Migration

Fears mount over migrants dying ‘out of sight’ in Mediterranean

More and more migrants are crossing, Europe is closing its ports and no humanitarian ships are carrying out rescues. As the coronavirus pandemic dominates headlines, activists fear the Mediterranean is…

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Migrants stranded in Greece by Covid-19 fly to UK

A group of 50 refugees and asylum seekers flew from Greece to Britain on Monday to reunite with relatives in a transfer that had been held up by the coronavirus…

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Portugal to take 60 unaccompanied children from Greek refugee camps

Portugal is to take up to 60 unaccompanied children from Greek refugee camps, according to Socialist Party lawmaker Isabel Santos, as concern mounts over the impact of the coronavirus outbreak…

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More than 140 migrants intercepted in English Channel

Sky News on Saturday reported that a record number of migrants crossed the English Channel yesterday. It is thought more than 140 people were brought ashore to Dover. On Saturday,…

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Photo Story: Asylum seekers protest in Brisbane

A refugee supporter holds up a sign as asylum seekers, who are being held in detention, protest at an inner-city motel in Brisbane, Australia, 08 May 2020. The men claim…

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UNHCR begins emergency distributions in Libya to refugees and asylum-seekers

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has begun a series of emergency distributions in the Libyan capital Tripoli, to assist refugees and asylum-seekers during the holy fasting…

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Photo Story: Migrants and refugees transferred to Greece mainland

A migrant child wearing a protective face mask sits next to plastic sacks, during her arrival at the port of Piraeus near Athens, Greece, 04 May 2020. Ferry boat Nisos…

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EPP calls for stronger EU migration policy based on solidarity

In the wake of recent migratory crisis, particularly in the Mediterranean, the EPP Group in the European Parliament has insisted for a stronger, more efficient EU migration policy that is…

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Afghanistan probes report Iranian border guards threw migrants into river with many drowning

Afghan officials on Sunday launched a hunt to retrieve bodies of Afghan migrants from a river in a western province after reports that Iranian border guards tortured and threw…

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Asylum applications in Europe down by 43% in March

Applications for asylum in the EU+ dropped by almost half in March as COVID-19 containment measures took effect, following persistently high levels of applications in the first two months of…

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eCabs supports MOAS and the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers

A total of 2500 meters of elastic, 500 meters of fabric and 140 spools of thread are being delivered by eCabs to 130 volunteers around Malta. These volunteers have recently…

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US green cards temporary suspended

President Donald Trump has said his plan to ban immigration into the US will last for 60 days and apply only to those seeking permanent residence. More than 20 million…

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Migrants from Spanish vessel ‘Aita Mari’ transferred to Italian ferry off Palermo

A handout photo made available by the Salvamento Maritimo Humanitario (SMH, Humanitarian Sea Rescue) non-governmental organization (NGO) shows some of the 34 migrants, who were rescued at sea, prior to…

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MSF and SOS Mediterranee split up amid disagreement over the rescue of migrants

Aid group Doctors without Borders (MSF) said it is ending its cooperation with partner SOS Mediterranee amid disagreement over the continued rescue of migrants. Doctors without Borders said it wants…

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UN agencies welcome first relocation of unaccompanied children from Greece

IOM, the International Organization for Migration, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund today welcomed the relocation of 12 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children from Greece to Luxembourg. The…

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Another migrant tragedy off the Maltese coast

At least five migrants died and seven were missing when the coast guard returned 49 others to Libya's capital Tripoli on Wednesday as fighting there raged, the U.N. migration agency…

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No boat capsized as FRONTEX accounts for all boats in the Med

Frontex, told AFP on Monday it said "all four boats have been accounted for" and there had been no shipwreck in the Mediterranean. "Two arrived in Sicily and two remain…

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Claim of shipwreck of boat carrying persons in migratory journey and its location confirmed to be unfounded – Malta’s Foreign Affairs Minister

Allegations that a boat carrying dozens of migrants had sunk in Malta’s Search and Rescue Area were confirmed to be unfounded. Malta's foreign affairs minister Evarist Bartolo made this declaration…

