Protecting the rights of undocumented workers
PICUM and the Polish organisation Stowarzyszenie Interwencji Prawnej (Association for Legal Intervention) today call on the EU to prioritise the enforcement of the labour rights of undocumented [...]
Organisations ask new EU Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs to ensure the rights of all migrant children
In a joint letter, a group of 26 migrants’ rights and children’s rights organisations urged Dimitris Avramopoulos, new EU Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs, to take measures [...]
Why a rights-based approach to migrant children? The case of undocumented children and families
By Lilana Keith, PICUM Programme Officer. The current approach to migrant children is piecemeal, focusing on protecting certain categories of children, such as unaccompanied, asylum seeking, [...]
Child Rights Action Group Addresses New President of the European Commission in Open Letter
Dear Mr Juncker, The Child Rights Action Group (CRAG) congratulates you on your election as President of the European Commission. CRAG brings together 15 International and European organisations [...]
PICUM sends letter to The Guardian asking to change terminology
The Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) sent the following letter to The Guardian authored by PICUM’s Director, Michele LeVoy, in response to their call [...]
PICUM Members Take the Floor
This June, over 100 PICUM members came to Brussels to participate in PICUM’s 2014 Annual Workshop and General Assembly. Exploring how civil society can actively shape migration policies in the [...]
Listen to me! I am building my future
Originally posted by Terres des Hommes on Destination Unknown, on 20 June 2014. Geneva, 19th June 2014, United Nations – “I want to continue writing, I want to travel the world, I want to go into [...]
What a Multicultural Cookbook can tell us about the Lives of Migrant Domestic Workers
By Mercedes Miletti. International cuisine has become very popular as recipes from different regions of the world are becoming an increasingly common part of our weekly menus. But what do we [...]
Check Before You Vote: The European Parliament Resolution on Undocumented Women and the EU Elections
By Louise Bonneau and Eve Geddie. As Europe prepares to go the polls this month to elect its representatives for the 2014-2019 European Parliament, we invite you to take a deeper look into the [...]
A Child is a Child – How the European Union can Ensure the Rights of Undocumented Migrant Children
Over the past decade of advocacy work for the rights of undocumented migrants, the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) has recorded how immigration control has [...]
Voluntary return for undocumented migrants in Morocco, a solution for whom?
By Leila Marzo. After the boat tragedies off the shores of Lampedusa and Malta made international headlines, the European Union came under high pressure to rethink its immigration policies. [...]
PICUM WORKING GROUP ON ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR UNDOCUMENTED WOMEN
By Eve Geddie, PICUM Programmes Director. An in depth-discussion about the Victims’ Directive The EU Directive establishing minimum standards on the support and protection of victims of crime [...]
PICUM Working Group Explores Legal Strategies in Advocating for Undocumented Migrants
By Maria Giovanna Manieri, PICUM Programme Officer The first meeting of the PICUM’s Working Group on Legal Strategies was held in Brussels on 12 December 2013. The meeting brought together legal [...]
PICUM says thank you!
By Elisabeth Schmidt-Hieber, PICUM Communications Officer As Christmas approaches, PICUM has received many seasonal greetings underlining the large number of activities and campaigns taking place [...]
The EU Must Do More to End the Exploitation of Seasonal Workers
By Eve Geddie, Programmes Director at PICUM. The debate on migration to the EU has been very much focused on death at sea, mainly in the Mediterranean, as Europe deliberates how to control [...]
Working group discusses how to end child detention and ensure access to services for undocumented migrant children and their families
By Nicola Delvino, Advocacy and Communications Intern at PICUM. PICUM hosted its third thematic working group on undocumented children and families on 13 November 2013 in Brussels. PICUM used the [...]
A Postcard from Britain – ‘Hostile Environment’, Border Control in Communities and Indefinite Immigration Detention
By Eiri Ohtani, The Detention Forum, London, UK. A stone’s throw from a relatively upmarket hotel, near London’s Heathrow airport, stand two detention centres, Harmondsworth and Colnbrook [...]
