Amidst warnings from over 50 Civil Society Organisations, EU lawmakers reached a political agreement on the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum in December. The agreement is a continuation of a decade of policy that has led to the proliferation of rights violations in Europe. Moreover, it will have devastating implications for the right to international protection in the bloc and greenlight abuses across Europe including racial profiling, default de facto detention and pushbacks. Next week, MEPs will be presented with a final chance to reject the files in a Plenary vote, and give a political signal against the adoption of a Pact that would undermine fundamental rights.

Amnesty International shared a submission to contribute to discussions ahead of the High-Level Conference on the European Social Charter to be held on 3-4 July 2024 in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Ahead of the 133rd session of the Committee of Ministers, on 16-17 May 2024, Amnesty International wrote to Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Council of Europe member states and to Permanent Representatives to the Council of Europe, urging them to take action to further the recognition and protection of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment within the Council of Europe.

Reacting to the European Council’s decision to call for a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza, Amnesty International’s Head of the European Institutions Office, Eve Geddie said: 

Amnesty International and 216 civil society organisations, social movements and Indigenous Peoples Organizations co-signed a letter calling for the swift recognition of the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment through an additional Protocol to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Ahead of the European Union’s (EU) leaders meeting with the Egyptian president in Cairo (17 March 2024), Amnesty International called for all leaders to ensure that respect for human rights is at the centre of all ties between the EU and Egypt.

Reacting to the prosecutor’s recognition that charges against the Iuventa ship’s crew members should be dropped, Elisa De Pieri, Amnesty International’s Regional Researcher, said:

Over 40 human rights organisations have released a joint statement calling on EU lawmakers to shield undocumented migrants from immigration enforcement when they report abuse to the police, as the EU is discussing new rules to protect victims of crime. Signatories include Amnesty International, the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), La Strada International, and Victim Support Europe.

Responding to the European Commission’s decision to investigate TikTok over concerns that  the online social media platform may be failing to comply with the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA) by not doing enough to protect young users, Damini Satija, Programme Director at Amnesty Tech, said:

Responding to the Italian Senate’s decision to ratify an agreement on detaining people rescued at sea by Italian ships in two detention centres in Albania, Matteo De Bellis, Amnesty International’s Migration and Asylum Researcher, said:“The Italian Parliament has just given the green light to an arbitrary detention deal that will harm thousands of people who would be taken to Albania and automatically detained following their rescue at sea.“Individuals disembarked in Albania and brought to the centres there, including refugees and asylum seekers, would be automatically detained and unable to leave the centres for up to 18 months. Under international law, automatic detention is inherently arbitrary and therefore unlawful.“Under the agreement, people would be kept on boats for days longer than needed while being transported to Albania. This dangerous distortion of search and rescue rules might put lives at risk, and would affect people already in a vulnerable condition given the circumstances of their journeys, marking a shameful chapter for Italy.“It is high time that European institutions recognize that the Italy-Albania agreement would create an unlawful and harmful system, which must be stopped. Instead of increasing people’s suffering, the authorities should ensure access to an effective asylum procedure, adequate reception, and safe, regular routes.”BackgroundOn 6 November 2023, the Italian government signed an agreement with Albania on the construction of two detention centres in Albania that will be used to arbitrarily detain people rescued or intercepted at sea by Italian state ships.The agreement seeks to legalize the automatic detention of asylum seekers and of people to be forcibly repatriated, with the declared goal of deterring sea crossings.On 24 January, the Italian Chamber of Deputies approved the ratification of the agreement, which then passed to the Senate. On 29 January, the Constitutional Court in Albania gave the green light for the Albanian Parliament to ratify the agreement.

Just a few weeks ago, the Italy-Albania arbitrary detention deal that was proposed in November seemed mired in legal and political obstacles. But in a concerning acceleration of plans, the Italian parliament is now about to complete the ratification of the deal and the Albanian Constitutional Court green-lighted the possibility for the Albanian parliament to do the same, which is expected in days.

Ahead of the European Parliament hearing on the aftermath of the Pylos shipwreck and reports of continued violence at the Greek Sea borders, Adriana Tidona, Amnesty International’s Migration Researcher, said: