Brief Migreurop #15 - July2023

Europe’s migration policy is characterised by a doctrine known as the "pull factor" [...]. Everything is geared towards strategies of dissuasion to limit entry and residence in the territory of the European Union (EU), with countries using the legal, administrative or military-police arsenal at their disposal to this end[...].
The main targets, often on a racist basis, are people who try to cross borders, who are threatened, hunted down or even accused of trafficking in human beings and (...)

Brief Migreurop #3 - 3rd edition, December 2021

Although criticism from NGOs has been ignored for many years, today Frontex is under the spotlight. Since it began operating in 2005, the European border and coast guard agency has played a growing role in the implementation of the European Union’s (EU) security-driven migration policy. Frontex has been hailed for a long time by European institutions which have relentlessly increased its competences for 15 years in the areas of control and expulsions, as well as its budget (which has risen (...)

Brief #13 - June 2021

Covid-19 has deepened structural inequalities. As a result, migrants from countries of the global South have been severely impacted by the pandemic and the measures aimed at curtailing its spread. People whose situation has been made illegal, displaced persons and those fleeing war or trying to get across borders to improve their lot have been hard hit by border closures. No longer able to “go home” and self-isolate, these people have endured a new form of warfare waged against them, in (...)

Brief Migreurop #12 - December 2020

In a July 2020 report, the European Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems (eu-Lisa) presented artificial intelligence as a “priority technology”. The report underlines the advantages of artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of migration and borders thanks, amongst other things, to facial recognition technology.
AI is increasingly privileged by public actors, EU institutions and private actors, but also by the UNHCR and IOM. EU agencies like Frontex and eu-Lisa (...)

Brief #11 - May 2020

Anyone interested in migration issues as covered by mainstream media will perceive the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as an NGO; in reality, the UNHCR is a UN agency with more than 85% of its budget originating from country contributions. The agency’s opinion is often used as a counter-narrative to anti-refugee discourse. Communication is of major interest to the UNHCR, which often sollicits the general public for donations.
The UNHCR’s external communication – to be (...)