Friday, 13 December 2024 — Statewatch
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Issue 24/22, 13 December 2024
Welcome to the final edition of Statewatch News for 2024. Before we share our work from the last two weeks with you, we want to provide an overview of what we’ve done this year – and ask for your support as we head into 2025.
This has been extremely busy year for both our core team and our contributors. Together, we published over 50 news articles and 20 analyses, and supported 25 joint statements.
We also spoke at more than a dozen events and hosted our first workshops on data protection in immigration and asylum, which welcomed 30 attendees.
You can help us continue by becoming a Friend of Statewatch.
Highlights from 2024
Numbers aside, this work has seen us working in collaboration to protect civil liberties and human rights across various issues, within Europe and beyond.
Exposing border externalisation
In April we published the first edition of our bulletin Outsourcing Borders: Monitoring EU externalisation policy, with Migration-Control.info. Through this bi-monthly publication, we are fighting the secrecy that often shrouds externalisation policy and its harmful effects.
Each bulletin provides thematic and regional updates, and two articles examining particular issues in depth. We also publish troves of official documents that would not otherwise be public: so far, we have made more than 100 public. Your support can help us expand this vital work.
Investigating EU agencies
We published several pieces on Frontex which continue to demonstrate their dangerour role in EU border policy. This included:
- new data on Frontex’s growing rolein deportations;
- new details of Frontex’s cooperation with the so-called Libyan Coast Guard–published with Swedish television programme Mission Investigate;
- revelations on Frontex’s Management Board’s awareness of systemic rights violations in Greece; and
- details of how Frontex has been forced to improve transparency by the European Ombudsman–published in cooperation with The New Arab.
With plans afoot to expand the agency’s role and budget even further, these kinds of investigations remain crucial to efforts to hold Frontex accountable and prevent further harm.
Similarly, the EU is also seeking to expand the powers of police agency Europol. We have tracked those proposals since they were published in late 2023, exposing the flaws in the proposal, secret negotiations between EU member states, and the concerns of the EU’s data protection authority.
Tracking the Pact on Migration and Asylum
After the EU’s new migration and asylum legislation was approved last year, we switched our efforts to monitoring its implementation. Through this project, we:
- revealed EU member states’ plansto direct that process;
- analysed the legislation requiring fundamental rights monitoring at borders;
- exposed plans for accelerated deportation procedures;
- provided a jargon-free translation of the new Commission’s migration policy priorities; and
- explained how the new lawsturn border externalisation into a legal obligation.
Working with others, in Europe and beyond
Throughout the year we have produced work in cooperation with other activists, researchers and media outlets.
- We supported the organisation Arrested Lawyersby publishing a report on the Turkish state’s prosecutions of people using an encrypted messaging app.
- We worked with Informationsstelle Militarisierungto detail the millions of euros the EU has sent Israeli companies and institutions for drone technology.
- We cooperated with The New Arabto reveal how the EU’s police training agency has been seeking closer links with the EU Arab Interior Ministers’ Council on terrorism cases.
- And we worked with Italian outlet Altreconomiato explain how the Italian government has abolished the public’s right to know any details about its border policies.
This is just a snippet of what we have done this year. With your support, we can do much more.
How you can support us
You can support our commitment to human rights, civil liberties, and democratic standards in Europe by becoming a Friend of Statewatch and making a monthly contribution.
Your contribution will help us continue doing critical reporting work in the year to come.
Statewatch News
Issue 24/22, 13 December 2024
Also available as a PDF.
In this edition:
- Statewatch is seeking new Trustees
- EU: New law to ensure criminalisation of solidarity
- Germany and UK unveil new joint action plan on Channel migration
- Case filed at ICC to prosecute Israeli officials for incitement to genocide
- Niger: For the immediate release of Moussa Tiangari
- Pylos shipwreck will “neither be forgotten nor forgiven”
- Italy: the “most serious attack on right to protest in recent decades”
- EU police data plans pose “substantial security and privacy threats”
- UK: Decisions about peoples’ lives “made solely by machines” must be banned
- New material
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Statewatch is seeking new Trustees
The Board of Trustees of Statewatch is looking for new members to work with us! Could you be the right person to help steer the ever-vital work of Statewatch?
Find out more here.
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EU: New migrant smuggling law to ensure criminalisation of solidarity
Next week, a new EU law on the criminalisation of migrant smuggling will be examined by the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council. The Council is due to approve its position for negotiations with the European Parliament. The existing law has been criticised for failing to prevent the criminalisation of migration and acts of solidarity with migrants and refugees. The new text, obtained by Statewatch and published here, appears likely to worsen the situation. The Council approved that text this morning,
Full article here.
