On 3 May 2023 Lithuania enshrined pushbacks in law. This makes legal Lithuanian authorities’ practice of sending migrants back over the border immediately after they have crossed. Lithuania has already been doing this since the summer of 2021, when there was a sudden increasein the number of migrants crossing into the Baltic country from the authoritarian state of Belarus.
On April 27, 2023 Corinna Ullrich, a European Commission official from DG Home, declared that rules requiring the EU’s border agency Frontex to suspend operations in member states where rights are being violated “are not fit for purpose.”
On April 27, 2023 European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson travelled to Tunisia to meet the country’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians abroad, Minister of Interior and Minister of Social affairs. On this occasion, Tunisia and the European Commission expressed the willingness to establish a stronger operational partnership on the protection of Tunisian borders.
On April 26, 2023 a press event on the EU’s draft migration and asylum deal was held by MEPs from nine far-right parties in the EU Parliament. MEPs from Poland’s Law & Justice, Hungary’s Fidesz and Spain’s Vox railed against the European Parliament decision to open talks with the Council on the migration reform. Incensed by the inclusion of a policy of mandatory relocation of migrants, they announced that they will campaign against “an open-borders left-wing version of the migration pact.” Italian MEPs from Giorgia Meloni’s party were among the noticeably absent from the event.
On April 24, 2023 the EU Court of Justice clarified which that a woman who risks being the victim of domestic violence if she is returned to her country of origin may be granted refugee status on the basis of her membership of a particular social group.
On April 24, 2023 EU foreign ministers held a meeting to discuss the situation in Tunisia as huge numbers of people continue to undertake the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to Europe, dozens dying in the process.
According to data provided by the German Foreign Office, EU-led sea operation IRINI helped rescue more than 1,200 people from distress at sea in the Mediterranean in April. In total, IRINI crew were involved in four sea rescue operations during its current mandate period, which ended at the end of April.
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