20 May 2015
The Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov, has expressed horror and called the number of migrants dying in the Mediterranean ‘the latest reports of a tragedy seemingly without end’. (more…)
15 May 2015
This is our News Items Overview of 16 April 2015-15 May 2015, a summary of recent news relating to shared responsibility. (more…)
12 May 2015
The Mediterranean migrant crisis calls for collective action focused on the immediate need to save lives or else it will represent ‘a moral failure of the first order’, one that undermines international law and security, Peter Sutherland, the UN Special Representative for International Migration warned. (more…)
11 May 2015
In the wake of migrant boat crises in the Mediterranean the European Commission has proposed a controversial Union-wide immigration policy. The proposal, which is set to launch on 13 May 2015, seeks to impose a quota system on the 28 member states requiring them to share the burden of ‘persons in clear need of international protection’ and ‘ensure a fair and balanced participation of all member states to this common effort’. The policy document lays down binding rules establishing a regime of refugee sharing among the member states based on a ‘key’. The system, drafted by EU Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos, determines the proportion of refugees each state is obliged to accept based on criteria ranging from rates of unemployment to national wealth. (more…)
Source: The Guardian | EU plans migrant quotas forcing states to 'share' burden
11 May 2015
Germany has decided to limit its cooperation in joint intelligence efforts with the United States. The decision comes in the wake of revelations of US spying on European partners and signals a breach in the long-standing information sharing partnership between the two nations. For the United States, the restriction follows a series of ‘blows’ to its intelligence apparatus which have included reconsideration of its drone programme, a renewal of the Patriot Act, and a recent ruling by the Appeals Court that its practice of surveillance data collection was illegal. (more…)
Source: The New York Times | Germany Limits Cooperation With U.S. Over Data Gathering