "border protection", that is believed to have caused the deaths of several people here.
• The Polish government does not see itself as partly responsible for the deaths on its borders and President Mateusz Morawiecki instead described the fugitives as an "organised assault". The right-wing populist Morawiecki has now ordered the deployment of 500 soldiers to the external border.
• Millions of people who have lived in Germany for a long time won't be allowed to vote next Sunday. In the taz, some of them write what that means for them.
• The Geo Barents rescued 54 people from distress at sea. As the MSF ship approached, some cried out, "Our suffering in Libya is finally over." If you want to stay up to date, follow MSF Sea on Twitter.
• A new closed mass camp has opened on the Greek island of Samos. Strict surveillance and walls ensure that people cannot leave the camp at any time - like in a prison.

20.09.2021: Four people died at border with Belarus +++ Fire broke out on Samos +++ New mass camp set up on Samos, resembling a prison

• Four dead people have been discovered on the border between Poland and Belarus. The people were trying to get to the EU from Belarus. Why and from what they died is not yet clear.
• A fire broke out at the Vathy camp on Samos last night.... The camp has been cleared for a few days. Most recently, there were still just under 500 people housed there. 
• On Samos, the new hotspot camp has now been built, which resembles a prison in many places. The camp is fenced in with barbed wire and equipped with surveillance cameras, X-ray scanners and magnetic doors. It also has a detention center and is accessible only by electronic chip. The gates remain closed overnight. It is one of five such camps planned on the Aegean islands of Leros, Lesbos, Kos, Chios and Samos. The EU has earmarked 276 million euros for the project. medico international reports on the conditions.
• Yesterday, the Ocean Viking... Rescued 13 more people from distress at sea and is now caring for 129 rescued people on board.

17.09.2021: Greece seals itself off even more +++ New mass camp on Samos +++ Mosaic of 48,000 should make clear: Human rights are #none negotiable

• Greece is building a fence on the Turkish border to keep out refugees. The fact that more people fleeing the Taliban could now be arriving doesn't seem to interest the authorities there. DW reports.
• Greece opens a new camp on the island of Samos. Residents and critics speak of an "open-air prison". 
• Seebrücke, Sea-Watch and #LeaveNoOneBehind demand a future federal government for which the following applies: Human rights are #nonnegotiable. For this they have created a mosaic of 48,000 individual images in front of the Bundestag. You can see the impressive picture here.
• In Bottropp, people are fighting for the city to join Seebrücke's "Safe Harbours" initiative. The Waz reports.
• An Iranian asylum seeker is to present his passport at the Starnberg immigration office - and gets deported by return mail. This is not an isolated case for the Helferkreis.

Sep 16, 2021: Von der Leyen calls refugees 'hybrid attack' +++ Spanish coast guard rescued 225 people yesterday +++ Mexico stops people heading to U.S. 

• Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) described refugees currently arriving in Poland and Lithuania as a "hybrid attack to destabilise Europe". That's what she said in her State of the Union address yesterday, and that choice of words is absolutely wrong. It is true that Lukashenko is exploiting people to put pressure on the EU. But these people are not weapons and ammunition and that is why we should not speak of a "hybrid attack." The RND has the main points of the speech summarized here. You can listen to the whole speech watch here.
• The Spanish coast guard rescued 225 people from distress at sea on Wednesday alone. The people were spread across six boats off the islands of Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Tenerife. The news at this at the Spanish news agency EFE.
• In the south of Mexico, in the border town. Tapachula again many people are waiting to be able to move on towards the USA. They accuse the authorities of brutally stopping them and suspect a deal with the US.
• Thousands of refugees cross the Alps between Italy and France every year. On both sides of the border there are people who engage in nightly rescue operations for the refugees. In the process, they themselves become the target of the border police. BR accompanied the people and produced this 21-minute radio feature.

15.09.2021: Salvini in court +++ British Home Secretary threatens pushbacks +++ Refugee children in Greece denied basic right to education 

• As interior minister, Matteo Salvini refused to allow several rescue ships carrying refugees to dock in Italy. Now the ex-minister has to stand trial in a case.
• This year, 14,400 people have already crossed the English Channel into England. Now British Home Secretary Priti Patel is threatening pushbacks. The Standard reports.
• On Monday the school year started again in Greece. However, many children in the refugee camps will not attend school because they are denied their basic right to education. 
• The Malteser Migration Report 2021 "Facts instead of Mood-Mongering" sheds light on the migration situation in Germany and offers many insights into the reality of life for people who have not been in Germany for very long. The researchers also come to the conclusion that integration has made great progress in recent years. You can read the entire report read here. T-Online summarizes the results here together

14.09.2021: According to the World Bank, 200 million people could lose their homes by 2050 because of climate change +++ EU Commission blocks funds to Greece +++ In Greek camps, the situation for people with disabilities is particularly hard 

• Climate change could drive more than 200 million people from their homes over the next three decades, according to a World Bank report. But with immediate and coordinated steps to reduce emissions and support green and sustainable development policies, climate migration could be significantly reduced, it said. Tagesschau.de summarizes the report and discusses the various scenarios.
• The European Commission has asked Greece to set up an independent monitoring mechanism to monitor human rights at its external borders. Such a mechanism serves mainly to prevent pushbacks and is the condition for the release of €15.83 million requested by Greece from the Commission. 
• For people in wheelchairs, the situation in the Greek camps is particularly difficult. The taz accompanied 33-year-old Alafaat from Syria and reports on his everyday life. 
• Photographer Vincent Haiges was aboard Doctors Without Borders' Geo Barents in August and documented the rescue mission. You can see his photos at Zeit Online.

09/13/2021: 126 people rescued from the English Channel +++ 32 Afghan refugees continue to be detained at Poland's external border +++ Sea Eye rates political parties on their attitude to sea rescue

• The French navy rescued 126 people from the English Channel. Between early January and late August, more than 15,000 people had attempted the crossing, many of them in overloaded inflatable boats, according to French authorities. 
• In the border region between Poland and Belarus, 32 Afghan refugees have been waiting for over a month, unable to move forward or back. In an interview, they describe their situation as dramatic; they speak of hunger and weakness. Journalists are not allowed to see the people, but the WDR was able to organise a conversation via telephone..
• The federal election is in 13 days. At Sea Eye you can see how the parties stand on sea rescue and basically on human rights at the EU's external borders. and which parties you should consider if you want to stand in solidarity with people on the run. 
• People without a German passport are not allowed to vote in the Bundestag in Germany. In a city like Berlin, this means that a quarter of the population is excluded from the elections. We Greens want to change that. The Tagesspiegel took a look at what concepts the parties have to deal with this challenge.
• The Geo Barents of Médecins Sans Frontières, together with the Italian coastguard, has rescued around 40 people from distress at sea.

10.09.2021: British government threatens pushbacks in the English Channel +++ 30 Afghans have been stuck at Poland's external border for weeks +++ 120 people are rescued off Lampedusa

• The British government wants to rely on pushbacks in the English Channel in future and openly admits this - even though they violate current law. People trying to get from France to England will simply be turned back, which can put people's lives in danger at sea.
• The Polish government has sealed off the border region with Belarus. The media and human rights activists are not allowed to enter. 30 people from Afghanistan have been stuck there for weeksbecause they can neither return to Belarus nor enter Afghanistan.
• The Italian coast guard yesterday rescued more than 120 refugees from distress at sea off the island of Lampedusa. The people were stranded on a reef in the morning due to bad weather conditions, the Coast Guard said.
• The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has backed parents of refugees. The court ruled yesterday in favor of a man who had based his asylum application on the protection status of his son, that is, wanted family reunification. This was controversial because the son had reached the age of majority.

Sep 09, 2021: Interior Ministry delays evacuation and procedures of people from Afghanistan +++ Pakistan deports hundreds of Afghans +++ At least 509 people died fleeing to Canaries in August

• For weeks there have been promises to evacuate people, but the processes at the Home Office are being dragged out. No one from the Foreign Office lists has yet been promised admission. Even people from German lists who have been evacuated are being forced to travel on to the USA. The people in Afghanistan - including German nationals - are simply being abandoned. Please watch and share my video.
• Rescued Afghans are flown to the USA from Ramstein. Against their will. German authorities look on and do nothing. 
• After the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, many people fled to neighbouring Pakistan. Hundreds of fled Afghans without travel documents have now been deported again. The government pointed to insufficient capacities and called for more international involvement.
• The UN says it receives daily reports of violations of women's rights in AfghanistanAccording to the report, women are forbidden to go to work or leave their homes without a male escort. There were also complaints about attacks on girls' schools and centres that help women fleeing violence in the country. The Taliban had presented 33 members of the government on Tuesday, including not a single woman and no one from any other political group.
• In August alone, according to the NGO "Caminando Fronteras", at least 509 people died during the crossing to the Canary Islands. This makes the Canary Islands route currently the deadliest in the world, ahead of the central Mediterranean route. The German-language weekly summarizes the reports. You can get more information in the Spanish-language El Día from Tenerife.
• I spoke to Puls 24 about the inhumane conditions in the Moria camp and explained why the Austrian government can't simply decide that it won't take in any more refugees now. And why the Greek government can't just lock people up in mass camps. You can watch the nine-minute interview with me at see here.

09/08/2021: German schoolchildren still stuck in Afghanistan +++ Heiko Maas must finally explain why evacuations were not carried out in time +++ One year after the fire in Moria, Greece and the EU Commission have failed to keep their promises

• There are also many German schoolchildren stuck in Afghanistan who were not rescued in time by the German government. People are being killed there, while lists are being checked at a snail's pace in the Ministry of the Interior. In conversation with Watson, I explain again the failure of the federal government in Afghanistan.
• Following new evidence of early warning by the federal government of Taliban victory in Afghanistan. we have intensified our demand for clarification and are finally demanding answers from Heiko Maas.
• During the rescue mission in Kabul, the U.S. used Ramstein Air Force Base as a way station for its evacuees. People on German lists who have already applied for asylum in Ramstein are now being taken to a US plane and are to be flown to the USA against their willbecause BMI refuses to give the U.S. the info.
• A year ago Moria burned down and after the disaster the EU Commission promised "No more Morias". This promise has been broken. When I visited the new Moria a few weeks ago, the conditions were still inhumane. I talked about this with the ARD studio in Brussels. Also with Mirror Daily Podcast I had a conversation (behind the paywall, unfortunately). On my homepage I also report about my last visit to Lesbos and the current situation.
• Last March, EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson visited Lesbos and promised the Greek government more than 155 million euros for the construction of two new camps on the islands of Lesbos and Chios. The Greek government then announced that the new camp on Lesbos would be completed by September, which has not happened. tagesschau.de reports.
• Dozens of aid organisations criticise that nothing has improved since the fire and that the planned camps only aim to make the work of aid workers more difficult and to keep those seeking protection away from the population.

Sep 07, 2021: German government warned early of rapid collapse in Kabul +++ People protest in Kabul against Taliban +++ Syrian refugees abused and disappeared after return

• The German government always stresses that the rapid Taliban victory came as a surprise. However, it had already received a warning from the USA at the beginning of August to prepare for an emergency in Afghanistan. The Greens are calling for a parliamentary committee of inquiry into the events surrounding the withdrawal. Der Spiegel revealed (paywall)..
• Hundreds of people took to the streets of Kabul today to demand women's rights and demonstrate against the Taliban.. The Taliban broke up the protests by starting to shoot in the air.
• Even after the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, the Federal Government wants to insist that applicants for family reunification learn German in their home country. In August, there were 4,173 Afghans on the "appointment waiting lists" to apply for family reunification. The taz reported exclusively.
• Syrian intelligence services have detained, tortured and disappeared refugees and Syrians who have returned home, according to Amnesty International. According to a report published by the human rights organization, Syrian intelligence agents committed serious human rights crimes against 66 returnees, including 13 children. Under these circumstances, it is completely unacceptable to discuss deportations to Syria. tagesschau.de summarizes the study. The complete study can be found on the homepage of Amnesty International.
• Germany has failed in its evacuation from Afghanistan, writes lawyer and Green politician Tareq Alaows. He himself fled Syria in 2015, writes about his experiences and demands that the German government take responsibility for the people from Afghanistan. You can read his text at Zeit Online.

06.09.2021: Taliban say they conquer whole of Afghanistan +++ Spiegel interview with Kabul airlift +++ Sea Eye 4 brings 29 rescued to Sicily

• According to their own account, the Taliban have conquered the province of Punjir and now control all of Afghanistan. The resistance group NRF had previously proposed a ceasefire.
• In an interview with Spiegel Online, Theresa Breuer explained once again how we started the Kabul Airlift and how obstacles were put in our way to prevent us from rescuing as many people as possible. You can read the interview here.
• The city Reutlingen takes in 25 of the peoplewho were rescued with the help of the Kabul Airlift.
• The Sea Eye 4 brought 29 rescued people to Porto Empedocle in Sicily today - including two heavily pregnant women and four babies. If you want to stay up to date with the rescue operations, then follow the Sea Eye on Twitter.
• Time and again, Italy arrests ships in its ports that want to rescue people in distress. EKD Council President Bedford-Strohm is now sharply attacking the authorities and demanding a quick release of the "Sea-Watch 4". "It cannot be that ships that could save lives are arbitrarily detained while people die in the Mediterranean"Beford-Strohm said.

03.09.2021: Seehofer rejects Thuringia's state admission program for Afghans +++ Berlin wants to admit more local forces from Afghanistan +++ Poland imposes state of emergency on border and restricts press freedom

• Thuringia's planned state reception programme for relatives of Afghans living in the Free State cannot be implemented. This is justified by the fact that Horst Seehofer and the Ministry of the Interior do not see any necessity for a state admission at the moment. With its own admission programme, Thuringia wanted to make it possible for relatives of Afghans to come to the federal state under certain conditions.
• Green Party top candidate Bettina Jarasch is also calling for a reception programme for relatives of Afghan refugees in Berlin. At the same time, Jarasch criticizes the federal government for having recognized the situation in Afghanistan too late and for having made the acceptance of refugees difficult or even refused it for a long time. More on the positions of the different parties in Berlin you can find out at the RBB.
• After the end of the airlift, the only option left for people in Afghanistan is to flee overland. Thousands are currently waiting at the border with Pakistan, but are not being let in. After the two largest neighbouring countries Iran and Pakistan have already taken in around 80% of the refugees from Afghanistan, Germany and the EU now also have a responsibility to take in more people.
• I spoke to Weltzeit about why we cannot leave the people in Afghanistan to their fate now and why people need a chance to escape. You can listen to the contribution at Deutschlandfunk Kultur.
• Poland has declared a state of emergency in the border region with Belarus, which also means that journalists are no longer allowed to report on the ground. Near the border town of Usnarz Gorny, Afghan refugees have been stuck in no man's land for weeks, unable to enter Poland or return to Belarus.

02.09.2021: Refugees from Afghanistan face closed land borders +++ Turkey seals itself off from fleeing Afghans with a wall +++ Sea Eye 4 rescues 29 people from distress at sea

• After the end of the airlift from Afghanistan, many people dare to flee by land: at the Islam Kala crossing alone, on the border with Iran, thousands of people are crowding in. At the border with Pakistan, many people are standing in front of closed borders. Read more about which countries want to take in people seeking protection from Afghanistan and which don't, at Time Online.
• The Turkey is currently building a 300-kilometer border wall with Iran - especially to stop protection seekers from Afghanistan. This means that this escape route is now also closed to many people seeking protection from Afghanistan.
• The President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, has criticised EU states for their attitude towards Afghan refugees. He expressed "great disappointment" on Wednesday at the outcome of Tuesday's special meeting of EU interior ministers, which agreed on compartmentalisation.
• The Sea-Eye 4 rescued 29 people from a wooden boat in the Mediterranean Sea. Among them were eight women, two of whom were pregnant, and four babies. If you want to stay up to date with the missions, then follow Sea Eye on Twitter.
• The taz has visited some of the activistswho planned the airlift mainly from a Berlin apartment and gives an insight into their work.

01.09.2021: Kabul airlift is a great success with rescue of 209 people +++ EU Council and Commission do not want to make concrete commitments to take in people from Afghanistan +++ Afghanistan's neighbouring countries do not want to take in people seeking protection from Afghanistan

• I did an interview with "Welt" about the Kabul Airlift, in which I explain that the action and the rescue of 209 people is a great success. You can find the interview on my Instagram.
• At yesterday's meeting of EU interior ministers, it became clear that the priority of the Council and the Commission is to prevent refugees from Afghanistan from entering the EU. Those who want to flee from the Taliban should, according to their ideas, stay in the region - and under no circumstances come to Europe. In this way, the EU is not living up to its responsibilities.
• The Council and the Commission want protection seekers from Afghanistan to be accommodated primarily in neighbouring states. But the large neighbouring states Iran, Pakistan and Uzbekistan no longer want to let many of them into the country. About 2.5 to 3 million Afghans are estimated to live in Iran and about 3 million in Pakistan.
• Poland wants to impose a state of emergency on the border with Belarus. It is a step directed against the refugees on the border between the two states, who are being politically instrumentalised by the Belarusian regime.
• In the current episode of the Grenzfrei podcast of the Münchner Flüchtlingsrat is about pushbacks. Here, my colleague Michael Schneiss explains what exactly happens during pushbacks, which actors are involved and what role Frontex actually plays.

08/31/2021: German diplomats tried to force Kabul airlift plane not to evacuate anyone +++ Pakistan's ambassador calls on other countries to take in refugees from Afghanistan +++ EU interior ministers discuss situation in Afghanistan today

• I spoke to Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland about my criticism of the German government for its conduct in relation to the Kabul airlift. Publicly it was claimed that the plane was wanted, but after landing on the ground it was clear: our plane was not to evacuate people. When Portugal gratefully accepted our offer to evacuate their local Afghan forces, German diplomats apparently tried to force the plane not to evacuate anyone. Here you can find my video on Instain which I once again set out in detail my criticism of the Federal Foreign Office.
• The time reporter Wolfgang Bauer sat in the airplane of the Kabul air bridge and tells in an interview with Deutschlandfunk Kultur how the action was massively slowed down by German authorities.
• Amid the confusion of official evacuation flights from Kabul, the Kabul Airlift has emerged - and single-handedly rescued nearly 200 people. Politicians could learn a thing or two from them, comments the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
• Pakistan's ambassador to Germany, Faisal, has rejected the admission of further refugees from Afghanistan. "Pakistan is not accepting any more refugees from Afghanistan," he told the Tagesspiegel. However, his country was doing everything in its power to support the departure of Afghans to other countries. Pakistan has already taken in between three and four million Afghans. Now "richer and bigger" countries should take in refugees from there, Faisal added.
• Ahead of today's EU ministerial meeting on Afghanistan, Luxembourg's immigration minister Jean Asselborn has called for the EU to take in tens of thousands of Afghan refugees. "The European Union should be ready to provide 40,000 to 50,000 resettlement places for people from Afghanistan"said Asselborn. Other states, such as Austria, do not want to take in any refugees from Afghanistan. Read more about this at T-Online. You can watch the press conference of the EU ministers from 18.15 under this link
• Professor Werner Schiffauer explains why Seehofer's Interior Ministry played the key role in the local forces debacle in Afghanistan. It bears responsibility for blocking timely action and for the subsequent disaster of evacuating local forces.

