✍ Editorial: EU changing of the guard: Winter (may be) coming For asylum and migration policy, there is not much good news – but when is there ever? ➡What has already been determined? While the media has presented von der Leyen’s return as a victory for the centre against the extremes, on the asylum issue, neither she nor the EPP – nor many of its component parts – are centrist. ➡Fifty shades of right ⚫The new Parliament features right-wing groups of varying shades, along a spectrum starting with the EPP and ending in a very dark place. ⚫For the progressive groups, the election was not good, but nor was it a disaster. ⚫In the increasingly fragmented political systems in Europe, centrist liberals have been able to act as power brokers. ➡In the immediacy, there are five important questions: ➡Who will be “our” Commissioner? ⚫The appointment of the big four positions was relatively smooth. Apart from von der Leyen herself, they are not bad news for asylum and migration policy. ⚫The next step is the appointment of the college of commissioners, including the selection of the JHA Commissioner, which has to be handled extremely carefully. ➡Implementing or legislating? ⚫While ECRE did not support the Pact, the conclusion of the reforms means that at least the question of compliance, long neglected, is central and longstanding implementation gaps can be addressed. ⚫In this context, opening up the legal framework again would be a disaster. ⚫There will be pressure from states to change laws so that they do not have to provide international protection. ➡Will rule of law prevail – consistently? ⚫There are reasons for concern. ⚫Near impunity for states – while NGOs, lawyers, emergency responders, journalists, work is restricted and criminalised. ⚫The extreme right seeks and benefits from the absence of rule of law – but the centre right could do better at defending it. ➡How are crises prioritised? ⚫The global political situation is unstable and beset with crises. ⚫Despite these manifest challenges, the extreme right will constantly try to stimulate new European migration crises for its own purposes, and those of its paymasters, including the one in the east. ➡Will they leave foreign policy alone? ⚫It can be expected that the EPP/VDL-led Commission will continue the strategy of “externalisation”. ⚫All of these gimmicky efforts undermine the real potential for EU external policies to tackle the causes of displacement and also to building international protection where needed. ➡There are events, crises, developments way beyond the control of Europe’s political leaders. There are also decisions that can be taken, responsibilities assumed, and harm to be avoided – in order to have a positive influence in the fraught area of asylum and migration policy. ✒ Written by ECRE's Director Catherine Woollard 🔗 Read the full editorial here: https://bit.ly/46cvWYI
European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE)
Non-profit Organizations
ECRE is an alliance of 122 NGOs across 40 European countries.
About us
The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) is a pan-European alliance of 126 NGOs based in 40 countries protecting and advancing the rights of refugees, asylum seekers and displaced persons. Our mission is to promote the establishment of fair and humane European asylum policies and practices in accordance with international human rights law. Working together with our members and partners to inform and persuade European authorities and the public, we monitor and denounce human rights violations while proposing and promoting fair and effective durable solutions. We accomplish our mission through research, advocacy and the sharing of knowledge and expertise.
