The invisible deaths at sea, the bad migration deals to control migrant flows, the European race to forced repatriations and its human costs. The many discriminations against foreigners: from preschool applications to the right to love, the daily life of an undocumented migrant is an obstacle course.
- Mediterranean: the invisible deaths
There is no official record of the number of migrants losing their lives during the desperate crossing of the Mediterranean Sea. Ingeborg Eliassen of the Investigate Europe network why in an article for Refugees Deeply.
- Libya: the EU deal on migration is an all-around failure
Historically, violations of human rights have been “push factors” in migration to Europe. This fundamental fact is something that the EU and Italy have wilfully ignored, by signing bad deals like the one with Libya, which raises questions of effectiveness as well as humanity. What is, then, the point of these policies? Read Mattia Toaldo’s analysis for the Aspen Institute.
- Sudan: an appeal before the ECHR against Italy’s deportations
Five years after being condemned for pushing migrants at sea back to Libya, Italy is again facing judgment by the European Court of Human Rights for the mass deportation of nearly 50 Sudanese nationals in the summer of 2016. Read Giacomo Zandonini’s article in La Repubblica (and don’t forget ouour analysisr analysis).
- Germany: unprecedented numbers of deportations expected in 2017
Italy is not the only country doubling down on forced repatriation: Angela Merkel’s Germany has announced “record numbers” of deportations for rejected asylum applicants. Where, and how, remains unclear. Read the analysis in Deutsche Welle.
- Italy: discrimination begins in kindergarten?
Preschools, Venetians first: a new law will exclude immigrant children from public education. The Regional Council has voted to give priority in public preschools to the children of parents who have been living or working in Veneto for at least 15 years, while everyone else will have to wait. Read Lidia Baratta’s article in Linkiesta.
- Belgium: love is not an easy thing when you are undocumented
Questioning, searching, arrests. The State in Belgium is hunting down couples where one of the partners is undocumented. What began as a crackdown on alleged scam marriages has become violent and arbitrary, testing many couples and turning something as intimate as love into a public matter. Those caught without the required documents face deportation, ça va sans dire. Read Francesca Spinelli’s article in Internazionale.
- Sweden: the death of the most generous nation on earth
Little Sweden has taken in more refugees per capita than any other European nation. But its solidarity policies are taking a toll on the country, which seems of the verge of tearing itself apart. Read James Traub’s in-depth analysis in Foreign Policy.
- Spain: we want more refugees!
Over 160,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Barcelona, urging the Spanish government to implement better policies and open their doors to more refugees. Watch the video on Al Jazeera and read the article in the Guardian.
- United States: fighting Trump with technology
As President Trump tries his best to ban refugees and Muslims from entering the US, technology experts are working on how to resist his discriminatory policies… by building apps! Read Steven Melendez’s article in FastCompany.
- Japan: no country for refugees
26. This is how many refugees Japan took in last year – an almost laughable number. Why is that? Read the article in the Financial Times and watch Seeker’s video-explainer, and for an in-depth analysis, Moe Suzuki in Open Democracy.
Translation by Francesco Graziosi.
Header picture via Wikimedia.
