The European Court of Human Right (ECHR) just took a decision in favour of the Spanish authorities, by endorsing the practice known as “hot push-back” of people trying to reach the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. Although another body of the Court had already condemned Spain in 2017 for this illegal practice, its Grand Chamber decided this time that Spain had not violated the rights of the exiles who had already crossed its border by sending them back to Morocco quickly and widely. (…)

Lately, Tunisian authorities have been the target of intolerable pressure by Germany and Italy. Within a week, they have been forced to clarify their opposition to the German as well as to the Italian authorities which were allegedly planning to send migrants and refugees back to Tunisia. Domestic security issues appear as a cornerstone in the cooperation framework imposed to Tunisia albeit being attached to a domain which is clearly distinct from it: the right of asylum.
Pushing for the (…)

Mid-way in the Valletta processes, and as African and European high officials are meeting in Malta on 8/9 February 2017, the European Union is crossing a step further in its attempts to limit mobility of migrants and imposes its rule on countries where most of migrants originate from through the use of the “European travel document”, a document adopted last October 2016 and almost unnoticed. The action plan established in Valletta in November 2015 by the EU, its Member States as well as 35 (…)

The situation is far from stable in Ukraine, following the death of dozens of demonstrators at the hands of the forces of order and the fall of President Yanukovych. In towns such as Lviv, near the Polish border, arms stores in police stations have been looted and police units are in a state of paralysis. While the bloodbath has halted, the country has been torn apart in three months of crisis, its economy is weakened, partition looms, and the democratic context is very uncertain.
In (…)

Since the 1990s, the European Union has embarked upon the development of the « external » dimension of its immigration and asylum policy, also known as « externalisation process ». Several means, operations and instruments have been implemented for the purpose of making its neighbours (more or less close) take charge of controlling migration flows. Among these instruments, there is a figure that has become one of the linchpins of externalisation : the readmission agreement.
In fact, member (…)