Statewatch

@statewatch

We are activists, researchers, lawyers and journalists exposing state power across Europe and its borders. Our work has supported debates, movements and campaigns since 1991. Access our latest articles:

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Statewatch@statewatch· 5d

Spanish agents went undercover to spy on activists. The Catalan newspaper La Directa exposed them. Now, the Spanish Data Protection Agency has demanded La Directa remove the information and pay a fine of up to €7,000. Read more: buff.ly/utCJMpY Support La Directa: buff.ly/qNjqSw4

Statewatch@statewatch· 13d

Within two years of October 2023, the number of contracts between Israeli companies and public institutions in the EU grew to 112. The total value in that period is estimated at nearly €1.6 billion.

The EU stars swirl around Benjamin Netanyahu's head, with the shadow of the Euro symbol at his back. A text box displays the text from the caption, labeled "news" under the category "collusion and crime"

A table indicates the top 10 EU member states by calue of contracts with Israeli companies. The biggest spender is Estonia, with 11 contracts and a total value of 816,460,719 euros. The lowest of the 10 is Croatia, with 7 contracts of a 31,508,263 euro value. The contracts included in this table are those from January 2022 to July 2025.

Text asks, what public institutions are involved? It answers: universities, government departments, health bodies, energy providers, police, and militaries.

With a gavel in the background, the text declares: European taxpayers should demand that their money not be handed to a genocidal state.
Together, we must demand that public institutions uphold justice.

Statewatch@statewatch· 19d

1/ A recent academic project, Probable Futures, mapped 70 uses of AI in the criminal justice system. These range from emergency call handling and evidence assessment to crime ‘prediction’ and automated analysis of video footage.

Statewatch@statewatch· Jul 2

Public institutions in the EU hold hundreds of contracts with Israeli companies worth almost €2.7 billion. Trade sanctions or boycotts could have a profound impact on Israel’s economy and its ability to wage war. Yet, the EU has taken no meaningful action.

Statewatch@statewatch· Jun 12

Police in England and Wales are using live facial recognition to scan millions of faces. A law governing its use is on the way, but campaigners warn it won't be enough. Read more about the government's plans: buff.ly/iGEZnld Take action: buff.ly/lf0fSgT

Statewatch@statewatch· Jun 10

The 17th issue of the #ExternalisationBulletin is out now. This bulletin includes details on: • The EU Border Mission in Libya; • The Frontex RECAPP app; • Disinformation campaigns around West Africa and more. It also makes 22 documents public. Read the issue: buff.ly/GPZsE2S

Statewatch@statewatch· Jun 1

We're excited to announce that we've just launched our new website. Here's a quick rundown of the biggest changes 🧵

Statewatch@statewatch· May 28

Just leaked: New agreement between EU naval mission and Libya’s eastern forces (link below) We've obtained and published a ‘technical arrangement’ between the EU’s naval mission Operation Irini and the ‘eastern forces’ of Libya under General Khalifa Haftar. Read and share: buff.ly/A7Q2sdj

Statewatch@statewatch· May 18

Just leaked: We've obtained one of the latest working documents of the deportation regulation (a.k.a. "returns regulation”), by the EU Parliament, the EU Council, and the EU Commission. From what we can tell so far, no improvements have been made, despite relentless campaigning.

Statewatch@statewatch· May 4

We've just published the Commission's proposal for EU-US data exchange. What they suggest would violate EU law. Access the document and read the full analysis by Romain Lanneau: buff.ly/8HLpLfT

Statewatch@statewatch· Apr 14

Europol is hiring a new director to replace Catherine de Bolle. At the same time, Frontex's former director faces a French court for complicity in crimes against humanity.

Collage of Europol building, jail cell bars and Catherine de Bolle's eyes in colours of black green and orange in the backdrop. A box of text reads: will europol’s new director put a stop to the agency’s unlawful practices? signs point to no.

