The ongoing global discussion about racism and ethnic discrimination needs to include the obstacles faced by non-European migrants in Europe. While migrants have long been contributing and have played a critical role as essential workers recently during the pandemic, they have rarely been recognised for their positive contributions and their rights are still being undermined.
This position paper contains analysis and recommendations regarding the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, announced on 23 September. It aims at bringing the problematic elements contained in the Pact to the attention of policy makers at the European Parliament and the EU Council, and to further develop and…
On September 23th, the European Commission presented the new Pact on Migration and Asylum, composed of 12 documents, including several legislative proposals, which will now be negotiated by the European Parliament and EU Member States. This long-awaited Pact aims at unlocking the deadlock in the reform of EU asylum rules…
Caritas Europa is alarmed and saddened by the humanitarian disaster that is unfolding after several fires destroyed nearly the entirety of the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos during the night of September 8th. More than 12,000 residents had already been residing in the camp - at…
Professor Heaven Crawley has nearly 30 years’ experience of undertaking research on international migration in a variety of settings (government, voluntary sector, national and international organisations, academia). She was previously head of asylum and migration research at the UK Home Office (2000-2002) and now leads the UKRI GCRF South-South Migration;…
When Elene was 9 years old, she left her native Georgia on a journey for a new home. The trip to Belgium and the following few years deeply marked Irina, who, as a young child, was overwhelmed by the huge changes in her life. Now, after having lived in Belgium for many years, she is an Executive Assistant in an international consulting company and lives in Brussels close to her siblings. To support our #whatishome campaign, Irina generously shared her experience as a refugee and how she later came to find a fulfilling life in Belgium.
The ongoing global discussion about racism and ethnic discrimination needs to include the obstacles faced by non-European migrants in Europe. While migrants have long been contributing and have played a critical role as essential workers recently during the pandemic, they have rarely been recognised for their positive contributions and their rights are still being undermined.
Luiza Soares was born in Cape Verde. At the age of 12 she moved to the Netherlands, where she later became the first woman of Cape Verdean origin to get elected at semi-national level in 2014. She has been involved in diaspora activism since 2003 and recently took this commitment…
Based on Caritas Europa’s intervention at the webinar Migrants and refugees facing the Covid-19 crisis, what lessons for the post-pandemic time?, organised by the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe. Much has already been said about the immense impact that COVID-19 has had on migrants. The pandemic has…
On the occasion of the World Refugee Day we call on European states to honour the commitment made in December 2019 at the first Global Refugee Forum to resettle 30,000 refugees in 2020, and to protect the right to asylum and to non-refoulement in Europe. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit…