This week's #ECREPressReview:

🔗 shorturl.at/vmuKn

📢 Registrations are now open for the ECRE Annual General Conference 2026!

Join us on Thursday 4 June 2026 (09:00–18:00) in Brussels for a full day of discussions, exchange and collaboration on key issues shaping asylum and migration policy in Europe.

👉 Register here: shorturl.at/ozr6Q

Sudanese refugees trapped between borders and bureaucracy in Morocco A growing number of Sudanese refugees are arriving into Morocco after fleeing war, but find themselves stuck.

Ali’s story isn’t just his; it could be any 17-year-old fleeing war.
What does that say about our asylum systems? Signing the 1951 Refugee Convention isn’t enough when people still face pushbacks, detention and no access to healthcare or work.

Years of evidence and still no admission from EU Commission on Greek pushbacks Despite years of evidence and verified reports by a senior official within the EU's border agency Frontex, the European Commission still won't acknowledge that Greece pushes back migrants, which is il...

Years of documented reports on Greek pushbacks, yet EU Commission keeps deferring responsibility to Member States. When evidence from Frontex insiders and journalists mounts, institutional denial raises serious questions about rule of law enforcement at EU borders.

Advocates raise human rights concerns as new international protection laws passed Department of Justice says the International Protection Bill 2026 provides for a 'fair, sustainable and efficient' asylum procedure

As 12 June approaches, Member States have begun to adopt acts to align their national asylum laws with EU legislation.

However, there is concern that they comply with human rights.

👇How can it be fair for beneficiaries of international protection to wait for 2 years before family reunification?

'Being isolated is not easy': Migrants anxious after Germany cuts access to integration courses For many newcomers in Germany, learning German is the first step toward building a new life. But Germany has now frozen access to free integration courses for many asylum seekers and refugees, leaving...

Germany has decided to cut funding for free integration courses, leaving around 130,000 people without access to German language classes, not only undermining their chances in the labour market, but also deepening the harmful “us vs them” narrative driving anti-migration discourse.

Spain moves forward with mass migrant regularisation | Euractiv Ministry officials hail landmark overhaul of Spain’s immigration system

In a climate of rising deportations and restrictive policies across Europe, Spain stands on the side of inclusion and human dignity, making hundreds of undocumented people eligible to apply for legal status.

PM Sánchez defined this measure as "an act of normalization, justice and a necessity".

This week's #ECREPressReview:

🔗 shorturl.at/MhFgN

75th Anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention: UNHCR announces year of action and dialogue | UNHCR GENEVA – Throughout 2026, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is embarking on a series of national, regional, and global dialogues to mark the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention.

75 years on, the 1951 Refugee Convention still stands, but it needs political backing.

Record displacement and shrinking asylum space are only a few of the issues that need to be addressed.

UNHCR’s 2026 dialogues aim to turn commitments into reality.

What are the long-term risks of the EU's return hubs? Plans to send migrants to non-EU states could leave them stranded in fragile regions, while giving third countries new leverage over Europe.

Since the recent adoption of the Return Regulation last March, the risk of sending people to return hubs outside the EU has become more and more possible.

What will this imply?
▪️ potential instrumentalisation of migration for political gains
▪️potential violation of fundamental human rights

Left on the streets, asylum-seekers win victory against 'degrading' treatment by Belgium After months sleeping rough despite court orders, asylum-seekers won a ruling that Belgium’s failure to house them amounted to a violation of their human rights.

The European Court of Human Rights held Belgium responsible for failing to provide accommodation to asylum applicants after they submitted their asylum applications.

The delayed government response led to a violation of basic rights.

This week's #ECREWeekly includes updates on:

▪️Balkan Route
▪️Mediterranean

Plus

✒️Op-ed "When solidarity becomes a crime."

📑Recent reports
📅Upcoming events
💼Open job vacancies
📢Ongoing campaigns
📝Calls for papers, project proposals, courses etc.

🔗Read it here: shorturl.at/BYjFn

#ECREWeekly Update on the Balkans:

▪️NGOs question fall in irregular crossings
▪️A major rescue followed a boat incident at the Croatia-BiH border
▪️Croatian border guards face new violence accusations
▪️Local opposition to new reception centre near Croatia-BiH border

More about it: shorturl.at/POsSf

EU plans for “return hubs” outside its borders raise serious questions. While aiming to improve returns, evidence from Rwanda and Albania shows legal, financial and human rights challenges.

