By Carlotta Duken. Today marks an important day in the ongoing refugee crisis: the European Commission in Brussels agreed on the redistribution of 160 000 refugees in Europe. Other measures which will be taken include increasing the budget and amount of personnel of EU-agencies to address the refugee crisis. This year and in 2016, considerable amounts of the money will go to EU agencies, humanitarian aid, the World Food Program and to the emergency assistance for the most affected member states. Besides the budgetary support, the EU Commission plans to enhance its operations on-site. In a plan by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, which he will present to the European Heads of State and Government tonight, the EU will improve the relocation and migration management in the most affected areas, support boarder guards on outer European borders, intensify cooperation with third countries and enhance the protection, assistance and supplies to the people themselves. The above-mentioned measures are a reaction to the sudden rise in the number of refugees arriving on European borders. The redistribution is mainly meant to relieve those countries which have been receiving most refugees, namely Greece and Italy, and which capacities are exhausted. According to the newest numbers by the International Migration Organization (IOM), the number of arrivals by sea in Greece have again increased dramatically in the past weeks. Most people that flee their countries and seek shelter in Greece in the first place come from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. Just this year, the number of arrivals exceeds 350,000. In Italy, the IOM records a slight decline in the number of arrivals by sea from August to September of this year. Most refugees arrive from Syria or African countries such as Eritrea, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan. This year, the IOM counted 127,605 arrivals, thereof about 70% men. With regard to the 9472 minors landing on Italian soil this year, nearly all of them arrived unaccompanied.      

More Responsibility in managing the refugee crisis: European Commission adopts 40 infringement decisions to make European Asylum System work.   Press conference by First Vice President Timmermans, VicePresident Georgieva, Commissioner Avramopolous.   The European Commission adopted today 40 infringement decisions against several Member States  for failing to fully implement legislation making up the Common European Asylum System. Following up on the second implementation package of the European Agenda on Migration, the European Commission is stepping up its efforts to ensure the full application of EU law in the area of migration and asylum. The pieces of legislation concerned focus on fairer, quicker and better quality asylum decisions (the Asylum Procedures Directive); ensuring that there are humane physical reception conditions (such as housing) for asylum seekers across the EU (the Reception Conditions Directive); and clarifying the grounds for granting international protection (the Qualification Directive). European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said: “Solidarity and responsibility are two sides of the same coin. EU leaders in an extraordinary European Council in April called for the rapid and full transposition and effective implementation of the Common European Asylum System to ensure common European standards under existing legislation. The European Commission is the guardian of the Treaties and today’s 40 infringement proceedings are meant to ensure that Member States actually implement and apply what they had previously agreed to do – and agreed to do rapidly and fully. Our Common European Asylum System can only function if everyone plays by the rules.” Migration and Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said: “In Europe everyone must uphold the commonly agreed standards, in the way we receive asylum seekers. All participating Member States, must process their asylum applications according to the common criteria and standards, which are used by national authorities to determine whether someone is entitled to international protection. These standards need to be fully implemented and respected, while always respecting the dignity and human rights of the applicants.” Today, the European Commission adopted 40 infringement decisions against 19 Member States in the following areas: 1.The Commission is sending Reasoned Opinions to Bulgaria and Spain for having failed to communicate national measures to transpose the updated Qualifications Directive (2011/95/EU). The Directive harmonises minimum standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection. It also foresees a series of rights on protection from refoulement, residence permits, travel documents, access to employment, access to education, social welfare, healthcare, access to accommodation, access to integration facilities, as well as specific provisions for children and vulnerable persons. The deadline for the transposition of the Directive expired on 21 December 2013. Despite letters of Formal Notice (the first formal step of an infringement procedure) sent to Bulgaria and Spain in June 2013 and January 2014 respectively, the two Member States have not transposed the Qualifications Directive, or in any event have not yet notified the Commission of the national transposition measures. 