Olivia Sundberg Diez

Ahead of next week’s expected vote on the Return Regulation, @amnesty.org reiterates the need to uphold international human rights obligations.

See 10 key takeaways from our roundtable with OHCHR Europe, @picumofficial.bsky.social & @ceps.eu earlier this week👇

Yesterday the EU unveiled a new visa and migration strategy. As I told @afp.com this continues a flawed approach that only heightens the EU's dependence on third countries to manage migration, while making it complicit in resulting rights violations: www.france24.com/en/live-news...

EU: New rules on asylum and ‘safe countries’ undermine the foundation of refugee protection

Sidestepping international legal obligations & further shifting responsibility for refugee protection to non-EU countries is an affront to human dignity 👇
www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

Benham Satah, friend of @amnesty.org & survivor of Australia's inhumane offshore detention system came to Brussels to speak to EU politicians and civil society about why the EU must not follow suit with similar cruel & unlawful offshoring plans.

EU backs migration ‘return hubs’ in echo of Trump’s crackdown Home affairs ministers agree new measures making it easier to deport failed asylum seekers

“This approach mirrors the harrowing, dehumanising and unlawful mass arrests, detention and deportations in the US, which are tearing families apart and devastating communities,” Amnesty International’s Olivia Sundberg Diez said.

www.ft.com/content/e479...

EU: Ministers propose unprecedented detention, sanctions, and stripping of rights based on migration status The EU’s insistence on ramping up deportations, raids, surveillance, and detention at any cost is dogged and misguided.

BREAKING: EU Ministers propose unprecedented detention, sanctions, and stripping of rights based on migration status.

Mirroring the US, EU proposals will tear families apart & devastate communities. They must be reversed immediately, says @oliviasundberg.bsky.social

www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

Greece’s expansive refugee deportation law tests limits of rights in EU Rights groups say Greece is acting as Brussels’ bellwether for measures that aren’t always legal, moral, implementable.

Greece: EU's bellwether for migration restrictions?

Suspended access to asylum, mass detention, sweeping deportations - @oliviasundberg.bsky.social tells @aljazeera.com “Greece has become a testing ground for many EU measures, especially on the Greek islands."
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/...

More than 200 Organisations: Inhumane Deportation Rules Should be Rejected – European Institutions Office On 11 March 2025, the European Commission presented a new proposal for a Return Regulation to replace the current Return Directive. Behind the euphemistic name, the proposal outlines coercive, traumat...

@amnesty.org joins over 200 organisations in calling for rejection of the @ec.europa.eu’s ‘Return Regulation’.

The new proposal on deportations would vastly expand detention, strip away rights, and trap more people in legal limbo and dangerous conditions.

And lastly, more cooperation with #Libya to stem arrivals, by trapping ever more people in a horrific cycle of abuse, is not a way forward either.

This week's events show the risks for the EU relying on partners who are too willing to violate rights for political gains.

bsky.app/profile/amne...

Greece: Pushbacks and violence against refugees and migrants are de facto border policy Greek border forces are violently and illegally pushing groups of refugees and migrants back to Turkey. Some are being apprehended far inland, away from border areas.

Greece adopted similar measures back in 2020, suspending asylum and ramped up returns in response to increased arrivals at its border with Türkiye.

Here's what that led to, and what cannot now happen again: www.amnesty.org/en/latest/pr...

The answer is never to deny people asylum - but to lead with humanity, solidarity, proportionality, and preparedness - making use of the EU support available.

Or did policymakers spend years working on a Common European Asylum System for nothing?

Increases in arrivals have happened in the EU before, and indeed may happen again in the future.

It would be ludicrous to suggest that this can't be managed while upholding international law - and deeply counterproductive for any future EU dialogue with #Greece or other member states.

UNHCR deeply concerned by Greece’s suspension of asylum applications | UNHCR Greece UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, acknowledges the pressure created by recent arrivals in Gavdos and Crete. States have the right to manage borders and address irregular migration. Controlling a State’s b...

Greece's proposal clearly violates basic tenets of EU & international law. Int'l law strictly prohibits returning people without first assessing their circumstances. The plans also hint at automatic, arbitrary and illegal detention in Crete.

This is plain to see.
www.unhcr.org/gr/en/news/p...

Shameful vote in the #Greek Parliament today on a proposal to suspend asylum applications for three months for people arriving by boat from North Africa.

Equally shameful is the @ec.europa.eu's apparent endorsement, stating that Greece is in "an exceptional situation".

Let's be clear...

EU-Libya: EU’s migration cooperation with Libya is ‘morally bankrupt’ and amounts to complicity in violations – European Institutions Office Ahead of a visit by EU Migration Commissioner Brunner and EU ministers to Libya to discuss migration cooperation on 8 July, Eve Geddie, the Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Of...

"The EU’s migration cooperation with Libya is morally bankrupt and amounts to complicity in horrific human rights violations," says @evegeddie.bsky.social

Today @magnusbrunner.bsky.social is in Libya with ministers to discuss migration cooperation 🧵 www.amnesty.eu/news/eu-liby...

EU: New ‘safe third country’ proposals cynical attempt to downgrade rights and offload asylum responsibilities Responding to the European Commission’s proposal to amend the ‘safe third country’ concept by allowing EU member states to forcibly send people seeking asylum to countries where they have no connectio...

