The United Nations Refugee Agency’s (UNHCR) Cyprus spokesperson Emilia Strovolidou urged the country on Friday to stop forcibly pushing away Syrian refugee boats arriving from Lebanon in violation of international human rights law and the principle of non-refoulment, according to reports from the Associated Press and European human rights group EuroMed Rights. Strovolidou said authorities’ [...]
Search Results for: Cyprus
Cyprus suspends processing of Syria refugees asylum applications
Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides announced on Saturday that the Mediterranean country had suspended processing asylum applications from Syrian nationals. In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Christodoulides announced that the decision was made “in light of recent mass arrival of Syrian political asylum seekers by sea” to Cyprus. According to UNHCR Cyprus, the [...]
Israel dismisses two military officers over World Central Kitchen attack
According to a report from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Friday, two officers, a reserve colonel (the brigade chief of staff) and an active commander (the brigade fire support commander), are to be dismissed due to Israel’s “accidental” attack on seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) international aid workers. Several other top commanders (the brigade commander, [...]
Poland president vetoes amendment that would increase access to contraception pills
Polish President Andrzej Duda on Friday vetoed a proposed amendment to the Pharmaceutical Law that would allow young women aged 15 and up to purchase emergency contraception pills without a prescription. The president’s office stated the reasoning behind the decision was “the will to respect constitutional rights and the standard of health protection of children.” [...]
Israel requests ICJ reject additional measures over 'widespread starvation' in Gaza
Israel made a public request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), released Monday, to reject additional measures filed by South Africa to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza. Israel stated that South Africa “fundamentally” misrepresented the reality or situation on the ground, the root cause of the problems and the efforts already undertaken to address [...]
Hasan Yaci is a Staff Correspondent for JURIST and a senior law student at Türkiye’s Galatasaray University in Istanbul. This is his first dispatch. Athens hosted Turkish President Erdogan for the occasion of the 5th Greece-Türkiye High Level Cooperation Council on 7 December. The meeting, which marked the Turkish President’s first visit to Greece since [...]
EU dispatch: political accord on Crisis Regulation paves way for a new EU Migration and Asylum Pact
Mykyta Vorobiov is a political science student at Bard College, Berlin. He previously studied at Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine, the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the University of Tartu, and the University of Zagreb. The EU Crisis Regulation is sometimes called the key element in finalizing the deal on the highly anticipated Migration [...]
The War Crimes of Hamas: Hostage-Taking in International Law
On October 7th, 2023, the State of Israel was brutally attacked by the terrorist organization known as Hamas, instigating an all-out war. In the early morning of October 7th, Hamas terrorist fighters made their way into Israel from the Gaza Strip, invading and occupying Israeli towns, cities, and military bases. This surprise attack in Israel [...]
Europe anti-corruption group urges Cyprus action against corruption
The Group of States against Corruption of the Council of Europe (GRECO) called upon Cyprus to make concerted efforts to prevent corruption within its executive branch in a report released Monday. According to GRECO’s findings, Cyprus’ legislation exhibits several strengths; however, its effectiveness is compromised by institutional shortcomings. As an illustrative example the report cites [...]
ECHR hears landmark lawsuit brought by youth climate activists against 33 governments
In a nearly five-hour long hearing on Wednesday, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) heard a landmark case brought by six youth plaintiffs against 33 European governments to spur stronger climate change mitigation measures. Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and 32 Others featured six plaintiffs from Portugal: Catarina, 23, Cláudia, 24, Martim, 20, [...]