30.08.2021: Kabul Airlift Update +++ The German Foreign Office lies about the Kabul Airlift.de +++ More than 10,000 people were left behind in Afghanistan despite guarantees of admission from Germany

• Actually, I'm still at a loss for words after a very exhausting few days, but: after the federal government called off the evacuation in Kabul, we were able to use the Kabul airlift to get 189 people to the airport and from there to safety.
• After the accusations against the Foreign Office by the Kabul airlift, the Foreign Office has responded. Instead of admitting this scandal, they apparently try to flee forward and get entangled in false allegations and contradictions. I have dissected this in detail in the video. You can watch the 56-minute video on my Instagram.
• Among the approximately 5300 people that Germany evacuated from Afghanistan, only about 100 were former local forces and their families. More than 10,000 people who worked for the Bundeswehr or development projects are still on the Foreign Office's departure lists. In addition, there are about 1600 activists and journalists who have to fear the revenge of the Taliban.
• After being confined to Palermo for ten weeks, dhe Sea-Eye 4 again on mission in the Mediterranean Sea. The ship is urgently needed there, the sea emergencies are increasing.
• At Lampedusa, 539 refugees arrived in a landing on Saturday.n. They had previously been discovered helplessly floating in the Mediterranean Sea in an overcrowded fishing boat just 15 kilometres off the coast of Lampedusa by Italian patrol ships and rescued. A total of just under 800 people arrived on Lampedusa on Saturday.

• Germany took in 47,400 refugees in the first half of this year. In contrast, 7,360 people were deported and 4,374 left voluntarily. These are very low figures and Germany has enough space and resources to take in more people.

27.08.2021: Many dead in Kabul airport attack +++ Evacuation flights end +++ Greece plans deportation law that violates international law

• At least 85 people were killed and many more injured in attacks in the Kabul airport area. The so-called Islamic State claims the acts as its own.
• The evacuation in Afghanistan will end in a few hours for all EU member states. Meanwhile there are still no proposals on how to deal with those seeking protection. The EU once again presents a sad picture, comments Deutschlandfunk.
• A new law on the "reform of the deportation and return procedure" is to be passed in Greece. According to the NGO Refugee Support Aegan, it ignores not only numerous Greek expert:ing bodies, but also international and EU law. You can read the message here (Greek).
• In mid-May, about 8000 people tried to cross from Morocco to Ceuta - hoping to reach mainland Europe. Many of them are still stuck there.
• "The real problems are on land"Federico Soda, head of mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), describes the situation around the Mediterranean Sea and explains what drives people into the arms of smugglers.

08/26/2021: Situation in Kabul remains dramatic +++ How the election campaign determined definitional issues for local forces +++ Greece disregards health of protection seekers

• The situation at Kabul airport remains dramatic. In a few days, evacuation flights will be halted. More info from on the ground has tageschau.de.
• Questions about political responsibility for the disaster are growing louder. In a Report of the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland it becomes clear how the decisions of those politically responsible have an impact on the ground and what the consequences are for the people. 

• In several cases, the European Court of Human Rights has recognized the Greek authorities' ongoing disregard for the health and lives of protection seekers in the Mavrovouni camp. Read more at the Legal Centre Lesvos.
• A boat accident off the Canary Islands has left 52 people drowning as they try to flee to Europe. Learn more at t-online.
• Conservative and right-wing politicians link the current situation in Afghanistan with a discussion about internal security in Germany. Current research shows that this has nothing to do with each other. More on this at the TIME. 

25.08.2021: German Armed Forces accused of failing to provide assistance +++ UN accuses Taliban of serious human rights violations +++ People entitled to family reunification are left behind in Afghanistan 

• There will not be enough time for the airlift to fly out all those in need of protection. The sponsorship network of Afghan local forces of the Bundeswehr accuses the Federal Government of failing to provide assistance. Angela Merkel was also responsible.

• At a special session of the UN Human Rights Council... on the situation in Afghanistan, the Taliban were accused of serious human rights violations.
• Many people who are waiting for their families to join them in Germany are also stranded in Afghanistan. In the taz such a story is once described.
• While the UN Human Rights Council explicitly discusses the oppression of women, the Greek government considers Kabul a safe city for women.
• If they have survived the life-threatening flight across the Mediterranean, those seeking protection in Greece now receive a €5,000 fine as a welcome, because they entered the country without a valid Corona test....

08/24/2021: Fundraising for charter flight to Kabul underway +++ 300,000 signatures for safe escape routes +++ Human Rights Watch calls for internationally coordinated reception of refugees

• For a long time we have been working with organizations on this, now we can make it public: We have a charter flight to Kabul to support the evacuation! Now we need your Donate. More at #LeaveNoOneBehind on Twitter.
• A petition on change.org calls for safe escape routes from Afghanistan. The petition has already collected 300,000 signatures in a short time. Hhere you can sign and share the demands.
• "Chaos at Kabul airport: symbol of 20 years of war Afghanistan" - Deutsche Welle comments on what the pictures from Kabul have to do with neo-colonialism. You can find the commentary worth reading here.
• The organization Human Rights Watch has called on European states to lead a global initiative to welcome those seeking protection.
• How refugees from Afghanistan are already experiencing the failure of EU asylum policy: Die Welt with a report from Lesbos. You can read the article here (paywall).

23.08.2021: EU disputes admission of protection seekers from Afghanistan +++ Civil society demands immediate admission +++ Greece continues to seal itself off

• In an interview with the Deutschlandfunk Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn has called for admission quotas within the EU, noting that while human rights are always used as rhetoric, they are never acted upon. Meanwhile, the Slovenian leaderswho is currently also EU Council President, for not helping people in Afghanistan. 
• Civil society has long been calling for a human rights-based refugee policy. Despite heavy rainfall in some places, thousands of people demonstrated in Germany over the weekend in favour of accepting people seeking protection from Afghanistan. More on this has been published by the Deutschlandfunk. 
• According to its own information Greece has completed a 40 km long border fence on its land border with Turkey. Heavily guarded and equipped with the latest surveillance technology, it is intended to ensure that fewer people have a chance to apply for asylum in the EU. Reuters knows more.
• The debate over taking in people from Afghanistan clearly shows that, due to the blocking attitude of some member states, the EU has failed for years to develop a common plan for taking in people seeking protection. Politico has the here summarized. 
• The sea rescue ship GeoBarents from the Organization Doctors without Borders has a safe harbor and can bring the 322 people rescued from distress at sea to Augusta.

20.08.2021: BND warned already in December 2020 +++ Taliban kill more people in search of journalists +++ Greece plans to suspend asylum law again

• There is growing evidence that many agencies have long warned of the rapid collapse, but that was politically ignored. Among others, the Federal Intelligence Service warned the Federal Government already in December 2020. The report on this can be found in the Mercury.
• Meanwhile, it turns out that the Taliban's press conference was, as expected, more play than reality. Journalists in Afghanistan are being hunted down and people are being killed. Reuters has more information.

• While thousands of people fear for their lives in Afghanistan, the EU is discussing how best to avoid having to help them. The Mirror has researched what plans Greece, among others, has.
• The situation in Afghanistan remains chaotic. Many people are trying to get to the airport in Kabul to get out of the country. The tagesschau reports that the Bundeswehr has been able to evacuate a total of 670 people so far.
• Demonstrations will also take place in many cities over the next few days. More information is available at kabulluftbruecke.de

08/19/2021: Interior Minister Seehofer blocked local force evacuation for months +++ Foreign Office calculates local force numbers down +++ More and more cities register rallies

• Two months ago, the German Conference of Interior Ministers had already called on the Federal Government to initiate the rapid admission of local forces from Afghanistan. But Interior Minister Seehofer in particular blocked the move. The Tagesspiegel has internal documents, documenting the failure of the federal government.
• In recent years, employment relationships of local staff have apparently been deliberately converted into bogus self-employment in order to be able to evade responsibility more easily. According to Foreign Minister Maas, only 2,500 local staff are involved, but the reality is different. In this Spiegel conversation worth watching. an ex-military soldier reports from Min 14:20 on how long-time supporters are now being given the cold shoulder.

• But even the few local employees who, according to the narrow definition of the Federal Government, may hope for protection, are constantly confronted with new hurdles: Employees of the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) are told that only parts of their family are allowed to leave: Grandparents or adult sons would have to be left to the Taliban. "GIZ confronts local forces with a choice: leave sons behind - or stay" writes Der Spiegel.
• Protests are also planned across the country today and on the weekend. More and more rallies are being registered to demand the rapid evacuation and reception of people seeking protection. A central demonstration will take place on Sunday at 1 pm in Berlin. You can find a current overview and much more collected at kabulluftbruecke.de.
• "They should rather fight the Taliban properly" - sentences like these are often used to divert attention from the failures of the Nato states. In a video, sociologist Aladin El-Mafaalani has briefly summarised why the Afghan army's quick abandonment is perfectly understandable and rational. This Instagram video is one that Joe Biden might want to take a look at.

18.08.2021: Bogus Taliban press conference +++ EU foreign ministers:inside want to negotiate with Taliban +++ Evacuation chaos continues

• At a first press conference after the takeover, the Taliban appeared friendly, spoke of women's rights and safe conditions. This has little to do with reality.
• Yesterday the EU Foreign Ministers met to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. Now they want to negotiate with the Taliban, but with conditions.
• The chaos in the evacuation from Afghanistan continues. On DLF, my colleague Cem Özdemir assessed the situation.
• In the last 24 hours, over 50,000 people have already used the kabulluftbruecke.de tool to write to their MPs. This is a very effective way to build up pressure on politicians. Feel free to share the link with those around you, you can join here.
• That the Taliban have now taken power is a sad reality. Meanwhile, this is also sinking into the consciousness. The Guardian describes in an articlewhat consequences this now has for women journalists, among others.
• At the border between Belarus and Lithuania a pushback took place. The border guards were filmed during it. The situation is tense, the ZEIT reports.

17.08.2021: Action cable air bridge started +++ Rallies planned in many cities +++ Evacuation via Kabul airport still chaotic

• In order to increase the political pressure on those responsible, we have launched the Kabul Airlift campaign. At kabulluftbruecke.de you can write your congressmen, donate and inform yourself. Feel free to share this with your friends and family.
• Today and in the next few days, demonstrations for the rescue and reception of Afghan protection seekers are planned in many places, and there were already initial gatherings yesterday. Larger demonstrations are planned for the weekend. At kabulluftbruecke.de there is now also an overview of actions of the Seebrücke, in which you can take part.
• The situation at Kabul airport has stabilized in the last few hours, and the evacuation of embassy personnel has begun. Thousands had gathered there in recent days, fleeing the Taliban, and some desperate people had clung to planes taking off from the outside and crashed. The first German plane now flew out only seven people, more planes are to follow. Ongoing updates in the FR ticker.
• The rescue operations following the hasty withdrawal of troops are also proceeding in such a chaotic manner because the German government had previously refused for months to guarantee the protection of local forces. A corresponding motion by the Greens in the Bundestag in April was rejected by the grand coalition in June.
• Now it may be too late for most. In a disturbing ZDF interview on Heute Journal. Markus Grotian of the Afghan Local Forces Sponsorship Network confirms that there is little hope for the survival of many long-time supporters: "We have to dissolve our safehouses, the Taliban are going door to door. If any rescue comes, it will be too late."

06.08.2021: Sea-Watch 3 has a safe haven +++ Greens call on Heiko Maas to present a new situation report for Afghanistan +++ Greek camps evacuated due to forest fires

• The Sea-Watch 3 is now on its way to Trapani, which has been designated as a safe haven by the Italian authorities. The 257 rescued people will soon be able to go ashore. The Ocean Viking is still waiting for a safe harbour.
• We Greens call on Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) to finally present a new and realistic situation report for Afghanistan, which also includes the current war crimes in the country. The current report still reflects the situation in May, before the Taliban began their offensive. A new situation report would make it quite clear that deportations to Afghanistan are currently out of the question. Here is my open letter, in which I asked Heiko Maas already three weeks ago to update the situation report.
• Thousands of refugees were evacuated from the Malaksa camp and brought to Ritsona because of the forest fires in Greece. Parwana Amiri describes the situation on Twitter.
• With the so-called Integration Act, the grand coalition wanted to facilitate the integration of refugees, but migration researchers criticise some points. Above all, the residence requirement has done more harm than good to integration into the labour market. The probability that refugees whose residence was determined by the state would find paid work was a good six percentage points lower than that of those who did not have a residence requirement. Read more about the review in the Tagesspiegel.
• In the UK, refugees now even face a prison sentence of up to four years if they enter the UK irregularly. This threatens above all people who try to get from Calais to Great Britain. DW reports from Calais.
• Belarus no longer wants to take back refugees from Lithuania. They now face being stuck in no man's land.

05.08.2021: Federal government sticks to deportations to Afghanistan +++ Greek ombudsperson declares deportation detention unlawful if deportation cannot take place promptly +++ Tolerance towards refugees decreases in Turkey

• The bombing in Afghanistan's government quarter was the reason for the cancellation. Deportation flight from Germany is to be "made up for in a timely manner", according to the Federal Interior Ministry. Although the Taliban are on the advance and many people are being killed every day, the German government wants to continue deporting people there. 
• In order to In order to temporarily suspend the repatriation of refugees to Afghanistan, the Greens want to use their participation in the governments of the federal states. 
• When Afghan local workers are admitted to Germany, employees of subcontractors are largely left out. We Greens criticise this and demand that local staff in Germany also be admitted.who did not work directly for the Bundeswehr but through subcontractors for the German troops, because they are just as endangered. 
• The Greek Ombudsperson ruled that it is not lawful to hold rejected asylum seekers in detention pending deportation if there is no prospect of timely deportation. Specifically, the case involves 19 people whose asylum decisions were rejected and who are to be deported to Turkey. However, Turkey has not accepted rejected asylum seekers since March 2020. Therefore, the Greek Ombudsperson is demanding the release of the 19 people who are being unlawfully detained. Read more at Equal Rights Beyond Borders, who filed the class action complaint.
• In Turkey, there is an increase in racist campaigns against refugees. One mayor even enforced that they should pay ten times as much for water and other municipal fees as locals. 

04.08.2021: Deportation flight to Afghanistan stopped +++ Lithuania considers building 508-kilometer fence on border with Belarus +++ Amnesty calls for decriminalization of sea rescues 

• Yesterday's Deportation flight from Munich to Kabul cancelledafter some of the Afghans have already been taken to the airport. There is no official reason yet, but it could be related to the fact that the European Court of Human Rights yesterday stopped the imminent deportation of an Afghan from Austria. 
• The Lithuanian State Border Guard has proposed to build a four-metre high and 508-kilometre long fence along the border with Belarus., the cost of which is estimated at more than 150 million euros. EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson also said during her visit to Lithuania on Monday that a physical barrier between Lithuania and Belarus was necessary. 
• Four years ago, the Italian authorities seized the rescue ship Iuventa - on the occasion of the anniversary, Amnesty International calls on the Italian authorities to end the proceedings against the crew members and other sea rescue NGOs. The human rights organisation also calls for the criminal offence of "aiding and abetting irregular entry" to be amended in such a way that the work of sea rescuers is decriminalised.
• The Ocean Viking and the Sea-Watch 3 have rescued around 800 people in the past few days and now need a safe haven. The people on the ships are suffering from the high waves and the oppressive heat. Many are seasick and dehydrated, some have suffered burns. Learn more on Sea Watch's social media channels.
• Annalena Baerbock calls for the creation of an immigration ministry. It is important to create "participation-oriented perspectives" and this is better possible if the immigration policy is detached from the competences of the Ministry of the Interior. 

03.08.2021: ECHR stops deportations to Afghanistan +++ Over 100 Frontex officers to be sent to Lithuania +++ People increasingly fleeing Tunisia to EU

• The Federal Foreign Office urges German nationals to leave Afghanistanbecause it was too unsafe. Today should according to information from Pro Asyl a deportation flight from Germany and Austria to Kabul. But today also the European Court of Human Rights an injunction stopping a deportation to Afghanistan scheduled for today.
• Every day, several hundred people from Afghanistan reach Turkey. About half a million Afghans already live there, but the majority of people in Turkey are against accepting more refugees from Afghanistan.
• So far this year, 3832 irregular entries from Belarus have been registered in Lithuania. That is why EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson was on the spot and promised that soon more than 100 Frontex officials will be in the country.. Instead of talking about a 'hybrid war against the EU', as the Lithuanian prime minister does, the EU should let Lukashenko's provocations go to waste and assure people of an asylum procedure based on the rule of law.
• The political situation in Tunisia could once again encourage more young people to make their way to Europe. Among them are a particularly large number of academics who no longer see a future in the country, which has been hit hard by political crises, the corona pandemic and the collapse of tourism.
• On the issue of asylum, resistance to the methods of right-wing Home Secretary Priti Patel is increasingly forming in Britain. The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee has denounced the "shocking conditions" in undignified barracks where minors are crammed together. The sea rescue service, which has been criticised by the government on several occasions, is inundated with donations.

02.08.2021: Ocean Viking and Sea Watch 3 rescue over 800 people in the Mediterranean +++ Although the Taliban are overrunning Afghanistan, Armin Laschet still wants to deport there +++ I talk to Sonntagsblick about the failure of European refugee policy

• In several missions, the Ocean Viking and Sea-Watch 3 have saved more than 800 people from drowning. There are currently 555 people on board the Ocean Viking and 263 on the Sea Watch 3. There are still at least three more boats in distress that need immediate assistance. You can find updates on social media at SeaWatch and SOS Mediterranée.
• According to the IOM, at least 1113 people have died crossing the Mediterranean this year. If we want to prevent the deaths of even more people, we finally need support for civilian sea rescue by the EU, coast guards of the member states that actually rescue refugees, and our own European sea rescue mission. The current figures on drownings in the Mediterranean Sea can be found at the Missing Migrants" page of the IOM.
• Although the Taliban are taking over more and more regions and killing people, Armin Laschet and Horst Seehofer still want to deport people to Afghanistan. They justify this by saying that criminals have to be deported consistently, but on the one hand criminals also have a right not to be deported to death and on the other hand the "criminals" are also people who have been caught several times without a ticket or have committed similar minor offences.
• In an interview with Sonntagsblick I talk about how the situation of refugees has deteriorated since 2015, why they are granted fewer and fewer rights, and why we in Europe simply accept it when people die, when that is exactly what we should not do.
• The UN warns of famine in Ethiopia's Tigray region, where it is having trouble delivering humanitarian convoys to some 5.2 million affected people. Food supplies are also in short supply in refugee camps in Tigray, where people from neighbouring Eritrea live, he said. There is also a high risk of disease outbreaks, especially in overcrowded refugee camps without adequate sanitation.

29.07.2021: Number of civilian victims in Afghanistan reaches record level +++ Greece demands that Turkey take back rejected asylum seekers +++ Court rules: Asylum seekers without prospects of accommodation and work in Italy may not be returned.

