asylum seekers

The processes for supporting the world's 25.9 million refugees and 3.5 million asylum seekers, continue to be fatally flawed and putting the responsibility unfairly upon some of the poorest countries, says Oxfam ahead of the first ever Global Refugee Forum, taking place in Geneva this week.

Since January 2015 more than 1 million women, men and children fleeing war, persecution, natural disaster and poverty entered or passed through Greece in search of safety and a better life in Europe. We are working in Lesbos island, one of the main entry points to Europe, responding to the urgent needs of people arriving. 

As the second Global Refugee Forum (GRF) is about to take place in Geneva this week, the InterAgency Working Group for East and Central Africa (IAWG) urges world leaders to honour their commitment to support refugees and the countries hosting them, through increased, equitable responsibility-sharing.   

Today, EU migration ministers meet to discuss the Commission’s proposal to activate the temporary protection directive for people fleeing the crisis in Ukraine. If activated, the directive would allow those fleeing from Ukraine, access to a residence permit for up to three years along with access to education and employment in any EU country.

As we continue to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, it is vital that no one is excluded from vaccine coverage. This briefing note addresses some of the challenges faced by displaced people – including refugees, asylum seekers, IDPs, stateless people, and others in displacement contexts – in accessing Covid-19 vaccinations.

More than 80 million people around the world are now officially displaced from their homes. Migration is not a threat to be stopped, it is a complex phenomenon to be managed. Everyone has the right to be safe and to be treated with dignity. Oxfam works with refugees and migrants to help protect people on the move who, when leaving home, are often in the most vulnerable moment of their lives.

The new Greek asylum law that entered into force on 1 January 2020 has significantly diminished protection for people seeking asylum. The law and its amendments increase asylum seekers’ vulnerabilities, while limiting access to their fundamental right to seek asylum and be protected from serious risks.

People seeking safety are trapped at borders across Eastern Africa due to COVID-19 measures.

 

 

People who have fled war, violence and persecution need support to find safety and rebuild their lives. However, in the EU 'hotspots' in Greece, people are faced with an asylum process which is extremely complicated to navigate.

Greece and its EU partners are failing pregnant women, unaccompanied children, victims of torture or sexual violence and other vulnerable people who seek protection in Europe. In EU 'hotspot' camps on the Greek islands, people are being put at risk by flawed processes, chronic understaffing and squalid, overcrowded conditions.