Press Releases
Ukrainian Refugee Council press release on the situation of Uzbeks in Ukraine
Date: 08-07-2010
The Ukrainian Refugee Council is concerned with the way Ukbek migrants are treated in Ukraine. Please see bellow the press release in English and Russian.
URC_statement_Uzb_exraditions_07_07_2010_EN.doc (50.5 KB)
URC_zayavl_Uzb_exraditions_07_07_2010_RU.doc (119.5 KB)
Ill-treatment of refugees in Libya: the EU, a silent accomplice
Date: 07-07-20107 July 2010. More than 200 Eritreans were forcibly deported from the Misratah detention centre on the coast of Libya to the Braq detention centre, near Sabha, in the Sahara desert on 30th of June. They have been beaten and severely deprived of food and water. Many are now injured and need emergency care.
"We strongly repeat our plea to the Italian Government to resettle the refugees to Italy", says Christopher Hein, Director of the Italian Council for Refugees (CIR).
"Some of those who are being mistreated now by the Libyan authorities have been pushed back there by Italy one year ago. Refugees are suffering the consequences of Italy's violation of its legal obligations and EU Member States' consenting silence", added Bjarte Vandvik, ECRE's Secretary General.
2010_07_07_Eritreans_Libya_CIR_ECRE_w.pdf (97.22 KB)
Tripoli orders UN Refugee Agency to leave Libya: business as usual for the EU?
Date: 10-06-2010This week European Commission Officials were in Tripoli discussing with the Libyan authorities the terms of a framework agreement on cooperation in several fields, including asylum and migration. At the same time, Tripoli has ordered the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, to close its offices in the country.
Bjarte Vandvik, Secretary General of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) said: "UNHCR's expulsion from Libya will hopefully be temporary but it does reveal the unreliability of this regime, as well as its understanding of refugee protection. How will the EU ensure that Libya keeps its word regarding commitments towards human rights? How can the EU trust such a partner?"
2010_06_10_Libya_EU_ECRE.pdf (67.27 KB)
Refugees are not parcels
Date: 28-04-2010"Refugees are not parcels," said an Afghan asylum seeker speaking about his odyssey in Europe before finally arriving in Italy, which was the country considered responsible to examine his application for protection.
The EU Dublin Regulation that regulates which Member State is responsible for the examination of asylum applications in the EU was the focus of a seminar that presented the findings of the Project Dubliners produced by the Italian Council for Refugees (CIR), together with the Ministries of Interior and the organisations of 6 Member States.
2010_04_28_PR_Dubliners-_CIR_EN.pdf (77.01 KB)
EU Ministers discuss integration of migrants in the labour market - Wasting skills and talents is economic and social nonsense
Date: 15-04-201015 April 2010. Today and tomorrow, EU Integration Ministers will meet in Spain to discuss immigrant integration policies, including migrants' access to employment. ECRE urges Ministers to make the most of refugees and asylum seekers' talent by enabling them to participate in the labour market. Bjarte Vandvik, ECRE Secretary General said: "It is difficult to understand why governments seem more willing to force skilled and motivated workers to rely on benefits instead of allowing them to work to support themselves and their families and pay taxes"
See also ECRE Recommendations.
2010_04_15 PR Integration Conference_access work.pdf (84.64 KB)
2010_04_15 Comunicado_Conferencia_Integracion_Acceso_Trabajo_ES.pdf (90.09 KB)
The European Court of Human Rights suspends the return of a seriously ill Afghan boy from Hungary to Greece
Date: 03-03-2010The European Court of Human Rights has requested the Hungarian government to suspend the return of an unaccompanied 16-year old Afghan asylum seeker to Greece under the Dublin Regulation. The Afghan boy was given free legal assistance by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, an ECRE member that assists refugees in Hungary.
2010_03_ECHR_Hungary_Greece_Hungarian_Helsinki_Committee.pdf (56.13 KB)
Ukrainian Refugee Council: “The EU-Ukraine Readmission Agreement — MYTHS, FACTS AND RISKS”
Date: 01-03-2010 URC Press Release (137.61 KB)
Human rights organisations urge EU governments to adapt border management to ensure that refugees can reach Europe
Date: 24-02-2010Bjarte Vandvik, ECRE Secretary General said: "States have a legitimate right to control their borders, but this is not an excuse to ignore the fact that persons fleeing war or persecution are entitled to protection under international, European and national laws. As Frontex is being strengthened, its operations need to be monitored to ensure that human rights are respected".
"European governments brag about their success in fighting irregular migration but refugees who are prevented from arriving to the European territory are paying the price of this ‘success'. The EU shows a worrying hypocrisy: it celebrates the establishment of a European asylum system, while leaves refugees outside Europe, where they don´t have access to their right to international protection", added Alfredo Abad, Secretary General of the Spanish Commission for Refugees (CEAR).
2010_02_24_PR_AI_CEAR_ECRE_Borders_EN.pdf (38.83 KB)
Dutch Council for Refugees welcomes better protection
Date: 28-01-2010The Dutch Council of State, the highest Court in asylum cases in The Netherlands, has ruled that indiscriminate violence in the area of Mogadishu, in Somalia, has reached such a level that anyone who is returned there can be at risk.
Edwin Huizing, director of the Dutch Council for Refugees, an ECRE Member, welcomed this decision: "This statement is not only very important for Somalis, but also for refugees who have fled from other violent regions".
Somalia does not have a functioning government and, according to UNHCR, last May, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) reached 1.5 million people. Less than 20,000 Somalis sought asylum in the EU last year.
2010_01_27 Better protection for Somalis_Dutch Refugee Council.pdf (26.37 KB)
Memorial receives the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize
Date: 16-12-2009Remembering Natalia Estemirova - Human Rights defenders still at risk in Russia
The European Parliament has awarded today the Sakharov Prize for the Freedom of Thought to Ludmila Alekseeva, Sergei Kovaliov and Oleg Orlov, from the NGO Memorial Human Rights Centre and other human rights activists in Russia.
The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) welcomes the prize as a sign of support for Russian civil society and stresses that NGOs continue to face immense difficulties in their work in the Russian Federation.
"We receive today the Sakharov Prize thinking of all the colleagues and other human rights defenders who have been murdered trying to let the world know about the crimes that are carried out with absolute impunity in Chechnya. We all remember Natalia Estemirova" said Oleg Orlov, the Head of Memorial Human Rights Centre. "The EU's support towards human rights activists who work from the region and people who come to Europe fleeing this terror is essential", added Bjarte Vandvik, ECRE Secretary General.