asylum seekers

Children as young as 12 are being abused, detained and illegally returned to Italy by French border guards, according to a new report by Oxfam.

In Ventimiglia, near the border between Italy and France, refugees and other migrants are living rough, without access to the most basic services. The French police meet children with abuse, and send them back to Italy in violation of French and EU law. Stranded, hundreds of people are unable seek even basic support.

On 17 May 2018, heads of state at the EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia will discuss cooperation in several areas, amongst them migration and security. A coalition of NGOs including Oxfam call on EU and Balkan leaders to address a number of concerns, such as humane border management, the protection of civil society, and the right to seek asylum. 

As the two-year anniversary of the EU-Turkey deal nears on March 18, 2018, thousands of asylum seekers are trapped on the Aegean islands in deplorable conditions and without access to adequate protection and basic services, nine humans rights and humanitarian organisations including Oxfam said today.The Greek government should act immediately to end the containment policy that traps asylum seekers in these conditions on the islands and move them to safety on the mainland.

 

This joint report by the Refugee Council and Oxfam is one of the first to look at how family reunion and ongoing forced separation from loved ones affect the ability of refugees to successfully integrate into UK society.

More than 13,500 refugees and other migrants remain trapped on the Greek islands in deplorable conditions as winter begins, a coalition of 13 NGOs including Oxfam said today. Oxfam calls on the Greek government and its EU partners to transfer immediately at least 5,500 asylum seekers from the squalid island camps to the Greek mainland.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras should end the Greek government’s “containment policy” of confining asylum seekers to the Aegean islands, 19 human rights and humanitarian aid organizations said in an open letter released today.

People who are trying to access the EU are being routinely abused by law enforcement officials in countries in the Western Balkans. Governments in the region must immediately end these violations and ensure safety and dignity for people on the move in their territories.

One year after the EU-Turkey deal was struck, Greece has become the testing ground for the EU's migration policies. Oxfam, IRC and NRC have analysed the situation in a joint report which documents the immense human suffering as well as the erosion of basic human rights and the right to asylum.

This paper provides an analysis of the protection concerns that people on the move, especially women and children, face in Macedonia and Serbia following the closure of the Balkan route. It also presents recommendations on how to protect and promote their safety, dignity and human rights.