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The European Commission Spokesperson for Foreign and Security Policy Maja Kocijancic, has confirmed today the resignation of Hansjoerg Haber, permanent representative of the EU to Turkey.

“I can confirm that the ambassador Haber resigned and he will be leaving his post as of 1 August this year. At present, all necessary steps are taken in order to swiftly appoint a new Head of the EU delegation in Ankara,” Kocijancic said.

The top EU diplomat stepped down one month after he was summoned by the Foreign Ministry of Turkey over his bitterly critical comments of Turkey’s handling of the EU-Turkey migration deal.

“We have a saying ‘Start like a Turk and end like a German. But here it is the other way round’”, Haber said, according to Turkish media reports.

However, Kocijancic rejected to comment on possible link between the former envoy’s comments and his resignation saying that the successor will be appointed swiftly and the EU continues to cooperate with Turkey.

“Turkey is a key partner and it is a candidate country. We reenergized our relationship contacts and they are going on all levels,” Kocijancic underlined.

 

The post Head of EU delegation to Turkey, Hansjoerg Haber, resigns appeared first on New Europe.

Dutch finance minister and ECOFIN Chair Jeroen Dijsselbloem worries that the way in which the EU Commission applies Stability and Growth Pact rules may not be entirely objective, he told Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs on Tuesday. At a meeting reviewing the Dutch Presidency of the Council of Economy and Finance Ministers, he said he hoped that on Friday 17 June they would agree a road map for completing the Banking Union with a European Deposit Guarantee Scheme (EDIS).
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Dutch finance minister and ECOFIN Chair Jeroen Dijsselbloem worries that the way in which the EU Commission applies Stability and Growth Pact rules may not be entirely objective, he told Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs on Tuesday. At a meeting reviewing the Dutch Presidency of the Council of Economy and Finance Ministers, he said he hoped that on Friday 17 June they would agree a road map for completing the Banking Union with a European Deposit Guarantee Scheme (EDIS).
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

On 14 June 2016, the Council extended the mandate of the EU rule of law mission (EULEX) in Kosovo until 14 June 2018. The Council also approved a combined budget for the mission of EUR 63.6 million providing for the period 15 June 2016 - 14 December 2016 for its operations in Kosovo and until 14 June 2017 for the specialist chambers and the specialist prosecutor office. 

The budget approved will cover the expenditure of EULEX KOSOVO for the implementation of its mandate in Kosovo at a level of EUR 34.5 million. EUR 29.1 million will support the specialist chambers and the specialist prosecutor office. 

The central aim of the civilian mission EULEX Kosovo is to assist and support the Kosovo authorities in the rule of law area, specifically in the police, judiciary and customs areas. 

EULEX Kosovo was launched in 2008. The headquarters of the mission are located in Prishtinë/Priština, Kosovo.

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The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Group in the European Parliament has condemned the massacre perpetrated against the LGBTI community in Orlando, Florida, on June 12.

Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE Group president, said: “Violence against LGBTI people is unfortunately not a relic from the past. The LGBTI community is still being a victim of discrimination, violence and threats every day across the world. We must stand together against homophobia, violence and hate speech. Terror and hatred should have no place in our societies.”

ALDE also called on the European Commission to present a legislative proposal to prevent and penalise homophobic hate crime.

The post ALDE shows solidarity with Orlando massacre victims appeared first on New Europe.

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Members of the European Parliament’s Internal Market committee have debated amendments to the EU’s Firearms Directive on Tuesday. There has been a common European firearms law for over 25 years but far-reaching reforms were proposed by the Commission following the Charlie Hebdo and Paris attacks last year.

The first draft of the proposals was widely considered to be very poorly drafted and would have had many unintended consequences. Members of the European Parliament have tabled a further 800 amendments to the Commission’s proposal, which will be discussed on Tuesday.

British Conservative MEP Vicky Ford (ECR) said: ‘It is absolutely right that we close the specific loophole that was exploited by terrorists involved in the Charlie Hebdo attacks. These firearms that were supposedly only able to fire blanks, and hence could be bought and sold by individuals who did not have any firearms certificate, license or permit. These guns had not been irreversibly converted and were easily turned back into live firearms. Many similar firearms were found in a marina in Kent and it is absolutely vital that we work with our neighbours across Europe to close this loophole to make us all secure.”

