Immigration

Italy PM Meloni builds alliance to tackle illegal migration

Nations from the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa agreed steps on Sunday to try to slow unauthorised migration and to tackle some of the pressures driving people to leave their…

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Officials can detain migrant rescue ships if they pose risk – EU Court

The EU's top court said on Monday that officials can detain migrant rescue ships, but only if they can prove there is a real risk to health, safety or the environment,…

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4,400 migrants lost at sea bound for Spain in 2021, double previous year

More than 4,400 migrants, including at least 205 children, were lost at sea trying to reach Spain in 2021, a monitoring group said on Monday - more than double the figure from…

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Seven killed as car carrying migrants crashes in Hungary

Seven people were killed and four injured when a car with a Serbian licence plate carrying migrants crashed into a house in Hungary late on Monday, after its driver refused to stop for a check,…

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On Polish-Belarus border, migrant crossings decrease but tension remains

Fewer migrants are trying to cross the frontier between Poland and Belarus, but the Polish Border Guard told journalists visiting the previously off-limits border zone on Monday that it still…

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Canada ends COVID-19 policy turning back asylum-seekers between border crossings

Canada is ending its pandemic-era policy of turning back asylum-seekers trying to cross into the country between ports of entry, according to a revised policy document released on Sunday. Canada turned at…

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Four migrants, including children, drown in Greece after boat sinks

Four migrants, three of them children, drowned on Tuesday after a boat in which they and 23 others were trying to cross from Turkey to Greece sank, the Greek coast guard…

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More than 700 migrants land in Lampedusa overnight

Hundreds of migrants have arrived by boat in the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, the interior ministry said on Tuesday. A large boat carried 686 people to the island overnight, local authorities said,…

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Inefficiencies in cooperation with non-EU countries limits return of irregular migrants

The EU’s cooperation with non-EU countries has not been efficient in ensuring that migrants illegally present on EU territory return to their own countries, according to a special report published…

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EU to start talks on security, migration amid Afghanistan turmoil

The European Union will kick off discussions this week on what consequences recent developments in Afghanistan may have for security and migration in the 27-nation bloc, a spokesman for the Slovenian EU presidency…

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Spain will receive up to 4,000 Afghans at two military bases, source says

Spain will temporarily host up to 4,000 Afghans, who had worked for the United States, at two military bases used by the U.S. military in southern Spain, a government source told Reuters. According…

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Australia immigration law ‘to require English test’

Australia will require foreign partners of existing residents to pass an English language test before gaining a permanent visa, its government says. The controversial immigration requirement, if approved by parliament,…

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Temperature heats up as EU states share divergent views on migration

Summer is not yet here and migratory challenges across Europe have already increased tensions across EU Member States. As countries insisted with their standoffs to raise visibility of their plight,…

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Eurojust steps up the fight against migrant smuggling

To further strengthen the fight against migrant smuggling, Eurojust, the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, has launched a new initiative, the Focus Group for Prosecutors on Migrant Smuggling. In…

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EASO cautions that COVID-19 could result in increased asylum-related migration

A new EASO report found that while currently migratory trends have declined, with a 43% decline registered this year so far, the trend could change if the pandemic spreads further…

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Greeks fear migrant arrivals from Turkey

Over the weekend various Greek media outlets have reported that a high number of migrants are being allowed to gather on the western coasts of Turkey in preparation to sail…

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Swiss police uncover people smuggling ring

Swiss police have charged five people in connection with extensive people smuggling operations. Three men living in canton Bern are accused of having illegally transported or organised the smuggling of…

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Sea-Watch captain Carola Rackete faces Italy prosecutor over migrants

German captain Carola Rackete, who sparked international headlines by forcibly docking in an Italian port with rescued migrants, faces questioning by an Italian prosecutor on Thursday over allegedly aiding illegal…

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Pope saddened by image of dead migrant father and baby at US-Mexico border

Reader's discretion is recommended due to the graphic nature of the photo attached to the story Pope Francis is profoundly saddened by the death of two migrants – a…

