Germany’s Office for Migration and Refugees must not discriminate against individual family members when assessing deportation bans, Germany’s highest administrative court has ruled. The core family - parents and children - must stay together.
An Administrative Court in Germany suspended the return of an Iranian asylum seeker and her 10-year-old child to France under the so-called Dublin Regulation. The court ruled that there was sufficient proof that two might be subjected to severe hardship, and spoke of a potential for a “violation of human rights” in this particular instance.
A group of lawyers providing legal assistance to asylum seekers on the Greek island of Lesbos has been awarded this year's peace prize by the international Catholic organization, Pax Christi. Most of the lawyers are volunteers trying to help thousands of people who have nowhere else to turn.
In Austria, asylum judges who mostly hear appeals from men are more lenient towards women appearing in court. A recent study has also found that female judges are more likely than male judges to grant asylum.
22 civil society organizations in Germany have signed an open letter to federal Members of Parliament, calling on them to reject a draft law aimed at facilitating deportations of rejected asylum seekers.
The German Parliament has begun discussing a bill which would make it harder for rejected asylum seekers to avoid deportation. The 'Orderly Return Bill' would also mean that people facing deportation would be held in regular prisons.
Two Afghan families were forced to leave Hungary and return to Serbia this week after their asylum claims were rejected. The chief of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has spoken out about the expulsion of the Afghans - among them a pregnant woman - calling it "a serious violation of international law."
Rising numbers of migrants are entering Cyprus through the Turkish-administered north of the country, on order to gain access to the Greek-speaking southern part of the island which is an EU member state. But what’s the situation like for migrants on the ground?
Two Italian NGOs have filed complaints against the Rome police headquarters. Police are reportedly not issuing stay permits to foreigners without a stable residence. The NGOs say that this is illegal.
It is not legal to reject asylum requests on the basis of generic "international sources," Italy's highest court has ruled. Instead, the authorities must avoid "stereotyped formulas" and seek out "updated information" on the safety situation in the country of origin.
Since August 2018, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC), a non-governmental organization advocating for human rights in Hungary, has counted a total of 13 cases of starvation in Hungary’s transit zones, affecting 21 individuals.
On Tuesday April 16, between 150 and 170 asylum seekers on Cyprus took to the streets of the capital Nicosia to demand full access to the labor market. A ministerial decision passed in October 2018 states that asylum seekers should be given access to the labor market one month after filing their asylum application. The reality is very different though, says the Catholic charity Caritas.