In recent weeks, and following revelations from Sofie Linde, a famous Danish TV host, a debate on pervasive sexual harassment and violence in the workplace has erupted. Thousands of women working in the media industry, academia, healthcare sector, have started speaking out about the sexual violence and harassment they have experienced throughout their careers. These … Continued
Denmark and its “hygge” lifestyle rarely comes to mind when discussing human rights violations. And yet, a recent shadow report prepared by EuroMed Rights and 25 other civil society organisations ahead of Denmark’s Universal Periodic Review in May 2021 at the United Nations reveals issues that need to be promptly addressed. The report puts forward recommendations across 41 key areas of concern that need to be … Continued
Ran by independent human rights experts, the 55 United Nations Special Procedures play a key role in clarifying the relationship between human rights, their protection and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Special Procedures experts (sometimes known as “Special Rapporteurs”) are the “eyes and ears” of the UN system, approachable by civil society … Continued
3.27 euros. This was, in June 2020, the average cost of a kilogram of strawberries in the European Union. While countries in the Euro-Mediterranean region were facing the COVID–19 pandemic, while some European governments were actively recruiting to save crops, hundreds of migrant workers (mostly women from North Africa) were actually harvesting fruits and vegetables, … Continued
On 23 September, the European Commission published its EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. Presented as a “new fresh start”, it actually exacerbates past mistakes and raises serious concerns in terms of human rights violations (a full analysis is available on EuroMed Rights website). The main objective of the Pact is to “rebuild mutual trust … Continued
The publication by the European Commission, on 30 September, of its first annual report on the rule of law in the EU was like a bomb. For the first time, the Commission points its finger, through fault-finding country chapters, at Member States where the rule of law is under threat. Hungary and Poland did not … Continued
Earlier this week, more than 278 lawmakers from across Europe and the United States sent public letters to Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi with a strong message denouncing the situation of prisoners of conscience in the country. In a show of mounting concern, 84 members of the European Parliament, 138 members of national parliaments across … Continued
As 17 October marks the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, EuroMed Rights talked to Nabil Abdo, Middle East and North Africa Senior Policy Advisor at Oxfam, to get an in-depth look into the social and economic issues Lebanon faces. A recent Oxfam report, regarding Lebanon, reads: “A huge increase in inequality is very likely. More austerity following this crisis will mean more uprisings, more inequality, … Continued
EuroMed Rights publishes today, on the same day as the Conference of EU Ministers of Home Affairs, its detailed analysis of the new EU Pact on Asylum and Migration released last September 23rd. To sum up the more than 500 pages of documentation, the New EU Pact on Asylum and Migration dehumanises migrants and refugees, treating them like parcels to be sorted and preventing them from moving across Europe. This Pact raises several human rights concerns, some of which are highlighted below: The EU distorts the notion of solidarity. The Pact clearly aims … Continued
On the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, EuroMed Rights calls on the UN to address the growing backlashes to gender equality in the Euro-Mediterranean region 2020 marks an important anniversary on the long path for the achievement of gender equality. Twenty-five years ago, in Beijing, the representatives of 189 governments and almost 50,000 participants … Continued