Statewatch@statewatch· Apr 9

€27.1 million in hidden funds by the EU. Does that sound right to you? Read more about IrpiMedia's investigation and find the full report, "Financing the Violence", produced in collaboration with SOS Méditerranée, here: buff.ly/d6RXTHY

Image description:
A hand holds a wad of euros in front of an ocean scene. Text reads, "Revealed: EU funding backed an attack on a humanitarian search-and-rescue ship
The so-called Libyan coast guard fired on SOS Méditerranée’s ship in August 2025. IrpiMedia has since traced the money that enabled the episode—back to an EU program with millions in hidden funds."

A factsheet outlines the details of the EU program, called Support to Integrated Border and Migration Management in Libya, or SIBMMIL. It explains that this is the program that funded the Houn 664: a vessel of the so-called Libyan coast guard that caused an estimated €194,000 in damage to the humanitarian ship. Ominously, there is no publicly available information on 44% of the total budget—equating to €27.1 million in hidden funds.

Statewatch@statewatch· Apr 8

The UK Labour Party came to power in July 2024 promising change and an end to 14 years of the right-wing rule seen under the Tories. Instead, it has since entrenched some of the Tories’ worst overreaches—and added some more of its own. Read more and view the timeline here: buff.ly/bwvxM5p

UK prime minister Keir Starmer looms behind a timeline mapping the steady decline of rights under his party since 2024. The pictured examples include the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist group, sweeping reforms to policing to increase use of biometrics analysis and AI, and the recent arrest of Qesser Zuhrah, the youngest of the Filton 24. The full timeline can be found at the link.

Statewatch@statewatch· Apr 7

1/ The 15th issue of the #ExternalisationBulletin is out now. This month's bulletin includes a document that is almost laughably horrific. In it, the Council Presidency implores the EU’s main border externalisation committee to *mention* human rights more when dealing with non-EU partner countries.

Statewatch@statewatch· Mar 4

The 14th issue of the #ExternalisationBulletin is out now. This month’s bulletin contains details about the EU's newest plan for 'degressive’ reintegration support, other means of ‘incentivising’ self-deportations, and twenty newly-obtained Council documents. Find the issue here: buff.ly/dmMS8AK

Statewatch@statewatch· Feb 17

We joined 87 other organisations in a statement condemning the EU's proposed Deportation ("Return") Regulation, because increasing surveillance, policing, and racial profiling will only fuel racism and a far-right agenda. The statement: buff.ly/FbcfD1I The @theguardian.com article: buff.ly/Xu3a1sd

News clipping of a guardian article with the headline "EU's deportations plan risks ICE-style enforcement, rights groups warn" above an image of people crowded together in a boat while a white police officer stands by.

A black and white print of Alamara Khwaja Bettum, a woman with long brunette hair, brown eyes and skin-tone, and a grave expression, is overlaid with an orange print of a police barricade. A quote from her reads, "Increasing surveillance, policing, and racial profiling will only fuel racism and a far-right agenda—not reduce migration. If accepted, these proposed measures will undermine the most basic of civil liberties to disastrous ends, which is the real threat we should be focused on addressing."

Statewatch@statewatch· Feb 16

Unsurprisingly, the EU's supposedly “new and innovative solution” to migration is a re-packaged and previously rejected one. Read more in the article by @freylindsay.bsky.social: buff.ly/yGtueHB

A red-printed hand holding out several hundred euros is overlaid with the green-printed wake of a boat. Above this, a text box reads "The EU's “new and innovative solution” to migration. Is it a rights-based solution? A response to the many statements from campaigners? No. The document we obtained shows EU policy-makers want to ressurect an old idea: paying non-EU states to intercept and detain people at sea, before they can reach European shores."

Statewatch@statewatch· Jan 27

Register now for the upcoming event, AI in the Field of Asylum and Immigration Law, to hear more from Statewatch researcher Romain Lanneau. Host: ERA Academy of European Law Dates: 9-10 March 2026 Location: Online More details and registration info: buff.ly/Tjoqhkx

Quote from Romain Lanneau, "Technologies are becoming ever-present in the asylum and immigration system. Often, law enforcement and immigration authorities experiment with unreliable systems at the cost of migrants’ rights. Understanding what technologies are used and what redress are available is becoming indispensable." Information about the event appears in a text box below the quote.

