migrants

The EU's plans for 'controlled centers' for refugees and other migrants on European soil, as well as their proposed disembarkation arrangements in countries outside the EU for migrants rescued in the Mediterranean, are a recipe for failure.

Members of the British rock band, Editors, paid a surprise visit to hundreds of refugees living in a camp in Serbia. They gave encouragement to aspiring musicians living in the camp and witnessed Oxfam’s vital work supporting refugees.

European leaders at the EU summit in Brussels have failed to agree on reforms to the common European asylum system. Instead, they try to respond to internal rows by reducing the space for asylum seekers even further, and want to offload their responsibilities to countries outside the EU. Oxfam argues that European agreements on migration are welcome, but they should not have a negative impact on the lives of refugees and migrants.

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.

 

Many people are still trapped in captivity and suffering abuses in Libya a year after Italy struck an EU-backed deal with the government to stop irregular migrants. Migrants who have managed to escape Libya following the deal have told Oxfam and its partner Borderline Sicilia of on-going kidnapping, murder, rape and forced labor.

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.

In 2015, the EU and its member states set up the ‘EU Emergency Trust Fund for stability and addressing root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa’ to promote stability and economic opportunities and to strengthen resilience.