Themes

In many cities and towns, you can find groups and organisations who are active in solidarity with refugees and migrants. They offer social and legal support and most are a good place to find people who know how to self-organise. In the list below, you will first find the most recommended self-organized groups of refugees and migrants and several antiracist groups we know. Sometimes, you will find links to more specific initiatives concerning legal and medical aid as well as for labour and special treatment of unaccompanied minors. Furthermore, you can find contacts to more institutionalized NGOs that might be helpful. If you you had good experiences with certain groups and think they should be included in the web-guide or you see your own group is missing, you can get in touch via contact@w2eu.info.

An asylum application is a complicated procedure and can be difficult to understand. Here you will find answers to the following questions:

• What are the reasons to apply for asylum?
• How does the asylum procedure work in each country?
• How to prepare myself for the asylum interview?
• What are my rights during the procedure?

Deportations are a crime. The following information is intended to help people who do not wish, or are unable to return to their country of origin or another third country. We collected useful information about how deportations are carried out in different countries. We try to support all those who wish to prevent their deportation. This can be done even in the last minute, when you are already brought to the airport. Stop deportations! Right to stay for everyone!

In case you are arrested by the police, you face detention as a preparation for your deportation and your freedom becomes restricted, however, you still have some rights. Here you find information on detention in various countries. These information might also be helpful for friends and relatives who want to support those detained from the outside.

If you have given your fingerprints to authorities in an EU country, for example in Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary or Greece on your way or in other countries where you applied for asylum and don’t want to stay there but continued your journey, you might be threatened to be deported back to that country. This is based on the so-called Dublin-regulation which was signed by all EU member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The rule says: you have to apply for asylum in the first country where you arrive.
If you arrive in another country, the authorities will check first for your fingerprints, and, second, they will ask you the route you came through and, third, check the visa database about you. Fingerprints are taken and stored in the so called Eurodac-database.
When you are threatened with a “Dublin”-deportation, you can become active in order to struggle against it and that is via the courts on a legal level and also by getting organised. Sometimes, It takes a long time to overcome the fingerprints problem, but there are many people who succeeded in the end. Here you can find useful information on how the different countries deal with Dublin-returns. You can also find hints to strategies on how to stop a Dublin deportation.

Your rights on family reunification can be different in various countries. Here you find some useful information.

If you have been abused or persecuted for being a woman, homosexual, bisexual or transgender this can be a reason to receive protection. If you have been a victim of human trafficking and/or had to face gender related violence this can be also a reason for protection. Here you find useful information and also some contacts.

In many countries, housing of asylum seekers is a big problem. Here you find information about the different systems of accommodation and the official accommodations like camps and other housing options. In some countries, you will also find information about informal ways of housing, like squats.

When you are undocumented getting sick could pose a problem in many countries, because you will have difficulties in finding doctors who treat patients without health insurance. Here you find an introduction to your rights as well as useful contacts and addresses where you can see doctors without being asked for papers first.

When you are underage (under 18 years old) you have special rights. Minors should receive special care when they are travelling or staying without parents. Here you find useful information about your rights as a minor.

Push-Backs are illegal returns by the police that directly take place at the borders. If you ask for asylum the authorities are obliged to process your asylum procedure according by international laws. However, police at the border of many countries are pushing back migrants and sending them back without processing their asylum application. In some areas, there are bilateral agreements that even legalise the practice of push-backs. Police often beat up migrants, take their money, destroy their phones and send them further, outside of the European union.

If you plan to cross the sea by boat, you find here information of Watch The Med Alarm Phone on risks, rights and safety at sea.

The right to work and the rights you have as workers vary a lot in different countries. Here you can find useful information and contacts.