International and regional public health and human rights bodies have, since the end of 2020, been vocal about the need for inclusive and equitable vaccination schemes, as a matter of public health, fairness and human rights. Various institutions have published guidelines about how to achieve this for people with irregular migration status, who have long faced major barriers to accessing health care.

In Europe, vaccine strategies vary considerably, with wide variation in government approaches to inclusion of undocumented people. Despite important gaps, promising practices have emerged in several countries to promote access by undocumented people and others facing various forms of systemic exclusion to COVID-19 vaccines.

These include adopting measures to address legal, practical barriers to access; limiting  documentation requirements; ensuring personal data will not be shared with immigration authorities; involving community-based organisations in the definition of strategies; and tailoring communications campaigns to the needs of the undocumented population. Read our blog for more such good practices, and recommendations on how to prioritise needs over status in the vaccination campaign - and access to health care more generally.

The Polish government plans to introduce a state of emergency on the border with Belarus to stem migrants from crossing into the country. As Poland is already refusing to accept any asylum claims, human rights activists say the migrants are stranded at the border, without access to food, water and shelter. On 21 September, the first deaths were confirmed at the border. Earlier in the month, the interior ministry adopted measures that make it possible for border guards to apprehend people who cross the frontier irregularly and send them back to Belarus. Lithuania has adopted similar methods, as denounced by a petition signed by several civil society organisations. It has also implemented legal changes limiting access to asylum procedures and other rights and is now planning to legalise indefinite detention. The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights asked both Poland and Lithuania to respect international law and the principle of non-refoulement. The ECtHR issued an interim decision saying that Latvia and Poland should provide migrants with food, water and temporary shelter.

The Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) has released a new guide which provides practical information on how to use legal complaint mechanisms at borders in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey. The guide encourages people on the move, activists and civil society to engage in legal procedures and use legal remedies against illegal expulsions. According to the guide, people on the move have limited access to justice, mainly due to the precarious situation of the victims and the inherently extra-legal situation of pushback procedures.

The French court of appeal of Grenoble has acquitted the “seven of Briançon”, seven activists who were convicted of facilitating irregular migration. The seven were convicted in December 2018 by the Criminal Court of Gap of “facilitating the irregular entry of foreign nationals” into France because they had participated in a peaceful demonstration, marching in solidarity with migrants from Clavière, in Italy to the French town of Briançon. The prosecutor had accused them that the march, which was organised in response to a far-right, xenophobic protest organised by Génération Identitaire, was used to cover the passage of some undocumented migrants, which the court of appeal later found to be a groundless charge.

Civil society organisations across the EU are increasingly under threat, reveals a report published by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. Out of the 400 human rights civil society organisations consulted by the Agency, 57% have seen their work conditions deteriorated during the pandemic. Civil society organisations working on migration were found amongst the most affected by the pandemic restrictions. The report also shows that 40% of the consulted organizations received verbal threats online, 33% reported smear campaigns and 10% experienced legal harassment in 2020. Many organizations indicated difficulties in exercising their rights to freedom of assembly (29%), freedom of expression (25%) and freedom of association (18%).

Several European human rights organisations have addressed an open letter to the European Parliament urging to radically change the course of the EURODAC reform – the EU database storing asylum seekers’ and migrants’ biometric data - in order to respect fundamental rights and international law. The signatories warn against transforming the database into a powerful tool for mass surveillance, and coercing children as young as six into providing their biometric data. The reform would exacerbate the wider EU strategy on asylum and migration which would prevent arrivals, track movements and speed up return procedures, while lowering individual safeguards. The organisations call for a more open and democratic debate on the implications of EURODAC and the inclusion of sufficient safeguards for the right to dignity, privacy and data protection, the rights of the child, and the principles of necessity and proportionality.

Through the research project “Return Watch”, human rights organisation Medico International exposes the lack of voluntariness in programmes promoting “voluntary” returns in Germany and the EU more generally. The project gathers articles, policy papers, and testimonies on the conditions of return assistance and shows the diversity and complexity of return and reintegration experiences. Together with experts, Return Watch discusses trends in return assistance, explains how the German return assistance programmes are structured and implemented in the central countries of return assistance, how those affected experience the application and counselling for return, and the reasons why they decide to accept the offers, as well as the difficulties they face after their return.

On 27 August 2021, the Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis presented a draft law to the Greek Parliament with the aim of speeding up deportations. The new proposal gives additional powers to the police in swiftly deporting people who enter Greece in an irregular way, as well as those who have not applied for asylum or whose application has been rejected. Furthermore, the draft law narrows the definition of "humanitarian grounds'' so as to curb applications for residence permits, and reinforces de facto detention during reception and identification procedures. The legislation also proposes to limit civil society activities in areas under the jurisdiction of Greek coast guard and port authorities. Refugee Support Aegean, the Greek Council of Refugees, HIAS and the Danish Refugee Council have published comments on the Bill.

A new residence permit for migrant workers who experience labour rights violations will come into force on 1 October in Finland. Workers who report labour violations to a competent authority may, depending on their personal circumstances, be eligible for the one-year continuation permit to look for alternative employment, thus preventing people from falling into irregularity due to labour exploitation, enabling workers to file complaints and seek assistance, and providing time for reintegration into the labour market. The permit is not linked to any investigation and can be converted into a normal work permit on finding a job in any sector. Permit holders will also be entitled to family reunification.