Pushbacks at EU’s Borders
Pushbacks are expulsions without legal justification and procedure, usually employed by border police, law enforcement officials or other authorities. It is being used to push foreigners such as migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers from a state’s territory to the territory of another state without regard for the individual’s circumstances and right to seek asylum.
At many places along the Central Mediterranean and Western Balkan routes, at EU’s external borders as well as at EU’s internal borders, the illegal practice of pushbacks is being used as a systematic deterrence measure and as a de facto tool for border management.
DRC and partners are present in many European countries where pushbacks take place. We carry out several different activities: we collect data on pushbacks; we gather documentation and evidence of rights violations; we provide medical relief and legal support to migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers; and we are present in Brussels where we advocate for the respect of human rights obligations under European and international law.
On these pages you’ll be able to find more information about our work and positions on pushbacks and border management.
Why pushbacks are illegal
- Resorting to pushbacks, regardless of whether these involve violence, as a means of protecting states’ borders constitutes an illegal practice.
- It risks violating the principle of non-refoulement, as well as the prohibition of collective expulsion and it prevents access to procedures for international protection.
- States have the right to control movement across their borders, however this must happen in compliance with their obligations under international and European human rights law.
- Human rights compliance must not be an obstacle to migration management – a rights-based approach to border management is indispensable.
Protecting Rights at Borders (PRAB)
Throughout 2021 DRC and six protection and legal aid civil society organizations from six European countries have joined forces in the Protecting Rights at Borders (PRAB) initiative.
PARTNER ORGANISATIONS FOR THE PRAB INITIATIVE
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12,000 pushbacks in 2021 reflects worrying normalization of illegal practice
From January to November 2021, DRC and six civil society organizations across Europe documented close to 12,000 incidents of men, women and children being pushed back by border police, law enforcement officials or other authorities from EU Member States.
Criminalizing mobility, securitizing borders, and preventing access to territory will not end dangerous journeys
The tragic and preventable drownings in the French Channel on Wednesday November 24, and the similarly avoidable humanitarian crisis at the EU’s border with Belarus are being used politically to promote and advance an increasingly securitized approach to border management. But criminalising mobility, securitizing borders, and preventing access to territory will not result in safer mobility.
Joint Statement: Call on the EU: Restore Rights and Values at Europe’s Borders
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Croatia/EU Border Monitoring System: Effective Mechanism Needed - Independent, Broad Mandate, Adequate Resources
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Predictable, preventable and tragic loss of life in the Central Mediterranean
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Open letter: End Containment and Deterrence at the EU’s External Borders
Five years after the EU-Turkey Statement, European Civil Society Demands an End to Containment and Deterrence at the EU’s External Borders
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Immediate Solutions Needed to Alleviate the Suffering at the Lipa site
The undersigned humanitarian organizations call for an immediate solution for at least 900 migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers who have been kept in dire humanitarian conditions and uncertainty at the Lipa location for more than 24 hours.
Statement on the situation at the Lipa site
With the recent heavy snowfalls and temperatures below freezing, up to 500 people currently stranded at the location of the former Lipa are at immediate safety, health and protection risk.
DRC Supports European Union Push for Border Accountability
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New monitoring mechanism at European borders should ensure fundamental rights and accountability
The serious violations committed at European borders with impunity must end. It is now up to Members of the European Parliament and Member States to ensure that violations of rights at EU borders are recorded, that those responsible are held to account and that justice for individuals affected is guaranteed.
Asylum and Migration Pact
EU should not confuse hard borders with an effective asylum system. The EU’s priority should be to protect people not borders.
Moria fires: European Governments must urgently relocate displaced individuals from Greece
Urgent call to action: The undersigned organisations reiterate their call on the governments of EU Member States, with support from the European Commission to urgently relocate displaced individuals from Greece.
New EU migration pact must dust off fundamental rights
The EU's new Pact on Migration and Asylum is an opportunity to take a different approach. To take a breath, to remember the values that the European project was founded upon, and to dust off the good old fundamental rights and put them to use.
New Pact, new direction?
The EU’s upcoming Pact on Migration and Asylum provides an opportunity to choose another direction for EU asylum and migration policy.