More than 100 people are dead and hundreds still missing – What will the tragedy in Lampedusa change?
By Elisabeth Schmidt-Hieber, PICUM Communications Officer. ‘The sea is full of dead bodies.’ ‘Corpses are crammed into the wreck and some of the bodies – even in death – seeming to [...]
New Portuguese legislation grants rights only partially to undocumented migrants
By Juliana Moya, Portuguese Association for Victim Support (APAV). A change of legislation grants more protection to undocumented migrants in Portugal such as a residence permit for victims of [...]
How relevant, effective and humane is the EU border control regime?
By Michele LeVoy (PICUM Director), and Kadri Soova (PICUM Advocacy Officer). 1999 saw the historic conflation of the security agenda with migration that would shape all the future EU policy [...]
Let’s save hospitality!
By Nacho Sánchez, Málaga Acoge. On 31 December last year, a radio programme gathered several individuals and groups to spend an untypical New Year’s Eve together and to start the New Year [...]
Empowerment of a grassroots migrant organisation in Morocco – MRCI Ireland meets ODT Immigrés in Morocco
By Pablo Rojas Coppari, Strategic Advocacy Officer MRCI Ireland. Recent news reported on efforts of Spanish and Moroccan authorities to reinforce border security and raised the question of [...]
Food Movement: Another “Sleeping Giant” Awakens on Immigration Reform
By Navina Khanna, Joann Lo and Cathi Tactaquin. What do food banks, food chain workers, and Dreamers all have in common? The answer, when it comes to immigration, is just about everything. Today, [...]
“Children and Irregular Migration”
Side Event prior to the United Nations Day of General Discussion (DGD) on “The rights of all children in the context of international migration” The Platform for International Cooperation on [...]
Migration status as vulnerability factor in situations of human trafficking and exploitation
By Kadri Soova, Advocacy Officer, PICUM, Brussels. This blog will look at how lack of authorised migration status contributes to increased vulnerability of migrants in situations of human [...]
Un projet de régularisation pour les travailleurs sans-papiers au Maroc
Par Marta Grosso, PICUM Project Officer. Sans accès à la santé, à l’éducation, à un logement décent, sans recours à la justice, comment pensons-nous pouvoir créer des citoyens forts et actifs ? [...]
ASGI on the transposition of the Employers’ Sanctions Directive and new regularisation in Italy
By PICUM. With a recently published position paper, the Italian Association for Juridical Studies (ASGI), expresses its concerns over the transposition of the Employers’ Sanctions Directive in [...]
Do You Commemorate Independence Day?
By Yasmine Soraya, Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (Netherlands). (Editor: Cilia Mather) Sixty seven years is a quite old for human being. At this age, a person perhaps is already retired and [...]
“Undoc Camp”: Web and technology to help undocumented children
By Nicola Flamigni, PICUM Communications Officer. Migrants, activists, lawyers, designers, web developers, journalists, photographers, engineers and musicians…. all together to attend [...]
Access to Justice for Undocumented Women: A Reality in the EU?
By Eve Geddie, PICUM Program Officer. On Thursday 21st June, the launch of a seminal report on undocumented women was cohosted by members of the European Parliament from across the political [...]
Do you know who cleans your place?
By Eva Valentová, Association for Integration and Migration in Czech Republic. In its new campaign, the Association for Integration and Migration urges employers to respect the rights of domestic [...]
3 questions on Greek chaos to Miltos Pavlou – I-Red Network (PICUM member)
Miltos Pavlou is a sociologist with legal and interdisciplinary formation, author of numerous publications and public presentations on migrants and minorities, racism and discrimination in Europe [...]
Greece: detention of undocumented migrants and asylum seekers on health grounds
By Nicola Flamigni, Communications officer, PICUM, Brussels. Everywhere is the same. When elections approach, the moderate party tries to gain some votes by echoing some of the slogans of the [...]
Spain – Four unhealthy cracks
On April 20th, the Spanish government approved a new set of austerity measures, modifying the conditions of access to health system. Among other aspects, this new regulation denies access to [...]
