News Highlights: human trafficking book, EU-Eritrea cooperation, aid for famine
16 Mar 2017

News Highlights: human trafficking book, EU-Eritrea cooperation, aid for famine

by | posted in: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Horn of Africa region, Human Trafficking, Migration, Refugees in the EU, Weekly news highlights | 0

In this week’s news highlights we will share with you: the book launch of Human Trafficking and Trauma in the Digital Era: The Ongoing Tragedy of Trade in Refugees from Eritrea and the latest political events that give an overview of Europe’s tendencies in migration politics. In the Horn of Africa, famine is increasing but international response is reluctant. Also included: increasing human rights abuses in South Sudan, cross-border attacks between Ethiopia and South Sudan and an update on Ethiopia’s state of emergency.

European Court of Justice decision: no humanitarian visas – a loss for refugees, a win for traffickers
8 Mar 2017

European Court of Justice decision: no humanitarian visas – a loss for refugees, a win for traffickers

by | posted in: European Politics, European Union, Human Trafficking, Refugees in the EU | 0

Yesterday, 07 March 2017, the European Court of Justice ruled its decision on humanitarian visas in the European Union and came to the conclusion that member states cannot be obliged to admit asylum seekers on humanitarian grounds, even if they are at risk of torture or inhuman treatment. The court ruled on a on the case of a Syrian family of five from Aleppo. The family initially applied for a visa to Belgium at the Belgian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon but the Belgian Immigration Office refused the visa because it was clear that the family intended to overstay it.

European Court of Justice Advocate’s advice urges member states to issue humanitarian visas
9 Feb 2017

European Court of Justice Advocate’s advice urges member states to issue humanitarian visas

by | posted in: European Politics, Migration, Refugees in the EU | 0

Advocate General Mengozzi of the European Court of Justice announced in a press release yesterday, 7 February 2017, that “Members States must issue a visa on humanitarian grounds where substantial grounds have been shown for believing that a refusal would place persons seeking international protection at risk of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment.”

The advocate’s opinion further states that “it is irrelevant whether or not there are ties between the person concerned and the requested Member State.”