Miner using mercury to sift gold from mud, Mwenga territory, South Kivu, April 2009. Mercury – a poisonous chemical – is being used to separate grains of gold from the surrounding mud by this artisanal miner. © AI/IPIS

An Amnesty International researcher visited a mine in the Carnot region in May 2015. Children as young as 11 were engaged in mining work instead of attending school. © Amnesty International

Slovakia must change course and show leadership at EU level by insisting on more safe and legal routes for those desperately in need. This should be coupled with leadership by example, through increasing its own efforts to relocate people from Greece.

Libyan coast guards escort a boat carrying illegal migrants, who had hoped to set off to Europe with the help of people smugglers from the coastal town of Garabulli, towards the Libyan navy to Tripoli. © MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP/Getty Images

13/06/2016 – An open letter from 130 civil society organisations including Amnesty International calling on European Union member states to adopt a strong law on conflict minerals, and which requires European companies to act with due care when buying minerals or products that may be linked to conflict or human rights abuses.

13/06/2016 – 130 civil society organisations have called on the European Union not to squander a unique opportunity to play its part in tackling the conflict minerals trade.

Fire fighters extinguish a fire in an empty building

An Afghan migrant in Istanbul, Turkey. At least 20,000 Afghans are lured in Turkish cities by a promise of good wages that are never paid, and smugglers who tell them it is an easy launching point for a better life in Europe. © Amnesty International

30/05/2016 – Amnesty International is hereby submitting extended written answers to the public consultation questionnaire on a proposal for a mandatory EU Transparency Register.

Amnesty International / David Gaspar

25/05/2016 – Amnesty International wishes to share with the Committee of Ministers the following concerns on reforms to Greek asylum laws as part of the EU-Turkey refugee deal, and the detention of asylum seekers and unaccompanied children.

Egyptians mourn over a body wrapped in shrouds at a mosque in Cairo on August 15, 2013, following a crackdown on the protest camps of supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi the previous day. ©MAHMOUD KHALED/AFP/Getty Images