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Italy orders migrants from Alan Kurdi transferred onto quarantine ship

Italy has ordered 156 migrants on board a German rescue ship off the western coast of Sicily to be transferred to another vessel and quarantined. The migrants, mostly from…

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Turkey allegedly has a plan to push migrants infected with the coronavirus to cross into Greece and other parts of Europe

Greek authorities were reported to have found out that numerous migrants in Turkey have been concentrating in the country's western seaside towns, as if ready to cross into neighboring Greece's…

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Persons on the migratory route between Malta and Libya believed to have died after barge capsizes

A number of persons are believed to have died following the wreck of a barge between Malta and Tripoli. Sea Watch in a tweet, said that "250 people were drifting…

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UN calls on European countries not to return asylum seekers to Libya

The United Nations has called on the European countries to end the suffering of asylum seekers rescued in the Mediterranean, and not to return them to Libya. The Libyan Observer…

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Top EU court says eastern states broke law by refusing to host refugees

The European Union’s top court ruled on Thursday that Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic had broken the law by refusing to host refugees to help ease the burden…

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Greece quarantines camp after migrants test coronavirus positive

Greece has quarantined a migrant camp after 20 asylum seekers tested positive for coronavirus, the migration ministry said on Thursday, its first such facility to be hit since the…

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EU launches naval mission to police Libya arms embargo

EU ambassadors agreed to deploy a new naval mission in the Central Mediterranean to police the U.N. arms embargo on Libya. The new Irini mission (the Greek word for "peace"),…

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Dozens of migrants die in shipping container in Mozambique

The bodies of 64 men were discovered asphyxiated in a sealed shipping container on the back of a truck at a checkpoint in Tete, Mozambique on Tuesday. Fourteen others rescued…

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Coronavirus: NGOs are stopping their rescue missions on the sea

“The pandemic is forcing us to freeze our activities. This is a necessary decision, despite the fact that the embarkments have started again,” said a spokesperson from Mediterranea. Ocean Viking,…

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MSF urges immediate evacuation of migrant camps in Greece to contain coronavirus

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has called for the immediate evacuation of migrant camps on Greece's islands, arguing that the conditions there provide "the perfect storm" for a COVID-19 outbreak. One…

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Traffickers behind Alan Kurdi death get 125 years

Three organizers of the human trafficking ring which led to the death of Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi, in a case which made headlines worldwide, were sentenced in Turkey Friday to…

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EU to give migrants in Greece €2,000 to go home

The EU says it will pay €2,000 (£1,770; $2,225) each to migrants in overcrowded camps on the Greek islands willing to go back to their home countries. EU Home…

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Turkey’s Erdogan likens Greek authorities to Nazis for returning migrants

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that there was "no difference" between the Nazis and the Greek authorities forcibly repelling thousands of migrants seeking to reach Greece…

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Von der Leyen tells Turkey to take migrants back from Greek border

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said ahead of talks with President Tayyip Erdogan that Turkey must move refugees and migrants away from the Greek border. “Finding a solution…

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Violent incidents in Greek refugee centre as tensions rise

A fire has ripped through a refugee shelter on the Greek island of Lesbos as tensions over a surge in migration from Turkey continue to rise. Flames engulfed the One…

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Migration agreement between Turkey and EU is dead – Greek PM

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered the Turkish coastguard to prevent migrants from crossing the Aegean sea because of the risks, state media reported. A Turkish jurists group has slammed…

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EU warns ‘won’t be pressured’ over Greece-Turkey border crisis as tension flares

Ministers from across the EU met in Zagreb on Friday for a second day of talks on the conflict in Syria's Idlib province, as well as the build-up of refugees…

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Turkey deploys police at Greek border to stem pushback of migrants

Turkey is deploying 1,000 special police forces along its border with Greece on Thursday to halt the pushback of migrants towards its territory, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said, adding that…

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EU warns situation at the EU’s external borders is not acceptable

At a meeting of EU interior ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, the member states said that Turkey was exploiting refugees to get its way politically. A joint statement said that…

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Balkan countries step up controls at borders

