Ahead of an EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers meeting on 9-10 June to discuss the reform of the Schengen Borders Code, a coalition of almost 40 NGOs, in a joint statement, denounces the risk of more racial profiling and other fundamental rights violations under the proposed new rules.

The Schengen Borders Code regulates border controls at the internal and external borders of the Schengen area, and essentially prohibits internal checks as a rule, with some limited exceptions. The reform – proposed by the Commission in December 2021 and currently being discussed by the EU Council and the Parliament – maintains this general prohibition on internal checks on paper, but at the same time allows police to carry out checks at internal border areas to “prevent irregular migration” (Recitals 18 and 21 and Article 23).

Since systematic checks are prohibited, it is clear that “random” document checks will depend on police’s decisions about who “looks like” a person without valid papers. Research (see Notes) has already shown that police tend to stop people for checks based on racial, ethnic, or religious characteristics: the new Schengen Borders Code will exacerbate this trend of racial profiling.

The new Code also introduces the possibility for joint police patrols to apprehend people caught without a valid document at internal borders, detain them for up to 24 hours and transfer them to the EU state they think the person came from, without any individual assessment. This “internal pushback” and the ensuing detention would also apply to children, even though this has been deemed illegal by courts and despite international consensus that child detention constitutes a human rights violation.

The proposal escalates the use of monitoring and surveillance technologies like biometric identification technologies and AI-based automated decision-making systems that do not apply relevant safeguards and would be at odds with existing EU data protection legislation and the currently debated Artificial Intelligence Act.

Lastly, the new Code introduces measures that would limit the possibility for people to seek asylum in the EU in situations of “instrumentalisation of migration”. In particular, the reform steps up Frontex’s involvement and allows member states to limit the number of border crossing points and their opening hours, and to intensify border surveillance including through drones, motion sensors and border patrols.

According to Marta Gionco, Advocacy Officer at the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), “As it stands now, the new Schengen Borders Code would turn the Schengen area into a tech-controlled space where racial profiling gets de facto legitimised, access to asylum is curtailed and freedom of movement is undermined”.

Stephanie Pope, EU Migration Policy Advisor, Oxfam International: “For years, European leaders have shut their eyes to pushbacks. Now the EU is going one step further with an attempt to legalise and legitimise them and other human rights violations happening at Europe’s borders. Where is the condemnation? Where is the commitment to human rights? Pushbacks cannot be accepted as the norm and cannot be legalised.”

Hope Barker, Senior Policy Analyst from the Border Violence Monitoring Network: “In conjunction with other legislative documents of the New Pact, such as provisions for pre-screening procedures that rely heavily on the arbitrary detention of POM and the failed attempts at implementing an IBMM in Croatia and Greece, the SBC reform contributes to the emergent paradigm in European migration policy that frames movement as a security concern in order to justify disregard for fundamental human rights provisions”.

NOTES TO THE EDITORS:

• EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers are meeting on 9-10 June to discuss various issues related to their portfolios, including the new Schengen Borders Code. The provisional agenda can be read here.
• The full civil society joint statement, including key recommendations, can be read here.
• 2021 research from the EU Fundamental Rights Agency shows that people from an ethnic minority are disproportionately affected by police stops, both when they are walking and when in a vehicle. 2014 research also from the EU Fundamental Rights Agency showed that 79% of surveyed border guards at airports rate ethnicity as a helpful indicator to identify people attempting to enter the country in an irregular manner before speaking to them.
• PICUM is a Brussels-based network of over 160 NGOs working to advance the rights of undocumented people.
• For interviews and other media requests, please contact PICUM’s Communications Officer Gianluca Cesaro at gianluca.cesaro@picum.org

Cover: Alexander Lupin – Adobe Stock

On 3 September, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has decided to close a 2013 case that saw migrant field workers being shot at in Neo Manolada, Greece, with no further scrutiny. In 2017, Greece was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights for failing to protect the workers, and ordered remedial measures to help prevent further abuse. Advocates denounce no real change has happened to protect migrant workers since.

In April 2013, about 150 undocumented Bangladeshi strawberry pickers were shot, and 30 severely injured, by their employer’s guards as they demanded their unpaid wages. With no papers, the men worked twelve-hour days under the watch of armed guards, often without rest. They were not paid even the promised wages, amounting to about 22€ per working day, which was already well below legal wage limits.

In 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Greece had failed in its duty to protect migrant workers from labour exploitation, and to properly investigate their abuse and punish those responsible. In its judgement, the court underlined how various changes in policy and practice would be needed to prevent this kind of abuse from happening again and better protect future potential victims.

Three years on, the Committee of Ministers, which oversees the execution of the Court’s judgments under enhanced supervision, has decided to close the case with no further scrutiny.

The Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) and the AIRE Centre (Advice on Individual Rights in Europe), and HIAS Greece, have submitted written interventions to the Committee.

While remedial measures have been implemented for the specific workers concerned, and some steps taken to improve anti-trafficking policies, the situation on Greek farms remains essentially the same and is affecting a wider range of migrant workers, including asylum seekers. To meaningfully address ongoing labour exploitation in Greek agriculture, the organisations highlight the need for changes, in particular, in how labour standards are enforced in the fields, in policies around work permits and access to the labour market that currently block migrant workers from working regularly, and in proactive investigations on the part of authorities.

Michele LeVoy, Director of PICUM, said: “In this case our strawberries were being picked literally at gunpoint. In others, the gun might not be there but similar coercion is felt by workers – if standing up for your rights might lead to your arrest… and nothing else – minimal chance of actually getting the wages you are owed or the person being held to account. What we need is for labour rights to mean something in the fields – that they are actually enforced, and enforceable for all workers, without any risk of denunciation or deportation.”

Vassilis Kerasiotis, Director of HIAS Greece, said: In times of COVID crisis it is even more important to address the harsh working conditions of essential agricultural workers across Greece, regardless of their residence status. The new EU Pact on Asylum and Migration should reflect the need for regular migration pathways. Compliance with this landmark judgment should include reforms to Greek immigration laws on residence and work permits for agricultural workers, as a factor to prevent forced labour.”

Morshed (not his real name), a migrant worker, said: “When you work, they insult you for no reason. They do not respect working time or break time. I work 3 hours for 5 euros, and have to use chemicals that are dangerous. They give us food that’s already out of date. There is a great deal of discrimination, we are treated differently from other European or Greek workers. They are exploiting us. I’m ready to testify if there would be a way.”

NOTES TO THE EDITORS:

• The final decision of the Committee of Ministers can be found here.
• Details about the 2013 incident and about the case before the ECtHR can also be found on the website of the Open Society Justice Initiative, which acted as co-counsel to the claimants before the ECtHR. Ongoing monitoring of the situation in Manolada is carried out by Generation 2.0 with the initiative Manolada Watch.
• PICUM had intervened in the Chowdury case with the AIRE Centre in 2017.
• Submissions to the Committee of Ministers have been made under Rule 9.2 in the context of the enhanced supervision of the execution of the judgment of the European Court of  Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of Chowdury and Others v. Greece (App. No. 16643/09, judgment of  30 March 2017).
• The written submission to the Committee of Ministers from PICUM and AIRE Centre can be found here, and from HIAS Greece here. Submissions have also been made by the Greek National Commission for Human Rights and the Greek Helsinki Monitor.
• Media requests can be sent to PICUM’s Communications Officer Gianluca Cesaro on gianluca.cesaro@picum.org

A new study by the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) of 10 European countries shows that half do not grant protection through secure residence permits to undocumented victims of domestic violence. In these countries, undocumented people risk detention and deportation if they report domestic violence to the police.

Countries failing to provide secure residence permits for victims of domestic violence include Belgium, Germany, Poland, Switzerland and the UK. In the UK, undocumented victims of crime can only get a special residence permit if they were on spouse-dependent visas before becoming undocumented.

The study considers EU and international legal frameworks that provide for residence permits for certain victims of crime, and looks at national legislation in 10 European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the UK) implementing such measures.

Alyna Smith, Advocacy Officer at PICUM, said “Incidents of domestic violence during confinement measures are on the rise, as highlighted by the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. Undocumented women facing abuse at home have even less recourse to protection because they fear detention and deportation if they seek help. Countries that offer residence permits for survivors of domestic violence have decided to prioritise safety in these cases, and to create measures that encourage people to report their mistreatment. They recognize that everyone benefits when all victims of crime are protected and abusers are held accountable.”

