On 8 December 2024, Venezuelan authorities detained Argentine military police officer Nahuel Agustín Gallo after he entered the country from Colombia. According to Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gallo first travelled by car to Chile, then by plane to Bogotá, and finally by taxi to the Venezuelan border in order to reunite with his Venezuelan partner and their two-year-old child. On 27 December, the Venezuelan Public Ministry, led by Attorney-General Tarek William Saab, announced criminal charges against Gallo for alleged terrorist activities, accusing him of concealing a ‘criminal plan’ under the guise of a family visit. Argentina’s Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein dismissed these accusations, calling the detention arbitrary and insisting that Gallo’s sole purpose was to spend time with his family.
the Return Directive in conjunction with the Charter of Fundamental Rights does not oblige EU Member States to grant a right to remain to irregularly staying migrants’
Alan Desmond, University of Leicester Kevin Fredy Hinterberger, Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour Photo credit: Luxufluxo, via Wikimedia Commons Introduction The 2008 Return Directive sets out common standards and procedures for removal of irregularly staying third-country nationals (TCNs) by all EU Member States, except for Ireland and Denmark, and by the four…