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Asylum applications in EU rise but are far below the crisis period levels

The number of people seeking political asylum in the European Union is rising again, driven up by Latin American refugees, but flows are expected to remain well below the…

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Frontex opens Risk Analysis Cell in Senegal

Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, opened a Risk Analysis Cell in Dakar in cooperation with Senegalese authorities within the framework of the Africa-Frontex Intelligence Community (AFIC). Taking…

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Italy lets 10 stranded migrants disembark, moves to ban rescue ships from its waters

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini allowed 10 of the 53 migrants stranded on the Sea-Watch 3 rescue ship to disembark but pressed ahead with plans to ban such boats…

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Italy shuts Mineo migrant camp in Sicily

Interior minister Matteo Salvini announced the closure of a reception centre for asylum seekers in Sicily. The decision to close the Mineo asylum camp in Sicily came after the number…

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Italy to start fining NGOs that rescue migrants at sea

A decree adopted by the Italian government would force non-governmental organizations to pay between €10,000 and €50,000 for transporting rescued migrants to Italian ports. Apart from that, the decree…

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Germany passes controversial migration law

Germany on Friday passed a controversial package of bills bringing major changes to the country's asylum and immigration policy. The package included the so-called "Geordnete-Rückkehr-Gesetz" or "Orderly Return Law"…

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UPDATED: 50 persons saved and heading to Pozallo

50 persons were saved as they were trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach reach the European coast. According to Alarm Phone, the group was saved by the commercial…

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Human rights lawyers sue the EU over migrant deaths

A group of lawyers are asking the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the European Union for crimes against humanity, arguing that the bloc's policies are responsible for thousands of…

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Tunisia accused of refusing to allow migrant boat to dock

Tunisian rights organisation FTDES revealed Tunisian authorities were refusing 75 migrants saved at sea from coming ashore. The migrants were adrift in international waters in a boat with a…

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UK intercepts 74 persons crossing English Channel

British authorities intercepted eight vessels carrying some 74 migrants, including minors, across the English Channel on Saturday. French authorities reportedly caught two additional boats. Coastguard officials said the boats were…

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Malta rescues 216 persons

A Maltese armed forces patrol boat picked up more than 200 people from two dinghies in the Mediterranean and was bringing them to Malta on Saturday, a spokesman said. At…

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Italy’s Foreign Minister says immigration should be EU’s top priority

Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi told a ANSA Forum on Thursday that this week's European elections could create a sort of constituent assembly for a new EU in which immigration…

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290 migrants rescued off eastern coast of Tripoli

Reuters reports that Libya's coast guard rescued 290 migrants clinging to inflatable rafts on Friday in two operations near the capital Tripoli. A coastguard vessel rescued 87 migrants off Qarabuli,…

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Another group of migrants stranded after being saved by SeaWatch

German migrant rescue NGO SeaWatch on Wednesday rescued 65 migrants off Libya but currently has not been given permission to dock anywhere. SeaWatch said Libya, Malta, Italy and the Netherlands…

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At least 50 migrants die off the coast of Tunisia after their boat capsized

At least 70 migrants drowned on Friday when their boat sank in international waters off the Tunisian coast, and 16 were saved, the state-run Tunis Afrique Presse agency said. The…

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NGO-run ship Mare Jonio seized

Italian Finance police seized the NGO run ship 'Mare Jonio' on Friday after the search-and-rescue ship picked up 30 migrants in the Mediterranean. The finance police boarded the ship to…

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Libya coast guard detains 113 migrants

The United Nations announced that the Libyan coast guard has stopped 113 migrants trying to reach Italy over the past two days, as boat departures resume following a lull in…

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Salvini insists terrorist presence on migrants boats from Libya now a certainty

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the chaos in Libya following Khalifa Haftar's offensive has increased the risk of terrorist presence on migrant boats headed for Italy, said, adding…

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Alan Kurdi ship saga ends… migrants to be taken in by four EU countries