France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain foresee some form of residence permits for undocumented victims of domestic violence, although many practical barriers exist, including high standards of proof, and the broad discretion authorities enjoy in granting these special permits. Indeed, these schemes exist in national contexts where undocumented victims who come forward still face a significant risk of detention and deportation.

The study is released as the EU adopted its Victims’ Rights Strategy, which recognises for the first time that undocumented victims are among those most vulnerable to victimisation.

Besides domestic violence, the report considers residence permits available for victims of labour exploitation and human trafficking.

NOTES TO THE EDITORS

• The Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) is a network of organisations working to ensure social justice and human rights for undocumented migrants.
• The report Insecure justice? Residence permits for victims of crime in Europe can be found here. The table below offers an overview of the availability of residence permits for victims of domestic violence, labour exploitation and trafficking.

• The 2020 EU Strategy on Victims’ Rights sets out priorities for the next five years to reinforce the rights and protections of victims of crime in the EU.

• Media inquiries can be addressed to PICUM’s Communications Officer Gianluca Cesaro on gianluca.cesaro@picum.org

Cover image credit: Adobe Stock: marjan4782

Over 100 independent organisations are calling the new European Commission to stop the criminalisation of solidarity with migrants in Europe in a joint statement published today.

The organisations are calling the European Commission and its newly elected head Ursula Von der Leyen to reform the EU Facilitation Directive, which currently allows Member States to criminalise humanitarian aid.

In particular, the signatories wrote:“Most investigations and formal prosecutions are related to the vague definition of crime in the EU Facilitation Directive which fails to properly distinguish between human smuggling and humanitarian work. But the European Commission has been reluctant to consider the links between the EU Facilitation Directive and the criminalisation of solidarity”The statement also refers to a recent study by the European research platform ReSOMA which found at least 158 Europeans have been criminalised for their help towards migrants since 2015.

The signatories wrote:“The targets include volunteers, activists, NGOs, crew members of rescue ships, migrants’ family members, and also journalists, mayors and priests. The recent arrest of the Sea Watch 3 captain, Carola Rackete, is just the latest example of how people are being blamed for saving migrants’ lives and providing the humanitarian assistance which Member States are unwilling or unable to provide, despite being obliged to according to international and EU law.”

ENDS

Notes to the editors:

• The signatories to the joint statement include organisations working for human rights and humanitarian aid.
• The full statement and list of signatories is available here.

Press contacts:

• For information about the joint statement and the history of criminalisation of solidarity in Europe, please get in touch with Gianluca Cesaro at gianluca.cesaro@picum.org or at +32 488 60 76 21.
• For information about the joint statement and the ReSOMA research, please get in touch with Hind Sharif at hsharif@migpolgroup.com or at 02 230 59 30 and Lina Vosyliūtė at lina.vosyliute@ceps.eu.

The Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) has filed a formal complaint to the European Commission against the UK for flouting the EU’s regulation on data protection (General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR) by including a broad immigration control exemption in its new Data Protection Act. The complaint has been joined by several migrant and digital rights organisations.

The 2018 UK Data Protection Act includes a section that allows the government and others to ignore the EU’s data protection rules when those rules get in the way of “the maintenance of effective immigration control” or “the investigation or detection of activities that would undermine the maintenance of immigration control.”

Alyna Smith, Advocacy Officer at PICUM, said:

“The UK Data Protection Act’s “immigration control exemption” runs exactly counter to the EU’s efforts to reinforce individuals’ right to the protection of their personal data. It carves out a space where public and private actors have wide discretion to access, use, share, and gather personal data, without the knowledge of affected individuals and with virtually no accountability. All this for immigration enforcement goals which are worringly vague and broad”.

The exemption does not include safeguards for sensitive data or for vulnerable groups like children. Smith added: “This exemption risks worsening existing violations of fundamental rights and freedoms, under the UK’s “hostile environment” policy”.”

The UK, even as a non-EU country post-Brexit, cannot trade with the EU if its data protection laws are not up the EU’s standards.

