On February 21, 2008 PRO ASYL has filed a petition with the Petition Committee of the German Federal Parliament, requesting to stop all deportations of asylum-seekers to Greece based on the EU Council Regulation known as Dublin II. There are grave reasons to suspend all deportations: Currently, the Greek asylum system does not guarantee effective access to the asylum procedure or a hearing for the applicant when lodging an asylum application. Due to their sheer number, many asylum applications

The EU's Common Asylum Policy One gets the impression that the aim of the EU's common asylum policy is not to protect refugees, but to protect Europe from refugees. Rather than relieving the burden on the poor regions where the refugees come from, the member states are in the process of shifting responsibility to them. Humanity and the right to asylum are left by the wayside. Day after day, people risk their lives in the attempt to get across the Mediterranean or the Atlantic to Europe. Thous

Refoulement at sea, systematic maltreatment and inhumane detention conditions - Representatives of PRO ASYL and the Greek Group of Lawyers for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants examined on two fact-finding missions in July/August and in October 2007 the situation of refugees at the EU external border in the Aegean. The findings reveal serious human rights violations. On Monday 29 October 2007 PRO ASYL and the Greek Group of Lawyers for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants issued

The German Bundestag voted on June 14th, 2007 on amendments to the Immigration Act. The Act came into force on August 28, 2007. PRO ASYL criticized the package of legislation as an "unconstitutional and isolationist attempt to seal itself off from immigrants and refugees." Among the most obvious flaws in the bill are: Refugee-friendly EU directives are implemented in such a distorted way that they lose all meaning. Contrary to the EU mandate, refugees fleeing from internal armed conflicts (e.g.

Europe continues to shirk its responsibility Every day more than 100 civilians lose their life in Iraq. According to the UN, one out of eight Iraqi is on the run by now. While the situation of Iraqi refugees in the region is becoming increasingly critical, almost all European countries continue to shirk their responsibility to protect these people. Germany does not help actively either. On the contrary, everything possible is done to prevent Iraqi refugees from entering the country, to withdraw

The Italian asylum system is stamped by arbitrariness, denial of rights and isolation - A journey through southern Italy on the tracks of African refugees By Judith Gleitze, Alice Schultz* Agneddu e sucu e finici u vattiu - 'Lamb and gravy, and the baptizing's done'. The Sicilian adage means something like the-devil-may-care. And that's how the staff members of Villa Exodus, a home for unaccompanied minor refugees in Sicily, are describing the stance of the policemen they have to deal with eve