Tag Archives: Germany
18 November 2013
On 14 November 2013, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) held in the Bundesrepublik Deutschland v. Kaveh Puid case that a member state which is prohibited from returning an asylum seeker under the Dublin II Regulation to a country where the applicant would be at risk of being ill-treated, is not, in principle, obliged to assume responsibility for that application.
In those circumstances, as already stated in 2011 in C-411/10 N.S. and C-493/10 M.E. and others, and reiterated by the CJEU in its current ruling, the member state intending to send the asylum seeker back to another country must continue to examine the responsibility criteria set out in the Dublin Regulation to see if another member state can be made responsible.
If no other country can be identified as responsible for examining the application, the member state where the asylum seeker is located must assume responsibility for examining the application. The member state must also assume responsibility if the process of determining responsibility takes ‘an unreasonable length of time’.
Source: Court of Justice of the European Union | Judgment in Case C-4/11 | Press Release No 147/13 | Bundesrepublik Deutschland v Kaveh Puid | Luxembourg, 14 November 2013
26 July 2013
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres addressed gaps in the protection of Syrian refugees who are fleeing to Europe, and urged European states to burden-share and maintain a more generous and consistent approach.
Mr. Guterres said it should be a priority for every EU member state to ensure adequate standards of treatment for Syrian refugees who seek safety in Europe. He observed that only two European states, Sweden and Germany, have received almost two-thirds of the Syrians who are seeking protection in the entire European Union, and highlighted Turkey, which has received more than ten times as many Syrians as have claimed asylum in other countries in Europe.
In order to ‘demonstrate concretely the European commitment to responsibility-sharing with Turkey and other host countries’, it is crucial to find means to ensure that those who seek protection at the borders of the EU have access to procedures, safety and territory, according to Guterres.
He urged that the ‘EU must engage in more burden-sharing initiatives so as to help mitigate the crushing impact which the refugee crisis is having on Syria’s immediate neighbours’.
Source: UN News Centre | As Syrian exodus continues, UN official urges Europe to help shoulder refugee burden
Source: UNHCR News | UN's High Commissioner for Refugees urges Europe to do more for Syrian asylum-seekers
12 June 2013
Documents leaked to the press on Friday 7 June on the US-run covert intelligence-gathering operation, entitled PRISM, reveal that the UK security agency GCHQ has gathered secret digital information through the program at least since June of 2010. According to the US National Security Agency (NSA), the service has also been made available to spy organizations from other countries, but did it not specify which ones. According to Reuters, Germany has not received any PRISM data.
The revelation on the NSA operation has triggered criticism in European capitals, including Dutch, German and Italian officials that denounced the practice of gathering secret data from the world’s largest internet companies as unacceptable and illegal under EU laws. Following denials from Facebook and Google that the companies are giving direct government access to their servers, reports suggested on Friday that Israeli companies may have been involved in wiretapping US telecommunications networks, which would allow the NSA to access data through major internet service providers.
Source: The Guardian | NSA snooping: Obama under pressure as senator denounces 'act of treason'
Source: The Guardian | UK gathering secret intelligence via covert NSA operation
Source: Reuters | UPDATE 1-U.S. surveillance revelations deepen European fears of Web giants
Source: The Daily Dot | Does the NSA's PRISM spying program violate EU law?
Source: GIGAOM | Europeans call for answers over U.S. web spying allegations
Source: Business Insider | DID YOU KNOW?: Two Secretive Israeli Companies Reportedly Bugged The US Telecommunications Grid For The NSA
25 March 2013
The German Federal Ministry of the Interior has announced that it will receive some 5,000 refugees from Syria. The first refugees should arrive in Germany by June. According to the official statement, the German Ministry of Interior intends to promote a coordinated European response together with UNHCR to protect refugees from Syria. The Minister will meet the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres in April, when he will launch a resettlement appeal to the EU.
Source: Bundesministerium des Innern | Nachrichten | Flüchtlinge aus Syrien (in German only)
21 March 2013
On 20 March 2013, a German court of first instance in Bonn began to hear the complaints by several relatives of Afghans killed by airstrikes in northern Afghanistan near the city of Kunduz in September 2009. The airstrikes were targeted at two stolen tankers but led to the death and injury of numerous civilians. The strikes were executed by American planes, but ordered by a German NATO officer. The German government has already paid 330,000 euros to the victims of the airstrikes, but the claimants before the Bonn District Court claim ten times this amount from Germany.
Source: Euronews | Germany in the dock over Kunduz airstrike
Source: Der Spiegel | Kunduz-Prozess: Was darf ein Offizier im Krieg? (in German)