• Alone 2392 civilians were wounded or killed in Afghanistan in May and June, according to a published United Nations report. - In view of this situation, the Federal Government should suspend deportations to Afghanistan. 
• Greece has the EU Commission urged to persuade Turkey to take back rejected protection seekers. There are now 1908 people on the Greek islands whose asylum applications have been rejected, Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis said in a letter to the Brussels authority. According to the agreement Turkey would have to take these people back, but has not done so since the start of the corona pandemic. 
• Beneficiaries of protection or asylum seekers who have been transferred from Italy to Germany and have no prospects of finding accommodation or work in Italy may not be returned. This was decided by the Higher Administrative Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. 
• With the RBB Inforadio I spoke about 70 years of the Geneva Refugee Convention. and about how and why it is being gutted at our external borders. 
• Berlin will, for humanitarian reasons, in the next five years accommodate an additional 100 people per yearwho have fled to Lebanon. The admission takes place outside the usual asylum procedures, as the Berlin Senate Interior Administration announced.

• 171 people are said to have entered the EU from Belarus to Lithuania within one day -. more than ever before. In Lithuania they now face several months in prison.

28.07.2021: The Geneva Refugee Convention (GRC) turns 70. On this occasion, all news today have a reference to the world's most important document for the protection of refugees

- On its 70th birthday, the Geneva Convention on Refugees is dying. On this occasion I talked to the Frankfurter Rundschau about itthat the EU massively violates the CSF by mistreating, drowning or turning back refugees. Also on my homepage I have a short text to this.

- pianist Igor Levit and columnist Georg Diez have written an important article in the Tagesspiegelin which they call for an "aggressive humanism" and write that we must understand flight as an act of freedom and finally understand the 21st century as the century of the refugees.

- professor Sandro Mezzadra talks in an interview with Diary on how the Geneva Refugee Convention is currently under attack by states such as Denmark and the UK, and how the policy of externalisation contradicts the spirit of the Refugee Convention. He also explains why he is involved in sea rescue and why for him there is no strict distinction between theory and practice.

- In a Interview with Radio Eins, lawyer and political scientist Maximillian Pichl explains, why refugees in many EU states can no longer claim their rights under the Refugee Convention. And why reasons such as climate change and socio-economic exploitation should also be recognised as reasons for flight. I also spoke with Maximilian Pichl in my podcast about his study on the "Moria Complex"..

- Alexander Goebel commented in the Inforadio of the HRthat the inhuman reality at the external borders makes the commitment of the EU states to the CSF degenerate into pure hypocrisy.

27.07.2021: 57 people drown off Libyan coast +++ Libyan coast guard threatens to arrest crew of Sea Watch 3 +++ Germany deports again to Hungary 

• At least According to the IOM, 57 refugees drowned yesterday in a shipwreck off the Libyan coast. 
• The Libyan Coast Guard threatens to arrest the crew of the SeaWatch3. They falsely claim the Libyan SAR zone as their territorial waters, even though they are international waters. Ships like the Sea-Watch 3 want to help people in distress and bring them to a safe place. But the EU-funded militias are there to prevent people from fleeing Libya in the first place.
• Currently, with the SeaWatch3, the Ocean Viking and and the Astral two civilian rescue ships and one observation ship in the central Mediterranean. In addition, the Geo Barents of Médecins Sans Frontières is free again as of today and is being prepared for the next mission.

• Due to massive deficiencies, deportations to Hungary have been suspended in recent years. Now it came out through a question in the Bundestag that there was another Dublin deportation to Hungary in the first quarter of 2021. So in practice Germany is once again deporting people to Orbán's increasingly autocratic regime. 
• The Taliban are on the outskirts of Kabul. Many inhabitants of the Afghan capital are desperate and wonder whether they should flee. A few young women want to fight. The FAZ made an interesting report with impressive pictures on site.

26.07.2021: Tajikistan agrees to take in 100,000 Afghan refugees +++ The German Foreign Office downplays the situation in Afghanistan in order to be able to continue deporting +++ France calls for Frontex to be deployed at the English Channel

• Afghanistan's neighbouring country Tajikistan agreed to take in 100,000 refugees from Afghanistan. The US is also providing USD 100 million in aid for refugees from Afghanistan. Now that the Taliban have conquered a large part of the country, the German government should also finally stop deportations to the country. 
• In its report, the Foreign Office plays down the advance of the Taliban in order to be able to continue deporting people to Afghanistan. The taz has the report, and an analysis of the 26 pages shows that the AA makes outdated or false claims in several placesthat whitewash the current security situation in Afghanistan. 
• The Turkey is building a 144-kilometer-long, three-meter-high concrete wall with Iran. This is to deter Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban and trying to reach Turkey via Iran. 
• French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin is calling for the EU border protection agency Frontex to also become active at the EU's northern borders. He had contacted Frontex himself and asked it to become active in the English Channel. 
• Lithuania's foreign minister is calling for tougher sanctions against Belarus as long as the authorities there simply allow refugees to cross the border into the EU. He described this practice as "hybrid warfare". I think that instead of lapsing into such military language, the EU should rather concentrate on how to deal with the few thousands of refugees at the external border in a humane manner and in accordance with the rule of law. 

07/23/2021: Online disinformation is link between far-right and right-wing parties +++ Infant dies in Lesbos camp +++ Greece criminalizes human rights monitoring 

• A study shows: Online disinformation targeting refugees and NGOs acts as a "crucial link" between right-wing extremists and established right-wing parties. In Germany, it is primarily the AfD that disseminates misinformation from right-wing extremists. The 30-page study can be found here. Euractiv has the results in a clear article summarized.
• A three-month-old infant died two days ago in the Mavrovouni refugee camp on Lesvos. According to local news, the child was vomiting the night before he died, but was not taken to a doctor in time. If you want to learn more about the situation on the Greek islands, then follows the correspondent Franziska Grillmeier, reporting on the scene.
• The government in Athens is taking action against organizations and individualswho prove that the state has violated human rights and document this on the Internet. An authority set up with EU funding is involved in the investigations.
• On the morning of July 3, 27 people landed on Samos and were subsequently pushed back. You can find the video of the well documented pushback here.

• In the small town of Voghera in Lombardy... a local councillor from the radical right-wing Lega shot a homeless man from Morocco.
• About 450 Sans-Papiers in Brussels end their hunger strike for the time being. Belgium is home to around 150,000 undocumented migrants. They are exposed to exploitation on the labour and housing markets, UN experts warned last week.
• Yesterday, 238 people crossed the border fence between Morocco and the Spanish exclave of Melilla. They were taken to a processing center where their status is checked. They also have to go into self-isolation there to prevent the possible spread of the coronavirus.

21.07.2021: Hunger strikers in Belgium in critical condition +++ 20 people drown in the Mediterranean and 500 are dragged back to Libya +++ With "Now" I talk about my book 

• 475 people have been on hunger strike in Brussels for two months. Some could die, doctors warn. The government is arguing about how to deal with the people, many of whom have lived in Belgium for many years. The Greens and Socialists want to withdraw from the government if one of the strikers dies. 
• Some 20 refugees have drowned in the Mediterranean in the past 24 hours, while more than 500 others have been towed back to Libya. On Twitter, Safa Msehli regularly reports on repatriations to Libya.
• I spoke with "Now" about my new book, the connection between activism and politics, and what I'd bet a case of beer on. You can read the full interview here.
• Sweden, Finland and Norway have suspended deportations to Afghanistan. Germany, the UK, Denmark and Switzerland continue to deport there. The taz gives an overviewhow other countries are currently dealing with deportations to Afghanistan.
• In the greater Athens area alone, some 40,000 homeless refugees have been camping out on streets, squares and camps for weeks. Members of the association "Wir packen's an" travelled to Greece to help.

20/07/2021: My book on European refugee policy is published today +++ MEPs demand from the Commission to finally take action against Croatia's violent pushbacks +++ Sea-Eye sells Alan Kurdi 

• My book 'Europe is abolishing itself' is published today. In it I deal with the question of how the EU knowingly breaks its own law, betrays values and what consequences this has for us. I also write about the possibilities for change and how individuals can become active. You can read it at Rowohlt and buy the book as paperback and e-book.
• Together with other MEPs I have written a letter to the Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johanssonin which we demand that action finally be taken against the violent pushbacks at the Croatian border. 
• Sea-Eye sells the rescue ship "Alan Kurdi". The Regensburg-based aid organization justifies the move by saying that the blockade of civilian rescue ships by the Italian authorities had placed a heavy financial burden on it. The ship will go to the Italian sea rescue organisation ResQ and will be operated under the new name of ResQ People into new assignments.
• Within 24 hours, 430 people crossed the English Channel from France to England. For the year as a whole, there have been around 8000 so far. On my homepage I wrote in FebruaryWhat impact will Brexit have on flight and migration in England?
• In Herrsching, Bavaria, the container village for refugees is scheduled to close in 2023.  Hamidoula Javari then fears that he too will have to move far away and lose his friends. 

07/19/2021: At least 955 people drowned in the Mediterranean this year +++ Sweden suspends deportations to Afghanistan +++ Scientist calls for better access to trauma therapy for refugees  

• Currently, not a single civilian rescue ship is underway in the Mediterranean because many are prevented from doing their work for flimsy reasons. According to the IOM, at least 955 people have died in the Mediterranean on their way to Europe so far this year. Last year 404 people died in the same period. You can always find the latest figures from the IOM here.
• After Finland, Sweden is now also suspending deportations to Afghanistan. Germany and the other EU member states should now do the same. Therefore I have written a letter to Heiko Maas and ask him to adjust the assessment of the current security situation in the situation report, irrespective of any domestic political motives and in accordance with new findings and developments.
• In the wake of the refugee crisis, Frank Neuner, together with other scientists, has recommended, all Refugees to be psychologically screened upon arrival. Studies have shown that between 25 and 40 percent of refugees are traumatised. He called for better access to treatment for traumatised refugees. 
• Japan recognizes only one percent of all asylum applications. Those who have to leave the country again sometimes spend years in deportation custody - under absolutely undignified conditions. Even the death of a woman in prison did not trigger a rethink. tagesschau.de reports on the appalling conditions in Japan.
• The head of the EU border protection agency Frontex has covered up human rights violations. Despite this, the EU states are apparently not taking any action - they are condoning the permanent breach of the law. There seems to be a consensus that refugees should be kept out at all costs, and for that they are apparently prepared to suspend the law and their own values.

16.07.2021 Study shows that reports on refugees are increasingly negative +++ Refugees are subjected to massive violence by the Libyan coast guard +++ Lithuanians discuss measures to seal themselves off from the outside world

• A study by the University of Mainz shows that Germany's leading media are reporting less frequently and more negatively about refugees. The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported most positively. The most negative was Bild. The two public news broadcasts have almost reversed the tenor of their reporting, the study says: "While almost only positive reports about refugees were broadcast here in 2015, both are now among the media with the most negative portrayal." A You can find a summary of the results in the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
• Refugees continue to be subjected to violence, exploitation, sexual violence, extortion and forced labour in Libya, according to a new report by Amnesty International. According to a new report by the human rights organization, for many refugees, violence and mistreatment begin from their first contact with the Libyan Coast Guard at sea. You can find the report on the homepage by Amnesty in English, Arabic, Spanish, French and Italian. RND summarizes the report's findings.
• Following the EU sanctions against Belarus, hundreds of refugees are arriving in Lithuania via the EU's external border. Lukashenko is trying to blackmail the EU with this and Lithuania has declared a state of emergency, erected a fence and now wants to lock up incoming refugees in prison for six months. The measures are also being hotly debated in Lithuania. The European press review eurotopics has collected comments from Lithuanian media and translated so that people in other EU countries can get a picture of the debate.
• The UN denounce violence against refugees in Ethiopia's conflict-ridden Tigray region. A document, which is an EU initiative, calls for the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray.

07/15/2021 European Parliament presents inquiry report on Frontex +++ In a letter I ask Heiko Maas to reassess the security situation in Afghanistan +++ Three people drown off Malta 

• For four months, we MEPs have been investigating allegations against Frontex. Director Leggeri lied to us on several occasions, actively prevented the investigation of serious human rights violations and destroyed evidence. It is obvious that Frontex knew about human rights violations but did nothing. The presentation of the results of the working group can you here Watch.
• I wrote a guest article for T-Online in which I call for consequences after Frontex covered up human rights violations. The article appeared under the title "Violence, law-breaking, torture: anything goes at EU borders."
• The Taliban conquer more and more areas, people flee, the Afghan government asked for a stop of deportations, but Germany continues to deport. Therefore I have written a letter to Heiko Maas and ask him to adjust the assessment of the current security situation in the situation report, irrespective of any domestic political motives and in accordance with new findings and developments.
• The withdrawal of NATO troops and the advance of the Taliban are also having a major impact on Afghanistan's neighbouring countries. New shelters for refugees are already being built in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
• Three people died on the Mediterranean, before 81 other people were rescued from the same boat. NGOs accuse the Maltese military of deliberately delaying the rescue operation.

Jul 14, 2021 Lithuanian parliament to jail fugitives +++ More people flee Taliban +++ Germany maintains deportations to Afghanistan, Finland suspends them

• The Lithuanian parliament has approved sweeping arrests of fugitives in conflict with neighbouring Belarus. After their entry they are to be thrown into prison for six months. For rejected asylum seekers the rights of appeal will also be restricted.
• Since January 2021, an estimated 260,000 Afghan:in are newly displaced within the country, mainly due to insecurity and violence, in addition to the already three million internally displaced people. Many people are fleeing because they fear for their lives following the withdrawal of Western troops and the new rise to power of the radical Islamist Taliban. Currently, up to a thousand people a day arrive in Turkey.
• In spite of the situation in Afghanistan, the Federal Government continues to deport people to the country.. Finland proves that things can be done differently. Deportations to Afghanistan have now been suspended there.
• Pakistan no longer willing to accept refugees from Afghanistan and get rid of those who are already there. Yet there are currently over two million Afghans living in Pakistan, of whom 1.4 million are registered refugees. Moreover, a fence is currently being built on the border between the two countries.
• Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi claims that all accusations of pushbacks against Greece are unfounded and that people are not being illegally deported to Turkey. With this he is apparently in a parallel reality, as also a new Short documentary of the BBC ...is occupied. And here's Mitarachi's statement on Twitter.

07/13/2021 Hundreds of Sans Papiers in Belgium on hunger strike +++ Taliban conquer more and more provinces +++ CDU politician wants to continue deporting to Afghanistan despite the situation

• 475 undocumented people are on hunger strike in Belgium. They demand their legalisation and a reform of the right of residence. Many of them have lived and worked in Belgium for years and have children who have grown up in Belgium.
• The Taliban conquer more and more provinces in Afghanistan and the government already asked for a halt to deportations to the country yesterday. The Interior Ministry is considering a temporary halt to deportations and the Foreign Office is working on a new situation report. In view of this situation, it is completely unacceptable that just last Wednesday 27 people were again deported from Germany to Kabul.
• The Thorsten Frei (CDU), deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, spoke out against such a stop.. In view of the current situation, this is absolutely incomprehensible from a human rights perspective.
• The EU is working with the Libyan coast guard to prevent people from arriving in Europe. This regularly results in serious human rights violations and the refugees are returned to a country of civil war. The Berliner Zeitung talked about this with Sea Watch.

Jul 12, 2021 Afghan government asks for suspensions of deportations +++ Federal Constitutional Court declares one judge biased in asylum dispute +++ Frontex expands presence at Lithuanian border 

• The Afghan government has called on European states to suspend deportations to the country for three months. Due to the increasing violence of the Taliban and rising numbers of Corona infections, the repatriation of rejected asylum seekers is currently a cause for concern, according to a statement by the ministry responsible for refugees. The federal government should take this seriously and suspend deportations to Afghanistan now. 
• The Federal Constitutional Court has declared a Hessian administrative judge biased in an asylum case. The reason: In another trial, the judge ruled that NPD election posters with the inscription: "Stop the invasion: Migration kills!" were allowed to hang. According to the judge, this was not incitement of the people but "partially representing reality" and further wrote that a "danger to German culture and legal order as well as human life" was "not to be dismissed out of hand."
• Frontex to send 30 additional forces and technology to Lithuaniato prevent people from entering the EU from Belarus. The autocrat Lukashenko is currently trying to put pressure on the EU by allowing refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to pass through. Lithuania itself is planning to expand its border with Belarus at a cost of €42 million. Germany and Poland will each send a helicopter to Lithuania in the coming days.
• Those rescued in the Mediterranean 573 people are affected by the Ocean Viking landed in Italy. By Saturday evening, all had left the rescue ship in the port of the Sicilian city of Augusta, SOS Méditerranée said.
• I was a guest on the podcast "Talk ohne Gast". With Til Reiners and Moritz Neumaier I talked about my work as a politician, the situation at the external borders but also about original election campaign strategies. You can listen to the episode listen to the longer version here or watch in a slightly shortened version here on video.

07/09/2021 Ocean Viking has a safe haven +++ Lithuania erects new fences on border with Belarus +++ CDU and SPD advocate mass camps at external borders

• The Rescue Ship "Ocean Viking" with more than 570 refugees on board may dock in Sicily.
• Lithuania has started, erect new fences and barriers on the border with Belarus. The reason is that dictator Lukashenko is reacting to the EU sanctions against Belarus by deliberately allowing refugees to cross the border into Lithuania.
• Domestic politicians from CDU and SPD are in favour of setting up EU-funded hotspots at the external borders. They justify this by saying that faster procedures could succeed there of all places. In reality, however, this creates undignified mass camps like the one in Moria, which are intended as a deterrent.

• The According to IOM, the Libyan coast guard has already intercepted almost 16,000 refugees on their way to Europe this year and returned them to Libya. - more than in the whole of last year.

07/08/2021 At least 2087 people died fleeing to Spain this year +++ Person deported to Afghanistan presumed dead by grenade +++ Romania becomes key country on Balkan route

• At least 2087 people have died on the routes to Spain so far this year, according to the NGO Frontline Defenders. On the route to the Canary Islands alone, at least 1922 people have died in 57 boat accidents. The 12-page report in Spanish can be found at here. In the L'essentiel, the report is published in German. summarized.
• A man who was in the The man, who was deported from Hamburg to Afghanistan on February 1, is said to have died there by a grenade.
• Armed Afghan women take to the streets in protest against Taliban. They are resisting the Islamists robbing them of their basic rights again.
• More people try to reach Western Europe via Romania. In the first quarter of 2021, around 6,500 people arrived irregularly in Romania, compared to around 10,000 in the whole of 2020.
• From the Ocean Viking, a man jumped into the water. He was rescued from distress at sea a week ago and stated he could no longer stand the uncertainty and situation on the ship. The Ocean Viking rescued over 570 people and now urgently needs a safe haven.