Can externalization really work, or does it shift responsibility without solving root issues?

#ECREWeekly Update on the Mediterranean:

▪️Many dead and missing at sea
▪️New detention facility in Cyprus
▪️NGO report on pushbacks and deaths in Aegean Sea
▪️Authorities in Italy target NGO humanitarian vessels
▪️Italy referred to ICC Assembly over Almasri case

More about it: shorturl.at/x4kj9

ECRE has joined a coalition of 522 organisations that call on EU policymakers to defend a substantial budget increase for AgoraEU, the dedicated funding instrument for culture, independent media and journalism, fundamental rights and civil society.

Read the full letter here: shorturl.at/PsKGB

What happens at EU borders and at sea is often known only because individuals and civil society document it. In her op-ed, Stanzen Jelsma highlights their vital role and warns that Tommy Olsen’s arrest reflects a broader trend against transparency and human rights.

🔗 Full op-ed : shorturl.at/aQ1sH

‘Raise our heads and resist’: how Europe’s civil society is fighting back against the far right Rightwing parties are using parliamentary queries, legal traps and policing to target NGOs and stifle dissent

Civic society organisations, among their many roles, guarantee freedom of expression and the right to assembly.
That is why they found themselves in the crosshairs of authoritarian governments.

Despite the attempts to undermine their work, they always find a way to resist together.

This week's #ECREPressReview:

🔗 shorturl.at/RHNXS

Empower to Integrate: 'We need to stop showing migrants only as suffering people' “We need to stop showing migrants only as suffering people,” says Moussa Hammod, reflecting on a narrative he believes is both limiting and incomplete.

💫Good news of the week: a powerful story of resilience and integration. Listen to Moussa Hammod as he challenges migrant stereotypes and shares his journey of dignity, identity and belonging.

You can find the interview below 👇

This week's #ECREWeekly includes articles on:

▪️Greece
▪️AIDA Country Report on Ukraine
▪️AIDA Country Report on the UK

Plus

📑Recent publications
📅Upcoming events
💼Open job vacancies
📢Ongoing campaigns
📝Calls for papers, project proposals, courses etc.

🔗Read it here: eepurl.com/jC9Fmo

#ECREWeekly Update on Greece:

▪️Humanitarian arrested in Norway
▪️Authorities accused of using ‘Afghan paramilitaries’
▪️NGO statistics on refugee situation in 2025
▪️Migration ministry begins co-operation with US authorities
▪️NGO report on situation in centres on islands

Read it here: bit.ly/48fEdgH

#AIDA Country Report on the #United Kingdom – Update on 2025

🔗Full report: shorturl.at/Dg8eU

#AIDA Country Report on #Ukraine – Update on 2025

🔗Full report: shorturl.at/PzPFB

Belgium and Algeria sign agreements on return of undocumented migrants Out of 2,251 Algerian nationals who received a deportation order last year, only 85 people left the country.

Last week the European Parliament approved the Return Regulation draft, once again pushing EU migration policy outward. Deals like Belgium-Algeria risk externalising responsibility and prioritising returns over fundamental human rights.

Italy impounds Sea-Watch 5 in response to the latest disagreement over sea rescue law Italian authorities have impounded the private search-and-rescue vessel Sea-Watch 5 after a daylong standoff off the Sicilian coast earlier in March. The private rescue group has condemned the decisio...

Let's remember:
criminalising NGOs rescuing people at sea doesn’t stop migration - it makes it deadlier.

Once again, governments are missing opportunities to implement human-rights based policies and decisions.

This week's #ECREPressReview:

🔗 shorturl.at/KffqW

Diritto di asilo: il TAR Veneto condanna i ritardi delle Questure di Venezia e Vicenza Due importanti sentenze potrebbero segnare un punto di svolta nella tutela del diritto di asilo in Italia.

🥳Some good news today!
A court in Italy held local administrations accountable for organisational inefficiency in processing asylum applications.

Applicants were forced to wait sometimes for years just to submit their claims

The administrations now have 90 days to process pending cases.

#AIDA Country Report on #Cyprus – Update on 2025

🔗Full report: shorturl.at/sD7VK

This week's #ECREWeekly includes updates on:

▪️EU External Partners
▪️ECRE AIDA Country Report on Cyprus

📑Recent reports
📅Upcoming events
💼Open job vacancies
📢Ongoing campaigns
📝Calls for papers, project proposals, courses etc.

🔗Read it here: shorturl.at/H6LsE