On 9 June, EU Justice and Home Affairs ministers in the Council of the EU adopted their approach on the proposed revision of the Schengen Borders Code, proposed by the Commission, that would de facto legitimise racial profiling as well as internal pushbacks within the EU. In particular, the changes would allow police to carry out randomised identity checks at the internal borders to fight against irregular migration, which means police will likely make assumptions on who is an irregular migrant based on ethnic and religious characteristics. The Council’s position upholds the Commission’s proposal to introduce intra-EU transfers of people apprehended by police at internal borders because the police suspects they are undocumented, with no individual assessment. Now, the Parliament will have to adopt its position before the institutions can go to trialogue. PICUM, together with almost 40 other organisations, has published a joint statement highlighting our main concerns on these reforms.

The Council of the EU adopted its conclusions on the EU strategy on the rights of the child on 9 June, more than a year after the Commission had presented the strategy. The Council highlights the importance of protecting children in emergency situations (including the COVID-19 pandemic); and for unaccompanied children, it calls on member states to ensure the rapid designation of a guardian, and support in their schooling and vocational training. However, key issues around children in migration procedures remain unresolved: the Council reiterates current EU legislation allowing for immigration of children (although international law now indicates that children should never be detained) and only mentions the best interests of the child in judicial proceedings, while many migration procedures are administrative ones.

The Border Violence Monitoring Network released a report that documents cases of criminalisation experienced by its member organisations in Greece, the Western Balkans and Turkey in 2021. The report reveals an increase in the criminalisation of solidarity with migrants, including in the form of scrutiny, obstacles related to visa procurement, defamation in the media and smear campaigns, as well as threats, harassment, and violence.

A woman who attempted to self-immolate in the Moria 2 camp on the Greek island of Lesvos out of desperation is now facing trial for “arson with intent”. The trial was scheduled for 22 June 2022 but was postponed despite written evidence from a witness. Suicide attempts are not punishable under the Greek penal code. Activists claim that classifying this act as “intentional arson” is an escalation of the criminalisation of people seeking protection, and a distraction from the responsibility of the Greek state and the EU to ensure adequate living conditions for people seeking protection.

On 16 June, International Domestic Workers' Day, a delegation of undocumented domestic workers in Brussels, Belgium, led their first-ever strike to protest the exploitation they endure daily, and demand decent working conditions and regularisation. Several dozen undocumented domestic workers have been organising for the past years within the League of Domestic Workers of the Belgian trade union Confédération des Syndicats chrétiens, with the support of the Mouvement Ouvrier Chrétien. As part of this self-organising, they have organised exhibitions, produced a documentary, mobilised other care workers, and met with politicians.

The International Labour Conference reached a decision on 10 June 2022 to recognise occupational health and safety as the fifth fundamental principle and right at work, adding to freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, the elimination of forced labour, the abolition of child labour and the elimination of discrimination at work. This decision is one of the most significant extensions of the fundamental human rights of workers across the globe in recent years. With this decision, occupational health and safety principles and rights apply for all workers, including those who are undocumented, in all 187 countries which are members of the ILO, whether or not they have ratified the relevant ILO Conventions.

As a result of years of campaigning by domestic and care workers, Spain ratified the ILO Convention no. 189 - Domestic Workers Convention (2011) on 9 June 2022. The Convention includes rights such as daily and weekly rest periods, the minimum wage, and equality regarding social security protection. The latter is particularly relevant following a judgement of the European Court of Justice in February, which found that Spain’s exclusion of domestic workers from access to social security benefits (the particular case concerned access to unemployment subsidies)  amounts to indirect discrimination based on sex as domestic workers are overwhelmingly women. The Spanish government has 12 months following ratification of ILO Convention 189 to amend its legislation to be in line with the Convention.

In a local referendum on 15 May, 51.7% of voters in Zürich, Switzerland, approved the introduction of a “city card” that would grant access to some city-level services to undocumented people living in the city. The card does not regularise their status. The proposal was tabled in the city parliament by left-wing groups in 2018, but centre-right and right-wing parties forced a public ballot on it.

A new draft law presented by the German Interior Minister would allow people living in Germany for at least 5 years under a “Duldung” status (a temporary suspension of their deportation order) the chance to obtain a permanent residence permit. “Duldung” status is given to people who are not provided international protection or another residence permit, and cannot be deported for human rights or other reasons. Under the new scheme, people with “Duldung” status would be first issued a one-year residence permit, after which they would be able to obtain a longer-term residence permit if they can prove they have been learning German and can support themselves financially. However, organisations like Pro Asyl fear that people who have given false information about their identity could be excluded from the new scheme. The proposal would also come together with strengthened deportation powers.

The Spanish Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration presented the first results of the 2021 reform facilitating a faster access to residency and work permits for unaccompanied children, ensuring they do not age out without a residence permit and giving the opportunity to regularise those who already have. Since November 2021, 9,300 permits have been issued: 3,504 to unaccompanied children and 5,817 to former unaccompanied children. Another positive effect of the reform is young people’s labour market integration: the number of employed (former) unaccompanied children doubled from 2.727 in November to 4.599 in March 2022.

The Spanish Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration is preparing a reform to facilitate access to work permits for migrant workers. The reform – whose final draft may be changed - would aim to facilitate the regularisation of undocumented people already working in Spain under the existing regularisation mechanisms and introduce a new regularisation scheme for those enrolled in certain training programs. It would also aim to improve recruitment in countries of origin and reform aspects of labour migration procedures, such as the analysis of the national employment situation. The proposals are regarded as positive but insufficient by undocumented people, trade unions and other civil society, who criticise it, for example, for only responding to the needs of certain economic sectors and not of workers.

Italian and Moroccan NGOs documented human rights violations that occurred during returns of Tunisian nationals from Italy. The research reveals that they were denied access to legal advice, adequate living conditions, as well as basic information on the chance to request international protection and the reasons for their detention and removal. Tunisians made up 73.5% of the total number of returns from Italy in 2021.

Media recently reported about a French border police’s outpost on Italian territory, just across the border, where migrants are stopped and searched. Those who are found without a valid permit to enter France are issued an entry ban and are handed over to the Italian police, without ever being told of their rights to seek asylum. In some cases, the migrants are held for several hours, outside any legal framework.

The Swedish Red Cross has published a report gathering experiences of people returned from Sweden to Albania, Kosovo and Iraqi Kurdistan, that reveal that for most the reasons for migration still remain and return is not a durable solution. Some interviewees admitted that they regret being returned and plan to emigrate again in the future. The Swedish Red Cross recommends to prioritise voluntary returns, and to improve conditions of returns and reintegration in the country of origin.

The International Organisation for Migration published research about the impacts of COVID-19 on migration, and on migrants, from a gender perspective. The research finds that addressing vulnerabilities linked to irregular and precarious migration status requires due consideration for gender dynamics when designing policies, like regularisation programmes. The research also underlines the importance of empowering migrants of different genders, gender identities and sexual orientations in policies and programmes that affect them.