07.07.2021: British government closes itself off to protection seekers +++ Greek prime minister thinks pushbacks are right even though they violate existing law +++ 92 dead in 11 days off Tunisian coast

• The British government wants to turn away people on the high seas in future and send those seeking protection to reception centres in third countries, while their applications are being processed. In addition, people who enter the UK irregularly are to be punished with up to four years in prison.
• Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has described and legitimised pushbacks as a common practice of Greek border protection in an interview. He thinks it's right to stop people on the water so that they can't apply for asylum in Greece. For him, the decisive factor is not whether someone legitimately wants to apply for international protection in the EU, but from where the boat sets off. The individual examination, which must take place according to the Convention on Human Rights, is thus consistently ignored. You find the interview (in Greek) here, meanwhile there are many good translation tools available online.
• Another 21 people drowned yesterday as they fled across the Mediterranean Sea off Tunisia. This means that at least 92 people have already lost their lives on this route within 11 days.
• The Prosecutor's office in Agrigento investigates in which June 30 incident in which Libyan coast guard fired on inflatable boat carrying 64 people. The Libyan coast guard is accused of trying to cause a shipwreck.
• The Afghan Shafi Qias has fought her way up from the Moria refugee camp to become a designer. In her Athens apartment, she sews fashion that is meant to show "that boundaries are fluid" - and has already been featured in "Vogue".

06.07.2021: Heiko Maas (SPD) maintains deportations to Afghanistan +++ Deportation flight to Afghanistan today +++ Lithuanian government declares state of emergency

• Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) considers deportations to Afghanistan still considered acceptable, despite the ever worsening security situation. Since the withdrawal of international troops began in early May, the Taliban have conquered many districts. The Taliban are currently outside Mazar-e Sharif, which also poses an acute threat to the remaining local Afghan forces following the withdrawal of the Bundeswehr. 
• The next deportation to Afghanistan is planned for today, probably from Hanover airport. In view of the current situation in Afghanistan, this is absolutely irresponsible. Amnesty International demands an immediate stop to deportations. The Bavarian Refugee Council provides information and introduces people who are to be deported. 
• The Lithuanian Government has on declared a state of emergency last FridayThis is because more and more people are entering Belarus irregularly. These are mainly refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, while Belarusian opposition members are currently often not allowed to leave the country. Dictator Lukashenko is apparently trying to blackmail the EU by opening the borders to refugees. 
• The Geo Barents is the latest case of an NGO ship being detained by Italian port authorities. Doctors Without Borders calls on Italian authorities to quickly release Geo Barentsso that the ship can set sail again.
• At In an interview with the Tagesspiegel, SOS Méditerranée founder and captain Klaus Vogel explainshow the Mediterranean is misused as a "bulwark against migrants" and why he accepted the Federal Cross of Merit with some shame. 

07/05/2021: Ocean Viking rescues 572 people +++ 43 people drown off Tunisia +++ Franziska Giffey (SPD) calls for deportations to Syria

• Tonight, the Ocean Viking another 369 people from a wooden boat, which threatened to capsize throughout the rescue. Those rescued were brought safely on board during the operation, which lasted more than five hours, where there are now 572 people. Previously, the Ocean Viking had already rescued 203 people from distress at sea in four rescue operations in just a few days.
• 43 people drowned in boat accident off coast of TunisiaAccording to information, 84 people were pulled out of the water by rescue workers and survived. Only on Friday, the Geo Barents of Doctors Without Borders was also prevented from leaving, and the Sea-Watch 4 and the Sea-Eye 4 are currently not allowed to leave to rescue drowning victims.
• Franziska Giffey (SPD) calls for deportations to Syriawhere people are threatened with torture and death. Giffey does not say how this is supposed to work, because then she would have to admit that a deal with the mass murderer Bashar al-Assad would be needed.
• 250,000 euros are required for a Sea-Eye fundraiser was collected - on the occasion of the birthday of Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer. For some reason, however, he did not want to accept the donation certificate in person. 
• Three years after the deportation of 69 Afghans on Seehofer's 69th birthday, NDR and Deutschlandfunk spoke with the people who were deported at that time. NDR meets the people in Kabul, in undignified camps on the Greek islands and in the Bavarian province. In fact, some were able to return as skilled workers. You can listen to the four-part radio feature here.

07/02/2021: Ocean Viking rescues over 40 people +++ Collective deportation to Afghanistan likely planned next Tuesday +++ Sea-Eye raises money for a birthday present to Horst Seehofer 

• The Ocean Viking rescues more than 40 people from distress at sea. A Libyan coast guard patrol boat disrupted the first of the two rescue operations. Among the rescued are 15 minors and five women, one of whom is pregnant, according to SOS Méditerranée. The rescue organization reported on the operation on Twitter.
• The Bavarian Refugee Council has received informationthat a collective deportation to Afghanistan is to take place next Tuesday, presumably from Hanover airport. In my latest podcast episode, I talk with Shikiba Babori about the situation in Afghanistan.
• Sea-Eye is collecting donations to give Horst Seehofer a present for his 72nd birthday. Three years ago Horst Seehofer joked at a press conference that 69 people were deported on his 69th birthday. Now, three years later, Sey-Eye wants to present him with a donation certificate for sea rescue.
• A man was found dead in the Bosnian refugee camp Lipa. At this time, authorities believe he committed suicide. Half a year ago I wrote here about the undignified conditions in the Lipa camp.
• The Woz reports on how the right of asylum in the EU is increasingly degenerating into a fiction. 

07/01/2021: Libyan coast guard fires on refugee boat +++ Greece cuts money to refugees +++ France rescues 46 people from distress in the English Channel 

• Deep in the Maltese rescue zone, the Libyan coast guard fires shots in the direction of a refugee boat and tries to ram the boat with its ship. She does it with the ship Ras Jadir, which was given to her by Italy in May 2017.
• Greece is massively cutting funds to refugees in Greece. Around 25,000 asylum seekers now remain without financial support because they live outside the camps, according to UNHCR estimates. Greek Migration Minister Mitarakis thinks this is the right thing to do because in his opinion the people should be deported anyway. On my homepage I have summarized how the money is distributed to refugees in Greece.
• More people than ever before recently tried to cross the English Channel from France to the UK. In June alone, there were over 2,000. Now French responders have rescued dozens again. Some were already suffering from hypothermia.
• Frontex registered around 400 irregular border crossings from Belarus to Lithuania in June. While Belarusian opposition figures are currently finding it difficult to leave the country, Belarusian border officials seem to be allowing people from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to simply pass through in order to put pressure on the EU.

30.06.2021: Significantly fewer asylum applications in the EU +++ At least seven dead off Lampedusa +++ Immigration to Germany declines 

• According to the report of the EU Asylum Agency EASO the number of asylum applications in Europe fell by 32 percent in 2020, the lowest level since 2013. In total, 485,000 people applied for protection in the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland in 2020. In 2019, there were still 716,000. The extensive EASO report (384 pages) can be found here.
• In a boat accident off Lampedusa... at least seven fugitives were killed this morning, including a heavily pregnant woman. The boat capsized five nautical miles from the island, according to Italian radio. Rescue workers reportedly recovered the bodies of the people and brought 48 survivors ashore. Nine other people are believed to be missing.
• Net immigration to Germany declined in 2020 for the fifth year in a row. Over the course of the year, around 220,000 more people migrated to Germany than left. The the Federal Statistical Office reported. In the past 30 years, there has been the highest number of immigrants in 2015, with an influx of 2.14 million - the lowest figure was in 2008, when net immigration was minus 60,000. You can find a summary at Zeit Online.
• The EU Commission stresses that the fight against traffickers is a central concern. But according to a new study by the United Nations they have little fear of prosecution.

06/29/2021: In my podcast Shikiba Babori explains the current situation in Afghanistan +++ Local forces of the German Armed Forces demonstrate in Afghanistan +++ Refugee children in Greece often cannot attend school 

• In my podcast, I talk with journalist Shikiba Babori about the current situation in Afghanistan, the troop withdrawal and the future of the people in the Hindu Kush. In particular, we focus on the rights of women and minorities. And we also explain why freedom of the press is better in Afghanistan than in many neighbouring countries. You can listen to the episode here. And you can also subscribe to the podcast at Spotify, Itunes or Soundcloud
• Yesterday there were renewed demonstrations in Afghanistan by local forces who feel they have been left behind. The local forces had not only supported the Bundeswehr mission in various capacities, but also political projects of the Federal Government in Afghanistan. In doing so, they exposed themselves to the revenge of the Taliban, who are now striving to return to power.
• After three months, Greek law actually provides a place in school for refugee children, but this rarely happens. While people in the pandemic around the world are learning digitally, refugee children on Lesbos often don't even have paper or a stable electricity connection.
• Although the number of refugees on the Greek islands is falling, their situation there is not improving. The conditions put a strain on people not only physically, but also mentally; children are already being treated for suicidal thoughts. And new hotspots are popping up on the mainland.

06/28/2021: 33 European cities form safe havens alliance +++ Bamf forces refugees to stay in their home countries +++ 40 dead in boat crash between Western Sahara and Canary Islands 

• For the right to asylum, 33 European cities stood up in Palermo. Together, they signed a declaration and thus founded the "International Alliance of Safe Haven Cities". In the paper, the cities call for the right to asylum to be upheld in every European state, for reception quotas for the voluntary reception of refugees in municipalities, and for direct funding of reception in cities by the European Union to the municipalities.
• Germany denies protection status to homosexual refugees on inhumane and illegal grounds. Some are advised to deny themselves in their home country, although such justifications are not justifiable according to the European Court of Justice. Some have even been forcibly outed by the German authorities, making a return to their home country impossible. Der Spiegel spoke with Michael from Nigeria, who was forcibly outed by the BAMF.
• Forty people, including two children and ten women, died in a shipwreck on the way to the Canary Islands. A fishing boat was still able to rescue 22 people from the boat. Helena Maleno Garzón provides regular updates in Spanish on the situation on this route.
• The Ocean Viking left the port of Marseille yesterday evening. The team will conduct training and exercises at sea before reaching the central Mediterranean. If you want the latest information on the missions, follow SOS Méditerranée on Twitter.
• Maltese authorities relayed positions to the Libyan coast guard to prevent a boat from reaching Maltese waters, according to Sea Watch. The people were then forcibly returned to the unsafe civil war country of Libya, where they face torture and inhumane treatment. Here I have written down why the EU must not outsource sea rescue to Libya.

25.05.2021: 5.7 billion euros for Turkey, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon +++ More cooperation with third countries to counter migration +++ Conference for solidarity-based refugee policy in Europe 

• The EU will continue to spend a lot of money on Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries. The EU Commission proposes a total amount of 5.7 billion euros. Of this, 2.2 billion euros are to go to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The bulk, 3.5 billion euros, is earmarked for the 3.7 million Syrians in Turkey.
• At the European Council meeting, the unresolved problem of dealing with refugees within the EU was not a topic of yesterday's statement. On the other hand, cooperation with third countries is to be expanded so that fewer people arrive. In concrete terms this means that the EU pays dictatorships and doesn't look too closely when the money seeps away.
• The European conference "From The City to the Sea" starts today in Palermo.where various European cities are today forming an alliance to welcome refugees. I discuss at 17:30 with Gesine Schwan, Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, Muhamad al-Kashef, Chiara Cardoletti and the two mayors of Potsdam and Palermo, Mike Schubert and Leoluca Orlando." More info, the videos of the conference and a link to attend can be found here.

• He wants nothing to do with Horst Seehofer's refugee policy - yet the mayor of Rottenburg am Neckar is a CDU member. Now Stephan Neher and mayors from all over Europe are putting pressure on governments to take in more refugees.
• 267 people have been rescued in a boat accident off Tunisia's coast.

06/24/2021: Croatian police illegally deport babies, pregnant women and children with disabilities +++ Consequences must follow after latest Frontex investigation group meeting +++ UNHCR report says 1.47 million people would need to be resettled next year 

• New videos show how even sick and pregnant women are systematically denied access to asylum procedures in Europe based on the rule of law. Entire families are being brought back across the Croatian EU border through the forest at night. Ursula von der Leyen is simply watching the rule of law being abolished at the external borders.
• Following the last public meeting of the Frontex investigation group in the European Parliament, consequences must now follow. The investigation confirmed the accusations against the Greek coastguard and also Frontex. I also call for the immediate publication of maritime emergencies in the future.
• According to the latest UNHCR report, 1.47 million refugees would have to be resettled in the coming year. Currently, however, the number of such resettlements is at a low because there are not enough countries willing to accept them. In the whole of 2020, fewer than 35,000 people were resettled worldwide through these programmes.
• Last year, a project in Hanover enabled 139 refugees with toleration to obtain the right to stay. The will of the authority was also a prerequisite.

06/23/2021: Doctors Without Borders withdraws from Libyan camps +++ HRW says Frontex is doing too little to address basic human rights abuses +++ Amnesty documents pushbacks and torture by Greek authorities

• Doctors Without Borders end their work in Libyan refugee camps in Tripoli. The people there are regularly beaten and mistreated by the guards. Médecins Sans Frontières is also no longer able to guarantee the safety of its staff in the two camps of Mabani and Abu Salim.
• Human Rights Watch concludes that Frontex is doing too little to combat systematic human rights violations at the EU's external borders. Although Frontex was active there, serious human rights violations occurred in Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary and Malta.
• In a report published today, Amnesty International documents 21 illegal pushbacks from Greece to Turkey. Torture was also used. Amnesty calls on the Greek government to end the illegal pushbacks immediately. You can find the 46-page report here.
• The Ritsona camp for refugees is a symbol of Greece's tightened policy: it is sealed off from the outside world by a concrete wall. In this three-minute video, the residents explain what it's like to be locked up there.
• Greece wants to use noise cannons to keep refugees away from Europe at its border with Turkey. Deutschlandfunk Kultur comments: "The noise cannon is a degrading, indeed: dehumanising weapon. As such, however, it would fit in only too well with the contempt for humanity at the EU's external borders."

06/22/2021 Germany admits more local forces from Afghanistan after all +++ 13,000 people repatriated to Libya this year +++ 11,000 relatives of refugees waiting for family reunion visas

• Germany will take in more people than planned from Afghanistan who have helped the Bundeswehr in its mission in the country. All so-called local staff who have worked for the Bundeswehr and other German security agencies since 2013 are now eligible. Initially, it was planned that only Afghans at risk who had worked as interpreters for the Bundeswehr within the past two years would qualify for relocation to Germany.
• Since the beginning of the year, the Libyan coast guard has so far towed more than 13,000 people back to the civil war country. There people are threatened with accommodation in torture camps and inhuman treatment up to systematic rape and murder. 
• Almost 11,000 relatives are waiting for an appointment at German missions abroad for a visa to join their family in Germany. Actually, the federal government promised to grant visas to up to 1,000 people per month through family reunification, but in reality this year it was only between 264 and 473 visas per month.
• The EU Commission is taking the German airport procedure as a model for the new pact on asylum and migration. According to this procedure, asylum applications can be rejected as unfounded. Although a person is on German territory, the legal fiction applies that he or she has not entered the country. NGOs like Pro Asyl criticize this practice.
• The new podcast "Migraton" deals in its first episode with the current situation at the EU's external borders. From minute 23.30 onwards, a parliamentary speech of mine on the current situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina is also quoted.

06/21/2021: Family deported from Pirna even though five of their seven children were born in Germany +++ Heiko Maas doesn't want EU sea rescue mission +++ EU uses questionable technological methods for border controls

• Imerlishvili family deported to Georgiaalthough five of the seven children were born in Germany and the two oldest were still toddlers when the family came to Germany in 2013. They were deported to a country that was completely unknown to them, whose language they do not speak and in which they know no one. SPD and Greens in Saxony speak of an "inhumane deportation practice". The neighbors demand in this petitionto bring the family back to Pirna. This touching videoin which the eldest daughter speaks, was written one day after the deportation.
• In an interview with "Welt" Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) speaks out against an EU sea rescue mission and instead wants to give Turkey more money to stop refugees from coming to the EU. He describes relations with Turkey as "constructive" despite the massive human rights violations in the country.
• The Standard reports that surveillance at the borders is to be given greater technological support. Controversial methods are also being tested as part of non-transparent research projects. Border controls are currently seen as a means of reducing the number of asylum applications and trying out questionable methods such as lie detectors or sound cannons. You can find the post with a comment from me here.
• The integration minister of Brandenburg, Ursula Nonnemacher (Greens), has spoken out in favour of strengthening the right of residence of young refugees. Young people who are urgently needed in the country should be given the prospect of staying. 
• In his commentary on World Refugee Day Heribert Prantl writes: "Every day the EU kills migrants - by failing to provide assistance. And those who come to Germany are finished off - in so-called anchor centers. This is pathetic."

06/18/2021: 82.4 million refugees worldwide +++ Trial and verdict in Moria 6 case face criticism +++ Criminal conviction against Reisch overturned 

• In 2020, almost 82.4 million people worldwide were displaced - more than ever before. This is according to the new report of the UNHCR. The reasons for this are wars, climate change and pandemics.
  The entire 71-page report you can read here.
  A summary you can find at the mirror.
• Nine months after the fire in the Moria refugee camp, six young Afghans are sentenced to long prison terms. And this despite the fact that no witness present saw them on the alleged night of the crime. The trial and the verdict have come under criticism.
• A court in Italy has suspended the penalty order against German captain Claus-Peter Reisch for rescuing refugees. The civil court in Ragusa has cancelled the fine of 300,000 euros, Reisch from Landsberg am Lech told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur on Thursday. The confiscation of his ship "Eleonore" had also been lifted.
• On the occasion of the conference of interior ministers, Pro Asyl, the state refugee councils and Youth without Borders demand a nationwide moratorium on deportations to Afghanistan and Syria.
  Here you can find the press release of Pro Asyl.
• Deutsche Welle reports here again about the rescue of more than 500 people by the Geo Barents of Doctors without Borders and the Nadir of Resqship. 
• Between 2015 and 2019, an average of 27,200 children with protection status were born in Germany each year. One third of these had Syrian Nationalityeleven per cent of the newborns had Iraqi nationality, ten per cent had Afghan nationality and six per cent had Nigerian nationality. Many of them are threatened with deportation to a country they have never been to before.

06/17/2021: Crew of the Nadir negotiates to bring rescued to Italy instead of Libya +++ CDU politician wants to have people deported to Syria +++ Syrians:inside flee from Denmark to Germany

• The German observation ship Nadir has found a distress at sea in the Maltese sea rescue zone. Instead of sending a rescue ship, Malta had only alerted the Libyan coast guard, which wanted to bring people to the internment camps. The crew refused. With political pressure and negotiations, in which I also played a part, it was finally possible to achieve that the Italian coast guard rescued the people and brought them to Italy. Find out more on RESQSHIP's Twitter channel.
• At the start of the conference of interior ministers in Rust, Baden, Baden-Württemberg's Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) spoke out in favour of more deportations to Syria. He knows you can't do that because people are being abused and killed there and it would take a deal with Assad. He's only interested in catering to right-wing populist sentiment.
• Syrian refugees are leaving Denmark for fear of being deported to their old homeland. The Jumaa family is now seeking asylum in Schleswig-Holstein. Time visited them.
• So far this year 391 people entered Lithuania irregularly from Belarus - most come from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq and Iran. In the whole of last year there were only 81 people. Thus the dictator Lukashenko is trying to put pressure on the EU while forbidding his own citizens to leave the country to seek safety from his police state.
• In the last few weeks, 481 people have gone missing on the voyage to the Canary Islands. We do not know whether they are still alive or not. The Spanish Público reports here on the disappearances.

