The Greek government has sidelined members of an independent authority that had blocked the deportation of Syrian refugees, following sustained pressure from other European countries. Greek MPs voted on Thursday to change the composition of the country’s asylum appeals board, in an attempt to sideline officials who had objected on legal grounds to the expulsion…
On June 9th 2016, the Lawyers Association of Mitilini (Lesvos) sued the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) for obstructing access to asylum proceedings by its members. The lawyers claim that EASO officials and private security guards are prohibiting access to specific areas of the holding centers, also called hotspots, that host the EASO offices and…
ATHENS, Jun 9 2016 – Closure of the Western Balkans route has trapped tens of thousands of refugees heading to Central and Northern Europe in Greece, including many unaccompanied minors who either escaped from war zones after having lost their relatives, or were sent ahead in hopes of helping their families follow afterwards. While the…
German chancellor Angela Merkel has trumpeted the agreement to return Syrian refugees to Turkey from Greece as a “European solution.” But with no real accord across the 28 member states, terms and conditions that will be difficult to put into practice and continuing arrivals to Greece, is it truly a breakthrough? Turkey and the European…
Fourteen MEPs have submitted a question to the European Commission on 10 February 2016 questioning the status of the new Complaints Mechanism foreseen as a structure within the new European Border and Coast Guard (EBCG). The Complaints Mechanism will be responsible for accepting and examining complaints regarding possible violations of rights by EBCG officials during…
Word is going around European media that EU leaders are preparing to cut off Greece from Schengen unless it accepts their plan on how to deal with the refugee crisis, and an operation by the European border agency, Frontex, to control its borders. If a report in the Financial Times is to be believed,…
translated in English by X-Pressed Everyone who wants to understand the political schemes of the EC in the refugee crisis can start from the first sentence of the Announcement issued on Wednesday (10/14/2015), while awaiting the relevant meeting of the Heads of State: “During the first nine months of the year more than 710,000 refugees, displaced…
MEGA TV channel has featured on Aug 7 a brief video story about Greek police acquiring its first drones. The video was screened during the evening news bulletin and was part of news headlines as well. The story was about Greek police deploying its first drones for surveillance against forest fires and arsonists during the…
Despite the Internal Security Fund (ISF) will be a key factor in shaping population and border control mechanisms during the next six years throughout the EU, its importance and scope is still very often underestimated by the public as well as organisations directly affected by it. The complete picture of the European Commission’s investment in…
Jean-Claude Juncker knows how to talk the talk. The keynote of his state of the union address in Strasbourg on Tuesday was compassion: “We can build walls and we can build fences,” the president of the European commission appealed, “but imagine if it were you, your child in your arms, the world you knew torn…
Apostolis Fotiadis 