Migration

20/12/2023: Human Rights Watch says that new “political agreement” to overhaul the European Union’s asylum and migration system contains provisions that move closer to legalizing the denial of the right to asylum. The changes are based on deterrence, an approach proven to be both ineffective and abusive.

Source: Human Rights Watch

15/12/2023: Held every four years, the Global Refugee Forum is the world’s largest international gathering on refugees. Over three days in Geneva, financial commitments totalling over $2.2 billion were announced by governments and other sectors, alongside a pledge to resettle 1 million refugees by 2030.

Source: UN Refugee Agency

29/11/2023: Niger's military junta has signed an order revoking a law to curb the smuggling of migrants from West Africa heading north toward Europe. The law was enacted in 2015, under heavy pressure from the European Union, at the height of the European migrant crisis.

Source: DW

17/11/2023: The world has made tangible progress in laying the groundwork for improving refugees’ lives, according to a report by the UN Refugee Agency. Four key indicators focus on easing pressure on host countries; enhancing refugee self-reliance; expanding access to third-country solutions; and supporting conditions in countries of origin.

Source: UN Refugee Agency

15/11/2023: The UN Refugee Agency has welcomed the UK's Supreme Court ruling that transfers of asylum-seekers from the UK to Rwanda would breach international and UK law. The Agency advised the Court under its mandate to supervise the application of the 1951 Refugee Convention worldwide.

Source: UN Refugee Agency

7/11/2023: In light of Italy's announcement that asylum-seekers will be transferred to Albania, the UN Refugee Agency has reiterated the legal standards that should be applied to such arrangements. In particular that transfers to safe third party countries should share the responsibility for refugees equitably among participating nations, rather than shifting it.

Source: UN Refugee Agency

3/11/2023: A new study published by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy in Germany argues that foreign aid aimed at reducing unauthorized migration from lower-income countries can be highly effective development policy. But the study warns leaders of donor countries that positive results will be constrained especially from the most "fragile” countries of sub-Saharan Africa.

Source: Devex

1/11/2023: Hundreds of thousands of Afghans living in Pakistan face detention and deportation as the government's November 1st deadline for them to leave expires. More than 140,000 people have left Pakistan since the start of October.

Source: CNA

21/10/2023: Kenya’s refugee reform programme could see the Kakuma and Dadaab camps converted into formal towns whose residents will no longer be restricted in movement. But potential development partners seek more direct benefits to refugees as the basis for committing funds.

Source: The East African

12/10/2023: Over 700,000 Afghans fled to Pakistan after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, of which only 200,000 have been resettled. Human Rights Watch calls on the Pakistan government to withdraw its demand that all migrants living without legal status in Pakistan must leave voluntarily within 28 days or face deportation.

Source: Human Rights Watch