As the EU builds its walls higher and higher, migrants and refugees are increasingly taking to the Mediterranean waters in a desperate bid to reach safety and sanctuary in Europe. Tragically they are increasingly paying the highest cost, losing their lives at sea.
09/10/2014 – 07/10/2014 – The prosecution of Moazzam Begg, a UK national formerly held at Guantánamo Bay, collapsed on 1 October 2014, days before his trial on terrorism-related charges was due to begin. Moazzam Begg was formally acquitted of all charges by the trial judge.
01/10/2014 – On 9 and 10 October, Ministers will meet at the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council to discuss, amongst others, the migratory flows in the Central Mediterranean Sea to Europe. This JHA Council falls around the time of the first anniversary of the October shipwrecks in the central Mediterranean that cost the lives of over 500 people.
01/10/2014 – With the European Council of 23 and 24 October approaching, Amnesty International is urging European Union (EU) member state leaders and their governments to give priority to ensuring and implementing effective measures to stop the increasing death toll in the Central Mediterranean Sea.
Regardless of the dangers and of EU measures to keep them out, refugees and migrants will continue to risk their lives and the lives of their children fleeing their war-torn, rights violating or economically struggling countries of origin. EU states cannot channel them into the world’s most dangerous sea route and then abandon them to their fate.
25/09/2014 – Today Amnesty International wrote to the Bulgarian authorities to express concerns over the allegations that law enforcement forces did not intervene to prevent verbal abuse, harassment and threats of violence against Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC), during the 12 September rally organised by a far right political party that ended in front of their main office.
The latest influx of refugees has undoubtedly placed even further strain on Turkey’s already stretched resources, but this cannot be used as an excuse for denying safe sanctuary to anyone who is fleeing the horrors of war.
18/09/2014 – Torture and other ill-treatment by police and military are pervasive, routine and common throughout Nigeria. Released today, Amnesty International’s report “Welcome to hell fire: Torture and other ill-treatment in Nigeria” documents how hundreds of women, men and children in police and military custody across the country are being subjected to a range of physical and psychological torture and other ill-treatment.
With hundreds of thousands fleeing war and poverty across the Middle East and Africa, the priority must be to protect lives rather than creating an impenetrable fortress.
10/09/2014 – On 8 September around a dozen police officers raided the offices of two NGOs, Ökotárs and Demnet, and confiscated files and computer servers. The raids come after a string of recent government statements and actions which have sought to discredit the work of civil society organizations in Hungary.
The Ukrainian authorities must not replicate the lawlessness and abuses that have prevailed in areas previously held by separatists.