06/16/2021: Overcrowded camps on Lampedusa +++ Spain calls for frontline deployment at border +++ Asylum seekers sue European Commission 

• The facilities for refugees on Lampedusa are completely overcrowdedbecause around 2,000 refugees have arrived there in the past four weeks. For the small island, that's a lot of people, but not for the EU with its 450 million inhabitants. Unfortunately, the German government is also currently refusing to take in people from Italy. 
• In the ongoing diplomatic dispute with Morocco... Spain wants to ask the EU for the presence of the European Frontex border protection agency in the North African exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. Spain accused Morocco of "blackmail". Rabat wants to increase migration pressure on Spain by suspending border controls so that Madrid will revise its position in the Western Sahara conflict.
• Off Lanzarote, 27 people were saved from drowning. Europapress reports (in Spanish). 
• transcript Verlag published the anthology "Kämpfe um Migrationspolitik seit 2015" (Struggles over Migration Policy since 2015), which examines the developments in European refugee policy in recent years from a critical perspective. Which forces have prevailed and what shifts have occurred discursively and politically? And what does this mean for emancipatory and pro-migrant perspectives? You can read the anthology free of charge as a PDF here.

06/15/2021: Bishops call for deportation stop +++ Up to 200 people capsized off Yemeni coast +++ Former Frontex vice criticizes developments at EU agency 

• Ahead of the conference of interior ministers, which will meet from Wednesday to Friday, bishops are urging the suspension of deportations in cases of imminent human rights violations in the home countries. At present, they consider deportations to Syria or Afghanistan to be fundamentally wrong.
• The German Institute for Human Rights also calls on the interior ministers to stop deportations to Syria. You can find the press release here.
• Fishermen recovered 25 bodies off the coast of Yemen yesterday. According to the authorities, a boat with up to 200 refugees on board had capsized earlier. According to the fishermen, the dead were discovered in the Bab al-Mandab strait, which lies between Djibouti and Yemen. More information about the route and the dangers you get at the mirror.
• The former deputy head of Frontex, Gil Arias Fernández, criticises the ongoing human rights violationswhich the agency allows to happen. He also warns against arming and infiltration by right-wing forces.
• The social democratic government in Denmark is currently pursuing the most right-wing refugee policy in the EU. Those affected live in fear. Der Spiegel was there and spoke with them and the opponents of an individual right to asylum. 

06/14/2021: Geo Barents needs safe haven for 410 rescued +++ 1200 protection seekers land on Lampedusa, 1000 returned to Libya +++ Pope calls Mediterranean Europe's biggest graveyard 

• The crew of Doctors Without Borders' Geo Barents has rescued 410 people in the Mediterranean Sea in two days. Now the ship needs a safe haven. Find out more on MSF Sea's Twitter channel.
• Over the weekend there were a total of 16 landings with around 1200 people on Lampedusa within 24 hours. At the same time, about 1000 people were intercepted on the Mediterranean Sea and brought back to the civil war country Libya. There is a detailed report on this in Italian in la Repubblica.
• Pope Francis has called the Mediterranean "the largest cemetery in Europe." The occasion was the inauguration of a memorial in the Sicilian city of Syracuse, off whose coast many people drowned in 2015 when a boat carrying migrants sank. This year, according to the IOM, at least 811 people died in the Mediterranean crossing to Europe, 675 of them on the central Mediterranean route. 
• Nine months after the fire in Moria, a court has sentenced four young men to ten years in prison each. No media or other observers were allowed at the two-day trial. The defendants' lawyers criticized that they had not received a fair trial.
• Arte has published a report on the illegal pushbacks through Greece. You can see the 24-minute film here.

06/11/2021: Geo Barents rescues 26 people +++ 450 people dragged back by Libyan coast guard +++ European Court of Justice rules Germany must base subsidiary protection on individual cases, not death statistics in region of origin 

• Médecins Sans Frontières' Geo Barents has rescued 26 people from distress at sea. Among them 15 unaccompanied minors. Find out more on MSF Sea's Twitter channel.
• Around 450 people were towed back to the civil war country by the Libyan coast guard during the night. UNHCR Libya reports.
• The European Court of Justice has handed down a decision in the German asylum application case concerning two Afghans from Nangarhar province who had applied for subsidiary protection in Germany. Although there is an armed conflict there, according to German jurisprudence, not enough people were killed there to grant subsidiary protection.... The European Court of Justice has now ruled that it is not legal to use a minimum number of civilian victims in the region of origin as an exclusion criterion.
• With other Members, I have tabled a question to the Commission on the sound cannons that the Greek Government intends to use against people fleeing. The cannons reach up to 162 decibels and can cause serious permanent hearing damage. We want to know from the Commission whether such sound cannons are also supported with EU funds. 
• The trial of the so-called Moria 6, accused of setting fire to the camp last September, begins today. 70 organisations from Europe demand fairness and transparency in the trial of the six accused refugees. They demand a fair and just trial, based on the presumption of innocence.

06/10/2021: Greece to stop letting people from Syria and Afghanistan apply for asylum +++ Greek government defends sonic cannon deployment +++ Deportation flight carrying 42 people lands in Kabul 

• Greece to stop people from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Somalia from applying for asylum in future and argues that they entered via "safe Turkey". These are the five states from which most asylum seekers have come to Greece in recent years. In fact, this would be tantamount to abolishing the fundamental right to asylum for the majority of those seeking protection in Greece.
• Dhe Greek government is defending the use of sound cannons against refugees on the border with Turkey: "What the police do, they must do in their own way," Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said during a visit to Brussels. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson, on the other hand, called the use of noise cannons "a strange way to protect its borders" at a joint press conference.
• The plane with the deported Afghans has landed in Kabul. Although Afghanistan is considered to be the most unsafe country in the world, the coronavirus is rampant and the Taliban are currently conquering more and more areas, the Federal Government is sticking to deportations to Afghanistan.
• For many refugees, the island of Samos is a place without a future. Many live here in inhumane conditions. While the EU builds new camps, it is often volunteers who try to alleviate the plight of the people. BR describes the situation on the ground.
• Doctors without Borders criticize the situation in the Greek camps. The promise not to build any new Morias has been broken. Instead, Médecins Sans Frontières criticizes that Moria seems to serve as a model for new mass camps at the external borders. You can find out more on the homepage of Doctors without Borders.

09.06.2021. In an interview with Deutschlandfunk Kultur I talked about the illegal strategy to seal off Europe. +++ EU interior ministers:inside no closer to a common refugee policy +++ Seehofer wants to prevent secondary migration to Germany 

• With Weltzeit on Deutschlandfunk Kultur I spoke about European refugee policy and how the impression is being created that the EU is waging war against people trying to reach Europe on rubber dinghies.
• At yesterday's meeting of the EU interior ministers once again no progress has been made towards a common European asylum system. The only thing the EU states can really agree on at present is more isolation and more cooperation with third countries so that fewer people arrive in the EU at all.
• Horst Seehofer promised under the German presidency last year that there would be a common European solution for a European refugee policy, which he failed to deliver. This is also due to the fact that Horst Seehofer has never worked towards a solidarity-based system.but above all wanted to prevent people from the EU states from travelling on to Germany at the external borders. 
• On the past mission of the See-Eye 4, the crew witnessed it twiceI would like to point out that Frontex is apparently deliberately not cooperating with sea rescue organisations, but is working with the so-called Libyan coast guard, which is illegally taking people back to Libya.
• In the squalor of the new Moria, people from Afghanistan have built a school. International aid workers support them. The Frankfurter Rundschau was on site.
• Vice-President of the EU Commission Margaritis Schinas visited the land border between Turkey and Greece and said that border protection symbolised "European values". He did not elaborate on whether he also meant the sound cannons, militarisation or the numerous violent pushbacks. 

08.06.2021: Today deportation to Afghanistan +++ European Court of Auditors criticises Frontex +++ Associations and NGOs demand from EU interior minister:inside end of mass camps at external borders and more reception from Greece 

• The Taliban are conquering more and more territory in Afghanistan and the security situation is worsening. Tens of thousands of local people who worked for the NATO forces want to flee because they are afraid of the Taliban's revenge. Despite this situation, a deportation flight is scheduled to leave Leipzig/Halle airport for Afghanistan this evening. The Deutsche Welle briefly discusses the situation of the local forces. Today at 7 p.m. a rally against deportations to Afghanistan will take place at the airport.
• The EU Court of Auditors has massively criticised Frontex in a report. I call in the mirror for the EU Parliament to block the Frontex budget. We cannot continue to waste taxes on opacity, inefficiency and human rights abuses.
• The meeting of EU interior ministers is currently taking place, where they are negotiating the future of European asylum policy. In a joint statement, several human rights organisations and social associations call forThe German government should suspend plans to build closed mass camps at the EU's external borders. In addition, Germany should take in more refugees from Greece. The open letter with the demands can be found at the Homepage of Doctors without Borders.
• Critics accuse the Greek government of using torture techniques to deter fugitives. The focus of criticism is the sound cannons, which can leave permanent damage to people. 
• The EU Commission called on EU states to take in refugees from Italy who are currently arriving in the country via the Mediterranean. The CDU/CSU and SPD reject this for Germany and see no need for action.

07.06.2021: Comprehensive study on deported Afghans published +++ Tomorrow evening the next deportation flight leaves for Afghanistan +++ Sea-Eye 4 detained in Palermo  

• The majority of Afghans deported from Germany apparently leave Afghanistan again shortly afterwards. In a recent study, only one out of 113 deportees stated that they wanted to stay in Afghanistan. Moreover, deportees have often never been to Afghanistan or were last in Afghanistan as children and are deported to a country they hardly know. A summary of the study you will find at tagesschau.de. The entire study by Friederike Stahlmann can be found here.
• At least eleven civilians were killed in a bomb attack in western Afghanistan. Although Afghanistan is considered the most unsafe country in the world, deportations from Germany to the country are to take place again tomorrow evening. On my homepage I have statedhow an EU agreement should facilitate deportations to Afghanistan.
• The Sea-Eye 4 was detained by the Italian authorities on flimsy grounds so that it could no longer rescue people. The Sea-Eye 4 rescued 408 people from the central Mediterranean Sea during its last mission in May and brought them to Pozzallo in Sicily, including around 150 children. At least 811 people have drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean since January, according to the IOM. 
• Although Médecins Sans Frontières' Geo Barents has been in the Libyan SAR zone for a week, it has not yet been deployed and departures from Libya are the lowest in months. Migration researcher Matteo Villa points out that such facts show that the civilian rescue ships in the Mediterranean are precisely not a pull factor that drives people to dare the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean. Matteo Villa's comment on Twitter.
• The Tagesschau reports that Greece is closing its borders with the help of the EU Commission. In addition to special cameras and lie detectors, sound cannons are also used, which can cause permanent damage. I told the Tagesschau: "We now have a situation in which loud noises are apparently being used to prevent people from even coming to border crossing points to apply for asylum."

04.06.2021: SRF reports on human rights violations by Frontex +++ Danish government wants to get rid of protection seekers +++ Turkey and Western Balkans receive billions, also to keep refugees out of EU 

• SRF Global has made a program about the criticism of human rights violations by Frontex. I and the head of Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, were also interviewed. You can find the interview with me starting at minute 11:37.
• A majority in the Danish parliament has passed a law that makes asylum centres in other countries possible. So far, the government has held talks with RwandaTunisia, Ethiopia and Egypt. However, even if the applications are approved, according to the government, the people will not be brought to Denmark, but will remain in the countries. The Danish Refugee Council criticises the proposals in this press release.
• Until the end of 2027, the EU will provide Turkey, Albania, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina with around €14.2 billion to prepare for EU accession. In return, Turkey and the countries of the Western Balkans are expected to prevent refugees from entering the EU.
• Greek authorities began vaccinating refugees against Covid-19 on Lesvos, Chios and Samos just yesterdayalthough the country has been vaccinating since January. It is incomprehensible that the people in the camps are being vaccinated so late, because they are particularly at risk due to the cramped conditions and lack of hygiene, and many of them are actually infected. 
• The Kara Tepe family camp on Lesbos offered a humane alternative to the infamous new Moria, now also called Kara Tepe. Now the authorities have closed it down and the most vulnerable people end up in the slum next door.
• Legal aid NGO Equal Rights Beyond Borders has this week won its 50th case in court rejecting an application for family reunification from Greece to Germany. More than 60 percent of applications for family reunification are rejected by Germany. Of the cases that end up in court, however, around 70 per cent of the rejections are overturned in court.

03.06.2021: International Commission of Jurists rejects EU Pact on Migration and Asylum in its current form +++ Ministry of the Interior does not want to help Bundeswehr personnel from Afghanistan +++ Religious woman found guilty for church asylum

• The International Commission of Jurists calls on the European legislator to reject the proposal for a screening regulation and the proposal for an asylum procedure regulation as part of the Commission's proposal for a new Pact on Migration and Asylum. The Commission's proposals would lead to longer detention of refugees.
• Following the withdrawal of German troops from Afghanistan, local Bundeswehr aid workers are particularly at risk. Many fear revenge by the Taliban and want to enter Germany. However, the Ministry of the Interior rejects a corresponding change in the rules.
• The catholic nun Juliana Seelmann was found guilty by the district court of Würzburg for granting church asylumbecause the Franciscan helped two women from Nigeria. According to their own statements, they were forced into prostitution in Italy and then fled on to Germany. The traditional church asylum is more and more under pressure in Germany.
• Following criticism from Spain, Morocco has announced that it will make greater efforts to take back unaccompanied Moroccan children who are in the EU without papers. 

06/02/2021: 23 people drown in the Mediterranean +++ Greek government to use sound cannons against refugees +++ Dutch journalist detained in Greece for reporting pushbacks

• At least 23 refugees have died in the Mediterranean on their way to Italy. This means that almost 800 people have already drowned in the Mediterranean this year alone. 
• Greece wants to use sound cannons against refugees at the border to prevent access to asylum procedures. This is obviously against European law and despicable. Hopefully the EU Commission will prevent it. You can find a report from DW News on the sonic cannons via my Twitter profile.
• A film crew from the Netherlands has been taken to a police station in Greece for questioning without giving any credible reasons. The team had been working for the public-law institution VPRO reported about pushbacks at the Greek-Turkish border. There, not only the human rights of refugees are trampled upon, but also the freedom of the press.
• With a giant life jacket as floor graffiti the work of sea rescue and the life-threatening flight of thousands of people across the Mediterranean to Europe will be commemorated on Frankfurt's Unicampus. "We only make visible what everyone knows and suppresses," reads a statement by the artists. This year, at least 773 people died in the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Europe.
• The city of Ibbenbüren declares itself a Safe Haven and reaffirms its solidarity with people on the run. Find out if your city is already a safe haven and how to make a city a safe haven on the Seebrücke homepage.

01.06.2021: NGOs sue Frontex +++ Saturday is day of action against deportations to Afghanistan +++ Greece cracks down on refugees with new technology and AI

• Non-governmental organisations are suing the EU border agency Frontex. The case in question concerns a woman from Burundi and a 15-year-old Congolese boy. The accusation is that they both tried to seek asylum on the Greek island of Lesbos last year and were left to fend for themselves at sea, without water or food. I have spoken to MDR about my assessment of the accusations.
• This coming Saturday, a Germany-wide day of action against deportations to Afghanistan will take place. More about the campaign, and whether there will be one in your city, can be found here. How the EU is currently facilitating deportations to Afghanistan despite it being considered the most dangerous country in the world, I have explained in this text.
• At its border with Turkey, Greece is testing digital and physical border measures against fugitives using artificial intelligence. AI-assisted lie detectors and robotic interrogators have been tested, and satellite data and drone footage are also being used. In addition, armored trucks emit deafening noise through a "sound cannon" in the direction of Turkey.
• Many people seeking protection are currently being brought from the Greek islands to the mainland. Many of them end up in the Eleonas camp near Athens, which is now struggling with overcrowding. The living conditions there are so bad that comparisons are already being made with the Moria slum on Lesbos. 
• The managing director of Sea-Eye, Gordon Isler, writes in the Morgenpostwhat cities like Hamburg can do in the current situation to live up to their responsibility. 
• Mission Lifeline is naming its rescue ship after the Egyptian Marwa El-Sherbini, who was murdered by a racist in Dresden in 2009. Mission Liefeline made the announcement on Twitter here.

28.05.2021: Federal Foreign Office forcibly routes protection seekers in their countries of origin +++ Hundreds of minors stranded in Ceuta +++ Irish association raises money for Mediterranean rescue ship 

• Lawyers of the Federal Foreign Office have outed homosexual and bisexual asylum seekers in their countries of origin - even though they face long imprisonment or even the death penalty there. Die Welt spoke to one of those affected.
• Hundreds of minors are stranded in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta. They can neither return to Morocco nor travel on to Europe. Many hide out of mistrust of the police. 
• The Irish association "Refugee Rescue" wants to raise two million €, to buy a new ship and save lives in the Mediterranean. Currently, the association is involved in the deployment of the Sea-Eye 4.
• During the night, 348 people were intercepted on the Mediterranean Sea and returned to the civil war country of Libya, where they face imprisonment and torture. Find out more on UNHCR Libya's Twitter channel.
• In the Greek refugee camp of Katsikas, there have been more than 170 cases of infection with Covid-19 in recent days. More than 1,000 people currently live in the camp. The protection against infection in the camps is absolutely insufficient. Doctor Apostolos Veizis reported on Twitter.

05/27/2021: Fewer naturalizations due to Brexit and Corona +++ German government admits mistakes in dealing with homosexual protection seekers +++ Expert:inside calls for monitoring of refugees' human rights compliance in Greece

• Last year, significantly fewer people were naturalised in Germany. This was mainly due to Brexit and the Corona pandemic, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden on Wednesday. In 2020, some 109,900 foreigners were granted citizenship - 15 per cent fewer than in 2019. Syrian nationals made up the second-largest group among naturalised citizens for the first time. 

• In a letter to the Lesbian and Gay Association LSVD, the Foreign Office and the Ministry of the Interior have admitted mistakes in dealing with homosexual persons seeking protection. The association criticized that the BAMF seems to have a "paranoid fear" that people seeking protection are only pretending to be lesbian or gay and that the office is denying their identity in rows. In addition, the LSVD explains here why they are against the Commission's proposal for the new migration and asylum pact.
• Asylum seekers in Greece live in a legal parallel world of detention without a court order, arbitrary police violence and illegal pushbacks. Experts call for an independent monitoring system.

• US President Biden calls for ceasefire in Tigray. Earlier, the UN had expressed alarm at mass arrests in several refugee camps in the region. The region is home to many refugees who have now taken flight once again. 
• In its April report, the Border Violence Monitoring Network documented a total of 42 pushbacks on the Balkan route, affecting a total of 1125 people. 

