Eritrean refugees in Libya – the recent proposal from Tripoli is insufficient
EveryOne Group and Habeshia, the Eritrean Refugee agency: “Forcing the refugees to carry out “socially useful labour” without any guarantee of asylum or dignified living conditions is a further unacceptable violation of their human rights. Europe and Italy must take them in and grant them asylum. In the meantime we are asking for an inspection […]
Irregular immigration hits new low in first quarter 2010, facilitator detections up 13%
[frontex.europa.eu] The quarterly report by the Frontex Risk Analysis Network (FRAN) for the first three months of 2010 showed significant drops in all indicators of irregular migration at the external borders of the European Union. These lows continue a general decreasing trend already noticeable in 2009 and are attributed to reduced employment opportunities for irregular […]
Drone Wars
Conference London 18th Sept, 2010 [for.org.uk] Drone Wars is a one day conference in London on September 18th to explore the growing use of armed, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), otherwise known as drones. Armed drones are used by Britain, US and others at great human cost and often in breach of humanitarian law. Used in […]
Two babies dead in refugee boat rescue drama
A boat carrying at least 37 refugees, amongst them five dead, including two babies, was rescued this afternoon off the coast of Motril (Granada) by the Martitime Rescue Services and the Guardia Civil. [thinkspain.com] The boat was spotted around 4pm about 43 nautical miles to the south of Motril by a Maritime Rescue aircraft doing […]
Agreement between ESA and EMSA furthers maritime safety
ESA and the European Maritime Safety Agency have signed a further Agreement to ensure that satellite data are available to enhance maritime safety and help combat pollution from shipping. [esa.int] The Agreement was signed at ESA Headquarters in Paris on 2 July by ESA’s Director General, Jean-Jacques Dordain, and the Executive Director of the […]
Italy: Offer to Shelter Eritreans Detained, Abused by Libya
[alertnet.org] The Italian government should immediately offer to take into Italy at least 11 Eritreans it had previously forced back to Libya and who are now detained there and threatened with deportation back to Eritrea, Human Rights Watch said today. The Italian Navy had previously blocked these Eritreans from reaching Italy by sea and summarily […]
Frontex and CEPOL forge stronger strategic links
Today, Ilkka Laitinen, Frontex Executive Director, and Ferenc Bánfi, CEPOL Director met at CEPOL Secretariat to discuss the strategy for closer future cooperation between Frontex and CEPOL. [frontex.europa.eu] Both Directors agreed that any future cooperation should not only build on the arrangement signed by both agencies in June 2009, but also reflect the recent joint […]
UN helps train anti-riot police officers ahead of Sudanese referendum
[un.org] The United Nations has helped train some 200 anti-riot police officers in southern Sudan, which is preparing for next year’s referendum on whether it should secede from the country. During the three-day course late last month in Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile state, the officers – including 50 women – were trained in […]
Radicalisation and Recruitment Action Plan
COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Brussels, 14 May 2009 9915/09 ADD 1 RESTREINT UE NOTE from : Council General Secretariat to : COREPER / Council Subject : Revised EU Radicalisation and Recruitment Action Plan – Implementation Plan Delegations will find in Annex “ Revised EU Radicalisation and Recruitment Action Plan – Implementation Plan“. (download pdf […]
France: Prevention – or how to arrest people before they have done anything
Analysis of the current resources of repression and the interview in Le Figaro, on June 29th. [athens.indymedia.org] On June 29th, we learn about 3300 men and women work “to fight terrorism”, attack on national security and on economical capital”. The DCRI have been created on July 2008, by a fusion between the DST (Direction of […]
The INDECT Consortium: “Preliminary report on police and prosecutor repositories and access procedures”
This Deliverable presents the first 18 months of research within the INDECT Work-Package 5. Research in this period of time was devoted mainly to police and prosecutor repositories and access procedures. The work got structured into several sub-topics. [indect-project.eu] The first sub-topic relates to search engines based on recommender systems, profiling and data-mining. Such search […]
Data mining systems used to help students stay safe, find experts
Jack Vebber Student groups from the Data Sciences Summer Institute (DSSI) presented different digital systems — created with hopes of making relevant information more accessible to people not experienced in information technology — on Friday. [dailyillini.com] “Most of the data today is unstructured,” Dan Roth, professor in Computer Science and director of DSSI, said […]
Spy tech that ‘monitors conversations’ being launched in Europe: report
Daniel Tencer [rawstory.com] Privacy rights advocates and civil liberties campaigners in Europe are raising the alarm about a new surveillance system that monitors conversations in public. The surveillance system, dubbed Sigard, has been installed in Dutch city centers, government offices and prisons, and a recent test-run of the technology in Coventry, England, has British civil […]
Mitilini, June 2010
+++ Frontex expands border patrol +++ Pagani still works as closed detention centre +++ Frontex-interviewers replaces Medicines Sans Frontiers +++ marks of Noborder are still to be found everywhere [w2eu.net] When you walk along the port of Mitilini, the capital of Lesvos island, you can hardly oversee that you are moving in a militarized zone […]
Privatising Africa’s everyday security
Rita Abrahamsen and Michael C. Williams Industrial action by guards at the World Cup highlights the growing prevalence of private firms in the provision of security across Africa As clashes between striking security guards and police threaten to disrupt not only the World Cup but also to undermine South Africa’s carefully crafted presentation as a […]
Possible Libyan Mass Forced Deportation Of Eritrean Refugees
Three weeks ago the UNHCR, without any explanation, was given its marching orders by the authorities in Tripoli. Now the reason appears to be plain: clearing the way for possible mass forced expulsions of the thousands of imprisoned refugees in the country. [nobordersbrighton.blogspot.com] At dawn yesterday, the 2 container lorries carrying around 300 Eritrean refugees, […]
GREECE MIGRANTS IN DETENTION
Lives on hold JUNE 2010 Every year tens of thousands of asylum seekers and migrants arrive in Greece, the southeastern border of the European Union.1 In 2009, 36,472 irregular migrants were arrested at the Greek-Turkish land and sea borders.2 Many have left unstable or war-torn countries or are escaping persecution, human rights violations or extreme […]
INTERPOL working group looks to bridge gap between police academic study and practical policing
LYON, France – Police managers and experts in law enforcement research have gathered at INTERPOL’s General Secretariat headquarters to identify ways in which academic and technical studies can boost policing initiatives on the ground. [interpol.int] The first INTERPOL Working Group Meeting on Police Research (29-30 June) brought together 16 representatives from 10 countries from each […]
Defense a Victim of Greek Tragedy?
Greece’s problem will come primarily in its defense equipment budget Forecast International assesses effects of budget cuts on Greek defense [defpro.com] While Greek citizens struggle to accept the reforms needed to rectify the country’s long-standing structural and fiscal problems, questions persist as to what will be cut in exchange for a three-year EUR110 billion ($145 […]
MIDEAST When the Police Have an Illegal Headquarters
By David Cronin Talks aimed at reaching an intelligence-sharing agreement between the European Union and Israel have skirted around the location of Israel’s national police headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem. [ipsnews.net] In 2005, the EU decided that Europol, its law enforcement office, should negotiate a formal cooperation agreement with Israel. Although Europol stated last year […]