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Germany and UK unveil new joint action plan on Channel migration
A new action plan on irregular migration is being agreed between the UK and Germany today. A document summarising the plan, obtained by Statewatch, says it marks a joint “commitment to secure borders” that will involve increased political and police cooperation. The plan is to be adopted at a meeting of the Calais Group, made up of Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.
Full story here.
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Case filed at ICC to prosecute Israeli officials for incitement to genocide
A Franco-Israeli lawyer has filed a case with the International Criminal Court (ICC), calling for the prosecution of eight individuals for the crime of incitement to genocide: seven current and former high-ranking Israeli government and military officials, and a journalist.
Full story here.
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Niger: For the immediate release of Moussa Tiangari, Secretary General of Alternative Espaces Citoyens Niger
We have learned with shock and dismay about the “raid carried out on December 3, 2024, around 8:00 p.m. by armed individuals in civilian clothing at the home of Moussa Tiangari, Secretary General of the association Alternative Espaces Citoyens (AEC). He was taken away before the helpless eyes of his family to an unknown destination.” During the arrest, the assailants reportedly also seized his personal belongings, including his computer, suitcase, and mobile phone.
We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Moussa Tiangari and his return to his loved ones. We also extend our solidarity to Alternative Espaces Citoyens, his colleagues, and his family.
Read the full statement from Loujna-Tounkaranké Collective and Migreurop here. Statewatch is a member of Migreurop.
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Pylos shipwreck will “neither be forgotten nor forgiven,” says joint statement
“The state crime of Pylos will neither be forgotten nor forgiven.” A statement to mark the death of more than 600 people in the 2023 Pylos shipwreck condemns the failure to bring prosecutions against those responsible. The statement, signed by more than 50 NGOs (including Statewatch), notes that “the perpetrators continue to carry out their duties with impunity, not only posing a constant threat to people on the move but also exemplifying the immunity they receive.”
Full statement here.
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Italian security decree “most serious attack on right to protest in recent decades”
A bill under discussion in the Italian senate is “the most serious attack to the freedom of protest ever waged in recent decades,” says a joint statement signed by 26 organisations from across Europe, including Statewatch. The bill, targeted at the climate and environmental movements, would criminalise protest roadblocks. Other measures would increase punishments for resisting major infrastructure projects. The bill would “further criminalise and marginalise vulnerable communities, including immigrants, beggars, the homeless, Roma people, those residing in squats, and detainees,” says the statement.
Full statement here.
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EU police data plans pose “substantial security and privacy threats”
EU plans to increase police access to personal data could weaken “fundamental rights, legal safeguards and the European economy.” The warning comes in an open letter addressed to the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council, and is signed by more than 50 organisations, including Statewatch. The signatories include NGOs, businesses, journalists’ unions, lawyers’ associations, and others.
Read the full letter here.
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UK: Decisions about peoples’ lives “made solely by machines” must be banned
Changes to data protection law proposed by the UK government threaten to eliminate protections for individuals against automated decision-making. An open letter signed by almost 20 organisations, including Statewatch, calls on the government to ensure that this does not happen. “The government should extend AI accountability, rather than reduce it, at this critical moment,” says the letter.
Read the letter here.
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New material
Spain Allocates €4.1 Million for Video Surveillance Systems to Morocco —– Frontex seeks contractor to develop “digital twin” of EU borders —– Use expired ID to get to UK, says minister in charge of flawed eVisas —– Unprecedented protests sweep Georgia after government scraps EU bid —– UK: PROFIT BEFORE PEOPLE: New Report on the Expansion of Biometric Policing Technology —– Britain leads the world in cracking down on climate activism, study finds —– Italy: Decree sent to the Senate: punitive approach to the shipwrecked and NGOs —– UK: Man planned terrorist attack at London law firm to ‘intimidate’ immigrants
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New material
Asylum, immigration and borders
Asylum, immigration and borders
Yemenis in Calais: caught between war and deportation
“As Germany ramps up deportations, Yemeni refugees face dwindling asylum approvals despite fleeing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Some have traveled to Calais hoping to cross the Channel to the UK.”
InfoMigrants, 11 December 2024
“Today, the Commission is adopting a Communication to support Member States to counter hybrid threats from the weaponisation of migration by Russia and Belarus and to strengthen security at the EU’s external borders.”
European Commission, 11 December 2024
Europe: Safety of Syrians in Europe must not be sacrificed to political interests
“Responding to the decision of several European governments to suspend asylum applications of Syrians following the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad, Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office, Eve Geddie said:
“The situation in Syria is extremely volatile. Five decades of brutality and repression cannot be undone overnight. But European governments have wasted no time halting asylum applications of Syrians.