2.The Commission is sending Letters of Formal Notice to 18 Member States[1] for having failed to communicate national measures taken to fully transpose the revised Asylum Procedures Directive (2013/32/EU)[2]:This Directive establishes common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection and sets clearer rules on how to apply for asylum. It applies to all applications for international protection made in the territory, including at the border, in the territorial waters or in the transit zones of the Member States. Member States were under an obligation to transpose this Directive, which updates Directive 2005/85/EC, and to communicate national transposition measures to the Commission by 20 July 2015 (with the exception of Article 31(3), (4) and (5) for which the transposition deadline is 20 July 2018). 3.The Commission is sending Letters of Formal Notice to 19 Member States[3] for not having communicated the national measures taken to fully transpose the updated Reception Conditions Directive (2013/33/EU)[4] which sets out common minimum standards for the reception of applicants for international protection across Member States. It provides a legal obligation for Member States to ensure that material reception conditions are available to applicants when they apply for international protection. These include access to housing, food, health care and employment, as well as medical and psychological care. It also restricts the detention of vulnerable persons, in particular minors. Member States had to transpose the Directive, which updates Directive 2003/9/EC and communicate the national transposition measures taken by 20 July 2015. 4.The Commission is sending a second supplementary Letter of Formal Notice to Greece for violation of certain provisions of the updated Reception Conditions Directive and the updated Asylum Procedures Directive. It concerns serious deficiencies in the Greek asylum system, notably with regard to the material reception conditions to applicants for international protection, particularly those with special reception needs and vulnerable persons, and structural flaws in the functioning of the guardianship system or legal representation of all unaccompanied minors during the asylum procedure. Following the Commission’s Letter of Formal Notice in 2009 and a first supplementary Letter of Formal Notice in 2010, Greece committed to comprehensively reform its asylum system on the basis of a Greek Action Plan on Asylum Reform and Migration Management presented in August 2010 and revised in January 2013. The Commission closely monitored the implementation of the measures of the Action Plans and provided financial and technical support. Greece presented a new Road Map on Asylum for 2015 in March. While progress has been made, there is still a structural and persistent lack of reception capacity, independent of the large and unexpected influxes which have recently been observed. As a consequence, the European Commission still has serious concerns about the availability of adequate reception conditions for asylum applicants and the situation of unaccompanied minor asylum applicants.   What are the next steps? Letters of Formal Notice are the first formal step of an infringement procedure. After receiving a letter of formal notice, Member States have two months to reply to the letter of formal notice and in cases of non-communication have to notify their national transposition measures to the Commission. In the absence of satisfactory replies or in the continuing absence of notification of national measures fully transposing a Directive, the European Commission can decide to send Reasoned Opinions, the second step in an infringement proceeding. After Member States receive Reasoned Opinions, they have two months to respond to the Commission, notifying the latter of the measures taken to ensure full transposition, or bringing national legislation in line with EU law. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer them to the European Court of Justice. In cases where there is no communication of the national transposition measures, the Commission may propose to the Court to impose financial sanctions under Article 260 (3) TFEU.   Background Since the early 2000s, the Commission has proposed a number of legislative acts aimed at building a Common European Asylum System. And the Parliament and the Council have enacted this legislation, piece by piece. Across Europe we now have common standards for the way we receive asylum seekers, in respect of their dignity, for the way we process their asylum applications, and we have common criteria which our independent justice systems use to determine whether someone is entitled to international protection. Five different pieces of legislation form the core of the Common European Asylum System (the Dublin Regulation, the recast Asylum Procedures Directive, the recast Qualification Directive, the recast Reception Conditions Directive and the EURODAC rules on fingerprinting). On 13 May 2015, the European Commission presented its European Agenda on Migration, setting out a comprehensive approach for improving the management of migration in all its aspects. This included a commitment to prioritise transposition and implementation in practice of the recently adopted legislation on asylum rules when considering infringement procedures. The Commission today opened 37 new cases, stepped up 2 open cases and sent a second supplementary Letter of Formal Notice in one case. The Commission recently also sent administrative letters requesting clarification on compliance with the EURODAC Regulation (Regulation EU/603/2013) to Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Italy on 28 August 2015 and administrative letters requesting clarification on the adoption and enforcement of return decisions (Directive 2008/115/EC) to Germany, Italy and Greece on 11 September 2015.

