German newspaper Der Spiegel published the full report by the European anti-fraud office OLAF that documents Frontex’s involvement in, and failure to address, human rights violations at EU borders.

The report finds that Frontex repeatedly withheld cases of possible human rights violations from its own fundamental rights officer while misleading the bodies responsible for overseeing the agency. Frontex suspended its aerial surveillance to stop recording human rights violations and co-financed some of the Greek units that carried out pushbacks, and did not terminate the joint operations as stipulated by Article 46 of the Agency’s regulations.

The publication of the report by Der Spiegel comes months after the European Parliament had asked Frontex to publish the full report, to no avail.

The Czech Republic reintroduced border controls at its border with Slovakia, for ten days, at the start of October, to reportedly “prevent irregular entries” into its territory. The Czech government intends to discuss ways to reduce irregular migration with other Central European countries. According to the government, the border checks will be accompanied by harsher legislation on migrant smuggling.

A new report by UK civil society organisations shows that the number of potential trafficking victims who have been detained by the Home Office has tripled in four years, from 501 in 2017 to 1,611 in 2021. Data shows that over 90% of people referred to the UK’s identification mechanism for victims of trafficking from detention are found to be genuine victims of trafficking.

The report calls for more effective screening of potential trafficking victims before they are detained, independent judicial oversight of decisions to detain, and independent first responders inside detention centres to identify the most vulnerable people.

UK migrants’ rights organisations have denounced risks of exclusion linked to a new system of digital verification to confirm migrants’ rights to rent and work. This system, rolled out in April by the Home Office, aims at fully replacing physical residency cards by 2024. According to civil society, those most at risk include those who are not digitally literate, lack devices, or cannot afford data costs.

PICUM and ECRE published a policy note that analyses the EU’s financial response to support displaced people from Ukraine, including undocumented people. While the EU eased access to unspent resources from existing funding streams (Cohesion Funds and Home Affairs funds), no new resources were mobilised. While they included a 30% earmarking for civil society activities, only a fraction of such funds are available for social inclusion actions targeting undocumented people. As per previous rules, undocumented people remain excluded from funds when access to labour market is required and can only benefit from actions tackling social exclusion and material deprivation ("Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, FEAD", and "European Social Fund Plus, ESF+").

Migrant-led organisations in Canada, as well as more than 480 non-governmental organisations, have been campaigning and are calling for a comprehensive regularisation programme for some 500,000 undocumented people and families living in Canada, and a permanent residence permit for the estimated 1.2 million people on temporary work, study or asylum permits. Prime Minister Trudeau had earlier tasked his Immigration Minister to develop a plan for a nation-wide regularisation measure.

The German Parliament first debated draft legislation for the “Chancen-Aufenthaltsrecht” (“opportunities residence permit”) on 19 October. The law, which was announced earlier in the year, would make it possible for some 136,000 people who have been living in Germany with a suspension of deportation for more than five years to access a one-year residence permit and apply for a longer one if they can prove a certain level of “integration” in German society. The regularisation programme has been welcomed by civil society, although its ‘one-off’ nature is seen as a missed opportunity to systemically address the insecurity faced by people with long-term precarious statuses. The legislation could enter into force as early as December of this year.