MEPs proposed robust measures to make sure that permits or licenses are not given to individuals who are likely to pose a risk to public safety. Countries will be expected to have in place a monitoring system and new measures will be introduced to ensure that if a person is refused a permit in one country, then the police in another country will be made aware. MEPs will vote on whether or not medical checks should be required.

Vicky Ford also said: “You should not be able to buy any firearm in Europe without a permit or license. You should not be able to get a permit or license if you are considered by authorities to be likely to pose a risk to public order. If in any doubt, the authorities should say “no”.

“This is a sensitive issue, and we must get it right. We need to have effective crossborder laws but this also needs to be done in a way that it does not have unintended consequences for legitimate owners, sportsmen, national defence or museums.”

The post MEPs debate pan-European firearms law  appeared first on New Europe.

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Estonian MEP Kaja Kallas has announced that she will not sign another written declaration – up to 200 words, it’s a mechanisms for European Parliament delegates to raise awareness about issues that might otherwise get overlooked.

In her recent blog post, Kallas, who belongs to the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, explains why she has stopped signing WDs.

“A few months ago a colleague of mine sent out a ‘Written Declaration to end all Written Declarations’ which made me wonder whether there is any sense in signing these declarations at all.

“According to the rules, a WD is only adopted if it is signed by half of all MEPs within 3 months of its publication; otherwise it lapses. Due to this, authors of a written declaration often have to resort to a disproportionate amount of lobbying to ensure that their declaration gains enough support in the allocated time.”

According to Kallas, a WD is often the result of the work of lobbyists who want to show their clients that they’ve achieved something or it represents narrow problems brought up by an MEP’s constituency, who expect the WD to have an impact on EU policies.

“In reality, they are largely incapable of bringing about change,” concludes Kallas. “This, in turn, feeds the sense of disempowerment recently on the rise in Europe, and risks frustrating the already sceptical public (“politicians only talk, but bring no change”).

“Not wanting to deny that some issues raised in WDs do merit wider recognition, I have to conclude that the WD in general has become a mechanism for promoting niche interests at great administrative cost. Either the subjects they deal with are so local and specific that they should not be discussed at EU level.”

Some of the examples that Kallas cites include a WD on the control and possible eradication of the Asian hornet and others are just ridiculous like a WD on European necktie day.

The post Kaja Kallas. Why one MEP won’t sign written declarations appeared first on New Europe.

A clear A to G scale for labelling the energy efficiency of household appliances should replace the proliferating pluses in today's top class (A+, A++, A+++) within 5 years, said Industry, Research and Energy Committee MEPs on Tuesday. The proposal for a new EU regulation aims to ensure that consumers are not misled into thinking that a A class appliance is one of the most efficient on the market, whereas under current rules it may in fact be one of the least efficient.
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

A clear A to G scale for labelling the energy efficiency of household appliances should replace the proliferating pluses in today's top class (A+, A++, A+++) within 5 years, said Industry, Research and Energy Committee MEPs on Tuesday. The proposal for a new EU regulation aims to ensure that consumers are not misled into thinking that a A class appliance is one of the most efficient on the market, whereas under current rules it may in fact be one of the least efficient.
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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Two police officers were murdered  by a single lone wolf terrorist in Magnanville, 55 km northwest of Paris, on Monday evening.

The French President, Francois Hollande, described the incident as “unquestionably a terrorist act” on Tuesday morning.

The first victim was a 42-year old police commander Jean-Batiste Salvaing. The terrorist stalked the victim and attacked him with a knife outside his home shouting “Allahu akbar,” according to witnesses. The victim quickly succumbed to wounds in his stomach, Reuters reports.

The murderer then went into the house of the victim and barricaded himself, taking the commander’s partner and their three year old son as hostages. The commander’s partner was the 36-year old Jessica S., also a police officer. Following a raid later in the evening, the woman was found dead, also by knife wounds, but the boy survived.

The police cut off electricity and gas, sealed off the road, and tried to negotiate with the terrorist before launching a raid; witnesses report hearing explosions as the unit moved in.