05/26/2021: NGOs file lawsuit against Frontex +++ Assad gets re-elected +++ UN human rights office raises allegations against EU refugee policy 

• Three NGOs have filed a human rights complaint against the EU border agency Frontex at the European Court of Justice on behalf of two protection seekers. The victims, an unaccompanied minor and a woman, were forcibly rounded up on the Greek island of Lesbos, robbed and eventually abandoned at sea on rafts with no water, food or means of navigation, a joint statement by Front-Lex, Progress Lawyers Network and Helsinki Monitor said. The press release of the three NGOs can be found here.
• In Syria, the ruler and war criminal Assad has allowed himself to be re-elected. Experts call the elections a farce. During Assad's time in office, more than half of the population fled the country, and as long as he is in power, most of them will not be able to return. 
• The UN Human Rights Office publishes a report on the events in the central Mediterranean and accuses the EU of condoning human rights violations. Here you can find the press release of the United Nations.
• On Lesbos, people's freedom of movement is being further restricted. At weekends, people are sometimes not allowed out at all, and at other times, in the middle of the pandemic, they have to wait in long, narrow queues to be allowed out. Isabel Schayani updates on the situation on the ground on Twitter.
• The Tunisian navy has rescued 100 people from an inflatable boat. The people had left the Libyan town of Suwara and were on their way to Europe. This year, 743 people have already died in the Mediterranean on their way to Europe.

05/25/2021: Frontex chief tries to cover up pushback scandal and ignores his own human rights commissioner +++ CDU politician:inside calls for more mass camps at EU external borders +++ Hundreds of unaccompanied minor protection seekers are in Ceuta 

• For months, Frontex chief Fabrice Leggeri has been under pressure over his border guards' involvement in illegal pushbacks in the Aegean. Internal documents show: Frontex's own human rights officer spoke of "solid evidence" of pushbacks in the Aegean, but Frontex chief Leggeri may simply have passed it over.
• CDU politicians are pushing for hotspots for refugees in Italy and Spain. As a model for these camps they cite the newly emerging camp on the island of Lesbos, of all places, where the Greek government and the EU have failed for six years to create humane conditions. Instead of new mass camps at the EU's external borders there needs to be a coalition of the willing that goes ahead and is prepared to distribute protection seekers among European states. On my homepage you will find our concept for a fair and efficient asylum system in Europe.
• Most people have been deported from Ceuta to Morocco in recent days, but hundreds of minors remain in the Spanish exclave. These are also teenagers and children who come from West African countries. 
• In its refugee and migration policy, the EU is currently relying on outsourcing border controls to countries such as Morocco and Libya, says migration researcher Jochen Oltmer in Dlf. This is associated with risks, because one also works together with regimes that do not comply with EU standards.

• On Monday night, the Taliban attacked the provincial capital Mehtarlam of Laghman province in eastern Afghanistan. They are taking over ever larger parts of the country, which will foreseeably force many people to flee. On my homepage I have summarized how the EU tries to facilitate deportations to Afghanistan, although it is considered the most unsafe country in the world.
• The Bavarian Refugee Council assumes that the next collective deportation to Afghanistan will take place on 8.06.2021. Click here for the Twitter account of the Bavarian Refugee Council.

20/05/21: EU Commission works on new deals with Libya and Tunisia +++ Over 180 people drowned despite Frontex planes circling nearby +++ Greek migration minister claims illegal pushbacks are legal

• The EU Commission's plans include relieving Italy of the burden of incoming refugees and concluding new deals with Libya and Tunisia on refugee protection. Currently, the responsible Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, is in Tunisia with the Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese.
  Yesterday Johansson gave an interview to the Italian "Repubblica". Der Standard has summarized it in German here.
• Frontex is increasingly monitoring Europe's borders from the air. BuzzFeed News has reconstructed several cases, in which a total of more than 180 refugees drowned, despite Frontex planes previously circling nearby. 
• Greek migration minister Notis Mitarakis defends illegal pushbacks on high seas and spreads the false claim that these are legal. This is nonsense because the Geneva Refugee Convention, the European Convention on Human Rights and EU law oblige member states to guarantee people the right to an asylum procedure and to comply with the principle of "non-refoulement" - even if they enter irregularly. Border authorities must therefore always carry out an individual assessment of the need for protection if the person entering wants to apply for asylum.
• The owner of a Libyan-flagged fishing vessel alleges that Malta paid for pushbacks by the fishing vessel on several occasions.
• The Spain correspondent of the taz writes how refugees are misused by Morocco as bargaining chips: "When it comes to securing Europe's external borders, Brussels negotiates with despots and dubious rulers. As long as they deliver - and get the world's poor off our backs - they are our friends."

20.05.2021: Case against Carola Rackete dropped +++ Sea-Eye 4 assigned a safe haven +++ Number of internally displaced persons increases worldwide 

• A case against Carola Rackete is dropped. The court found that Rackete's actions fulfilled the duty of rescue at sea and did not constitute "resistance or violence against a warship." 
• The Sea-Eye 4 has been assigned a safe port and is allowed to land in Pozzalo, Sicily. This is good news, but it is incomprehensible why hundreds of exhausted people were not allowed to go ashore in Malta, even though the ship was already off the coast there. Learn more on the Sea-Eye Twitter channel
• The number of internally displaced people worldwide is at an all-time high, according to data from the Norwegian Refugee Council. According to the report, around 55 million people were displaced in their home countries at the end of 2020. In addition to conflicts, this is also due to natural disasters and climate change.
• The Romanian town of Timișoara is increasingly becoming a transit station on the so-called Balkan route. With other borders closed, people are looking for new routes. tagesschau.de has spoken with people on the run.
• Belgian authorities have rescued 49 people in distress at sea. The boat with mostly Vietnamese people probably started in France before.

19.05.2021: More Corona cases in the new Moria +++ Spain deploys tanks and soldiers in Ceuta +++ Expert commission on causes of flight presents report

• The Greek government seems to be pursuing a strategy of infiltration, even if they don't say so. In the new Moria, there was a positive rate of about five percent in 322 tests last week.
• Frontex falsely registered minors as adults in several cases on the Greek islands. For young people, this has serious consequences for their health and safety.
• Spain is deploying tanks and military on the border between Ceuta and Morocco and has now deported more than half of the 6,000 or so people who recently reached the Spanish exclave by swimming. This two-minute video discusses the background.
• The In its final report, the Expert Commission on the Causes of Flight recommended that the government should take stronger action against global warming and put arms exports to the test so that fewer people have to flee their home countries. In the authors' view, Germany should also set up a coalition of states that takes in a certain number of refugees directly from their regions of origin each year. The 220-page report, but also a 12-page summary, can be found at at this link.
• In a boating accident in the Mediterranean Sea. over 50 lives were lost. 33 other people were rescued by workers on an oil platform.

18.05.2021: Debate on sea rescue in the EU Parliament +++ Sea Eye 4 needs a safe haven +++ Thousands of people from Morocco arrive in Ceuta 

• I had the opportunity to speak today in the EU Parliament on sea rescue in the Mediterranean. I find it pathetic that EU states have decided that people in the Mediterranean should rather drown or be mistreated in Libya than reach Europe alive. You can watch the entire debate here.
• According to the IOM, at least 685 people have died in the Mediterranean so far in 2021. This is more than in the same period of 2020, 2019 and 2018. Despite these figures, there is no European sea rescue mission and currently only the Sea-Eye 4 is operating because other ships are detained on flimsy grounds. 
• The Sea-Eye currently has over 400 rescued people on board and is looking for a safe haven. Malta has refused the request, so the ship is heading towards Italy. Presenter Tobias Schlegl is on board as a paramedic and reports on his Twitter account.
• Doctors without Borders continues sea rescue operation in the Mediterranean Sea - this time with our own chartered ship: The Geo Barents.
• Around 6,000 people from Morocco had arrived in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta by Tuesday morning, but around 1,600 of them have already been deported back to the neighbouring country. Morocco let the people pass, according to Spanish media, because it is angry that Spain allowed the medical treatment of the head of the Polisario independence movement for Western Sahara, Brahim Ghali, in a Spanish hospital. Morocco claims the territory on its southern border as part of its national territory.
• Refugees from Moria are once again addressing the European public in light of rising Corona numbers in the camp. You can read the open letter here.

17.05.2021: Sea-Eye 4 rescues 330 people +++ Residents:inside prevent deportation in Glasgow +++ New Moria completely unsuitable for people with disabilities 

• The Sea-Eye 4 rescued 99 people overnight, mostly from Syria, and now has 330 people seeking protection on board. Last night, however, around 680 people were also intercepted in the Mediterranean and returned to the civil war country of Libya. You can read more about the rescues at the Twitter account of the Sea-Eye. To pullbacks to Libya regularly tweets Safa Msehli, IOM Spokesperson.
• The 26-year-old medical student Marianne Pretschner is committed to Sea-Eye. In the summer of 2019, she was deployed in the Mediterranean Sea and did what she also wants to do as a future doctor: save lives. The SZ spoke with her.
• About 200 people blocked a street in Glasgow to protest the deportation of two people. With success. Read more about the background, which also has to do with the conflict between Scotland and the United Kingdom, in the SZ.
• Khaled Al-Afat was transferred to the new Moria together with 400 refugees with disabilities. He cannot reach many areas with his wheelchair. For people like him, life in the inhumane camp is even more complicated than for many others. The ND visited him.
• In 2020, around 102,000 initial applications for asylum had been submitted in Germany. That was just half of what had been set as the "upper limit" in the coalition agreement, said the Chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany Heinrich Bedford-Strohm on Saturday at the 3rd Ecumenical Church Congress. If you realize this development, he said, the ongoing haggling over where people could go is "unworthy."

12.05.2021: Council of Europe criticizes Greek government +++ Broad alliance calls for easing family reunification for people with subsidiary protection status +++ Man on Lesbos faces life imprisonment after trying to save people 

• The Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe has written a letter to the responsible Greek ministers in which she demands an end to the illegal pushbacks, to allow the NGOs to work and to finally improve the conditions in the camps. In their reply, the responsible ministers simply deny that illegal practices occur and claim, contrary to all the facts, that the conditions in the camps have substantially improved.
  You can find the letter from the Human Rights Commissioner here.
  Here is the ministers' response.

• Although many survivors are currently landing on Lampedusa in Italy and the EU Commission has called on member states to help take in refugees, there have been no offers yet. Germany, France, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Spain had taken part in an earlier distribution and it is important that this time again a coalition of willing EU states goes ahead and takes in people from Italy.
• Clubs, associations and city leaders have called on the federal government to facilitate family reunification for refugees with subsidiary protection status. One reason for the appeal initiated by Pro Asyl is that in 2020 only 443 visas were issued per month for relatives of beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, although the law provides for a quota of 1000 visas. It is also criticised that applicants sometimes wait longer than a year for an appointment at German missions abroad.
• Mohamad H., 27, from Somalia is facing life in prison after he tried to save 33 people in a shipwreck off Lesbos. The prosecution accuses him of being the driver of the boat and thus of smuggling and putting people's lives in danger.
• Human traffickers earn around €50 million a year in the Western Balkans, according to a new study. They make most of their money in places where refugees are affected by illegal pushbacks. You could take away the traffickers' business if people could apply for asylum in the EU, as is their right.
  You can find the comprehensive study here.

11/05/2021: Me and 48 other MEPs call for evacuation of refugees from new Moria due to lead exposure +++ Libyan militias torture and enslave refugees +++ Over 2000 people land on Lampedusa

• Together with 48 other MEPs, I have written a letter to the European Commission in which we demand that all camp inmates be moved immediately to areas not contaminated with lead. The health and safety of these people is at great risk. They must not be kept in these conditions any longer. You can find the letter on my homepage.
• Libyan militias enslave refugees or torture them to extort money from their families. These are also the militias with which the EU cooperates as the Libyan coast guard. 
• A total of 2128 people arrived on 20 boats on Sunday and Monday night, according to Italian authorities. The EU Commission has called on member states to help Italy take in refugees.
• The "Sea-Eye 4" got a new medic. Hamburg's ex-presenter Tobias Schlegl signed on to the sea rescue ship and is helping off the coast of Libya.
• A person flees Syria because he doesn't want to fight in the military there. According to the Administrative Court of Baden-Württemberg, however, this is not a reason to be recognised as a refugee in Germany.

05/10/2021: Sea-Watch 4 detained, Sea-Eye 4 departs for area of operations +++ Libyan coast guard deports more than 700 people to civil war country +++ Germany must retrieve Syrian deported to Greece 

• This weekend, around 1400 refugees reached the island of Lampedusa. Meanwhile, according to media reports, the Sicilian judicial authorities again arrested the Sea-Watch 4. The pretext this time is that too many life jackets were found on board and that the ship's sewage system was not designed for such a high number of rescued persons. 
• The SeaEye 4 has departed for the area of operations. You can find out more about this on the Sea Eye social media channels
• More than 700 fugitives were intercepted by the Libyan coast guard yesterday and taken back to the civil war country where they face torture. At least five people, including a child, drowned when their boat capsized. IOM press officer Safa Msehli regularly tweets about pullbacks to Libya.
• Munich administrative court rules: Germany must bring back a Syrian deported to Greece. The human rights organisation Pro Asyl described the decision as a "slap in the face" for Federal Interior Minister Seehofer. The agreement with Greece to be able to send refugees back directly at the German-Austrian border was clearly illegal.
• The EU Commission wants to encourage more people to return "voluntarily" and expand Frontex into a return agency. Ramona Lenz and Nina Violetta Schwarz of Medico International explain in their guest article in the Frankfurter Rundschau how this looks in reality.

07.05.2021: Activist acquitted again +++ Italian mayor calls for European sea rescue programme +++ Journalist reports on smear campaigns against civilian sea rescuers:inside

• The activist Hagen Kopp helps people threatened with deportation. The co-initiator of Alarm Phone criticized the criminalization of solidarity and reported serious, often fatal consequences of deportations. Yesterday he was acquitted again in the second instance.
  https://alarmphone.org/de/
• The mayor of Palermo calls for a civilian European sea rescue programme in the Mediterranean. European cities, NGOs and aid organisations could work together with the support of the European Union. In June he organizes the solidarity congress 'From the sea to the city' with the mayor of Potsdam.
• "It's very hard - and the police nowhere our friend: they beat us at all borders." The Croatian police are particularly brutal. The Frankfurter Rundschau spoke with people seeking protection on the Balkan route.
• Journalist Mathilde Auvillain reports on her experiences on the Aquarius and about the discrediting and criminalisation of civilian sea rescue by European politicians and media disinformation. 
• A right-wing terrorist group has been busted again in Germany. They planned attacks on alleged migrants and politicians and talked about a civil war. Fascists are well networked, the group has, among others, contact with another right-wing terrorist group that wants to kill Green politicians and is currently on trial.

05/06/2021: Activist against deportations in court +++ Pushbacks of minors in France +++ Drones for Frontex +++ 

• "Migration is a human right for me." The activist Hagen Kopp wants to save people from deportations and is therefore standing in court again today. Der Spiegel interviewed him.
• France sends dozens of unaccompanied underage refugees back to Italy every month. For many, the police change their age so that they are considered adults. Families with children are also sent back to Italy without being given the opportunity to apply for asylum. Human Rights Watch reports.  
• Frontex is already flying planes over the Mediterranean and transmitting data on shipwrecked people, in some cases directly to the 'Libyan Coast Guard'.. Now Frontex is also testing the use of drones. The agency is also to be equipped with quadrocopters. Read more about these costly plans at Netzpolitik.
• Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) presents its annual report on pushbacks and torture. Physical and psychological violence, humiliation and threats are reported. In addition to the situation in Greece and Croatia, one focus is on the analysis of European chain deportations.  
• At least 130 people drowned in the Mediterranean Sea on April 22, 2021 even though they could have been saved. AP News has reconstructed and written down their story: https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-africa-europe-middle-east-migration-3614fc9520fb84fd50323bfa2a9ca01c 

05/05/2021: 2,000 deaths from pushbacks since pandemic began +++ Illegal pushback documented +++ European Parliament backs civil society 

• This year, more than 600 people have already drowned trying to reach Europe. Some 5,000 people have been returned to Libya, where more than half a million people are fleeing in completely inhumane conditions. 
• Since the beginning of the pandemic, at least 2,000 people have died as a result of illegal pushbacks. Systematic pushbacks by Frontex play a major role. The Guardian reports. 
• The SPD is calling for a fundamental reform of Frontex under a new director. In doing so it is calling for the replacement of the director Fabrice Leggeri, who has been in office since 2015, and more parliamentary control of the agency. You can read about the background in Der Spiegel. 
• 31 people were allegedly severely mistreated and even shot at by Greek authorities over five days in December 2020. The families were separated, taken to Turkish waters and shipped to life rafts. One of the fugitives survived only because he was revived by his friends in the life raft. Mare Liberum reconstructs the case. 
• The European Parliament calls on Frontex to withdraw the invoice sent to Frag den Staat and to refrain from future transparency complaints. In doing so, Parliament is backing important civil society work and is committed to transparency. 

04.05.2021: Deportation flight to Afghanistan cancelled because safety of accompanying police officers cannot be guaranteed +++ USA accepts more refugees again +++ German court strengthens rights of refugees 

• A deportation flight to Afghanistan planned for today has apparently been cancelled. However, the decisive factor for the decision was not the danger for the refugees, but for the German police officers accompanying them.
• Donald Trump had capped refugee admissions at 15,000 people per year. Joe Biden wants to increase that number to 62,500 people initially by September and to 125,000 people a year in the next fiscal year.
• The Lower Saxony-Bremen Regional Social Court has strengthened the rights of refugees who have already been recognised by another EU country but were subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment there. It awarded unreduced asylum benefits to a woman who fled Nigeriabecause the woman had to prostitute herself or beg for a living in Italy.

• On 06.03.21, 19-year-old Qosay Sadam Khalaf died after being taken into custody by police. He fled Iraq years ago to escape massive human rights abuses. Relatives demand clarification of circumstances of death.
  Death in Custody documents the 181 known deaths of People of Colour in Germanywho died as a result of police violence or in police custody.
• The Sea-Watch 4 and its 455 guests on board have been assigned a safe port and landed in Trapani, Sicily last night. Find out more on Sea-Watch's Twitter channel.

03.05.2021: More than 600 refugees rescued from the Mediterranean in the last days +++ Kara Tepe on Lesbos closed, so even more people in the new Moria +++ Greece is a dead end for many refugees

• Civilian sea rescue organisations have rescued more than 600 refugees in the Mediterranean within a few days. The German aid organisation Sea-Watch said it had taken a total of 455 people on board in six rescue operations by Saturday evening and is still waiting for a port to be allocated. The ship Ocean Viking of the organisation SOS Méditerranée brought 236 refugees to Sicily on Saturday.
• On 1 May alone, 172 people were returned from the Mediterranean to the civil war country of Libya. On the morning of 2 May, at least eleven people drowned off the Libyan coast. Pullbacks and boat mishaps are regularly reported by IOM Libya.
  In this post I explainwhy the EU must not outsource sea rescue to Libya and people must not be returned to the civil war country.
• For hours, a boat carrying shelter seekers drifted at sea off the Greek peninsula of Peloponnese. A passing freighter pulled the 170 people to safety.
• On Lesbos, the Kara Tepe camp was closed, although the conditions there were relatively good. The people were moved to the new Moria. The midwife Julia Falkner is on site for Doctors Without Borders and reports in this video about the catastrophic conditions. 
• Greece is also a dead end for many refugees outside the hotspots on the islands. In the reportage of WRDforyou you can learn more about the situation of the refugees. 