ICC Judges decline to reduce Mr Thomas Lubanga Dyilo’s sentence.   Today, 22 September 2015, three Judges of the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC), specifically appointed by the Appeals Chamber, reviewed Mr Thomas Lubanga Dyilo’s sentence. Presiding Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, Judge Howard Morrison and Judge Piotr Hofmański unanimously decided that it is not appropriate to reduce Mr Lubanga’s sentence at this time and that the next review of the reduction of sentence will be in two years from the issuance of that decision. Mr Lubanga was sentenced on 10 July 2012 to 14 years of imprisonment by Trial Chamber I, after having been found guilty of the war crimes of conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 years and using them to participate actively in hostilities. On 1 December 2014, the Appeals Chamber confirmed the conviction and sentence imposed. The time he has spent in the ICC’s custody will be deducted from the sentence imposed. He has been detained at the ICC Detention Centre in The Hague since 16 March 2006.   In today’s decision, the appointed Judges conducted a review concerning the reduction of Mr Lubanga’s sentence pursuant to article 110 of the Rome Statute which provides that “[w]hen the person has served two thirds of the sentence; […] the Court shall review the sentence to determine whether it should be reduced”. The appointed Judges considered the parties’ and participants’ observations, and examined all factors and criteria set out in the Statute and the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, including, among others, the early and continuing willingness of the person to cooperate with the Court in its investigations and prosecutions; the conduct of the sentenced person while in detention; whether the early release of the sentenced person would give rise to significant social instability; any significant action taken by the sentenced person for the benefit of the victims as well as any impact on the victims and their families as a result of the early release; and the individual circumstances of the sentenced person. Despite finding that there is a prospect for the resocialization and successful resettlement of Mr Lubanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the appointed Judges nevertheless concluded that a reduction of Mr Lubanga’s sentence cannot be justified in the present circumstances.

On the picture HE Ole Moesby, Ambassador of Denmark to the Netherlands. Denmark leads the way, great support given to Syria fundraising drive. A big fundraising show on TV Sunday evening (20 Sept 2015) hosted by the two biggest national tv-stations, the Danish people donated more than 13 mil. US$ (DKK 86,271,606) to be split between 12 aid agencies. The many contributions from individuals, companies and foundations to the urgent fundraiser ‘Hjælp nu!’ to areas in an around Syria generated over 86 million Danish kroner ($13 million). The money is now distributed to humanitarian organisations, which as soon as possible will distribute the funds to the affected areas. A week of urgent fundraising for the disaster-struck areas in and around Syria culminated Sunday evening in the fundraising event ‘Hjælp nu!,’ which aired simultaneously on DR1 and TV 2 in close collaboration with 12 humanitarian organisations. During the evening, correspondents from DR and TV 2 delivered eyewitness reports from the situation in the Middle East. In Denmark a number of famous Danes occurred on stage and in the call centre to support the fundraiser. The support from individuals, companies and foundations was great and when the hosts of the fundraiser – TV 2’s Cecilie Beck and DR’s Kåre Quist – presented the overall result, a total amount of 86.271.505 Danish kroner was raised. Going to make a big difference “We are extremely happy that the Danes have supported with just over 86 million Danish kroner. It is truly overwhelming and the Danes have shown once again that they are ready to help, when help is needed. The money is going to make a huge difference for the Syrians, who today live in decrepit buildings, often can’t get food and have to face the fifth winter, since the war began. So we want to thank the many Danes who have supported ‘Hjælp Nu!’ We are very happy and grateful for the contributions and we will immediately start distributing the money to the Syrian refugees,” says Andreas Kamm, Secretary-General of the Danish Refugee Council. Distributed to 12 organisations The money from the fundraiser will be distributed to the 12 organisations involved in the fundraiser. Subsequently the organisations will convert the money to emergency aid in the areas in an around Syria. The aid will both focus on addressing the immediate humanitarian needs caused by the war – that is food, water, medical care, housing and access to education – but also projects that can help to ensure the Syrian refugees a future, where they can fend for themselves.