The terrorist was identified as the 25 year old Larossi Abballa, born in France. Aballa was convicted to 3-years in prison in 2013 for “criminal association with the aim of preparing terrorist acts”; he had worked as a recruiter of Jihadi fighters that were sent to Pakistan, France 24 reports.

Aballa was described by the IS-linked media platform as “a fighter”; the terrorist posted the murder and pictures of his victims on his Facebook page, Haaretz reports.

The police is now examining social media messages and contacts of the terrorist.

France is in a state of emergency since the attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015.

French President Francois Hollande gestures as he delivers a speech during the opening of the International Anti-Corruption Practitioner Conference at The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France, 14 June 2016. Hollande started his speech by mentioning the French police officer and his partner murdered by an assailant allegedly claimed as a ISIS fighter in Magnanville, near Paris, late 13 June 2016. EPA/FRANCOIS GUILLOT / POOL MAXPPP OUT

(AFP, France 24, Mirror, Reuters, Haaretz)

The post Lone wolf terrorist attack in France, two officers killed appeared first on New Europe.

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Microsoft is buying LinkedIn for €23bn in cash, or $196 a share, Bloomberg reports.

The deal still needs to be approved by regulators in the US, EU, Canada, and Brazil. Microsoft hopes to use the professional networking platform to bundle and sell e-mail and other business services, while adding value on its emerging “cloud” service identity (Office 365, Dynamics). To do so, it is paying LinkedIn shareholders a 50% premium.

As always in major mergers, Microsoft’s CEO Jeff Weiner promised to LinkedIn employees the company will retain its “distinct brand, culture and independence.” This is Microsoft’s biggest acquisition since Skype, which it acquired in 2011 for $8,5bn.

Most of the buyout will be paid by issuing debt, although Microsoft has the reserves to buy. In a very low interest rate environment, mergers and acquisitions have thrived.

One privacy expert, Vivek Krishnamurthy, who teaches at Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic says LinkedIn users should have personal data concerns. “While LinkedIn is known for controlling information that’s in a semi-public sphere, in particular its professional profiles, it also houses private messages and job applications made on the website. Its information could include the fact that you’re seeking a job while you’re presumably employed or were employed somewhere else,” Financial Post reports.

The post Microsoft buys LinkedIn for €23 bn appeared first on New Europe.

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A Doha court convicted a 22-year old Dutch woman that reported her rape for adultery on Monday. She is to pay a €710 fine and was convicted to one year prison.

The woman was apparently raped in February and reported the crime. Qatari authorities placed Laura on trial for her “extramarital sex” {rape} without seeking to secure evidence against her alleged rapist. Dutch media reported she was later pressed to marry her alleged rapist.

The sentence will be suspended and Laura will be deported, AFP reports.

The woman denied the charge of having “sex” outside marriage.

The alleged rapist is Omar Abdullah al-Hasan; he was sentenced to 100 lashes for “illicit sex” – not rape – and 40 lashes for drinking alcohol. He will undergo a medical examination to see whether he can withstand the punishment. But, he will serve no time in prison and could get away with rape. Being of Syrian descent, he will be deported; he insists he paid the woman for sex and that it was consensual.

The Dutch embassy will help the 22-years old woman to leave Qatar.

Qatar will host the football World Cup in 2022. Western tourists visiting Qatar for the event could be in grave danger if unfamiliar with the “rule of law” in the emirate. In 2013, a Norwegian woman in the United Arab Emirates received a 16-month sentence for extramarital rape and drinking alcohol. She was later pardoned and allowed to return to Norway. An Australian suffered the same fate in 2008.

At least 45 people have been convicted of sex outside marriage since 2009 according to international media reports.

The Dutch woman had been to Doha for vacations with a friend and went clubbing in a hotel where alcohol is allowed. Her lawyer, Brian Lokollo, says the victim suspects her drink was spiked. She woke up in a strange apartment realizing she had been raped.

(AP, AFP, BBC, DW, DutchNews.nl)

The post Qatar convicts Dutch alledged rape victim for extramarital sex appeared first on New Europe.