- Website
-
http://www.ecre.org
External link for European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE)
- Industry
- Non-profit Organizations
- Company size
- 11-50 employees
- Headquarters
- Brussels
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Founded
- 1974
Locations
-
Primary
Avenue des Arts 7/8
Brussels, 1210, BE
Employees at European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE)
-
Anne Bathily
Policy and Project Officer at European Council on Refugees and Exiles
-
Josephine Liebl
Head of International Advocacy at European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE)
-
Paula Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Cologne Center for Comparative Politics, researching migration and trade policies and politics in the EU and…
-
Sylvain Mossou
Aligning People and Strategy for Success through Leadership, Management & HR✨
Updates
-
Check out the latest #asylum and #migration job vacancies. Subscribe to #ECREWeekly to receive them in your inbox every Friday afternoon (https://bit.ly/496vOul) ⭐Collective Aid, Advocacy and Communications Manager, Remote (with travel to the field as required), 17 September: https://lnkd.in/eA5VSy-E ⭐Collective Aid, Responsable des Programmes, Calais, 17 September: https://lnkd.in/eEMpGCuZ ⭐Collective Aid, Field Coordinator, Calais, 17 September: https://lnkd.in/ezFhK28G ⭐ Equal Legal Aid, Volunteer Lawyer, Thessaloniki, 1 September: https://lnkd.in/daXRizjg ⭐Fenix - Humanitarian Legal Aid, Legal Officer Volunteer, Lesvos: https://lnkd.in/dg3dvHsB ⭐ France terre d'asile, Chargé.e de mission – Direction de la Protection des mineurs isolés étrangers, Paris, 5 August: https://lnkd.in/eHdDkTnY ⭐University of Birmingham, Research Associate – Improving the Living and Labour Conditions of Irregularised Migrant Households in Europe (I-CLAIM) project, Birmingham, 13 August: https://lnkd.in/ehx2uuhn ⭐Irish Refugee Council, Receptionist and Triage Officer, Dublin, 6 August: https://lnkd.in/ef8Ta8St ⭐Norwegian Refugee Council, Regional Head of Programme Development and Support Senegal, Dakar, 26 August: https://lnkd.in/e4_9bRHa ⭐Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), Consultancy: Participatory Action Research with Migrants in Food Supply Chain Labour Markets, Netherlands, Poland, and Spain, 12 August: https://lnkd.in/e7BP-XBu ⭐Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), Deputy Director, Brussels, 12 August: https://lnkd.in/eYqQymHB ⭐Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), External Advisor on Supporting Litigation on the EU Migration Pact, 6 September: https://lnkd.in/exXsa4Sx
-
📚 The #AIDA Country Report on #Türkiye is OUT ➡️In 2023, the main concerns related to migration and asylum were the effects of the devastating earthquakes that increased the need for humanitarian aid in an area in which almost 1.7 million Syrian of temporary protection beneficiaries were hosted. ➡️In 2023, 19,017 applications for international protection were made in Türkiye (43% decrease compared to 2022). ➡️The registration of applications remained one of the most significant barriers to people seeking international protection in Türkiye in 2023, and it was reportedly “almost impossible” for vulnerable applicants in a number of areas. ➡️Anti-migrant sentiments increased noticeably in the country in 2023, largely due to the crisis caused by the earthquakes. The 2023 general election campaign was centred on topics such as voluntary return, “unwanted immigrants” and border protection, and this created increased challenges for migrant and refugee communities. Read the full report here: 🔗https://bit.ly/4fqrObN
-
📚 The #AIDA Country Report on #Romania is OUT ➡️In 2023, 10,178 applications for international protection were made in Romania. ➡️According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), in December 2023 there were 83,675 refugees from Ukraine in Romania. ➡️As of 1 May 2023, a number of elements of the support programme that granted financial assistance to TP beneficiaries for housing and food/subsistence were amended. 👉The legal framework was also amended shortly afterwards. 👉As result, TP beneficiaries were required to register with the employment agency to continue receiving financial assistance. ➡️Access to the territory and the asylum procedure remained a challenge in 2023 with continued reports of pushbacks, ill-treatment, including physical violence, at the border and the use of readmission agreements, although the latter was to a lesser degree compared to 2022. 👉In March 2023, Romania started the implementation of a six-month EU-funded pilot project focused on border management with Serbia and accelerated procedures. 👉 The European Commission considered the pilot to be a success. The asylum law was amended in the context of the pilot project. ➡️The reception of asylum applicants and the inclusion of new beneficiaries of international protection (BIPs) was severely hindered by the end of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund national programme in October 2023 as it forced a number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that had been providing legal, medical and financial assistance to suspend their projects. (NB/ Funding was eventually resumed in June 2024). Read the full report here: 🔗bit.ly/3SyDRtT
-
💼VACANCY💼 The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) is looking for a national expert to write the next #AIDA Country Report on #Germany. ➡️Working with ECRE, the national expert will be named as the author of the report. They will also have the opportunity to participate in coordination meetings and share knowledge with the national experts for the other countries. ➡️Main responsibilities: 👉Conducting an update of the country report on Germany and annex on temporary protection 👉Attending and participating in AIDA national experts coordination meetings 👉Providing input and feedback to ECRE when required for the activities carried out under AIDA, including comparative reports, briefings, statistical updates. ➡️The terms of reference for the assignment are available here: https://lnkd.in/e2PdnCYT ➡️Applicants should send a CV and cover letter to Eleonora Testi and/or Charlotte Labrosse (Subject: ‘Application AIDA Expert – Germany’). (NB/ Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.)
