30/10/2013 – In Rome, Italy, a two-track system applies to people in need of housing support. On the sole basis of their ethnicity, Roma who cannot afford a home are placed in authorized camps, built and managed by the municipal authorities.

© Amnesty International It is shameful that the EU’s six million Roma still face systematic discrimination, and are often targets of racially motivated violence. Lithuania now can and must ensure that the expected Council recommendations on Roma integration measures tackle discrimination...

By Katharine Derderian, EU Foreign Policy Officer at Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office   Imagine a man thinking and discussing about development in his country — many people know him, a regular person like you and me.    Imagine he organises civil society...

29/10/2013 – In July, Amnesty International issued recommendations as to how the Lithuanian EU presidency might maximise its potential to promote human rights both within and beyond EU borders.

Interview by Raphael Warolin & Jemma Crew   It is hard not to feel admiration when talking with Father Alejandro Solalinde. Quietly, he describes his fight for the rights of Central American migrants travelling across Mexico along highly dangerous routes, targeted by exploitative drug...

The Council conclusions on migration painfully show that the expressions of sadness and solidarity were nothing more than crocodile tears. Europe’s priority clearly is not to save lives or to protect people along the borders. Instead it is to prevent people from arriving in Europe at all...

25/10/2013 – In view of your participation in the upcoming European Parliament (EP) delegation to Laos on October 28,we call on you to maintain your efforts to secure the safe return of prominent Lao civil society leader Sombath Somphone, a victim of enforced disappearance.

Amnesty International  MEDIA ADVISORY     Spokesperson availability on recommendations to the Lithuanian EU Presidency: mid-term review   (Brussels, 24 October 2013) As Lithuania reaches the mid-point of its European Union (EU) presidency, Amnesty International will meet...

Today we went to the Schuman roundabout laden with banners, placards and lifejackets to set up a visual display ahead of the EU summit. We’re hoping to send an SOS Europe message to leaders attending the summit which is being held in Brussels today and tomorrow. Following the recent Lampedusa...

EU and member states must do more to prevent further loss of life. Now is the time for action! Amnesty International MEDIA ADVISORY  Photo opportunity and spokesperson availability for 24 & 25 October European Council: Migration (Brussels, 22 October 2013) Ahead of this week’s...

22/10/2013 – Further to our statement to the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 8 October in the wake of the shipwreck off the coast of Lampedusa which cost the lives of 360 people, we are reiterating our concerns on European migration policy to heads of state and governments meeting at the...

Given the deplorable detention and deportation measures, it's not surprising that so many refugees from Syria are leaving Egypt and risking their lives again at sea to reach Europe. What is surprising and shocking is that EU member states appear to be turning a blind eye to the human rights...