Commission v United Kingdom
Social security for migrant workers
The UK can require recipients of child benefit and child tax credit to have a right to reside in the UK

Commission v United Kingdom
Social security for migrant workers
The UK can require recipients of child benefit and child tax credit to have a right to reside in the UK

Tuesday 21 June 2016
Justus Lipsius building - Brussels

10.00 
Arrival of the President of Israel Reuven Rivlin
Welcome by the President of the European Council Donald Tusk
(VIP entrance, level 02 - photo/TV opportunity)

+/-11.00 
Press Statements
(VIP entrance, level 02)

Access to the VIP entrance (level 02) for the photo opportunity and the press statement will be granted to all journalists holding a 6-month badge.

Journalists without the above badge must send a written request by mail - deadline Wednesday 15 June 2016, 17.00 - to press.centre@consilium.europa.eu, with an advance copy of their ID, press card (if available), or a signed letter from their media confirming their professional status and that they are assigned to cover this event.

Important: If you have never attended a summit organized by the Council, you must provide a signed letter from your media even if you hold a press card.

Original documents need to be produced when collecting the badge. 

General : The EU coordinates and monitors member states' economic, budgetary and employment policies in a process known as the European Semester, resulting in these countries receiving guidelines on issues such as taxes, pensions and possible budget cuts. On Tuesday 14 June Parliament's economic and employment committees debate this year's recommendations. Watch our explanatory video above for more information.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : The EU coordinates and monitors member states' economic, budgetary and employment policies in a process known as the European Semester, resulting in these countries receiving guidelines on issues such as taxes, pensions and possible budget cuts. On Tuesday 14 June Parliament's economic and employment committees debate this year's recommendations. Watch our explanatory video above for more information.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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EU risks fuelling horrific abuse of refugees and migrants in Libya, warned today Amnesty International. Thus, the EU’s plans to cooperate more closely with Libya on migration risk fuelling the rampant ill-treatment and indefinite detention in horrifying conditions of thousands of refugees and migrants, said Amnesty International.

Last month the EU announced plans to extend its anti-smuggling naval mission in the Mediterranean, Operation Sophia, for another year and to train, build up the capacity of and share information with the Libyan coastguard following a request by the new Libyan government. However, testimonies gathered during visits to Sicily and Puglia in May 2016 reveal shocking abuses by the Libyan coastguard and at immigration detention centres in Libya.

Amnesty International spoke to 90 people who survived the treacherous sea crossing from Libya to Italy, including at least 20 refugees and migrants who described shootings and beatings while being picked up by the coastguard or harrowing torture and other ill-treatment at detention centres. In one case, the Libyan coastguard abandoned a sinking boat leaving some 120 people on board instead of rescuing them.

“Europe shouldn’t even think about migration cooperation arrangements with Libya if it results, directly or indirectly, in such shocking human rights violations. The EU has repeatedly shown it is willing to stop refugees and migrants from coming to the continent at almost any cost now, with human rights taking a back seat,” said Magdalena Mughrabi, interim Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.

“Of course the Libyan coastguard’s search and rescue capabilities have to improve to save lives at sea, but the grim reality at the moment is that the Libyan coastguard is intercepting and returning thousands of people to detention centres where they suffer torture and other abuses. It is critical that any support from the EU does not fuel and perpetuate the abhorrent human rights violations that foreign nationals in Libya are so desperate to escape from.”

On 7 June the European Commission announced further plans to enhance cooperation and partnerships with key third countries in the region to manage migration; Libya was identified as one of the priority countries.

Despite the violence and lawlessness pervading Libya, where armed conflicts flared up once again in 2014, hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants, mostly from Sub-Saharan Africa, continue to travel there, fleeing war, persecution or extreme poverty in countries such as Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Nigeria and Somalia, usually in the hope of reaching Europe. Others have lived in Libya for years but want to flee the country because, unprotected by any government, they live in constant fear of being stopped, beaten and robbed by local gangs or police.

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) more than 2,100 people lost their lives trying to make the dangerous sea crossing to Italy in the first five months of this year alone. More than 49,000 survived the journey to Italy – virtually all were rescued by European naval forces, NGOs and merchant vessels.

Abuses by the Libyan coastguard

At least 3,500 people were intercepted at sea by the Libyan coastguard between 22 and 28 May 2016 and transferred to detention centres.