Gracie Bradley, Policy & Campaigns Manager at Liberty, said: “The immigration exemption will make it even easier for the Home Office to hoover up people’s data from schools, hospitals and other vital services without their knowledge, further entrenching the hostile environment. It’s oppressive, unnecessary, and strips people of the rights the Government said the Data Protection Act would uphold. The UK cannot call itself a world leader on human rights while its data laws fall far short of the European standard.”

Nazek Ramadan, Director of Migrant Voice, a UK-based and migrant-led charity advocating for the rights of migrants, said: “This exemption disproportionately interferes with fundamental rights of privacy, data protection, equality and non-discrimination of millions of UK foreign residents.”

ENDS

Notes to the editors:

• The complaint is brought to the European Commission by the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants and has been co-signed by:
  • EU Rights Clinic
  • Campaign to Close Down Campsfield and End of All Immigration Detention in the UK
  • Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI)
  • Latin America Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS)
  • Liberty
  • Migrant Rights Network (MRN)
  • Migrant Voice
  • Maternity Action
  • Privacy International
  • Praxis
• The UK’s Data Protection Act entered into force on 25 May 2018. The immigration exemption clause is included in Schedule 2, Part 1, paragraph 4 of the law.
• The GDPR is the EU set of rules on data protection, which apply to all EU Member States. It entered into force on 25 May 2018.
• The European Commission has a process that allows individuals and organisations to submit a complaint about any measure (law, regulation or administrative action) or practice by a country of the European Union that they think is against European Union Law.

Press contact

Gianluca Cesaro, Communications Officer, PICUM, gianluca.cesaro@picum.org.

A new EU-funded study shows a rise sharp in citizens being criminalised for helping migrants and refugees across Europe, including by offering shelter and food.

The report provides the most in-depth list of cases of criminalisation of solidarity to date. It finds that between 2015 and 2019, at least 158 individuals have been investigated or formally prosecuted for offering humanitarian assistance to migrants and refugees across 11 European countries. The vast majority of cases occurred in France, Italy and Greece.

Despite a drop in migrant arrivals, the number of cases increased dramatically in 2018, with 104 individuals reported – twice as many as 2017. The criminalisation of solidarity does not only affect human rights defenders, volunteers and crew members rescuing people at sea, but also ordinary citizens, doctors, journalists, mayors and religious leaders.
Seán Binder, who spent 106 days in pre-trial detention for his humanitarian work as a coordinator of civilian rescue operations in Greece in 2018, added:
“Humanitarian response and asylum seeking are enshrined in the EU charter of fundamental rights and international law – humanitarians are engaged in both legitimate and legal activities. In fact, civilian humanitarianism is a highly skilled operation that works to complement the lifesaving of the authorities, instead of hampering them. For instance, in my case, we were the only actors who provided immediate medical services and interpreters where the authorities had none.”

“Beyond the legal proceedings highlighted in the report, Caritas Europa is also deeply concerned by all the other means used to deter acts of solidarity. This includes examples of violence and harassment by the police towards volunteers and obstacles to food distribution to migrants”, says Maria Nyman, Secretary General of Caritas Europa.

The report calls the EU institutions to tackle the rising criminalisation of solidarity and uphold human rights within our Union, as sanctioned in the Charter of Fundamental Rights, protect human rights defenders in the EU and reform the EU’s Facilitation Directive to avoid it being used to criminalise solidarity by EU member states.

Michele LeVoy, the Director of the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), emphasised:“All these cases can be related to one EU law—the 2002 Facilitation Directive—which fails to distinguish between human smuggling and humanitarian assistance. We—European civil society organisations and humanitarian actors— are concerned by the EU’s lack of action. The new Members of the European Parliament must hold the next set of European Commissioners to account when screening their policy positions on the criminalisation of solidarity.”