“At this time of turbulence and change, countries should avoid plunging Syrian refugees and people seeking asylum into situations of further uncertainty and precarity. Instead, the safety and agency of people seeking asylum must be placed at the heart of decision making and not sacrificed to the rabid, anti-refugee politics currently gripping Europe.””
Amnesty International, 10 December 2024
Poland: Brutal Pushbacks at Belarus Border
“Polish law enforcement is unlawfully, and sometimes violently, forcing people trying to enter the country back to Belarus without considering their protection needs, Human Rights Watch said today. Those pushed back risk serious abuse at the hands of Belarus officials or being trapped in harsh conditions in the open air that can lead to death or serious injury.”
Human Rights Watch, 10 December 2024
The UK’s War on Albanian Immigration
““I feel useless and exhausted,” says Dimat. “I’ve been in the UK for three years. I was recognized as a victim of trafficking, but I am still an asylum seeker”, says this young Albanian whose name has been changed to protect his privacy. Although the British Interior Ministry has found that Dimat is a trafficking victim, he refused his application for international protection.”
IRPI, 6 December 2024
Spain Allocates €4.1 Million for Video Surveillance Systems to Morocco
“Spain’s Ministry of Interior has approved the purchase of 20 video surveillance systems to be supplied to Morocco at a cost of €4.12 million, according to recent Spanish media reports.
The contract, signed by Secretary of State for Security Rafael Pérez on October 20, follows an agreement made by Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska in early August under international police cooperation protocols.
According to Spanish media outlets El Independiente and El Confidencial Digital, the procurement contract was awarded to Etel 88 S.A., a Madrid-based security firm specializing in surveillance technology, defense, and security sectors.
Each surveillance system is valued at €206,000, with the total contract amounting to €4,116,500.”
Morocco World News, 6 December 2024
From African Jungles and Deserts to the Forbidden Land, Tunisia
“I argue that Tunisian political authority and European migration policies apply a necropolitical approach to migrants. Political authority is the entity that governs and decides who lives and who dies. These approaches fall within the context of the dominance of the equation of producing whiteness and the construction of white humanity. The idea of “man being inherently white” is a historical and political equation within a cruel, brutal, and inhumane neocolonial mechanism. Therefore, the dramatic stories endured by migrants cannot be separated from the dominance of global imperialism.”
Migration-Control.info, 5 December 2024
Frontex seeks contractor to develop “digital twin” of EU borders
“The Prize Contest aims at developing Copernicus-based [satellite-based] solutions for the provision of a Digital Twin (DT) of the external borders, enabling the virtual representation of specific areas and its associated processes. The Digital Twin is expected to support the European Border and Coast Guard community in scenario simulations, for operational exercises and technical equipment deployment planning.”
Frontex, 5 December 2024
Serbia: New equipment significantly improves Ministry of Interior’s border protection capacities
“Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Ivica Dačić attended today the handover of vehicles and equipment donated from the European Union funds, implemented through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Program, which will be used by members of the Border Police Directorate in their work.”
Serbian government, 5 December 2024
Use expired ID to get to UK, says minister in charge of flawed eVisas
“Passengers will be allowed to use expired identity documents to travel to the UK because of flaws in the eVisa system, a minister has told the Guardian.
Seema Malhotra, the migration and citizenship minister, said the government had postponed a planned full shift to the new digital immigration system amid “real fear” of another Windrush-style scandal among minority communities.”
The Guardian, 3 December 2024
Revealed: ministers to postpone full shift to eVisas next month
“Ministers are to postpone a full shift to eVisas next month after concerns that UK residents could be stranded abroad because of glitches in the system, the Guardian has learned.”
The Guardian, 2 December 2024
More than 600 Brazilians deported by Home Office on three secret flights
“More than 600 Brazilians, including 109 children, have been secretly removed from the UK – on the three largest Home Office deportation charter flights in history – since the Labour government came to power, the Observer has learned.”
The Observer, 1 December 2024
Budapest Process: “EU Member States and partner countries have agreed on a Joint Declaration outlining six key priorities for 2025-2030, including expanding legal pathways, tackling irregular migration, enhancing international protection, prevention of racism and discrimination, and stronger support for integration.”
ICMPD, 13 November 2024
Communication from UN Special Rapporteurs on the situation in Tunisia
“Also, given the allegations of systematic violence and abuse against migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, including women and children, including violations of the right to life, including in the context of interceptions at sea, we are concerned that Tunisian ports cannot be considered as a safe place for people rescued at sea in terms of the obligations of the Maritime Safety Committee guidelines.”
UN, 1 October 2024
Civil liberties
UK: Just Stop Oil activist, 77, faces jail recall as wrists too small for electronic tag
“A 77-year-old activist is facing recall to prison because her wrists are too small for an electronic tag.