04/30/2021: Sea Watch rescues 44 people +++ New closed camp in Greece +++ Mass surveillance of refugees planned

• The Sea Watch 4 rescues 44 people from distress at sea, after not even 24 hours back in the area of operation. This shows once again that there are currently far too few rescue ships on the ground to save people from drowning. On the Twitter account of Sea Watch you will be informed about current missions.  
• The Ritsona Camp near Athens will be converted into a closed camp. Three meter high walls will enclose the camp. What this looks like is shown by Parwana Amiri on Twitter. 
• In future semi-automatic surveillance systems are to monitor Greek camps in the Aegean. Residents will only be allowed to leave the increasingly militarised camps during certain hours of the day. Drones, metal detectors and X-ray machines are also to be used. Read more about the background at Algorithm Watch. 
• A Spanish rescue ship brought a wooden boat drifting in the Atlantic to Tenerife. On the boat were more dead than initially thought: 24 bodies, including two minors. German Wave reports. 
• Cottbus was the first city in Lusatia to be declared a Safe Haven for Refugees. With this, it follows the call of the Seebrücke Lausitz. Learn more at Lower Lusatia News.
  To find out if your city has been declared a Safe Haven and to see which other European municipalities are showing solidarity in welcoming refugees, check out the map from Europe Welcomes.

04/29/2021: Frontex provides information for deadly interceptions to Libyan coast guard +++ Sea-Eye 4 reaches Mediterranean and receives support from Sea-Watch +++ Refugees are moved from humane camp to new Moria 

• Frontex sends information on sea rescue cases in the Mediterranean directly to the "Libyan Coast Guard" via WhatsApp groups and emails. Until now, Frontex has also claimed to the European Parliament that they only inform sea rescue coordination centres about sea rescue cases. In this way, they justified the fact that no coordinates are given to surrounding ships that can ensure the fastest possible rescue. A summary and my commentary on the illegal actions of Frontex can be found on my homepage.
• The EU border protection agency Frontex is to be expanded into a European deportation police force in the future. Migration researcher Jochen Oltmer is critical of Frontex's new mandate. Deutschlandfunk interviewed him.
• For the dispatch of their new ship to the Mediterranean Sea, the Sea-Eye rescuers have received support from the aid organization Sea-Watch. The latter has agreed to support the completion costs of the "Sea-Eye 4" and the long-term and sustainable strengthening of the structures with 550,000 euros. The Sea-Eye 4 reached the Mediterranean today. Sea-Eye founder Gordon Isler updates on the location of the Sea Eye 4 on Twitter.
• About 60 people were taken at dawn from the relatively good camp Kara Tepe and brought to the new Moria. There was no comprehensible reason at all to bring the people to a worse mass camp. This is simply to show that refugees at the European borders should not have the right to a decent life. Mission Lifeline posted photos of the action on Twitter.
• Single refugees living in shared accommodation in Germany will receive less social benefits than those living alone since 2019: 328 instead of 364 euros. This is significantly less than Hartz 4 and social courts doubt that this reduction is constitutional.

04/28/2021: Ocean Viking rescues 236 people +++ EU Commission backs "voluntary return" +++ EU Parliament denies Frontex discharge 

• Yesterday, theOcean Viking rescued 236 people from two overcrowded boats, including 114 unaccompanied minors. Several were weakened & dehydrated, women suffered minor fuel burns and inhaled fumes. At least 453 people have died in the Mediterranean since the beginning of the year. Click here to go to the SOS Méditerranée Twitter channel.
• The EU Commission has presented a paper, which aims to persuade more people to return "voluntarily" or to deport more people. According to these plans, Frontex is to become a deportation agency and states that do not cooperate are to be blackmailed with restrictions on the issuing of visas. Unfortunately, the Commission is focusing its work on sealing off and deportations and not on ensuring that fundamental rights are respected at the external borders and that people are saved from drowning. 
• The EU Parliament has refused to grant discharge to Frontex and has postponed the decision because we want to wait for the results of the investigation into pushbacks before taking a decision. This is a good step so that human rights violations do not remain inconsequential. You can find my tweet about it here.
• So far, 105 refugee teachers have been qualified for the German school system at the University of Potsdam. The programme, which lasts four to six semesters, enables refugee teachers to subsequently teach at German schools. They learn German and are given the opportunity to study a second subject, which they previously lacked for full recognition of their qualification in Germany.
• The European Commission has recently set up a group on sea rescue, the stated aim of which is to create cooperation at EU level to guarantee rapid intervention in the event of distress at sea. A month after the group was created, many people who could have been rescued have drowned. So far it's unclear what the group does at all and it's not even public who belongs to it. You can find an analysis of this at statewatch.

04/27/2021: Frontex relies on air surveillance instead of rescue +++ Debate on climate passport among Greens +++ Acquittal for monk in church asylum trial

• Frontex is increasingly relying on air surveillance with chartered aircraft. The cynical calculation here is that people in distress at sea can no longer be rescued and brought to safety if there are no more ships on the ground. Last week around 130 people drowned, while from the European side only a Frontex surveillance plane was sent out, but no rescue ship.
• The Greens are committed to protecting people who have to leave their homes because of climate change. In the discussion on the election programme, we discuss what opportunities there are for this over the next four years.
• The monk Abraham Sauer took in a refugee in the Missionary Benedictine Abbey of Münsterschwarzach. The public prosecutor's office charged him with this. Now the district court of Kitzingen acquitted him.
• The Legal Centre Lesvos has brought an action against Greece before the European Court of Human Rights. It accuses Athens of violence in unlawful operations against refugees to prevent their arrival in Greece. 
• Did you know that there is a film school in the Greek camps? The actress Katja Riemann visited it and made a documentary about the refugees at the school. You can find the film at Arte.

04/26/2021: Green European Group launches campaign for municipal reception of refugees +++ State government in Thuringia wants to continue taking refugees from Greek camps +++ German government offers Greece money to be able to deport there

• On social media, people are demanding their right to be in solidarity under #WelcomingEurope. Over 600 solidarity-minded municipalities in 17 EU countries want to welcome refugees. The map with over 600 host communities you can find here[ Door Closes ] And... here you can watch the video of the campaign.
• Thuringia received a total of 177 refugees from the Greek camps between August 2020 and March 2021. The state government in Thuringia also wanted to start its own state programme to take in more people from the Aegean islands, but was forbidden to do so by the Interior Ministry under Horst Seehofer. The Greens and the Left Party in Erfurt are pushing for a lawsuit, but the SPD doesn't want one. This legal opinion commissioned by me... states that the federal government should not simply refuse to accept some refugees by the federal states.
• On the Greek island of Lesbos, the closure of the municipal camp Kara Tepe began over the weekend. It was considered a showcase camp where particularly needy refugees, such as women and children, were housed. It is being closed so that the refugees are no longer housed near the city. 
• After several courts ruled that refugees can no longer be deported from Germany to Greece because they face lack of care and homelessness, the federal government is offering money to Greece. The aim is to change the conditions for refugees recognised in Greece so that they can be deported from Germany again.
• Denmark wants to deport people to Syria and has already withdrawn the protection title of more than 250 Syrian refugees. This decision is based on a completely incorrect assessment of the security situation in the country. In the European Parliament, we adopted a resolution on 11 March which clearly states that Syria is not a safe country to return to. Pro Asyl explains the background.

22.04.2021: Last plane with refugees from Greece lands today +++ Denmark prepares deportations to Syria +++ Groko extends IRINI naval mission 

• Today, 103 refugees from Greece have landed in Germany. The Federal Ministry of the Interior said it was not planning any further admissions. Yet it would be important to continue taking people out of places like the new Moria.
  You can read more about this in the press release of Pro Asyl.
• Denmark's government wants to deport Syrian refugees. Germany has similar plans. Time visits a family whose relatives were killed by the Assad regime. The family is to be deported.
• The grand coalition has decided to continue the IRINI mission. The ships in the Mediterranean are supposed to prevent arms smuggling and deliberately bypass certain zones so as not to have to rescue people in distress at sea. Julian Pahlke summarized why the Marin mission is problematic on Twitter here.
• There are currently around 123,000 refugees from Africa living in Germany. 54,000 of them, or around 44 per cent, fled to Germany from the brutal regime in the north-east African country of Eritrea. 24,000 people have found their way to Germany from Somalia on the Horn of Africa, which is torn apart by terror and civil war. A report on the figures, which are based on a question by the Green member of the Bundestag Filiz Polat, can be found here.
• The vast majority of Syrians and Eritreans who immigrated to Germany between 2013 and 2019 feel comfortable in Germany. This is the result of a study conducted by the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) and the Bamf Research Centre.

21.04.2021: Call for a ban on deportations to Afghanistan +++ Expert:innen explain why deportations to Syria violate fundamental human rights +++ Court rules: No deportations from Germany to Greece

• "If the West leaves, then the refugees must stay." Markus Deckert demands a deportation stop for Afghanistan - also because the Taliban could once again bring large parts of the country under their control.
• Denmark wants to be the first EU member to send refugees from Syria back to parts of the country designated as "safe". In a guest article, several experts and NGOs call for a rethink and explain, why deportations to Syria violate fundamental human rights. 
• Yesterday, the Higher Regional Court of Lower Saxony ruledthat refugees who have already received international protection in Greece may not be deported there.
• The Border Violence Monitoring Network documented 31 pushbacks on the Balkan route in March, affecting a total of 671 refugees. Refugees are also increasingly forced to use routes contaminated by mines from the war, which cost the life of one refugee last month. 
• The city of Leer in Lower Saxony is a safe haven. The council has decided that people can be accommodated in Leer beyond the distribution quota. Furthermore, the city joins the alliance "Cities of Safe Harbours".
  You can find out whether your town is one of the 243 safe havens in Germany on the Seebrücke homepage.

20.04.2021: Collective deportation from Frankfurt to Pakistan +++ "Ask the State" has to pay less court costs because of Frontex +++ Italian authorities wiretap journalists, damaging freedom of the press 

• About 40 people from Pakistan are deported from Frankfurt to Islamabad. One was only a few days away from an employment toleration, another will be separated from his wife with the deportation. The Frankfurter Rundschau explains here why some of the people actually fulfil the conditions for a right to stay.
• The EU border police Frontex wanted €23,700 from the NGO "Ask the State" - the European Court now reduced the bill by more than half. "Ask the State" is to pay legal costs after suing for the release of information from Frontex.

• The Sicilian public prosecutor's office accuses NGOs of collaborating with Libyan traffickers - and has wiretapped journalists. The accusations have no factual basis and the action is an attack on the freedom of the press.
• The Commission commissioned two studies to examine the use of artificial intelligence in domestic policy. Automated systems could detect irregular migration flows and be used for law enforcement.
• Political scientist Volker M. Heins believes that a world of open borders is a necessary utopia and has written a plea for it. The Süddeutsche Zeitung interviewed him.

19.04.2021: Seehofer tries to obstruct Frontex reconnaissance +++ Hotel owners in Gran Canaria take in refugees +++ Thousands of refugee children and young people missing 

• I was leaked an internal mail about the human rights violations at Frontex, which is very incriminating for Horst Seehofer and the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Obviously, the Federal Ministry of the Interior lied to the German Bundestag and tried to obstruct the clarification... You can read more about it in my thread on Twitter.
• Two hotel owners on Gran Canaria accept refugees in their hotel and also take over the costs. The living conditions are much better than in the camps. N-TV visited the hoteliers and the refugees.
• More than 18,000 refugee children and young people disappeared from state care in Europe between 2018 and 2020. In Germany alone, there were 724. Children and young people in particular are at risk of being exploited. The data of the research network "Lost in Europe" can be found clearly visualized at tagesschau.
• Serbian Constitutional Court ruled in favour of 17 people from Afghanistanwho were illegally pushed back from Serbia to Bulgaria in February 2017. These pushbacks have been used by most states on the Balkan route between Greece and Austria since 2016. Convictions are very rare.
• At least 41 people have drowned off the Tunisian port city of Sfax. According to the United Nations, they were on their way to Europe when their boat capsized. Only three people could be rescued.

04/16/2021: Belgian woman has taken in a total of over 50 refugees in need +++ More people fleeing West Africa to Europe +++ Pro Asyl calls for halt to deportations to Afghanistan 

• 52-year-old Christel from Brussels has an unusual flat share: Over a period of 18 months, she hosted over 50 refugees. That was going quite well until the police started accusing her of human trafficking - because they couldn't believe she was just trying to help.
• Armed conflicts and the Corona crisis are forcing more and more people from West Africa to cross to the Canary Islands. There they are stuck in overcrowded camps. A new Moria is threatening to emerge on Spanish soil. 
• Due to the planned withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan, Pro Asyl has again urged to stop deportations to the country. A strengthening of the Taliban is to be expected, and no opposition is safe in the country.
• The doctor Martin Binder has worked voluntarily in the refugee camps Moria and most recently Kara Tepe on the Greek island of Lesbos. The doctor from Reutlingen reports on the despair of his patients and on his own powerlessness.
• Without inventors with a migration history, the number of patents registered in Germany would have fallen over the past ten years, a study by the Institute of the German Economy states.

04/15/2021: Almost nothing remains of the 2018 Bamf scandal +++ Brutal human trafficker in Libya set free +++ Study proves: Migration hardly a topic in German curricula

• In 2018, Bremen's Bamf is said to have granted masses of unjustified asylum. Now the process has begun and it is already clear that there were no systematic false positive decisions on asylum applications and that the alleged scandal is not one. On the other hand, it is a scandal that the Bamf has wrongly rejected more than 20,000 applications.
• Libya has released one of its most dangerous human traffickers. Abd al-Rahman Milad, better known by his nickname Bija, is accused of shooting at boats and causing them to sink. The EU and Italy cooperated with him because he was part of the Libyan coast guard. 
• A study by the TU Dresden has examined the topics of migration and integration in German curricula. The authors criticise that migration phenomena are often linked to crisis developments such as flight and expulsion.

• Refugee councils criticize planned collective deportations to Pakistan. Such collective deportations could take place on 20 April and 18 May. You can find out more on the homepage of the Bavarian Refugee Council.
• After fighting in the Colombian-Venezuelan border area, more than 3,000 people again sought protection in Colombia a few weeks ago. Colombia has officially received 1.8 million refugees from the neighbouring country. You can find out more about the many millions of refugees from Venezuela on the UNHCR homepage.

04/14/2021: Biden withdraws troops from Afghanistan +++ Bamf wrongly rejected 21,224 asylum applications +++ Denmark to deport to Syria 

• President Biden wants U.S. soldiers out of the country by the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. As the mission was not successful, the country is in danger of being largely taken over by the Taliban afterwards. Nevertheless, a new repatriation agreement was recently concluded. Here I wrote down how the EU is trying to facilitate deportations to Afghanistan, even though it is considered the most unsafe country in the world.
• Of 68,061 Bamf decisions reviewed last year, the courts declared 21,224 to be unlawful - almost one in three. The success rate is particularly high for those seeking protection from Afghanistan, where 60 per cent of the Bamf decisions reviewed by the courts were overturned. It is a scandal that the Bamf is obviously encouraged to decide to the disadvantage of those seeking protection.
• Denmark has classified the Syrian capital Damascus as safe - an assessment with which the country stands alone in Europe. So far the residence permits of several hundred Syrians have been cancelled or no longer renewed because of this. Deutsche Welle has spoken with those affected.
• 17 people were rescued after an engine failure in the Ionian Sea, after trying to get from Greece to Italy. It is a good 100 kilometres of open sea from Corfu to the Italian cape of Santa Maria di Leuca in Apulia.
• Sicilian prosecutors have spent months shadowing dozens of reporters covering migration and sea rescue. The government is getting into trouble.

04/13/2021: Thousands of recognized refugees continue to flee from Greece to Germany +++ Spanish human rights activist deported from Morocco +++ A new Lesbos looms on the Canary Islands 

• Because Greece treats recognised refugees badly, many travel to Germany and apply for asylum again. According to the Bamf, in the first three months of the year about 2900 people who had already been recognised in Greece have filed a new asylum application in Germany. The Higher Administrative Court in Münster ruled in January that people cannot be deported to Greece because they face homelessness and "extreme material hardship" there. You can get more background information at ProAsyl.
• The Spanish human rights activist Helena Maleno Garzón was deported in January from her Moroccan home in Tangier, where she has been living for twenty years and where she works for the human rights of refugees. In this video on Twitter, she explainshow Spanish and Moroccan authorities are trying to prevent their work.
• A new Lesbos is looming on the Canary Islands. The Spanish islands in West Africa are increasingly becoming hotspots where refugees are being housed in camps in ever worse conditions and are not allowed to move on.
• Four people were found dead yesterday on a boat off the Canary Island of El Hierro. A total of 23 people were on board. The 19 survivors were flown to Tenerife.
• 34 people have died in the sinking of a refugee boat off the coast of Djibouti. In recent years, Djibouti has become a transit country for people who want to reach the Arabian Peninsula to find work. At the same time, many people are fleeing in the opposite direction from the civil war country of Yemen, which lies on the other side of the strait.

04/12/2021: Alan Kurdi is free again +++ Hagen becomes safe haven +++ 132 boats turned back in Frontex operations 

• The rescue ship Alan Kurdi has been freed after six months. Meanwhile Italy's systematic attacks on sea rescue organisations continue. Meanwhile the Dresden-based association Mission Lifeline has christened "Rise Above", a new rescue ship for use in the Mediterranean. tagesschau.de reports on Italy's tough stance against sea rescue. You will also find the statement from Sea-Eye.
• The city of Hagen officially declares itself a Safe Haven for refugees and joins the "Cities of Safe Havens" alliance. On the homepage of the Seebrücke you will findwhether your city is already a Safe Haven and how you can get your city to become a Safe Haven.
• The Greek coast guard systematically drags refugees back to the open sea, with Frontex helping. According to yet to be published Frontex statistics, this affects 132 boats alone since March 2020.
• Europe is using a new tactic in the Mediterranean to fend off refugees: aircraft instead of rescue ships. Frontex is also cooperating with the Libyan coast guard. The Republic has summarized her research in this Long Read.
• The crews of French ships have rescued 84 people from the English Channel.

09.04.2021: Press freedom restricted in Greece +++ Croatian border guards use sexual violence against protection seekers +++ Further ambiguities in Frontex training 

• Again and again there are reports that journalists in Greece are hindered in their work.
  Franziska Grillmeier wrote in the Frankfurter Rundschau, as she experienced the situation on Lesbos recently.
• In one incident at the Croatian border, border guards used sexual violence against a person seeking protection. The incredible story was written up by the English-language newspaper The Guardian.
• Frontex has booked courses for its border guards with a company whose aim is to recruit informants. But they do not want to admit that they put this knowledge into practice.
• The sea rescue organization Sea-Eye receives further support. Like some other dioceses, the diocese of Limburg has now also promised financial support.
• In the camp "Las Raices" on Tenerife refugees have to live under unacceptable conditions. After a protest against the conditions, some refugees were subsequently arrested. Background in the Spanish-language El Diario.

08.04.2021: Amnesty criticizes situation in Greek refugee camps +++ Malta breaks international law +++ Judicial hearing in Alan Kurdi case in Italy

• Amnesty International, in its 2020/21 annual report. sharply criticized the situation in Greek refugee camps. In the report presented yesterday, the human rights organization analyzes the legal situation worldwide.
• Malta is breaking international law. This is the conclusion of a report by the Council of Europe. Protection seekers who have fled to Malta by sea have to live for months without contact to family, help from NGOs is made difficult, visits are denied.
• The sea rescue ship Alan Kurdi of the NGO Sea-Eye has been detained in Italy for six months. Yesterday it came to a hearing in court. Background information on the blockade and how it could continue can be found at n-tv.
• Frontex has been criticised for numerous human rights violations. One problem is the lack of possibility to control the agency.
  How this situation could arise is explained by my MEP colleague Tineke Strik in an interview with WOZ.
• The Canary Islands continue to receive many people seeking protection from West African countries. In the last 24 hours alone, there were around 140 people. Overall, about twice as many people arrived in Q1 2021 as in the same period last year. It is unclear how many people die on the run. Experts assume that the number of unreported cases is high.

07.04.2021: Another collective deportation to Afghanistan +++ Sicilian prosecutor's office intercepts journalists during investigations against private sea rescue +++ Pushbacks at the Croatian border again 

• According to the Global Peace Index, Afghanistan is one of the most insecure countries in the world. Germany is deporting there again today from Berlin.
• Private sea rescue has been massively criminalized for years. Journalists have also been systematically wiretapped by the Sicilian public prosecutor's office.
  Read more about this attack on press freedom in the FAZ.
• At the Croatian border, there are repeated pushbacks by Croatian border officials. Following renewed human rights violations in early April, the UN Relief and Works Agency Bosnia and Herzegovina is now calling for immediate action.
• On the Greek island of Samos, almost 3,200 people are living in the Vathy camp, which was only built for 648 people. Not only is the hygienic situation unacceptable, but the mental health of those seeking protection is also alarming. Here the NGO Europe Must Act describes the situation.
• According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 4,000 people have already been stopped fleeing and returned to Libya in 2021. There they are threatened with inhumane living conditions and imprisonment.
• The city of Rostock supports private sea rescue. The Hanseatic city intends to support the Sea-Eye organisation with an annual sum of several thousand euros.

06.04.2021: Malta's sea rescue control centre obstructs sea rescue +++ Corona outbreak at Ritsona refugee camp in Greece +++ 400,000 people in Kenya face dissolution of their camps with no follow-up prospects

• Malta's sea rescue coordination centre once again failed in its duty under international law. First of all, reported emergencies at sea were ignored, writes Zeit Online. Now she even claims that the people seeking protection were never in the rescue zone, reports the NGO Alarmphone. Fortunately, all 270 people have now landed on Lampedusa. 
• Corona has broken out in the overcrowded Ritsona camp in Greece. However, the simplest protective measures such as keeping a distance and regular hand disinfection simply cannot be observed due to the undignified conditions. One resident shares her story in this video. 
• The Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps in Kenya are home to some 400,000 people. They are threatened with disaster, the camps are to be closed down, but there is no successor solution as yet.
• Pushbacks are part of everyday life in the Greek Aegean Sea. The ZDF Morgenmagazin tried to draw a picture of the situation and accompanied the Turkish coast guard in action. You can find the short report here.
• In recent days there have been further pushbacks off the Greek island of Lesbos. Frontex also seems to be involved again. The NGO Mare Liberum reports.

04/01/2021: EU naval mission "Irini" rescues no people from distress at sea +++ 166 GB of video footage proves pushbacks at Turkish-Greek maritime border +++ Germany should continue to take in refugees from Greek camps 

• The EU naval mission "Irini" in the Mediterranean Sea, which was decided a year ago, has so far not rescued a single person from distress at sea. The predecessor mission Sophia, on the other hand, rescued around 45,000 people from 2015. Under pressure from EU states like Italy and Malta, the ships simply bypass the migration routes so as not to have to rescue people. In Der Spiegel I give a classification of how the EU can support sea rescue.
• I have received 166 GB of material with videos of pushbacks by the Greek coast guard. The material comes from the Turkish authorities and we will have it analysed by independent experts. There are a lot of unpleasant questions coming up for Frontex and the Greek government. You can see a snippet at my Twitter.
• We yelled for help, but all they did was yell, "Get out of here! Get out!" - In this report, the NGO Alarmphone collects evidence of pushbacks and other human rights abuses in the Aegean. In 79 out of 125 emergency calls received between February 2020 and March 2021, people had their fundamental rights violated.

• Since April 2020, the German government has brought more than 2,500 protection seekers from Greece to Germany on charter flights. The programme is now coming to an end, but many people are calling for it to be extended. Here you can find the demands of Amnesty International.
• The chairman of the EKD, Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, has also called for the continued admission of refugees from Greece. He also calls the situation in the camps at the external borders a "disgrace for Europe."

• The Libyan coast guard today intercepted 138 people in the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Europe and brought them back to Tripoli. They face imprisonment and torture in the civil war country.
• In this text I explain, why the North African Mediterranean states cannot be considered "safe havens" and why the EU should therefore not outsource sea rescue to these states.

30.03.2021: State reception in Thuringia: Greens and Left want to sue federal government +++ Over 1000 people forced back to torture camps in Libya +++ Recognized refugees forced into homelessness in Greece 

• Because the CSU-led Federal Ministry of the Interior refuses to give its consent to a state admission from Thuringia on the basis of questionable arguments, the Greens and the Left Party in Thuringia want to file a complaint against it.
• More than 1000 people have been prevented from fleeing by the Libyan coast guard in recent days. There they are threatened with imprisonment and torture.
• Thousands of recognised refugees are systematically driven into homelessness in Greece. Without a permanent residence, they in turn have no entitlement to support. The ZDF made a short report about this politically created vicious circle.
• 276 million euros are being made available by the European Commission for the construction of new camps on the Greek islands, EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson announced during her visit to Lesbos yesterday. But whether this will improve the situation, or whether these camps will be built at all, is completely unclear.
• There are high hurdles for family reunification of Uyghurs to Germany. The Green Party politician Margarete Bause considers the current practice of the Foreign Office "almost scandalous", because it is often impossible for members of the persecuted minority to obtain the necessary documents.

03/29/2021: New camp on Lesbos won't be ready in time +++ UNHCR counts hundreds of pushbacks through Greece +++ New reports of pushbacks at Croatia's external border

• People in the new Moria will likely have to hibernate in tents for another winter. This had already been foreseeable since last October, but apparently the EU Commission is now also aware of it. An evacuation that could quickly end the suffering is nevertheless not planned so far. The responsible EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson is visiting the islands today.
• The UN refugee agency has handed over tip-offs to Greek authorities about several hundred suspected pushbacks. Greece sometimes simply abandons people at sea. The organization warns that the right to asylum is in danger.
• Journalists are finding it increasingly difficult to report unhindered on the situation on the Greek islands. My questions about press freedom have also gone unanswered by the authorities. Tonight at 7 p.m., several of them will speak about how their work is being hindered. Here you can register for the event.
• The pushbacks on the Croatian-Bosnian border continue. Three weeks ago, a man died because he stepped on a mine. A young Afghan man claims to have been pushed back 57 times. How he fared on his 58th attempt, you can read in the taz.
• Thousands of refugees cross the Alps between Italy and France every year. The stricter the controls, the more dangerous the escape routes. Deutschlandfunk Kultur did a half-hour report on the subject.

03/26/2021: Free the El Hiblu 3 +++ Federal police claim suicide attempt in new Moria was 'cooking accident' +++ UN calls for nearly 5 billion euros in aid for refugees from Syria 

• Two years ago, more than 100 people were rescued from drowning in an inflatable boat from the oil tanker El Hiblu, which was on its way to Libya. Three teenagers aged 15, 16 and 19 persuaded the crew to bring the people to Malta because they were facing torture and imprisonment in Libya. The three became known as El Hiblu 3 and are now on trial in Malta.

Here you can find the joint statement of 27 organisations, demanding the release of the defendants.

• After a woman set herself on fire in the new Moria, federal police believe it was a "common cooking accident." The report was leaked to the public - but it is obviously false.
• The United Nations and its humanitarian partners are appealing for help for millions of refugees from the civil war country of Syria. For the year 2021, an amount of 4.9 billion euros would be needed in the region.
• The European Council is meeting again today and is also negotiating a new refugee deal with Turkey. I spoke with Detektor FM about what is going wrong. Click here for the interviews with me and the scientists Maximilian Pichl and Gerald Knaus.

03/25/2021: UK to deter refugees and move them to asylum centers outside the country +++ European Council negotiates new EU-Turkey deal +++ Kenyan government to close refugee camps and pushes for redistribution of hundreds of thousands of people 

• People who enter the UK irregularly are to be deterred and given poorer prospects for asylum. This is cynical because there are often no legal ways for refugees to enter the UK. Home Secretary Patel also says she wants people who have applied for asylum in Britain, initially to asylum centres outside the country until a decision is reached on the asylum application. I have also written this text on the impact of Brexit on flight and migration, which gives a little more background on the subject. https://erik-marquardt.eu/2021/02/08/die-auswirkungen-des-brexits-auf-flucht-und-migration-in-europa/ 
• The European Council is meeting today and tomorrow and is also negotiating a new refugee deal with Turkey. Unfortunately, the outcome threatens a new deal aimed at sealing off the country instead of providing serious protection for refugees. I wrote up what the problem is with the EU-Turkey deal here.
• Almost half a million people live in the two camps Dadaab and Kakuma in Kenya. Now the Kenyan government wants to close the camps in the short term. The Kenyan government is threatening to simply take the people to the Somali border if the UNHCR does not redistribute them.
• In his book Move, Indian-American political scientist Parag Khanna predicts a century of global migration for all - and doesn't think it's so bad. Time spoke with him.
• Since 2014, over 20,000 people have drowned trying to reach the EU by water. These people leave behind grieving relatives. The New Humanitarian has visited these relatives.

03/24/2021: EU Parliament refuses to confirm Frontex budget +++ Green parliamentary group calls for end to EU-Turkey deal +++ Precarious status for Syrian conscientious objectors

• The European Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control is stepping up the pressure on Frontex by refusing to discharge its 2019 budget. The reason is that Frontex has not hired human rights observers. There are also allegations of harassment and the EU agency has met with companies that are not on the lobby register.
• Greens call for end to EU-Turkey refugee deal. The motion of the Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag states: "With the agreement with Turkey, which essentially violates asylum law, the EU has accepted that the responsibility to protect refugees lies solely with Turkey - a country that is itself driving people to flee with increasing human rights violations." 
• Despite a ruling by the European Court of Justice, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees does not grant Syrian conscientious objectors full refugee status.
• The Ocean Viking has rescued 116 survivors, including 51 unaccompanied minors. The last survivors have now disembarked in Sicily. Information about the missions can be found on the SOS Méditerranée social media channels.
• Around 60 people may have died in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya.
• Rescue workers have recovered at least 15 bodies after a major fire at a refugee camp for Rohingya in Bangladesh. According to the authorities, thousands of shelters in the camps were destroyed. At least 400 people are still missing.

03/23/2021: EU Commission seeks European coordination of sea rescue +++ Two-year-old girl dies after crossing to Canary Islands +++ Major fire in Rohingya refugee camp 

• A new contact group of the EU Commission met for the first time yesterday.l and declared the aim to coordinate sea rescue at European level in the future. According to the responsible Commissioner Ylva Johansson, rescued persons should also be brought ashore more quickly and sea rescuers should no longer be criminalised. This would be a major step forward compared to the current situation, in which rescuers face prison sentences and rescue ships are blocked. However, the EU Commission has been promising for years to take action against criminalisation, and so far there have been no visible successes. This can also be seen in the renewed arrest of the Sea-Watch 3.
• A two-year-old girl died after crossing from Western Sahara to the Canary Islands. Paramedics initially resuscitated the hypothermic child, but she later died in hospital. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the case was a "wake-up call for everyone's conscience." More background on the case and the dangerous Atlantic route can be found at El País.
• A fire broke out in a Rohingya refugee camp in southern Bangladesh on Monday afternoon. There was initially no information on the dead or injured. Residents spoke of dozens of victims. At least 20,000 Rohingya have fled their homes.
• Two asylum seekers in Berlin and Eberswalde have taken their own lives - probably out of fear of deportation. Hundreds of people demonstrated against institutional racism and for the right to asylum in Eberswalde at the weekend.
• Italy's handling of sea rescues in the Mediterranean has not loosened after the fall of right-wing Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. The only things that are new are style and methods.

03/22/2021: Sea-Watch 3 detained in Sicily +++ Ocean Viking and French Coast Guard rescue people from distress at sea +++ Global water shortage leads to increasing refugee movements 

• The Sea-Watch 3 is moored in Sicily after saving 363 lives. The absurd accusation: the ship was carrying too many people. The alternative would have been to let the people drown.
• The Ocean Viking rescued 106 people from an inflatable boat in distress. It was located about 60 kilometers off the Libyan coast.
• The French coast guard rescues 72 fugitives from distress in the English Channel. They were near the port city of Calais in two boats.
• On today's World Water Day, UN Refugee Agency warns of increasing refugee movements due to global water shortages. According to Unicef, 450 million children worldwide also live without access to sufficient water.
• Five EU border states call for greater cooperation in the distribution of refugees in the EU at a meeting in Athens. The meeting is overshadowed by serious accusations. Greek coast guard officials, for example, allegedly beat seven people and then threw them tied up into the sea. Three people are said to have died, says Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. The Greek coast guard rejects the accusations.

03/19/2021: Denmark plans racist law +++ Mayor from Samos advocates confirmed pushbacks +++ Afghan refugees are not safe in Turkey 

• Denmark has announced that it will set a maximum threshold for residents of "non-Western" origin. The law stipulates that within ten years a limit of 30 percent should apply in city districts. But it doesn't solve a single real problem when the Danish government now calls racial discrimination a "limit on the percentage of the population of non-Western origin."
• The mayor of East Samos said in an interview yesterday that the pushbacks would return normalcy to the people on his island. So he simply admitted that these are taking place, while the Greek government continues to deny it and call it Fake News.
• Three mayors from Lesvos, Chios and Samos criticise the current plans for the EU's new migration pact. They accuse the EU of abandoning the countries at the external borders. Instead they call for solidarity and a fair distribution of responsibility in Europe.
• According to a new study by Pro Asyl refugees from Afghanistan are on their own in Turkey. The country offers them no security.
• An eight-year-old wants to hang herself, a boy sells his brother, children prostitute themselves for a place in a tent: SPIEGEL accompanied four minors from the Moria camp.

18.03.2021: Important study on Moria and hotspots at the external borders +++ Massive criticism of EU-Turkey deal +++ Father sues Greek coast guard after death of his son 

• Medico International has a study on Moria and published the concept of hotspots at the EU's external borders. It sets out that this is not a humanitarian disaster, but the result of deliberate political choices. On Radio Eins, author Maximilian Pichl summarizes the results in a 5-minute interview.

• In a comment HR journalist Alexander Göbel criticises the EU-Turkey deal because the EU is trying to buy its way out of responsibility with money. In his opinion it would be better to have a common European refugee policy worthy of the name. Here you can find my text on 5 years of the EU-Turkey deal.
• Also aid organisations consider the EU-Turkey deal in this form to have failed and call for a rethink.
• Despite the criticism, negotiations are currently underway on a new edition of the deal. The Turkish government is making high demands in return. Zeit Online explains what the negotiations are about.
• A six-year-old drowned while trying to escape. His father is suing the Greek coast guard. She is alleged to have delayed the rescue, thus causing the death of people.

17.03.2021: Why the EU-Turkey-Deal failed +++ Duration of asylum procedures in Germany increases significantly +++ Residents complain against house rules in Freiburg shelter 

• The EU-Turkey deal was agreed exactly five years ago. Time was bought at great cost and not used. The result was undignified mass camps like Moria and a dependence on Erdoğan.
  Here I have written down the background.
• According to a recent analysis by migration expert Karoline Popp, the reception system for refugees on the Greek islands established with the EU-Turkey deal is "largely dysfunctional". Here you can find background information.
  The report by Karoline Popp and the Expert Council on Integration and Migration can be found here.
• Last year, the average duration of asylum procedures in Germany increased to 8.3 months. This is significantly longer than in 2019, when procedures took an average of half a year (6.1 months).
• House rules in asylum homes disproportionately interfere with fundamental rights. This is what four refugees in Freiburg are now claiming in a lawsuit.
• Photographer Julia Schaefermeyer was on board the Ocean Viking and accompanied women and girls who had to flee Libya. You can find their stories and photos in Vogue.

16.03.2021: 10 years of civil war in Syria +++ Situation for Syrian refugees in Lebanon particularly difficult +++ New Corona Falls on Samos 

• The civil war in Syria began 10 years ago. An end is still not in sight. Swiss radio provides an overview of the fighting.

• In terms of population, most refugees from Syria live in Lebanon. Pandemic and economic crisis in the country hit them particularly hard.
• There are three new cases of Covid-19 in the Vathy camp on the Greek island of Samos. Unfortunately, little is being done in the camp to prevent its spread: 3317 people are crammed into a place designed for only 648.
• Afghan women's rights activist Sarah S. reports on the situation in Samos and how her son has already witnessed suicides twice. The interview was published in Der Spiegel in December.
• Yesterday, EU interior ministers met in a videoconference and agreed to put more pressure on African states to accept deportations.

15/03/2021: EU interior ministers discuss flight and migration +++ European Parliament questions Frontex on internal investigations +++ Cypriot government builds new wall 

• The interior ministers of the EU states met today to discuss the issues of flight and migration. They came no closer to a humane and common European refugee policy. The only thing they can all agree on is more intensive cooperation with third countries. In concrete terms: better isolation. You can watch the 25-minute press conference on the meeting here.
• Also today, the European Parliament's Frontex Inquiry Group, of which I am a member, met. We are questioning members of the Frontex management board about their internal investigations. You can watch the session here.
• The Europe magazine of the ARD reports in this video about brutal pushbacks by the Greek authorities and lets those affected have their say.
• The government of Cyprus is having an 11-kilometre barbed wire barrier erected to the north of the country. The aim is to prevent refugees from reaching the south of the EU state. The island is divided into a Greek-dominated south and a Turkish-dominated north.
• Germany and Turkey are currently negotiating a new refugee deal. Turkey is preventing refugees from travelling on to the EU. The German government wants Turkey to continue doing so.