ENDS

NOTES TO THE EDITORS
• The report Crackdown on NGOs and Volunteers Helping Refugees and Other Migrants can be found here.
• The co-authors of the study are Lina Vosyliūtė (Centre for European Policy Studies) and Carmine Conte (Migration Policy Group) on behalf of the Research Social Platform on Migration and Asylum (ReSOMA), a platform to mobilise European researchers, experts and key stakeholders in migration, asylum and integration. ReSOMA partners include Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Migration Policy Group (MPG) The Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), The Social Platform…To learn more about ReSOMA, visit http://www.resoma.eu/…
• The criminalisation of solidarity is often legislated in terms of facilitating the entry or transit of migrants in the Member States, while a few cases are related to the facilitation of stay or residence and other grounds.
• The data collection confirms that since the emergence of the “refugee crisis”, there has been an escalation of judicial prosecutions and investigations against individuals on grounds related to the EU’s Facilitation Directive in the Member States.
• Ambiguity in the EU’s Facilitation Directive on the distinction between smuggling and humanitarian assistance, enables EU Member States to criminalise humanitarians. A revision of the Facilitators’ Package is thus needed in light of EU citizens right to good administration, protection of human rights defenders and protection of humanitarian actors from criminalisation.
• In the evening of 20 June (21:00-01:00), Caritas Europa will project pictures of volunteers who have been unduly criminalised on the building of the Info Station of the European Parliament in Brussels (Place du Luxembourg). For journalists wanting to attend or take pictures, contact Leticia Lozano at LLozano@caritas.eu.
• For further information on the report, contact Hind Sharif from at hsharif@migpolgroup.com or at +32 2 230 59 30.
• For further information on the history of the criminalisation of solidarity in Europe and on criminalisation cases before 2015, contact Gianluca Cesaro at gianluca.cesaro@picum.org.

Image credits: Alisdare Hickson

As the European Parliament is to adopt the European Labour Authority on 16 April 2019, the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) is calling on the new labour agency to address the labour exploitation of undocumented migrant workers. It is not possible to meaningfully address exploitation, social dumping and undeclared work without enforcing standards for all workers, regardless of their migration status.

In many EU countries, undocumented workers cannot safely address labour authorities without being reported to immigration enforcement and risking arrests, detention and ultimately deportation. This places them at risk.

PICUM’s Director Michele LeVoy said, “If the European Labour Authority is to promote fair working conditions for cross-border workers across the EU, it will need to address the barriers undocumented workers face to report abusive employers.”

PICUM calls on the European Labour Authority to encourage discussions about the development of safe complaints mechanisms for undocumented migrant workers. In particular, the Authority should address policies aiming at establishing a “firewall” between labour justice and immigration enforcement, which allows undocumented workers to safely file a complaint against abusive employers without fear of being detained and deported.

ENDS

NOTES TO THE EDITORS:

• The European Labour Authority is meant to support national authorities to correctly apply EU rules on free movement of workers, posting of workers and social security coordination, including by facilitating cooperation and exchange of information between national labour authorities.
• The ILO Labour Inspection Convention states that labour inspectors should not be required to take on any task that would undermine their main role to enforce conditions of work and protection of workers. Checking on immigration status is one such task. They should also treat the source of any complaint as confidential.
• More information on the firewall and how it works in labour justice can be found in PICUM’s new visual explainer.
• The Employers’ Sanctions Directive requires governments to put in place effective mechanisms for undocumented workers to file complaints against their employers. More information on how complaints mechanisms can be effective for undocumented workers can be found in PICUM’s Guidelines for developing an effective complaints mechanism in cases of labour exploitation or abuse.
• PICUM acknowledges the importance of engaging and joining forces with the trade union movements in improving rights for undocumented workers. PICUM has partnered with the European Trade Unions Confederation (ETUC) to foster discussions among national trade unions on how to integrate undocumented workers in their advocacy for labour rights. These recommendations have been published in a leaflet which was disseminated to European national trade unions.

ABOUT PICUM

The Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants, PICUM, is a network of organisations working to ensure social justice and human rights for undocumented migrants. With nearly two decades of evidence, experience and expertise on undocumented migrants, PICUM promotes recognition of their human rights and provides an essential link between local realities and the debates taking place at policy level.

Based in Brussels, Belgium, PICUM provides regular recommendations and expertise to policymakers and institutions within the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the European Union as well as on national and local level.

CONTACT DETAILS

Gianluca Cesaro, Communications Officer, gianluca.cesaro@picum.org.