07 January 2025
How the EU Commission Backs up Pushbacks at the EU-Belarussian Border
In December 2024, the European Commission issued a communication to the European Parliament and the Council discussing the current situation of so-called ‘hybrid threats’ at the EU-Belarussian border. With the goal of stopping irregular arrivals of migrants and its facilitation by Belarus and Russia, the EU Commission outlines how EU primary law, namely Art. 72 TFEU, could be utilized by Member States to circumvent the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) and curtail the protection afforded by fundamental rights for migrants. By advising member states to make use of this legal pathway for the current situation at the EU-Belarussian border, the EU Commission indirectly justifies the current pushback practices from Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Continue reading >>
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07 July 2023
Mourning the Dead While Securitizing the Sea
On 16 June, just two days after the catastrophic Pylos shipwreck in the Mediterranean with probably hundreds of deaths, the EU Commission organised the 4th meeting on a European framework for search and rescue in the Mediterranean. The framework is supposed to address „the specific challenges stemming from the ongoing migratory movements to the EU by sea, including those deriving from the increased number and types of actors involved in SAR operations“. While the alleged aim of the framework is to improve cooperation between Member States and other actors, under the guise of ‘improving cooperation with other actors’, the milestones (‘deliverables’) identified in the draft roadmap for the adoption of the framework risk to further impede civil search and rescue operations. Civil society organisations active in Search and Rescue operations may face extensive administrative burdens in registering ships and in the execution of search and rescue operations. Continue reading >>
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