In response to increasing activism in support of migrants and asylum seekers across Europe, EU governments are seeking to criminalise acts of solidarity, in a number of different ways. Laws against the assisting of illegal migration — originally intended to target traffickers — are being deployed against those offering humanitarian support, such as accommodation or healthcare. And politicians who take a public stand in defence of migrants and asylum seekers face threats of prosecution. At the same time, criminal sanctions are increasingly being used against those who protest against deportations on planes and those who seek to rescue migrants stranded at sea.
Frances Webber , `Asylum: from deterrence to criminalisation' , ERA Bulletin (No. 55, Spring 2006).
2.
Migration News Sheet (August 2008), p. 10.
3.
Migration News Sheet (March 2008).
4.
Associated Press (22 September 2007).
5.
<www.libelyon.fr >.
6.
The four NGOs were Cimade, Gisti, Iris and the Ligue des Droits de l'Homme , <http://www.iris.sgdg.org/info-debat/comm-eloi0108.html> ;.
7.
European Digital Rights (Number 6.1, 16 January 2008), <www.edri.org/edrigram/number6.1/eloi-french-database> ;.
8.
Migration News Sheet (November 2007); Der Standard (18 October 2007).
9.
One Austrian newspaper reports that, in 2006, six people were convicted under the law. See Der Standard (18 October 2007).
10.
Der Standard (13 October 2007).
11.
Der Standard (3 August 2007).
12.
SACC News (22 October 2007); Statement of Unity Centre, 7 November 2007.
13.
Migration News Sheet (May 2008), p. 2.
14.
Information supplied by the Immigrant Council of Ireland - Independent Law Centre.
15.
`KISA appeal' (3 July 2007); `The criminalisation of KISA and its chairperson: the background' (8 May 2007).
16.
Agence France Presse (30 September 2008).
17.
Reuters (15 October 2008).
18.
Migration News Sheet (August 2008), p. 11.
19.
Libération (1 November 2007).
20.
UNHCR Baltic & Nordic Headlines (5, 22 April 2008).
21.
As cited in UNHCR Baltic & Nordic Headlines (13 April, 5 April, 22 April and 20 May 2008).
22.
Migration News Sheet (August 2007).
23.
Independent (31 August 2008).
24.
PICUM Newsletter (September 2008).
25.
The Voice Refugee Forum (4 May 2008); Migration News Sheet (June 2008), p. 19.
26.
As cited in `France: immigrant retention centre burnt down following death of inmate', World Socialist Web Site (29 June 2008), <http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/jun2008/vinc-j28.shtml>.
Statement of the Committee in Solidarity with Françoise August , <www.educationsansfrontieres.org/?article11244> ;. Françoise Auguste, communication to the press (14 January 2008), <www.educationsansfrontieres.org/?article10997> ;.
38.
Migration News Sheet (September 2007), p. 9; Libération (4 July 2008); Delit de Solidarité, a documentation of cases prepared by Migreurop.
According to the immigration minister, in the first five months of 2007, 6,000 people were expelled by air, with difficulties experienced in 4.5 per cent of cases. Migration News Sheet (September 2007), p. 10; Migration News Sheet (August 2007), p. 12.
41.
Migration News Sheet (June 2008).
42.
Migration News Sheet (July 2007), p. 3.
43.
`Air France n'arrêtera pas les expulsions', Libération (12 July 2007).
44.
The justification for their arrest was the fact that no fishing nets or fish were found on board either of the two vessels. But the Tunisians were involved in the traditional form of fishing, known as cianciola, where a third vessel carries the equipment.
45.
ANSA English Media Service (5 August 2008).
46.
Agence France Presse (2 August 2008).
47.
As cited in AND Kronos International (2 October 2008).
48.
Pro Asyl and Group of Lawyers for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants, Athens, `The truth may be bitter but it must be told: the situation of refugees in the Aegean and the practices of the Greek coastal guard' (October 2007).
49.
Amnesty International spokesperson Kris Pollet has called for a full investigation of the incident, adding that the use of weapons in an operation designed to control borders would appear to be `disproportionate'. See Inter Press Service (24 October 2008).
50.
Guardian (29 May 2007); `Europe is tested by humanitarian rescue of migrants', International Herald Tribune (20 July 2006).