Countries along the so-called 'Balkan route', where hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers crossed in 2015-2016, are pledging not to allow migrants to cross this time after Turkey's decision not…

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More than 24,000 attempts to cross the Greek border

Greek security forces have launched a manhunt for migrants who illegally crossed over from the Turkish border since Friday when thousands massed on the Turkish side of the Evros River.…

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Photo Story: New clashes along Turkish-Greek land border

Migrants clash with Greek police officers as they attempt to cross the closed-off Turkish-Greek border in a bid to reach European soil, in Edirne, Turkey, 04 March 2020. Thousands of…

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Protests in Greek refugee camps

Riot policemen detain a young boy while asylum seekers demonstrate outside the Moria refugees camp on Lesvos island, Greece, on 02 March 2020. The protesters ask to let them go…

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Child dies as migrant boat capsizes off Lesvos, Greece

A child died and 47 migrants were rescued after their boat capsized off the Greek island of Lesvos, the Greek coastguard said on Monday. At least 1,000 migrants have reached…

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Tense situation along Greece-Turkish border

Upda Greek police fired tear gas to repel hundreds of stone-throwing migrants who tried to force their way across the border from Turkey on Sunday, with thousands more behind…

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4000 migrants try crossing Turkish – Greek border

Riot police and the Greek army on Saturday deployed tear gas along the country’s land border with Turkey to try to stop migrants from entering the country. A government spokesman said thousands of…

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Hungary to boost border protection

Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Hungary would strengthen the protection of the southern border after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan informed him in that Turkey could no longer hold back the…

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US court reverses Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy

A US federal court has ruled that the Trump administration must halt its policy of requiring Central American asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico pending US approval. The ruling from the…

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Turkey lets refugees exit towards Europe

Groups of refugees and migrants are heading towards the EU after Turkey said it would not abide by a deal to stop them reaching Europe. Turkey's communications chief said the…

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Photo Story: Migrants disembark in Messina

Italian officials wearing protective suits check migrants disembarking from the NGO-run search-and-rescue ship Sea Watch 3 at the port in Messina, Sicily, Italy, on Thursday the 27 February 2020. …

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Asylum applications in the EU increase by 13% in 2019

For the first time since 2015, applications increased from the previous year. The increase was not largely driven by irregular migration, but rather by applications from countries with visa-free access…

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Residents clash with police on Greek islands over building of new migrant detention camps

Residents on two Greek islands clashed with police on Tuesday over the building of new migrant detention camps. Crowds attempted to stop police from disembarking on the islands of Lesbos…

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Riots in Greek Islands as islanders trying to prevent construction of permanent detention centres

Police in riot gear threw teargas and fired water cannon at Greek islanders as they tried to prevent access to construction sites for new migrant detention centres by setting fires,…

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Cyprus strongly objects to cut in EU funds for migration

Cyprus has strongly objected to a reduction of €30m in EU funds relating to migration for the period between 2021 and 2027, according to Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides. Petrides said…

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European Commissioner urges Italy to suspend cooperation activities with Libyan Coast Guard

The Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović in a letter sent to Italy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luigi Di Maio has urged the country’s government to suspend co-operation activities with the Libyan Coast…

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Alarm Phone demands answers as Rubber Dinghy with 91 migrants goes missing in the Mediterranean

A rubber dinghy packed with 91 migrants that set out from Libyan shores in hopes of reaching Europe has apparently gone missing in the Mediterranean, the U.N. migration agency said…

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Spain to introduce tougher asylum requirements

The Spanish government is drafting a new law that will restrict the right to asylum, following the path taken by the European Union in recent years. A draft of the…

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Eastern Route overtakes Mediterranean for people leaving Africa

A monthly average of 11,500 people traveling from the Horn of Africa to Yemen last year made the so-called Eastern Route the busiest maritime migration path on earth, the UN…

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Spain wins European court appeal over rapid migrant deportations

The European Court of Human Rights has backed Spain’s rapid deportation of two African migrants who tried to enter one of its north African enclaves, Melilla and Ceuta. The court’s…

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