19/01/2016 – Request for information on the current whereabouts and legal status of Jiang Yefei and Dong Guangping, two Chinese activists recognised as refugees by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) who were transferred from Thailand to China on 13 November 2015.

©Grzegorz Żukowski The willingness of the Commission to use the Rule of Law Framework is a positive step towards a more serious approach by the EU to speak out and hold its own member states to account on their human rights records. Amnesty International Newsflash Brussels – 13 January 2016 The...

12/01/2016 – On 1 January 2016, Iverna McGowan was appointed as Head of Amnesty International (AI) European Institutions Office and Director of Advocacy, covering work towards the European Institutions including the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe (CoE).

18 December 2015 By Todor Gardos Slovenia is on its way to becoming the first country in Central Europe to allow same-sex couples to marry. Its citizens should feel proud of this historic opportunity to widen the scope of civil rights by voting in the referendum that closes 20 December. By...

A close shot of a label on a towel which has been provided to refugees from Syria who have been sent to Erzurum Deportation Centre in Erzurum Province, eastern Turkey. This centre is part funded by the European Union. ©Amnesty International Lives and rights are at risk, and solidarity and...

Action against the flogging of the blogger Raif Badawi. ©Henning Schacht/Amnesty International By cooperating with Saudi Arabia and failing to simultaneously and publicly condemn their human rights’ violations, the EU is essentially giving the green light for abuses to continue. AMNESTY...

Temporary accommodation provided for refugees who have arrived in Turkey from Syria. According to former detainees, this is a camp where Syrians have been arbitrarily detained and in some cases, returned to Syria. ©Amnesty International By engaging Turkey as a gatekeeper for Europe in the...

16/12/2015 – The report Europe’s Gatekeeper documents how, since September, in parallel with EU-Turkey migration talks, the Turkish authorities have rounded up and herded scores – possibly hundreds – of refugees and asylum-seekers onto buses and transported them more than 1,000 kilometres to...

© Irish Defence Forces Ensuring access to asylum is an obligation, not an option AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE Brussels – 15 December 2015 The protection of the European Union’s (EU) external borders must not come at the expense of refugees’ rights to protection and the...

Refugees walking through Hungary to the Austria border in September. ©Sebastian Brötzner Hungary should take heed and act now to restore the rights of asylum-seekers to access its territory and fair asylum determination proceedings. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL NEWSFLASH Brussels – 10...

10/12/2015 – Amnesty International sent a briefing to the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers on the measures Greece had taken to provide adequate first reception services for refugees on arrival and on the border with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the treatment of...

Every letter, email and petition signature that authorities receive is a chink in an armour that would otherwise be impenetrable, chipping away at the power of those authorities who commit human rights abuses. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE Brussels – 4 December 2015 People who speak out...