-
📖MUTUAL LEARNING SEMINAR – The future of protection in the EU: Evidence to guide the implementation of the CEAS SAVE THE DATE: Thursday 12 September 2024 (09.00-13.30) Atelier29, Rue Jacques de Lalaing 29, 1040 Brussels ➡️This event is the first in a series of mutual learning seminars focusing on the challenge of using evidence in the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) following the adoption of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum (the Pact). ➡️It takes place in the framework of the INNOVATE project’s Migration Research to Practice Co-Lab which is funded under the EU’s Horizon Europe programme. The seminars are aimed at promoting multi-stakeholder engagement around the collection and use of evidence on protection needs in Europe with a focus on proposing solutions to existing challenges. ➡️The seminar will collate, debate, and deploy evidence to guide the implementation of the CEAS. It will be divided into two sessions: 👉The first session will examine evidence on reception conditions in the EU 👉The second session will focus on the management of procedures, including responsibility determination, inadmissibility assessment, and asylum procedures, in view of the implementation of the Pact. ➡️Register here: https://lnkd.in/gbETinnd
-
📚 The #AIDA Country Report on #Hungary is OUT ➡️Statistics from 2023 illustrate how severely access to the asylum procedure in Hungary has continued to be hindered by the ongoing ‘embassy procedure’. In 2023, only 28 people managed to apply for asylum in Hungary (compared to 44 in 2022). ➡️Five Iranian nationals received recommendations to enter Hungary following a two-year court case in which a court ordered the authorities to issue them. ➡️ More than 100,000 people were pushed back to Serbia, despite a CJEU judgment and five European Court of Human Rights judgments condemning this practice. ➡️ The Hungarian authorities continued to refuse to implement the Court of Justice of the EU’s (CJEU) judgment that found their system incompatible with EU law. ➡️There were 33,882 TP beneficiaries in Hungary in 2023 (17% increase from 2022). ➡️Applicants for TP in 2023 were still unable to access reception conditions until their status had been confirmed, a process which can take up to three months. 👉Notably, they could not receive the subsistence allowance: the only type of financial allowance available under TP. However, unlike in 2022, there were no substantive delays in the implementation of the procedure in 2023. 👉Inclusion into society was also several hindered in 2023 by a lack of Hungarian language courses, including in schools. 👉Finally, TP beneficiaries continued to struggle to access healthcare due to doctors’ lack of knowledge about their rights. Read the full report here: 🔗https://bit.ly/3Se5GYc
-
Check out the latest #asylum and #migration job vacancies. Subscribe to #ECREWeekly to receive them in your inbox every Friday afternoon (https://bit.ly/496vOul) ⭐ Equal Legal Aid, Volunteer Lawyer, Thessaloniki, 1 September: https://lnkd.in/daXRizjg ⭐ Fenix - Humanitarian Legal Aid, Legal Officer Volunteer, Lesvos: https://lnkd.in/dg3dvHsB ⭐ France terre d'asile, Chargé.e de mission – Direction de la Protection des mineurs isolés étrangers, Paris, 5 August: https://lnkd.in/eHdDkTnY ⭐ Norwegian Refugee Council, Global Fundraising Director, Oslo, 24 July: https://lnkd.in/euwSvFiz ⭐ Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) , Call for Expression of Interest: Participatory Action Research (PAR) with Migrants in Food Supply Chain Labour Markets, The Netherlands, Poland, and Spain, 12 August: https://lnkd.in/e7BP-XBu ⭐ Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), Deputy Director, Brussels, 12 August: https://lnkd.in/eYqQymHB ⭐ Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), External Advisor on Supporting Litigation on the EU Migration Pact, 6 September: https://lnkd.in/exXsa4Sx ⭐ Quaker Council for European Affairs, Consultant, 29 July: https://lnkd.in/djwurD75 ⭐ Right to Remain, Mini-internship – Communications and Administration, London, 21 July: https://lnkd.in/ec2AJzXj ⭐ SOLIDARITYNOW, Δικηγορος (Αντικατασταση), Athens, 21 July: https://lnkd.in/eXN8UUHG ⭐ Scottish Refugee Council, Chair of the Board of Trustees (Scottish Refugee Council), Scotland wide/Hybrid, 31 July: https://lnkd.in/eJWKftkG ⭐ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Policy Intern, Adjumani, 31 July: https://lnkd.in/eYqtqANn ⭐ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Refugee Advisors, 19 July: https://lnkd.in/gqTYEXgX
