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Press Release from BVMN-member InfoKolpa on Slovenian Court Ruling

Over the last year the civil initiative Info Kolpa, a key member of the Border Violence Monitoring Network, are sharing an important victory on their applicant’s court proceedings seeking justice against the Slovenian state’s expulsion practices. This month, the administrative court established once again that the Republic of Slovenia violated the applicant’s right to prohibition of collective expulsions, his right to prohibition of torture and his right to access to the asylum procedure, by following the abbreviated procedure on the basis of the Readmission Agreement between the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Croatia, through which it handed the applicant over to the Croatian authorities in August 2019.

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Video Analysis: The New Pact on Migration

In this short film BVMN explore the problems associated with the European Unions ‘New Pact on Migration and Asylum’, including the proposed increased use of detention, the time limits proposed for the pre-screening process, and the gaps that remain in the supposed ‘independent monitoring mechanism’. This release comes after the publication in November of a policy analysis on the New Pact (available below) which focused on the problematic pre-screening procedures that would be imposed. Since then, Milena Zajovic – the head of BVMNs Advocacy team and representative of network-member Are You Syrious?, has offered further insights on the pact in a webinar organised by the Left Group of the European Parliament – GUE/NGL. Thank you to network-members Are You Syrious? and No Name Kitchen for the footage, and to Broga Doite Film for the production of this short film.

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Launch Event: The Black Book of Pushbacks

First edition of the 1500 page book on illegal cross-border pushbacks (GUE/NGL)

Today the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) are releasing a landmark publication on illegal border pushbacks. The ‘Black Book of Pushbacks’ brings together a wealth of evidence on these violations, analysing in detail the way that these brutal acts have become systematised at the external border and renewing calls to end impunity for perpetrating EU authorities.

A 1500-page ‘Black Book’ that documents the horrific violence suffered by over 12,000 people at the hands of authorities on the EU’s external borders has been released today – International Migrants Day – by The Left in the European Parliament. Compiled by BVMN and printed over two volumes, the ‘Black Book of Pushbacks’ is a collection of hundreds of testimonies of migrants and asylum seekers who have experienced human rights violations at external borders.

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Balkan Region Report – November 2020

The Border Violence Monitoring Network published 29 testimonies of violent pushbacks in November, involving severe levels of physical, psychological and structural abuse. The testimonies collected last month voice the experience of 951 people-on-the-move. This report offers analysis of the trends observed in each of these accounts, showing how law enforcement carry out these violent collective expulsions at EU borders. Continue reading “Balkan Region Report – November 2020”

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Frontex ignore rights violations at the Evros border

Stranded at the border

News was broken last month by BVMN partner, Josoor, showing a disturbing stand-off between Greek and Turkish authorities at the Evros/Meriç river border. 70 people, including families with children and a pregnant woman, were trapped on an island which they had been forced onto during an illegal pushback conducted by Greek authorities. With neither Turkey or Greece willing to allow the group to enter their respective territories, they were stranded for days without food or water in freezing temperatures. Here, BVMN publishes a shocking letter exchange with Frontex, who refused to take any responsibility for the safety of the aforementioned individuals, despite their mandate to ensure fundamental rights.

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