Gaie Delap, from Bristol, was sent to prison in August, along with four co-defendants, for her part in a campaign of disruptive protests on the M25 in November 2022.”
The Guardian, 7 December 2024
Unprecedented protests sweep Georgia after government scraps EU bid
“The Georgian government’s decision to suspend its efforts to join the EU has sparked a political crisis in the South Caucasus country, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets to demand new elections even as police launched a violent crackdown on protesters.”
Politico Europe, 1 December 2024
Northern Ireland: Kneecap wins case against UK government over withdrawn grant
“The UK government’s decision to withdraw a funding grant from Belfast rap trio Kneecap has been ruled unlawful.
Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law acted for the group in the judicial review proceedings launched in the summer after a £14,250 grant awarded under the music export growth scheme (MEGS) was subsequently withdrawn by UK business secretary Kemi Badenoch.”
Irish Legal News, 29 November 2024
Military
Finland’s preparedness isn’t exactly good for business
“Finland does indeed have admirable comprehensive defense. It’s even more impressive when one considers that it was perfected during the Cold War, when the Soviets banned the country from operating auxiliary military organizations — the kind of volunteer-staffed organizations that support the armed forces and formed a formidable pillar of Sweden’s Cold War era “total defense.” And while Finland’s comprehensive approach may not feature auxiliary defense organizations, it does include the armed forces, four government ministries, various government agencies, government-owned companies and all manner of boards and consultative bodies.
But it’s the preparedness part of this comprehensive approach that most impresses other countries and journalists because it involves every part of society and, unlike the military, it doesn’t rely on strict command and control. Governments have to engage the private sector and civil society; they need to educate, cajole, meet and plan.”
Politico Europe, 1 December 2024
Policing
UK: PROFIT BEFORE PEOPLE: New Report on the Expansion of Biometric Policing Technology
“Yorkshire Resists and the Racial Justice Network have collaborated to examine the national impact and expansion of Mobile Biometric policing.
Migrants and Racialised people are punished already by policing systems, and Mobile Biometrics further punishes and harms our communities. We’re calling for reparative justice and healing justice for communities and an end to this system of policing and immigration enforcement.”
Stop The Scan, 11 December 2024
Britain leads the world in cracking down on climate activism, study finds
“British police arrest environmental protesters at nearly three times the global average rate, research has found, revealing the country as a world leader in the legal crackdown on climate activism.
Only Australia arrested climate and environmental protesters at a higher rate than UK police. One in five Australian eco-protests led to arrests, compared with about 17% in the UK. The global average rate is 6.7%.”
The Guardian, 11 December 2024
UK: Bob Lambert – a wake up call
“Bob Lambert, also known by his alias ‘Rob Robinson,’ is one of the most controversial figures to emerge from the world of undercover political policing in the UK. He is a former member of the Special Demonstrations Squad (SDS). This was a squad that was established by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to infiltrate environmental groups, socialist parties, animal rights groups and to spy on social justice activists. Upwards of 1000 groups were monitored and spied upon during the course of its existence.”
Public Interest Law Centre, 11 December 2024
UK police continue to hold millions of custody images unlawfully
“Millions of unlawfully retained custody images could still be used for facial-recognition purposes by UK police, says biometric commissioner of England and Wales Tony Eastaugh in wider warning about the rapid expansion of surveillance tools.”
Computer Weekly, 10 December 2024
Italy: Decree sent to the Senate: punitive approach to the shipwrecked and NGOs
“Civilian organisations engaged in search and rescue activities (SARs) in the central Mediterranean, express their strong concern about yet another attempt by the Italian government to punish assistance to people in distress at sea and criminalize NGOs. ”
SOS Mediteranee. 4 December 2024
UK: Swansea mother ‘traumatised’ by arrest under Terrorism Act
“A Swansea woman has said she was left traumatised after being arrested under the Terrorism Act and held incommunicado for five days because her daughter was allegedly involved in an action against an Israeli arms company.”
The Guardian, 2 December 2024
Racism and discrimination
UK: Man planned terrorist attack at London law firm to ‘intimidate’ immigrants
“A man planned a terrorist attack at a law firm in north London to “intimidate” immigrants, the Metropolitan police said.
Cavan Medlock, of Harrow, north-west London, was found to have committed the act of making a threat to kill and the preparation of terrorist acts at a fact-finding hearing at Kingston crown court on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old, who identified as a Nazi, “wanted to provide a ‘rallying cry’ to inspire other extreme right-wing terrorists”, the force said.”
The Guardian, 10 December 2024
UK towns that saw rioting last summer have ‘torn social fabric’, report claims
“A majority of towns that saw rioting last summer have a “torn social fabric” and have been bearing the brunt of economic deprivation, according to a new report.”
The Guardian, 3 December 2024
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