Statewatch@statewatch· Jan 15

We've just published a document that details the EU's disturbing plans to expand cross-border travel surveillance. The changes include using travel data for new purposes, such as immigration control, and bypassing important safeguards. Read more: buff.ly/N8iffJW

Statewatch@statewatch· Jan 8

Are the EU's border policy plans similar to the US? Listen in as Statewatch journalist Frey Lindsay shares the answer on Lagos Talks radio. Want to help change the direction? Follow our bulletin, Outsourcing borders, here: buff.ly/8qfXgJa Speaker: @freylindsay.bsky.social

Statewatch@statewatch· Dec 18

UK: A recent court case has exposed Nick Gratwick as a private spy hired by UK police. The Undercover Research Group (URG) has been investigating Nick for many years, and now their new report details his activities throughout the late 1990s - early 2000s. Read it here: buff.ly/kVFwYza

Spray-painted words "Caution! Spies operate in this area" are overlaid in a risograph style with a green microphone. Below this, text explaining the news is placed next to another spray-painted image depicting a person in a suit with a television for a head.

Statewatch@statewatch· Dec 12

As state powers of repression are globalised, so too must our resistance, advocacy and collaboration. We released our research, Networks of [in]security (NOIS), as a living resource to help us do that. Read more and get in contact: buff.ly/MbWx0na

Quote from State watch Director, Chris Jones, that reads:
"The power of states to surveil, monitor, harass and repress is being globalised.
This is being done through digital infrastructures by obscure, secretive and technocratic organisations. Meanwhile, people's rights remain trapped by national borders, making it extremely difficult to seek redress and remedy for wrongdoing, or even simple errors."

Statewatch@statewatch· Dec 5

3/ With more states being connected to watchlisting systems, new information-sharing networks being put in place, and more governments with an authoritarian bent coming to power, transnational repression seems likely to continue. Unless we work together to oppose it. Read more: nois.statewatch.org

Statewatch@statewatch· Dec 5

2/ It is typically less-than-liberal and authoritarian regimes behind this behaviour—but they are far from being the only culprits. For example, no one would be surprised to hear that EU states have used regional watchlisting systems to bar pro-Palestine activists from entering their territory.

Statewatch@statewatch· Dec 5

1/ Governments are increasingly engaging in transnational repression: reaching across borders to silence dissent from afar. This can include assassinations, illegal deportations, abductions, digital threats, Interpol abuse, and family intimidation.

A visual overview of the caption text, showing a collage of images: a speaker wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh with a "police do not cross" sign behind, both in front of a tall fence, and a security camera with an eye pasted over the lens above two people holding placards about Palestine.

Statewatch@statewatch· Dec 4

According Info Park, an organisation in Belgrade, Serbia, people on the move along the Western Balkan route face a cycle of of detention, transfers, and endless reattempts. The EU's new pact on migration will only worsen these brutal realities.

Above a black print of a barbed fence, a demonstrator holds a placard that says "open the border". Above the image, text reads: the EU migration pact will increase existing harms in Serbia and all along the Western Balkan route. It will mean more cruel tactics of policing and pushbacks, more bureaucracy and digital controls, and a further closure of civic space."

Statewatch@statewatch· Dec 2

The 12th issue of the #ExternalisationBulletin is out now 🚨 This edition covers: • Efforts to expand Frontex’s mandate • Growing concerns over the EU’s digital border systems • Threats to undermine EU's new migration "solidarity" system And more, here: buff.ly/GK3RMMW

Statewatch@statewatch· Dec 2

The “war on terror” might have left the headlines—but states are still using and abusing ‘counterterrorism’ powers to exert control. And for the past two years, we have been gathering evidence to show exactly how they do it. Swipe to read some of our key findings, or go to nois.statewatch.org

Statewatch@statewatch· Nov 27

1/ We’ve just launched a new in-depth resource that examines global counter-terrorism and security networks. It provides an evidence base for how these security norms are implemented, their effects on human rights and how we can push for change.

Statewatch@statewatch· Nov 20

In October 2024 the EU announced it would provide €30 million from its aid budget to Senegal. Ultimately, the plans can be seen as contributing to a new era of carceral EU migration “management” in West Africa. Read more in the latest article by Leonie Jegen: buff.ly/ImferiV