Migration

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Rising tensions at the EU’s External Borders with Russia: The Unwanted Return of Instrumentalised Migration and Problematic Responses

December 8, 2023

On November 22nd 2023, the Finnish government announced its decision to close all but one of its border crossings with Russia — having closed four crossings one week earlier. That decision was taken in response to a spike in arrivals of undocumented migrants. Though the EU and its Member States have been confronted with several migratory inflows over the last decade, the situation at the Finnish-Russian border is unlike most previous cases; rather than migrants crossing the border of their own volition, in this case the Finnish authorities claim that Russia has facilitated the arrival of migrants. The Russian Federation is accused of encouraging border crossings, reportedly as a retaliation to Finland joining NATO earlier this year. The Finnish border closures have obtained EU support — with Frontex sending staff and materials to help Finnish border guards, and Commission President Von Der Leyen accusing Russia of a “shameful” instrumentalisation of migrants. Reports indicate that a similar situation may currently also be unfolding along the…

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From Farmakonisi to Pylos at the ECtHR

July 12, 2023

In July 2022 the ECtHR published its judgement in the case Safi and others v. Greece, pronouncing on what came to be known as the Farmakonisi shipwreck of 2014. The investigation of the Pylos shipwreck of June 14th, the second deadliest on record in the Mediterranean since 2015, is still underway. According to…

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Halfway Through 2023: A Year of Unparalleled, Avoidable Migrant Tragedies at Sea

June 21, 2023

In April 2023, I wrote about the Crotone migrant shipwreck which occurred on February 26, 2023, and ‘shocked’ the European Union (EU). Approximately 94 lives were lost, several others are still missing, and 86 survived. The incident was yet another paradigm of the delayed/non-assistance saga that has been unfolding in the Mediterranean Sea region at the…

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Rescue at Sea and Asylum on Humanitarian Vessels

December 23, 2022

The recent impasse concerning the disembarkation of nearly 600 migrants rescued in Maltese and Libyan search and rescue (SAR) zones on the Central Mediterranean by NGO vessels (Humanity 1, operated by SOS Humanity, the Ocean Viking, operated by SOS Mediterranée, lately joined by the Geo Barents, operated by Médécins Sans Frontières (MSF), and Rise Above operated by Mission…

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Generous, but Equal Treatment? Anti-Discrimination Duties of States Hosting Refugees Fleeing Ukraine

May 2, 2022

More than 5 million refugees have recently fled Ukraine, the fastest-growing mass displacement in this century. About a quarter of Ukraine’s population and half of its children have fled their homes. The European Union (EU) responded with a first-time activation of the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD). Lurking behind tremendous generosity, States have treated…

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