When there’s a will, there’s a way to protection – Quarterly report on push-backs

As part of the Protecting Rights at Borders initiative funded by the European Programme for Integration and Migration (EPIM), the third quarterly report on unlawful push-backs was published.

Since our previous report the world has changed, in particular for refugees arriving to the EU. Or at least, for some refugees arriving to the EU… While the protection provided to Ukrainians reaching the EU can only be applauded, others remain to be rejected at our borders where they are ‘welcomed’ with rights violations, including denial of access to asylum procedures, theft or destruction of property, and/or physical abuse or assault. This report therefore aims to: (1) highlight the systematic rights violations that continue occurring at EU Member States’ internal and external borders and (2) outline the limitations towards effective access to rights, with a focus on the distinction in treatment between those covered by the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive and others.

The PRAB initiative gathers partner organizations operating across a range of different countries: Italy (Associazione per gli Studi Giuridici sull’Immigrazione (ASGI), Diaconia Valdese (DV) and Danish Refugee Council (DRC) Italy); Hungary (Hungarian Helsinki Committee); Bosnia and Herzegovina (DRC BiH); Serbia (Humanitarian Center for Integration and Tolerance (HCIT)); North Macedonia (Macedonian Young Lawyers Association (MYLA)); Greece (Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) and DRC Greece); Poland (Association for Legal Intervention); Lithuania (Diversity Development Group); Belarus (Human Constanta) and Brussels (DRC Brussels).

The previous quarterly report is also available here.