The Maghreb Social Forum, in partnership with Avocats Sans Frontières, is organizing a public conference dedicated to presenting the ruling issued at the 56th session of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT). This session, held in Palermo from 23 to 25 October 2025, focused on human rights violations against migrants by Maghreb states, the European Union, and several of its Member States.
📅 When? 20 April 2026, from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm
📍 Where? Press Club Brussels Europe
A damning assessment
The Tribunal’s ruling calls into question migration policies implemented on both sides of the Mediterranean. It highlights how these policies have turned the region into an area marked by serious and systemic human rights violations, making the Mediterranean the deadliest migration route in the world.
A worrying political context
The ruling comes at a time marked, on the one hand, by a growing rightward shift in the European political and media landscape, along with increased stigmatization of migrants, and, on the other hand, by the unprecedented consolidation—since the uprisings and revolutions of 2011—of authoritarian regimes on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, notably through migration agreements concluded with the European Union.
Migration policies continue to harden, as illustrated by the third anniversary of the EU–Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding, the entry into force of the EU Pact on Asylum and Migration, the designation of authoritarian regimes as “safe third countries,” and the increasing criminalization of individuals and organizations showing solidarity with migrants.
An open space for debate
Beyond presenting the Tribunal’s conclusions, this event aims to open up public debate in Europe. It will seek to identify concrete advocacy avenues and contribute to the development of a common political roadmap to address these issues and ensure better respect for the rights and dignity of migrants.
