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News from Trieste: COVID-19 and pushbacks

Working every day in the street with people-on-the-move has allowed medical volunteers in Trieste to witness the worsening situation at the Italian border with Slovenia. Here is a sum-up of the radical changes in the last two months, highlighting growing repression towards transit groups and a spike in pushbacks from Italian territory. The events are relayed in three distinct stages: from the start of the pandemic, the development of tighter police controls, and finally the expansion of pushbacks through the dubious “informal readmission” process.  Continue reading “News from Trieste: COVID-19 and pushbacks”

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Report from Centre for Peace Studies on the pushback of children

On 29th May 2020, the Centre for Peace Studies – a key member of the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) – presented a new report alongside the Welcome! Initiative. Addressing the Croatian Government, the “Report on violent and illegal expulsions of children and unaccompanied children” is based on testimonies collected by activists through the BVMN shared database. The publication shares the story of children who sought protection from Croatia, and how Croatia answered in violence. Continue reading “Report from Centre for Peace Studies on the pushback of children”

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Discrediting NGOs will not hide the evidence at the EU’s external borders

A response to the Croatian Ministry of Interior on grave rights abuses by police officers in the border area.

When it comes to human rights violations, then the authority implicated should conduct an impartial internal investigation. This has not been the response of the Croatian Ministry of Interior (MUP), who have batted off reports recently put to them by No Name Kitchen (NNK) and the organisations which form  the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) in an article by the Guardian newspaper. 

(Source:MUP)

Continue reading “Discrediting NGOs will not hide the evidence at the EU’s external borders”

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Special Report: COVID-19 and Border Violence along the Balkan Route

The Border Violence Monitoring Network are publishing a feature report on the intersection of the current health crisis and border management. This new report shares first hand testimony of people-on-the-move who are experiencing the COVID-19 lockdown in transit. Its scope looks at the way restrictive measures disproportionately affect vulnerable persons in camps and at borders. Further, analysis of various countries from the region shows how COVID-19 measures have also been utilised to shape and erode the fundamental rights of these communities. Approaching the topic of COVID-19 as a period used to stage rights suspensions, some of the developments explored in this report include:
 Continue reading “Special Report: COVID-19 and Border Violence along the Balkan Route”

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Press Release – Documented Pushbacks from Centres on the Greek Mainland

The Border Violence Monitoring Network are releasing new case material presenting evidence of removals from Greek centres and the subsequent pushback of people to Turkey. The incidents, occurring from the camp in Diavata and the Drama Paranesti Pre-removal Centre, show the extension of collective expulsion during the COVID-19 period. These are brazen acts which situate institutional accomodation sites and detention spaces firmly within the illegal pushback regime.

Continue reading “Press Release – Documented Pushbacks from Centres on the Greek Mainland”