National Workshop on Undocumented Children in Belgium
On 17th April 2012 more than sixty professionals and members of civil and political society who work with undocumented children in Belgium, came together for PICUM and Plate-Forme Mineurs en [...]
Being an undocumented child in Iran
By Bahar Shoghi, and Setareh Masoumbeiki. Setareh and Bahar and Gita are part of a team of independent artists and practitioners based in Tehran, Iran. In the last several years, the team has [...]
Belgian far-right website incites people to denounce undocumented migrants – PICUM speaks out against worrying trend in Europe
By PICUM. On 10 April 2012, the Belgian far-right party Vlaams Belang launched a new website inciting citizens to denounce through on-line application crimes committed by undocumented migrants. [...]
The Odyssey of Unaccompanied Minors in Europe
By Karl Kopp, PRO ASYL Director of European Affairs. Refugee children are detained in despicable Greek jails along the Turkish border. Homeless Afghan boys roam the city centre of Athens, Greek [...]
Undocumented Domestic Workers Find a Strong Ally in the Church
By Jack Cervantes, Vice-president of Migrante NL Den Haag. On 2 January 2012, I spoke at a forum on human rights. Thankfully, I managed to reach the meeting location despite the large amounts of [...]
Local Authorities Workshop on Strategies for the Reception of Undocumented Families
By Sangeetha Iengar, PICUM Project Assistant. On 23 February 2012 The Children’s House in Leiden saw almost fifty municipal officials come together for PICUM’s joint workshop on the local [...]
Undocumented victims of crime: no recourse to protection and justice
By Kadri Soova, Advocacy Officer, PICUM, Brussels. It is difficult to imagine that in Europe today exists a group of persons who are unable to call the police to seek protection and assistance in [...]
Indonesian (undocumented) migrant workers in the Netherlands
By Yasmine Soraya, Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (IMWU NL), (Sub-editor: Celia Mather). Undocumented migrants in the Netherlands are made up of various groups such as rejected asylum [...]
Strategies of undocumented immigrants pursuing work and their working conditions: the case of Gothenburg, Sweden.
By Tetyana Zhyla, University of Gothenburg. “I moved to Sweden with one of my friend in 2007. I had another Mongolian friend who was working in Sweden and she persuaded me by saying that there [...]
EU Agency holds conference on fundamental rights of undocumented migrants
By Devin Cahill, PICUM Program Officer. Last week a momentous conference took place in Warsaw, Poland which focused on the fundamental rights of undocumented migrants and for once, it was not a [...]
An important week for undocumented children’s rights
By Barbara Stricker (PICUM Project Assistant), and Lilana Keith (PICUM Project Officer). The week of 3-7 October 2011 saw much needed debate on improving access to basic social rights for [...]
Finland’s first clinic for undocumented migrants was received with both enthusiasm and opposition
By Anna Simola, PICUM Volunteer, Former researcher on migration related issues at the University of Tampere, Finland. The recent estimates on the number of undocumented migrants in Finland vary [...]
The Denial of Justice for Undocumented Migrant Women in Europe
By Eve Geddie, PICUM Programme Officer. “I told him to stop, but he laughed, ‘What will you do, call the police?” This past year, I have spoken with women across Europe about [...]
Undocumented domestic workers in Spain
By Daniel Izuzquiza, Pueblos Unidos – General Coordinator, Jesuit Migrant Service (SJM-España). In Spain, there are some 700.000 domestic workers. Although there are no clear data on this [...]
Poland’s 2012 Regularisation Programme
By Alan Desmond, PhD Candidate at the Faculty of Law, University College Cork, Ireland. On Friday, 26 August 2011, the President of Poland, Bronislaw Komorowski, signed legislation which will [...]
Obama’s El Paso Speech on Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Allow those who can benefit the US economy to realise the American dream. by Alan Desmond
By Alan Desmond, UCC Law Faculty PhD student at University College Cork, Ireland. Earlier this month Barack Obama delivered a speech on comprehensive reform of the US immigration system in, aptly [...]