Abdurrahman, 23, from Eritrea, described the abuse he endured when the overloaded boat he was travelling on – with capacity for 50 people but carrying 120 – was intercepted by members of the Libyan coastguard in January 2016.

“They made everyone get off and beat them with rubber hoses and wooden sticks….They then shot one man in the foot – he was the last one coming off the boat so they asked him where the driver was, when he said he didn’t know they said ‘that means you are the driver’ and they shot him,” he said.

Another Eritrean man, Mohamed, 26, said members of the Libyan coastguard who stopped them later abandoned their sinking rubber boat, leaving the 120 people on board stranded at sea.

“One of the men from the Libyan coastguard boat came onto our boat to drive it back to Libya. He drove it nearly half way back, but then the motor stopped working. [He] was very frustrated and went back to his own boat. I heard him say ‘if you die, you die’, before getting back on his boat and driving away, leaving us stuck in the sea,” he said.

Eventually they were able to fix the motor themselves, but it was still letting in air so they were forced to return to Libya.

In October 2013, Amnesty International documented the sinking of a trawler that was damaged while leaving Libyan waters when an unidentified Libyan vessel opened fire on it. The damaged boat began to take in water and subsequently sank taking about 200 men, women and children down with it. Some of the survivors alleged that the shooting came from the Libyan coastguard. The results of an investigation into the incident have never been made public.

Appalling abuse at Libyan detention centres

According to officials in the Libyan coastguard, refugees and migrants intercepted while attempting the journey are routinely returned to immigration detention centres in Libya.

Since 2011, Amnesty International has collected scores of testimonies from former detainees, including men, women and unaccompanied children, detailing terrible conditions, violence and sexual abuse at such centres across Libya. The latest evidence gathered shows that abuses continue unabated.

The centres are run by the Department to Combat Irregular Migration (DCIM) which nominally falls under the control of Libya’s Ministry of Interior, but in practice many are run by members of armed groups. Libya’s internationally backed Government of National Accord is yet to gain effective control of these centres. According to UNHCR, there are currently 24 such centres currently across Libya.

Libyan law criminalizes entering, exiting and staying in Libya irregularly and allows for the indefinite detention of foreign nationals for the purpose of deportation. Those detained often stay in centres for months without access to their families, lawyers or judges and are unable to challenge their detention or access protection given the lack of any national asylum law or system in Libya. Deportations are carried out without any safeguards or assessment of individual claims.

“The fact that it is possible to detain someone indefinitely in Libya purely based on their immigration status is outrageous. Instead of being granted protection, refugees and migrants end up being tortured and ill-treated in custody. As a first step Libya must urgently end the unlawful detention and torture and ill-treatment of foreign nationals and adopt asylum legislation to ensure those in need of international protection are given refuge,” said Magdalena Mughrabi.

Former detainees – who include people intercepted at sea as well as foreign nationals arrested on the streets in Libya – said guards beat them on a daily basis using wooden sticks, hoses, electric cables and rifles as well as subjecting them to electric shocks.

A 20-year-old Eritrean whose boat was intercepted at sea by the Libyan coastguard in January 2016 said he was sent directly to a detention centre in al-Zawiya, in western Libya where he was beaten repeatedly.

“They [the guards] would hit us three times a day using electric wire that was folded three times to make it hurt more,” said one man who was held at Abu Slim detention centre in Tripoli where the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) says at least 450 people are being held. He said detainees there slept in the open air without shelter from the extreme hot or cold weather. Guards would often spray the area with water forcing them to sleep on the damp cold floor.

Charles, a 35-year-old man from Nigeria, was held at five different detention centres after he was stopped in the street in Tripoli in August 2015. He told Amnesty International:

“They beat us all the time, every day…Once my arm got broken because of the beating and they took me to the hospital but I didn’t get any medication. They used sticks, their guns and sometimes electric shocks.”

When the guards threatened to deport him he responded “anything is better than the hell here”.

A 28-year-old Ethiopian man, who was arrested with his wife at a checkpoint as they tried to get to western Libya spent four months in Kufra detention centre in the south east of the country. He described being beaten regularly, being placed in a box, and being flogged and burned with hot water. His wife said the head of the centre would regularly beat her and the other women there. They were eventually able to pay for their release.

