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:
Reforms agreed today by the EU on the Pact on Migration and Asylum will set European asylum law back for decades to come and lead to greater human suffering, said Amnesty International.
In a joint letter to the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council, the incoming Belgian Presidency of the EU Council, Vice President Vera Jourová and Commissioner Didier Reynders, Amnesty International, CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties), Equinox: Initiative for Racial Justice, EuroMed Rights, European Civic Forum (ECF), and European Network Against Racism express concerns over restrictions on peaceful assembly and expression, in particular against people and organisations expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Authorities Need to Learn Lessons to Avert Future Deaths at Sea
Ahead of the European Council meeting on 14-15 December, at which EU Heads of State are due to discuss the situation in Gaza and Israel, Amnesty International wrote a letter to President of the European Council Charles Michel, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and EU Heads of State, urging them to urgently call for a ceasefire by all parties in Gaza and Israel.
Responding to the outcome of bloc’s landmark Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act after a tense debate between European Union member states, the European Commission and the European Parliament, Mher Hakobyan, Advocacy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence said:
On 8 December 2023, 70 civil society groups and 34 expert individuals sent an urgent letter to the Council of EU Member States, the European Commission and the European Parliament to urge them “Do not trade away our rights!” in the final trilogue (negotiation) on the landmark Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act.
Eighteen human rights organisations across Europe, alongside aid workers and survivors of human rights abuses, say that a crunch summit in Brussels on December 7th risks “opening the door to abuses across Europe” including racial profiling and pushbacks, in a “potentially irreversible attack” on the international system of refugee protection and the rule of law.
Responding to EU lawmakers’ reluctance to ban the export of harmful and rights-violating Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies from the EU in the AI Act, Mher Hakobyan, Amnesty International’s Advocacy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence, said: