European Refugee Crisis: Programme and advocacy report, January 2017

More than 1.3 million people have crossed the Mediterranean since 2015, taking potentially perilous journeys to flee conflict, instability and persecution across the Middle East and Africa. With the Balkans border closures, more than 62,590 people are currently stranded in Greece, while following the signing of the controversial EU-Turkey deal in the first months of 2016, 14,640 people are still being held on the islands. Such restrictions have also shifted the focus to Italy, where 2016 marked the deadlines year on record for thousands of refugees and migrants crossing the Central Mediterranean to reach Italian shores.

The EU is intensifying cooperation with governments in Sub-Saharan Africa, such as Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and mali, as well as in East African countries like Ethiopia. Essentially, this means we could see the return of migrants to their countries of origin. With the primary focus of these agreements on curbing migration, deterrence and expulsion, there are no safeguards envisaged to ensure that human rights, rule of law standards and protection are in place. As a result, people are at risk of being deported to countries where their rights are not safeguarded.

Save the Children is therefore calling for:

• Migration management agreements between the EU and third countries to respect fundamental rights and prevent returning people, particularly children, from a European country to a third country if they violate or risk violating fundamental rights.
• The EU position on the Global Compact on safe, orderly and regular migration to be in line with international human rights standards.