After the UK’s High Court judged the policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda as lawful, NGOs quickly reacted. Some fear an acceleration of this trend on a European scale. Others want to focus their efforts on providing legal support to migrants facing deportation from the UK.
Politically divided Libya has reportedly sent more than 200 irregular migrants back across its land borders with Egypt, Sudan and Chad. A recent UN report suggests that migrants in Libya are often "compelled to accept 'assisted return' to their home countries," possibly in inhumane conditions.
UNHCR has reiterated a call for a ban on forced returns, including of asylum seekers who have had their claims rejected, to the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The call comes amid attacks on civilians and an escalation of armed conflict after a resumption of fighting.
The French government has declared that it must "do better" on the expulsion of irregular migrants from the country, after criticism from the far-right opposition in the wake of the violent murder of a 12-year-old in Paris. The main suspect in the murder case is a 24-year-old homeless Algerian woman with psychiatric problems.
The National Commission for the Prevention of Torture has criticized Switzerland for using inappropriate force during deportation. One pregnant woman was restrained in front of her children and forced to breastfeed while handcuffed.
Two Spanish NGOs have denounced that a young Ivorian has been expelled from Spain and sent to Morocco, "a country of which he is not a citizen and with which he has no personal connections." The migrant asked the NGOs for help because he fears Morocco could be a dangerous country for him, the organizations said.
Spain's practice of pushing back migrants from its North African enclaves to Morocco is controversial. But is it permitted by law?
The French interior minister says he wants to deport "any foreigner" who has committed "serious acts" -- regardless of their administrative status in France. InfoMigrants reviews what the law actually says.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Turkey unlawfully expelled a young Syrian refugee after forcing him to sign a document that said he was returning voluntarily.
In December, the Home Office sent a rejection letter to a Syrian asylum seeker, saying it was safe for him to return. That would have been first case of its kind in the UK. Now, authorities appear to have backtracked.
Data provided by the Italian government showed that in 2021 only one in two migrants held at Italian repatriation centers was actually repatriated. Italy's National Guarantor for the Rights of Detained Persons has criticized the data.
Four Algerian citizens were reported to the police in connection to a large fight that broke out on the night of Saturday 27 November in the migrant reception center of Monastir, in southern Sardinia. The fight involved about fifteen people, three of whom were injured. The four Algerians will reportedly be expelled from Italy.