The Maltese government announced that more than 60 migrants stranded at sea for more than a week on the German rescue ship Alan Kurdi would be taken in by four EU…

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France ready to take some Sea Eye migrants

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner announced that France is ready, along with several other European partners, to welcome 20 out of the 60 migrants stranded off Malta aboard the…

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Salvini warns that migrants taken to Lampedusa will be expelled

Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini warned that 90 migrants who were taken to Lampedusa after the boat they were travelling on was intercepted, will be expelled…

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Alan Kurdi ship appeals to Europe for a safe port

The Alan Kurdi ship that has been eight days out at sea with scores of African migrants on board appealed to European states for a safe port, saying the health…

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Eight migrants missing off Libyan coast

Eight migrants are missing off Libya, the Alarm Phone rescue alert service said Wednesday. The service got a phone call about 6 a.m. from a dinghy in difficulty carrying around…

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UNHCR chief warns New Zealand massacre was the result of toxic politics and media

Filippo Grandi, the head of the UNHCR, warned that the deadly attack in Christchurch, New Zealand was the result of the worst toxicity in politics and media toward refugees, migrants…

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‘Sea Eye’ ship heads for Lampedusa

The ship ‘Alan Kurdi’ belonging to German migrant rescue NGO Sea Eye is heading for the Italian island of Lampedusa with its 64 rescued migrants among them a new…

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Libyan Navy warns NGOs’ not to sail into Libyan waters

The Libyan Navy and Coast Guard have warned NGOs not to enter the country's territorial waters or even operate close to the Libyan coastguards. In a statement, the Libyan Navy…

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Survey shows most Africans prefer staying in their continent

New data from the Afrobarometer research organization based in Ghana, showed that contrary to narratives about African migration in the West, most Africans said they would rather go to another…

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IOM launches data portal on European migration to challenge fake news with facts

A news portal was launched on Saturday by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) during a UN meeting in Geneva A focus on improved data through this new portal…

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Heavy toll in migrants lives off Libyan coast

The Libya Express reports that during the past week at at least 30 migrants went missing after their boat sank off the western city of Sabratha this week. One survivor…

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Migrants on board the ‘Mare Ionio’ to disembark at Lampedusa

The 49 migrants on board the Italian NGO rescue ship 'Mare Ionio' will be disembarking at Lampedusa on the orders of Guardia di Finanza. The 'Mare Ionio' was embroiled…

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Australia to cut its annual intake of immigrants by nearly 15 percent

Australia on Wednesday announced cuts to its annual intake of immigrants by nearly 15 percent, and barred some new arrivals from living in its largest cities for three years, in…

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Two children die as migrant boat sinks off Greek island

Two children were among three people who died early Thursday when a migrant boat, carrying at least 12 people, sank near the Greek island of Samos. The two young boys…

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Over 80 migrants rescued by AFM

An AFM patrol boat has rescued 87 migrants off the coast of Lampedusa and are on their way with them back to Malta. The AFM said it was informed by…

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Another mass attempt by migrants to board cross-Channel ferry to Dover

Police in the French port of Calais arrested more than 40 migrants on Sunday after an attempt to board a cross-Channel ferry bound for Dover. French police sprung into action…

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Spain reports drop in illegal immigration by sea

The New York Times reported that the Spanish Government announced that illegal immigration by sea dropped drastically during the mont of February - from 4,000 in January to 930 in…

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MV LifeLine : Media angles

This is how some media outlets reported the arrival of the MV LifeLine Maltese Media Times of Malta: The charity boat Lifeline docked at Malta on Wednesday evening, bringing to…

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25 bodies retrieved from the shores of western Libya

Libya Observer: The Libyan Red Crescent has recovered about 25 bodies of illegal immigrants from the shores of Maya town, the Tripoli Naval Base at Abu Sitta and Khoms city. The…

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European Commissioner Guenther Oettinger calls for helping out southern EU states

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - All European Union countries need to help southern neighbors, where most migrants are arriving, European Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told reporters ahead of a mini-summit on migration in…

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