-
📢European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) have published a joint study in which they have analysed the use of the Border Management and Visa Instrument (BMVI) by EU member states (MS). ➡The study finds that EU funding for border management has been used for infrastructure, equipment, and activities that may pose significant risks to the fundamental rights of people at the EU’s external borders. ➡The BMVI has an initial budget of €6.2b for the period 2021-2027 to be used at the external borders. The study finds that, to date, MS have received €4b, an increase of 45% compared to the funding they received under the ISF – Borders and Visa Instrument during 2014-2020. ➡The BMVI increased since 2021 due to a combination of elements. The programme for ️Greece received an additional €620m. Bringing the total amount of funding available for border management activities in Greece to more than €1b despite concerns about fundamental rights abuses. ➡The EC clarified that funding cannot be used for building walls or fences, as it considers them to be inefficient and disproportionate border control measures. ➡Yet funding can already be used to support a combination of equally disproportionate measures such as...️ ➡Border surveillance technology complementing or replacing physical barriers (e.g. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland) ➡Vehicles transporting migrants to outposts where pushbacks take place (e.g. Italy, Slovenia, and Austria) ➡Sniffer dogs helping border guards patrol & chase people crossing (e.g. Croatia, Lithuania, Poland, and Spain) etc... ➡The BMVI can be used to support vulnerable people, UAMs, people in need of international protection, victims of human trafficking, and children. ➡However EU MS are systematically deprioritising activities in the area of assisting and protecting people at borders. ➡The study concludes that the monitoring and evaluation system, as well as the safeguards against fundamental rights breaches in EU-funded activities are not yet sufficiently developed to ensure proper accountability. ➡The study ends with a set of recommendations to both the EC and EU MS on the use of BMVI resources, particularly in the context of the implementation of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, and the MTR of the programmes that is due to take place by the end of 2024. ➡Read here: https://lnkd.in/e59EGGJK
-
Check out the latest #asylum and #migration job vacancies. Subscribe to #ECREWeekly to receive them in your inbox every Friday afternoon (https://bit.ly/496vOul) ⭐Fenix - Humanitarian Legal Aid, Legal Officer Volunteer, Lesvos: https://lnkd.in/dg3dvHsB ⭐France terre d'asile, Chargé.e de mission – Direction de la Protection des mineurs isolés étrangers, Paris, 5 August: https://lnkd.in/eHdDkTnY ⭐Equal Legal Aid, Volunteer Lawyer, Thessaloniki, 1 September: https://lnkd.in/daXRizjg ⭐#MissionofCanadatotheEuropeanUnion, Program Analyst/Coordinator, Brussels, 21 July: https://lnkd.in/e5xTiGEu ⭐Norwegian Refugee Council, Global Fundraising Director, Oslo, 24 July: https://lnkd.in/euwSvFiz ⭐Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), Deputy Director, Brussels, 12 August: https://lnkd.in/eWHdBQpK ⭐Quaker Council for European Affairs, Consultant, 29 July: https://lnkd.in/djwurD75 ⭐Right to Remain, Mini-internship – Communications and Administration, London, 21 July: https://lnkd.in/ec2AJzXj ⭐Scottish Refugee Council, Chair of the Board of Trustees (Scottish Refugee Council), Scotland wide/Hybrid, 31 July: https://lnkd.in/euwSvFiz ⭐SOLIDARITYNOW, Δικηγορος (Αντικατασταση), Athens, 21 July: https://lnkd.in/dvBxEcar ⭐UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, Refugee Advisors, 19 July: https://lnkd.in/gqTYEXgX