ASF in Euro-Mediterranean region

On 11 March 2025, the European Commission unveiled a proposal for a new Return Regulation, meant to replace the existing Return Directive. Behind this technocratic title, however, the proposal marks a deep and dangerous shift in EU migration policy — one that prioritises deportation, detention, and surveillance over protection, dignity, and rights. Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) has joined more than 250 civil society organisations in a joint statement calling for the proposal’s withdrawal and urging the European Parliament and Council of the EU to reject it.

Migration | Uncategorized | Euro-Mediterranean region

The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) returns to Palermo for its 56th international session, dedicated to the systematic human rights violations committed against migrants. Over three days, jurists, experts, activists, and witnesses from the Maghreb, Europe, and Africa will present evidence, analyses, and testimonies on preventable shipwrecks, arbitrary detentions, torture, and the criminalization of solidarity. Founded in 1979 and grounded in the principles of international law, the PPT gives voice to victims and issues moral and political recommendations to hold States and institutions accountable.

Migration | Euro-Mediterranean region

In the Euro-Mediterranean region, a deeply troubling trend has emerged in recent years: racist and security-driven discourse and policies are spreading and multiplying, creating a hostile and harmful environment for racialized people, people on the move, and their allies (human rights defenders, activists). A recent report by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has, for instance, documented the rise of Islamophobia across Europe. Meanwhile, in Tunisia and Morocco, a journalistic investigation revealed the organization of violent raids and expulsions of people of African descent into the desert—operations carried out using European funds allocated for “migration management.” It is in this context that the TACKLE project was launched—the first ASF initiative of this scale to be implemented in Europe. Its goal is to combat discrimination and structural racism by promoting youth activism. The project is led by twelve partners, including legal clinics and human rights organizations based in Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, Morocco, the Netherlands, and Tunisia.

Decolonisation | Euro-Mediterranean region