Presented in the European Agenda on Migration, launched in May 2015 by the European Commission as being the EU face of solidarity to the inappropriately named “migration crisis”, relocation consists of dividing up among different member states migrants identified in Greek and Italian hotspots as eligible for refugee status. After the Commission decided not to make this measure binding (many states having refused to accept the “quotas” imposed upon them), 23 countries committed “on a voluntary (...)

Outsourcing and privatisation of migrant detention

Study carried out by Lydie Arbogast on behalf of Migreurop with the support of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung (Brussels Office)

Many observers see in the politics of the European member states a profound divide between the ‘old Europe’ and the so-called Visegrad group, composed of Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. In their view, Viktor Orbàn’s xenophobic campaign against the ‘enforced relocation of non-Hungarians in Hungary’ supported by 98% of voters highlights this division, notwithstanding the small turnout (40% of registered voters) in the vote of October 2. The reluctance of Visegrad countries to receive (...)

Hotspots at the heart of the archipelago of camps

Hotspots are generally presented as a key component of the European Union (EU)’s response to the “migration crisis”, but the meaning of this expression has yet to be defined.
For those who support an essentially restrictive European asylum policy, a “crisis” occurs when large numbers of exiles arrive in the EU. If they manage to enter, the Community structure must be reinforced by further restricting entry into countries where they might benefit from the rights safeguarded by the 1951 Geneva (...)

Scenes of desolation at the EU borders

Today, as in the past, many exiles are seeing their hopes dashed in closed camps in European countries, which on the one hand claim to be models of human rights, while on the other, demand that migrants remain outside the European Union (EU). Using the pretext of “massive” arrivals, the EU and neighbouring states have constantly reinforced their detention systems: from 2011 to 2016, the total known capacity of camps identified by the Network, has gone from 32,000 to 47,000 places.
While (...)