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On 6 April, FRA joined the informal videoconference of EU Ministers of Justice to discuss crisis coordination during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Government measures to combat COVID-19 have profound implications for everybody’s fundamental rights, including the right to life and to health, as mapped by a new Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) report. Government responses to stop the virus particularly affect the rights of already vulnerable or at-risk people, such as the elderly, children, people with disabilities, Roma or refugees. Respecting human rights and protecting public health is in everyone’s best interest – they have to go hand-in-hand.
Michael O'Flaherty talks in his vlog about the human rights aspects in the context of the Coronavirus epidemic and introduces FRA's new report.
Overcrowding and poor access to sanitation have long blighted Roma communities across Europe. On the eve of International Roma Day, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) highlight the longstanding neglect of Roma that is now leaving them highly vulnerable as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the globe.
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FRA will join Europe Day events in Vienna and worldwide on 7 and 9 May 2020.
On 31 March, FRA took part in a meeting of the Research Advisory Group on mapping child protection data systems across EU Member States.
On 30 March, FRA took part in a conference call with UN Women on sexual harassment of women and girls with disabilities.
The FRA Director will address the European Parliament’s Committee for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on 2 April.
In a year that marked 30 years of the United Nation’s child rights convention, 2019 saw many migrant children in the EU with their rights under threat. The latest report from the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights draws attention to the plight of migrant children as they enter and stay in the EU or return to their home countries.
In recent weeks, states in Europe have taken measures to protect their borders to address public order, public health, or national security challenges. States also took these measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Europe. All these measures can have an impact on people’s rights, say FRA and the Council of Europe Special Representative on Migration and Refugees in a joint statement.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a grave and immense threat to the health of humanity. Governments take urgent measures to curb its spread to safeguard public health and provide medical care to those who need it. They are acting to defend the human rights of health and of life itself. Inevitably, these measures limit our human and fundamental rights to an extent rarely experienced in peacetime. It is important to ensure that such limitations are consistent with our legal safeguards and that their impact on particular groups is adequately taken account of.
On 16 March, FRA took part in an online seminar by the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) on the identification of vulnerable people and victim protection during initial registration at external borders.
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FRA joined a virtual meeting on 23 March with civil society organisations to discuss their views on the agency’s suggested Roma inclusion indicators.
Five EU Member States volunteered to review implementation of the sustainable development goals in their countries in 2020.
Greece needs solid, sustained support and solidarity as it faces great migration challenges, says FRA Director Michael O’Flaherty after 2 days of meetings in Athens with authorities.
The large earthquake that hit Croatia on 22 March adds further strain to stretched emergency services already fighting the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the world. FRA offers its solidarity to Croatia and particularly to Ombudswoman Lora Vidović whose offices were badly damaged in the earthquake.
While ever more countries introduce measures to counter the current health risks, it is important to remember that societies based on solidarity and inclusion are more resilient to fast-changing circumstances, said the heads of three European human rights institutions on the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
While recognising the very real threat to health and life that the COVID-19 virus poses, and the duty of the State to ensure the public’s health, FRA is undertaking a rapid research exercise on the impact of responses to the virus with respect to people’s fundamental rights - such as freedom of movement and assembly.
Thousands of unaccompanied children in Greece are living in conditions that are completely unsuitable – without adequate housing, exposed to the cold weather, facing insecurity and even violence. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) welcomes the initiative of the European Commission and some Member States to relocate these unaccompanied children.