Human Rights

Although Lebanon receives EU support to provide for Syrian refugees, they are increasingly being criminalized and deported. Less than a week after Commission President Von der Leyen’s visit in May, Lebanon issued new residence regulations that effectively block the pathways to legal residence. These new regulations were followed by deportations to Syria, which the EU does not consider safe for return. Instead of making support conditional on respect for the refugees’ human rights, the EU is turning a blind eye. 

The Italian Prime Minister has always claimed to be fighting against an alleged cultural hegemony of the left. And ever since she won the election, she has been trying to take over public broadcasters, museums, and theatres. The aim is to take control of the collective discourse and impose her own narrative. 

Slovakia's ruling nationalist-populist coalition plans to introduce controversial Hungarian-style NGO regulations, raising concerns about transparency and fears of increased bureaucracy and repression of civil society.  

In an extraordinary upsurge, millions of Germans have been demonstrating against the far right. The unexpected movement has shaken the AfD without seriously threatening it. But Germany's political landscape looks likely to change.  

The European Commission has signed a new agreement with Egypt. One of the aims is to reduce migration to Europe. But this will most likely not succeed.

Supporting a range of militias in the Middle East and providing weapons to Russia in its war against Ukraine, Iran is increasingly in the geopolitical spotlight. At the same time, Iranian women are still fighting for their rights, while legislative voting took place on 1 March 2024. So, we asked three questions to MEP Hannah Neumann (Greens/EFA), Chair of the EP Delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula, Member of the EP Delegation for relations with Iran, as well as Standing Rapporteur on Iran, regarding how she sees EU-Iran relations moving forward.

On February 27 2024, the well-known Russian human rights activist Oleg Orlov, co-founder and long-time director of the Memorial human rights centre, was sentenced to two years and six months of prison Moscow and arrested in the courtroom - for "repeated discrediting of the Russian army."

The EU Commission, the European Parliament and EU Member States are negotiating a reform of the common asylum policy. The comprehensive reform package contains a large number of legislative proposals that would have massive consequences for asylum seekers.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted seventy-five years ago this week. In view of the crimes committed in Germany’s name and the Shoah, this anniversary presents the country with a particular challenge in this post-October 7 world.