None of the detention centres run by DCIM have female guards, heightening the risk of sexual abuse.

Several people said they had witnessed refugees or migrants dying in detention, either shot dead or beaten to death by the guards.

“The guards would beat us if we said we’re hungry…. They would make us lie down on our stomach and two would hit us with hose… I saw a Chadian man, they shot him for no reason in front of me. They took him to the hospital but he died in prison after they brought him back. In the records, they said he died in a car accident. I know because they made me work [for free] all day in the filing room,” said a 19-year-old Eritrean man who was detained in the Abu Slim detention centre.

Another Eritrean man who spent five months from October 2015 in an immigration detention centre in al-Zawiya also said he witnessed a detainee being beaten to death by the guards. Afterwards they wrapped the dead body up in a blanket and removed it. In another incident, the man described how the guards came in and opened fire on seven men in his cell when they didn’t understand the guards’ orders to get up in Arabic. In April 2016, UNSMIL called for investigations when four people were shot dead as they attempted to escape horrible conditions at a detention centre in al-Zawiya.

Former detainees also complained of a lack of food, drinking water, poor medical care and squalid conditions due to a shortage of sanitary facilities which many said led to skin diseases. They explained that even when doctors from humanitarian organizations came to see them, they were only shown a small number of detainees who would usually be too afraid to report injuries caused by the guards. The medication they were given was also confiscated by the guards.

“The EU cannot ignore these true horror stories about the shocking abuses committed on a daily basis against foreign nationals in Libya. Before any migration policies and programmes are designed, there have to be rock-solid guarantees that refugees and migrants rights are fully respected in Libya – something that is highly unlikely to be the case in the near future,” said Magdalena Mughrabi.

Religious discrimination

Christians are at an increased risk of ill-treatment in Libya’s detention centres. Omar, a 26-year-old from Eritrea who was held in a detention centre in al-Zawiya, said: “They hate Christians. If you’re a Christian, all I can say is God help you if they find out…If they see a cross or a [religious] tattoo they beat you a lot more”.

Another former detainee from Nigeria said the guards in the detention centre in Misratah would separate the men according to religion and flog those who were Christians.

“At the beginning I said I’m not going to change my religion even if I’m in a Muslim country. They took me out and flogged me. Next time I lied and said I was Muslim,” he said.

Semre, a 22-year-old man from Eritrea who was beaten in detention after his boat was intercepted at sea in January, also said Christians received far worse treatment:

“They beat me, took my money and threw away my Bible and the cross I had on my neck…First they check whether one has money in the pockets, then they take an electrical cable and they whip you,” he said.

Exploited, extorted or sold to smugglers

The testimonies collected by Amnesty International suggest that detainees’ only hope of release is escaping, buying their way out, or being sold on to people smugglers. Many are exploited and forced into work without pay or face financial extortion. They are made to work in the detention centres or are given to Libyan men who pay the guards for their labour.

Daniel, a 19-year-old from Ghana detained in March 2014, described how his only option to get away from the repeated beatings and ill-treatment he suffered in detention was to attempt to escape, as he did not have the money the guards were asking in exchange for his release.

“I stayed there for three months, because I had no money to pay the police. They took me as a slave, I had to do any type of work, farming, carrying sand or stones…I was never paid. When I was hungry and I told them, they shouted. They gave me water with petrol inside. Or they would put salt in it, just to punish you,” he said.

“They gave me a phone to call my family to get them to send money to release me. I have no family, my mum and dad died. I couldn’t call anyone, so they beat me and didn’t give me any food.”
In some cases, detainees escaped from or were released by the men they were made to work for, who would help them get on boats in exchange for their work.

In other cases, smugglers negotiated the release of a detainee – often by bribing the detention centre guards – just so they could get them to pay for another sea crossing, at a cost of around US$1,000 each. Mohamed, who was held at a detention centre in al-Zawiya after his boat was intercepted in January 2016 said the smugglers gave the guards “cars full of goods” in exchange for their release.

 

The post EU risks fuelling abuse of refugees and migrants in Libya: Amnesty International appeared first on New Europe.

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Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

DRAFT REPORT on The EU's strategy towards Iran after the nuclear deal
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Richard Howitt

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP