If you really don't like videos, and would much rather read (and support) print journalism, check out the story we just published on this @newhumanitarian.bsky.social www.thenewhumanitarian.org/investigatio... cc @phesimeonid.bsky.social @hopeamelie.bsky.social

Greece's Migration Minister has threatened whom he calls "illegal migrants" with "return, or prison". So who are these migrants? And how does @iom.int stand to benefit? @hopeamelie.bsky.social, @anasambri.bsky.social and @phesimeonid.bsky.social investigate. www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwvR...

It's here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwvR... Greece's new Migration Minister has threatened whom he calls "illegal migrants" with "return, or prison". So who are these migrants? And how does @iom.int stand to $$$ benefit? With @hopeamelie.bsky.social and @phesimeonid.bsky.social for @omniatv.com

Welcome to @quiztime.bsky.social and it’s #MondayQuiz 🖼️ Can you find the exact spot? 📬 reply just to me with an answer 🤝 reply to all for collaboration 🌈 have fun #VoluntaryReturnsEverywhere @hopeamelie.bsky.social @phesimeonid.bsky.social @omniatv.com

Coming soon #VoluntaryReturnsEverywhere @hopeamelie.bsky.social @phesimeonid.bsky.social @omniatv.com

6 months after the publication of our investigation, Cyprus continues to deport Syrians under its so-called voluntary returns programme. Figures from @ec.europa.eu's statistical office show almost 2,300 deportations since January. Each returnee receives €1,500 right before they depart.

🚨Wir zeigen Innenminister Alexander Dobrindt an! Er weiß, dass Zurückweisungen an der Grenze rechtswidrig sind – und macht trotzdem weiter. Wir lassen das nicht durchgehen und stellen gemeinsam mit Equal Rights Beyond Borders Strafanzeige: fragdenstaat.de/artikel/stra...

Human rights lawyer Nicoletta Charalambidou writes about how "voluntary returns" of Syrians from Cyprus are neither voluntary nor dignified for @bordercrim.bsky.social: blogs.law.ox.ac.uk/border-crimi... Also mentions the investigation by @hopeamelie.bsky.social and I into that very same scheme

Glad to see our investigation featured in @theecre.bsky.social's Asylum in Cyprus report for 2024. Our investigation would not have been possible without relying extensively on these same reports. cc @hopeamelie.bsky.social asylumineurope.org/wp-content/u...

Hans Leijtens took the Frontex reins with a vow to renew the agency’s commitment to rights and transparency. With Europe’s leaders taking a hard line on migration and his initial strategy being adapted, is he fighting a losing battle? Our latest BIRN investigation balkaninsight.com/2025/04/08/p...

Wir haben ein neues Testimonial.

"If you don't have money, tell me, and I will arrange," is how a police officer tried to convince 2 detained Congolese asylum seekers to leave Cyprus:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=brCd... The asylum seekers spent 3 months in detention at Larnaca airport, where they had arrived on a tourist visa.

Right now/so far most of what I've done is research/investigations (on Frontex's and the European border regime's abuses/violence), I guess that's one way to contribute. I'm sure there are more things in my city that I haven't noticed, but at the same time in 26 years of living here I've really ...

Doing another live tonight from 6-8pm. Come join if you want to hear me talk about Lebanon, my therapist leaving me, and the almost imminent collapse of the global economy. Also cat. youtube.com/live/wtnTcjx...

➡️Neuer Aufsatz im Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies + Blogpost⬅️ Rückkehrhilfen dienen in Asylverfahren als Argument gegen das Risiko lebensbedrohlicher Armut im Herkunftsland – und damit als Argument gegen Schutz. Richter:innen setzen so indirekt politische Maßnahmen um. shorturl.at/0nQXU

Update: a response from the @ec.europa.eu for this story. In Oct 2024, it allocated an additional €8 million for Cyprus to coerce more "voluntary" returns. This is almost 2 years after the first reports of coercion appeared on @infomigrants.net, a news website the EC also funds.

Something something schadenfreude

3 years ago, DW fired 7 journalists from its Arabic service on inflated charges of antisemitism (including a post describing Israel as “IsraHell”). Now it emerges they let slide an employee who said egregious things about Muslims. Remind me who doesn't count? www.newarab.com/investigatio...

A perfect reflection of #Germany, where Islamophobia & racism are systemic, institutional and widely public: This is DW, which for over a year, justified Israel's genocide in Gaza with racist double standards & shameful reporting Read this investigation on @thenewarab.bsky.social

#Zypern setzt Asylsuchende aus #Syrien unter Druck, dorthin zurückzukehren, u.a. durch Verweigerung des Zugangs zu Asyl, unrechtmäßige Inhaftierung, unbegründete Anschuldigungen. Die EU-Kommission ermutigt andere Staaten, das zypriotische "Modell" zu übernehmen:

Read our latest investigation in collaboration with The New Arab and Statewatch on how the EU-backed deportation machine operates—and what it means for refugees’ futures untoldmag.org/trapped-deta...

Cyprus has been unlawfully detaining Syrian refugees for years and has persuaded thousands of people to return to Syria through "voluntary" return program supported by the EU. Behind these returns: ❌ Lack of access to asylum procedures ❌ Appalling detention conditions ❌ Intimidation by officials

€1,500 and a one-way ticket to Damascus This is how Cyprus is deporting Syrians from the country, under the guise of voluntary returns, with the EU's financial support, and help from Frontex' specialists With @hopeamelie.bsky.social, for @thenewarab.bsky.social: www.newarab.com/investigatio... 🧵

Cyprus has been unlawfully detaining Syrians for years. With the EU’s support, it started deporting them too. We reveal how in our latest exclusive investigation ⬇ ✍ @anasambri.bsky.social & @hopeamelie.bsky.social

Coming out tomorrow!

One year in the making, and it's finally here. An investigation with @hopeamelie.bsky.social that looks into a new inexpensive way Cypriot authorities have found to dispose of asylum seekers in the country. Coming up this Monday on @thenewarab.bsky.social: youtu.be/5_gs5pRsPvA

From our blog posts ✍️ so far this January - Antonella Napolitano and Hope Barker argue that expansion of Europol powers show that EU institutions continue to pursue violent policing measures over evidence-based solutions: https://buff.ly/3Ea8e5k

Antony Loewenstein's "The Palestine Laboratory" documentary features @ihaverights.bsky.social's @elladodd.bsky.social who explains how two Israeli companies have deployed dystopian surveillance technology inside Greece's new Samos refugee camp.
 www.youtube.com/watch?featur...

"Israeli technology [is] first being “battled-tested” on Palestinians, then “repurposed” for use on refugees in Europe" ➡️ breachmedia.ca/stephen-harp... New report by @ihaverights.bsky.social reveals invasive use of tech in Samos refugee camp ➡️➡️ ihaverights.eu/samos-border...

With help from @ihaverights.bsky.social, refugees inside Greece's notorious Samos camp started submitting requests to obtain CCTV footage of themselves inside it. Turns out that the tech used to mass surveil them was funded by an Israeli firm led by Canada's former Prime Minister Harper.

1/ New for @statewatch.bsky.social with @hopeamelie.bsky.social: A look at "Return Counselling" (RC), a new competency that the EU Border Agency quietly acquired in 2022, and how it is used to encourage "voluntary returns" from inside Bulgaria's detention centres www.statewatch.org/news/2025/de...

🚨 New: Frontex, "voluntary" deportations & anti-solidarity This special report reveals how EU-backed Assisted Voluntary Returns blur the line between choice & coercion, especially in detention settings. It also questions the risks of Frontex’s role in return counselling. https://buff.ly/40xhSrI

New for @thenewarab.bsky.social: An employee at the DW Farsi reached out to us to report an example of double standard by Deutsche Welle in how the organisation handles internal Islamophobia vs. antisemitism. DW denies all accusations. www.newarab.com/investigatio...

@newarab.com.web.brid.gy is hiring an investigative journalist. Must have right to work in the UK. Feel free to DM me if it is of interest. uk.indeed.com/job/investig...

The EU's outgoing ombudsman has described a mafia-like culture at the top of the European Commission, laying the blame squarely at the feet of its President Ursula von der Leyen.

Number 1 in my 💛

La naviera Maersk, sobre la ruta habitual de material militar a Israel con escala en España (Algeciras) confirma que la carga “fue transportada en nombre del Gobierno de EEUU como parte del programa de cooperación de seguridad EEUU-Israel" ⤵️ misbar.com/en/editorial...

Love to see orgs and leaders setting up groups to counter human rights reporting. Very moral, very humanitarian. mondoweiss.net/2024/12/leak...

ICYMI: UKLFI is that very organisation which reported the ICC Prosecutor Khan and his UK colleague Cayley KC to the Bar Standards Board, accusing them of breaching professional rules and failing to provide the Pre-Trial Chamber with exonerating evidence on Netanyahu and Gallant.

I get several mentions in this piece — I’m not surprised by the revelations—except for the fact that my first book caused such serious concern inside Israel’s Ministry of Justice that it felt compelled to establish a ‘rapid response unit’! mondoweiss.net/2024/12/leak...

New for @mondoweiss.net: Leaked documents published by @ddosecrets.bsky.social show how a pro-Israel advocacy group called UK Lawyers for Israel wanted to setup “a rapid response unit to correct false narratives” regarding Israel in 2017. mondoweiss.net/2024/12/leak... 1/

I'M ALIVE!!! Fuck you, Schrödinger!

A Maersk spokesperson confirmed to me that, the ship that was denied access to Spain on Nov 7 did carry cargo "on behalf of the US government as a part of the US-Israel security cooperation program." misbar.com/en/editorial...

New for Misbar: A french news site reported it had obtained a copy of the medical records of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, claiming it showed that the athlete was “not a ‘normal’ woman.” We dived into the reporting, and found many inaccuracies. misbar.com/en/editorial...

Hey everyone! You might have known me in the past as Semiphemeral, but now I'm just called Cyd. Pretty soon I'm going to be hard at work deleting people's data from X. Follow me for updates and check out cyd.social

New for @thenewarab.bsky.social: The Telegram channel of @ddosecrets.bsky.social was shut down in early August, most likely due to a request from Israel's Internet Referral Unit, shortly after the collective shared links to a leak from the Israeli MOJ. www.newarab.com/news/whistle...

For @thenewarab.bsky.social: Last year, UN experts criticised the Arab League's AIMC for potentially facilitating politically motivated extraditions. Despite this, EU agencies are partnering with the AIMC, in possible contravention of their human rights obligations: www.newarab.com/investigatio...

New for @thenewarab.bsky.social: The group of armed guards who tried to intimidate Armenians from Jerusalem's Old City include a Netzah Yehuda veteran, as well as an army reservist who is accused of attacking pro-Palestine protesters at Columbia University. www.newarab.com/investigatio...