NEW: @ec.europa.eu ‘safe third country’ proposals cynical attempt to downgrade rights & offload responsibilities.

"The EU should invest in its own asylum systems & let people seeking asylum start rebuilding their lives," says @oliviasundberg.bsky.social

Read👇

EU commission defends declaring Tunisia as 'safe' The European Commission continues to defend Tunisia as 'safe' for prospective Tunisians wanting international protection in Europe.

While @ec.europa.eu defends declaring Tunisia a safe country to return Tunisians to, @amnesty.org’s @oliviasundberg.bsky.social warns that the assessment “absolutely downplays the human rights backsliding that we've seen in the last few years”.

Via @euobserver.com 👇

Offshore detention is inhumane — I know because I lived it Europe’s nations have proposed establishing refugee “return hubs” in third-party countries outside their jurisdiction for failed asylum seekers. But they should think twice.

Benham Satah was detained in Manus for seven years by the Australian government. He shared with @politico.eu a harrowing account of what offshore detention means in practice.

As European states make similar plans, they should read his testimony and think twice.
www.politico.eu/article/offs...

Offshore detention is inhumane — I know because I lived it Europe’s nations have proposed establishing refugee “return hubs” in third-party countries outside their jurisdiction for failed asylum seekers. But they should think twice.

OPINION: Kurdish Iranian refugee Benham Satah spent a harrowing seven years detained by the Australian government in Papua New Guinea.

It’s a cautionary tale for European nations that have proposed establishing refugee “return hubs” in third-party countries outside their jurisdiction.

As European states now look to set up return hubs, or offshore detention centres, I hope they read Benham's testimony and think twice.

His call:

"It was torture what the government did to us... It has become a stain on Australian history.

I hope no European country ever adopts this policy."

“People would self-immolate with petrol in detention. We were beaten. At times the violence was extreme, and you could be assaulted for no reason."

"When a packet of cigarettes can guarantee your safety, you understand how cheap human life can be,” he says.

"We were out of sight, out of mind."

Offshore detention is inhumane — I know because I lived it Europe’s nations have proposed establishing refugee “return hubs” in third-party countries outside their jurisdiction for failed asylum seekers. But they should think twice.

Out today in @politico.eu: A harrowing account of what offshore detention means in practice, from someone who lived it.

Benham Satah spent seven years detained by the Australian government in Manus, where he witnessed violence, death, trauma, neglect and abuse.

www.politico.eu/article/offs...

Italy-Albania: Italian government’s plans to forcibly transfer people detained in immigration centres in Italy to Albania must be stopped.

These plans are nothing more than a desperate attempt to revive the expensive and unlawful Italy-Albania protocol 🧵

The @ec.europa.eu published its proposal on Return Regulation

Overall, the Return regulation proposal severely limits procedural safeguards and restricts migrants' rights to appeal against the return decision and detention.

EU: Return proposals a “new low” for Europe’s treatment of migrants Today, the European Commission introduced a proposed revision to the 2008 Return Directive, amending the EU legal framework on returns or deportations outside of the EU. Following pressure from certai...

Today's EU proposals on return are a "new low", says @amnestyeu.bsky.social.

The @ec.europa.eu has caved to unworkable and inhumane demands of a few anti-migration govts.

Beyond return hubs, it sets out a disproportionate and punitive approach to returns that ignores all evidence.

bit.ly/3DyuTbB

Commission proposes a new Common European System for Returns Today, the European Commission is proposing to establish a Common European System for Returns with swifter, simpler and more effective return procedures across the EU. Announced by President von der L...

Details on the new Common European System for Returns up now: ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

Today, @ec.europa.eu will announce new return proposals – paving the way for ‘return hubs’ or deportation centres outside the EU & widescale detention in Europe.

Unworkable, expensive and inhumane – here's why these proposals won’t work & what the EU should do instead🧵

EU to expand deportation regime as Europe turns against migrants A new EU-wide deportation regime is set to be unveiled by the European Commission on Tuesday, raising alarm among rights defenders as the bloc continues its political push to crack down on migration.

What do we know about @ec.europa.eu return proposals tomorrow?

Whether or not return hubs are explicitly named in the law, the proposals will be about stripping away peoples' rights & dignity. A new low for the EU.

@nikolajnielsen.bsky.social via @euobserver.com

euobserver.com/migration/ar...

EU to expand deportation regime as Europe turns against migrants A new EU-wide deportation regime is set to be unveiled by the European Commission on Tuesday, raising alarm among rights defenders as the bloc continues its political push to crack down on migration.

New @ec.europa.eu proposals on #returns are expected tomorrow, but what will this entail?

With 'return hubs' expected to feature (whether implied or explicit), it's useful to look at other examples of this "futile, expensive, cruel and illegal" strategy elsewhere:
euobserver.com/migration/ar...

Amnesty International’s Considerations on the Facilitators Package Amnesty International urges EU institutions to ensure that the proposed reforms to the Facilitators Package align with international human rights and refugee law.

For too long, the EU's anti-smuggling laws have enabled the unjust prosecution of refugees, migrants & human rights defenders.

@ec.europa.eu proposals to reform Facilitators Package must align with intl' law & stop criminalizing solidarity.

Our recommendations👇
www.amnesty.eu/news/amnesty...