E.U. States Urged to Keep Migrants Locked up Ahead of Deportation
The European Commission is urging countries to keep rejected asylum-seekers locked up for longer so they can be deported back home, the E.U. Observer reported.
Migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said European Union member states should detain unwanted migrants for up to 18 months, the limit set by E.U. law. Many countries set shorter limits on immigration detention.
His non-binding recommendations also included shorter appeal deadlines, issuing return decisions with no expiry date and allowing the detention of child migrants.
Avramopoulos said migrants should be held in “dignified conditions” in detention. “It should never be considered something like a concentration camp,” he said.
The proposals were slammed by human rights groups. “Detention of irregular migrants, some of the most vulnerable people in Europe, should be a last resort,” said Amnesty International’s Iverna McGowan. “That children are included in this wide detention regime is truly shocking.”
The E.U. estimates that 1 million people who have arrived in Europe since 2015 will not qualify for asylum, but only around one-third are being returned to their own countries.
Calais Mayor Tries to Prevent New ‘Jungle’ With Food Ban
The mayor of Calais said she would ban refugee aid organizations from distributing food to the growing number of migrants who have returned since the “Jungle” camp was dismantled, the Guardian reported.
Natacha Bouchart issued a mayoral decree on March 2 preventing “repeated, prolonged gatherings” in the area near the former camp, effectively blocking aid distributions.
Charity worker Sarah Arrom told the newspaper that police fired teargas to stop volunteers giving free meals to teenage migrants near Calais.
“Adults will always find a way to buy food in the shops, but for minors it will be a real problem – they have no money at all,” Christian Salomé, president of the Auberge des Migrants aid group, added.
Refugee groups say they are distributing aid to several hundred migrants who have returned to the area, but exact numbers are hard to establish because most are living in hiding.
The Jungle was populated by thousands of migrants hoping to reach the United Kingdom before French authorities took down the makeshift settlement last October and vowed never to let another one emerge.
Report: Eritreans Find Refuge in Ethiopia but Cannot Build Future
Most Eritreans who escape to neighboring Ethiopia plan to move to another country because they lack the right to work, according to a new report by think-tanks the Overseas Development Institute and Samuel Hall.
“Ethiopia is a vital country of asylum, offering the prospect of freedom and security,” the report said. But it noted that Ethiopian law prevents refugees from working formally, “making it hard to build a future in the country.”
The report said many refugees take informal jobs that are low-paid and leave them vulnerable to exploitation, and recommended Ethiopia enhance labor rights for refugees.
More than 150,000 Eritrean refugees live in Ethiopia, having fled indefinite military conscription and state repression in their country. Many risk their lives to reach Europe, with more than 20,000 of them surviving the Mediterranean crossing last year.
Recommended Reads:
- The Wall Street Journal: The Town That Can’t Do Without Refugees
- IRIN: Yemenis Fight for Survival as Famine Looms
- Dawn: Forced From ‘Home’
- The Economist: Graphic Novels and the Refugee Crisis
- Migration Policy Institute: Strengthening Local Education Systems for Newly Arrived Adults and Children