World News

10 landings with 177 people in Lampedusa

Ten boats, with 177 migrants, arrived in Lampedusa on Saturday night. Nine landings arrived before midnight and brought the landings on Saturday to 30 in the space of 24 hours. The…

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Migrant boat carrying 45 people sinks south of Turkey

A migrant boat carrying 45 people has sunk to the south of Turkey, and Turkish naval ships and an aircraft are carrying out search and rescue operations, the defence ministry…

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Merkel calls on EU to establish common asylum policy

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on European Union states to establish a common asylum policy that focused on taking in people who face persecution at home, preferably in collaboration with…

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Political furore in Italy after League councillor kills Moroccan

A member of Italy’s rightist League party was placed under house arrest on Wednesday after shooting dead a Moroccan immigrant following an altercation in a bar. Massimo Adriatici, a League…

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At least 17 migrants drown off Tunisia in shipwreck

At least 17 Bengali migrants drowned in a shipwreck off Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to Italy from Libya, while more than 380 were rescued by the…

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Malta: Comatose child among migrants in distress in Malta’s rescue zone – Alarm Phone

A comatose child and a woman losing consciousness are among 100 migrants on a boat in distress in Malta’s search and rescue zone, according to Alarm Phone. Source: Newsbook Updated…

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France, Britain beef up patrols, crack down on illegal migration

France and the United Kingdom have agreed to deploy more police and invest in detection technology on the French coast to try to stop boats carrying illegal migrants from reaching…

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Afghan neighbours wary of new refugee crisis as violence surges

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani meets regional leaders for talks in Uzbekistan on Thursday as deteriorating security in his country raises fears of a new Afghan refugee crisis with neighbouring Pakistan…

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No conclusive evidence of Frontex involvement in migrant pushbacks but human rights violations witnessed

A scrutiny group established by the European Parliament to investigate the actions of EU border agency Frontex found that there was no conclusive evidence, from the restricted evidence analysed, of…

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Amnesty International says migrants held in Libya subject to horrific sexual violence

Amnesty International said on Thursday that migrants held in Libyan detention camps are subject to horrific sexual violence at the hands of guards, including being forced to barter sex for…

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18 arrests in Europol sting against migrant smugglers

An investigation led by the Spanish National Police, with close cooperation with the Albanian Police and law enforcement and immigration authorities in Austria, France, Italy, Slovenia, Kosovo, Portugal, the United…

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UPDATED: Frontex vows additional support for Lithuania amid migrant crisis, US expresses concern

EU border agency Frontex said it would ramp up its support for Lithuania next week, as the country deals with an increase in migrants crossing its border. The agency vowed…

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Doctors disappointed at lack of foresight, warn of disaster after Covid spike / Malta News Briefing – Friday 9 July 2021

Updated 0930 Tax evasion a police priority: Investigating tax evasion is being given top priority by the police, according to Deputy Police Commissioner Alexandra Mamo. She was addressing a financial…

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MSF denounces seizure of migrant rescue vessel in Italy

French medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Monday an MSF vessel that rescued hundreds of migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean last month has been detained in Italy, suggesting…

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At least 21 migrants die after boat sinks off Tunisia

At least 21 migrants died after the boat carrying them sank off the coast of Tunisia, a security official said, the second such disaster in two days in the region.…

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More than 200 on board Ocean Viking rescue ship in Mediterranean

Rome (dpa) - The Ocean Viking rescue vessel has pulled 67 people from the central Mediterranean Sea, SOS Mediterranee the private organization that runs the boat, said on Sunday. Twenty of those rescued…

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At least 43 migrants drown in shipwreck off Tunisia, Red Crescent says

TUNIS, July 3 (Reuters) - At least 43 migrants drowned in a shipwreck off Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy, while another 84 were…

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Migrant boat capsizes off Lampedusa, 7 dead

At least seven migrants drowned after a boat carrying them capsized five miles off the Italian island of Lampedusa early on Wednesday, ANSA news agency reported. Another nine were still…

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Belarus dictator floods EU with migrants in retaliation for sanctions

The embattled Belarusian dictator has made good on his threat to flood the European Union with migrants by sending hundreds of Iraqis on ‘package holidays’ to neighbouring Lithuania in retaliation…

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EU considers 3.5 billion euro migrant funding for Turkey

The European Union is considering 3.5 billion euros ($4.18 billion) for Turkey to continue hosting Syrian refugees until 2024, two diplomats said, part of a bigger regional refugee support plan…

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Malta: Police looking for migrant who escaped from Safi

The police are searching for a migrant who escaped from the Safi detention centre at about 11:30am. A police spokesperson told Newsbook.com.mt detention services personnel are also involved in the search. Source…

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Frontex already implementing Auditors recommendations, EU Parliament told

When replying to a series of questions and interventions by MEPs from the various political groups who are members of the key EP Committees, during a two hour joint marathon…

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Dozens of migrants rescued off Spain’s Gran Canaria

Spain's coast guard rescued 45 migrants off the coast of Gran Canaria on Sunday including 24 women and eight children. The migrants, from sub-Saharan Africa, were spotted in a boat…

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Feeling abandoned by Europe, Greece hardens migration policy

With walled camps and tougher border controls, Greece is hardening its approach ahead of summer when migrant arrivals pick up, defying criticism from aid groups and saying it has little…

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Hundreds of migrants land in Sicily, others rescued after boat runs aground in Spain

Around 400 migrants disembarked on Friday from the ship Geo Barents at the Italian port of Augusta, in Sicily, more than a week after the first rescue operation was carried…

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Number of people forced to flee homes has risen, says U.N.

The number of people forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution and human rights abuses has doubled in the past decade to reach 82.4 million at the end…

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Lithuania says Belarus is helping Middle Eastern migrants to cross its borders

Lithuania's Prime Minister says she believes Belarus is behind a recent spike of illegal immigration into Lithuania, following a threat by its president that it will no longer prevent migrants…

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Malta: Country accepts 97 migrants rescued by cargo ship after spat with Tunisia

Malta accepted to disembark 97 migrants rescued by a cargo vessel over the weekend after a standoff with Tunisia that lasted several hours, Turkish media report. The Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel…

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Italian medical authority laments migrants more affected but less vaccinated

The Covid pandemic has "disproportionally affected residing migrant populations" in Europe, "who have experienced a vast range of affects both at a sanitary and social level", the Italian Higher Health…

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Lampedusa sees 14 migrant landings in one day

There are currently 1,215 migrants present at the Lampedusa hotspot shelter, after the 14 landings on the island in less than 12 hours. At dawn on Saturday, the shelter was…

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Italian police arrest man allegedly involved in Vietnamese truck deaths

Italian police said they had arrested a Romanian citizen who is the subject of an international arrest warrant from the UK for the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese people who were…

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Former PM Muscat clarifies the 120k severance package / Malta News Briefing – Saturday 12 June 2021

Updated 1515 A 62-year old man died in Qawra on Saturday afternoon after falling into the sea. Police said the man, an English national, appeared to have been standing on…

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Malta among five Mediterranean countries to give green light to deal on EASO

Ministers from the EU’s Mediterranean countries have given their backing to a temporary deal to strengthen the EU’s asylum agency — the first sign of movement in a migration debate…

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Remains of missing Kurdish-Iranian baby found in Norway identified

Police in Norway have said the body of a baby found on the country's coast is that of a missing 15-month old who died in the English Channel last year.…

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Sea rescue ship Sea-Eye 4 held at Palermo port

Italian authorities have blocked the sea rescue ship Sea-Eye 4 at the port of Palermo. It was unclear how long the vessel would have to stay there, the spokesperson for…

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U.N. refugee agency scorns Denmark’s law on asylum claims

The U.N. refugee agency has voiced strong opposition to a law passed by Denmark's parliament that would allow processing of claims lodged by asylum seekers outside Europe, calling it an…

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Greece rolls out COVID vaccines in migrant camps

Asylum-seekers in Greece lined up to get their coronavirus shots on Thursday as authorities began rolling out vaccinations in migrant camps. The government, which began vaccinating the general public in…

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Denmark passes law to process asylum seekers outside Europe

Denmark on Thursday passed a law enabling it to process asylum seekers outside Europe, drawing anger from human rights advocates, the United Nations and the European Commission. The wealthy Scandinavian…

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At least 23 African migrants drown in shipwreck off Tunisia

At least 23 migrants from Africa drowned in a shipwreck off Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy, and 70 were rescued, the Tunisian Red…

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Microsoft, Mastercard sign on to VP Harris’s Central America strategy

Twelve companies and groups including Microsoft Corp, Mastercard and Nestle's Nespresso will commit to making investments in Central America - a win for Vice President Kamala Harris as she aims…

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EU partly to blame for Mediterranean migrant deaths -UN

The European Union is partly to blame for deaths of migrants taking boats across the Mediterranean due to unanswered distress calls, obstruction of humanitarian rescue efforts, and so-called “pushbacks” to…

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Reports of dead children washed up on Libya beach

Images of dead children and women washed up on a beach in Libya have been shared by a Spanish charity. The NGO Proactiva Open Arms received some of the photos…

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Spain hopes for swift end to spat with Morocco as more migrants sent back

Morocco’s ambassador to Madrid warned that if Spain allows the leader of the Western Sahara independence movement to leave Spain without informing Rabat it will worsen the diplomatic crisis between…

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Spain accuses Morocco of ‘blackmail’ over Ceuta migrant surge

Spain’s defence minister accused Morocco of “blackmail” over its passivity in the face of a surge in migrant arrivals in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta earlier this week. The rush…

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EU working on ways to ease Italy’s migrant burden

The European Commission is in contact with EU member states to set up a redistribution system for migrants arriving in Italy during the summer, its home affairs commissioner was quoted…

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Migrants push for Spain’s Ceuta again after border security tightened

Hundreds of migrants tried to force their way past tightened security into Ceuta on Wednesday, as Spain pressed on with the expulsion of thousands who had swum or climbed into…

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Malta: Government paid for Libya pushbacks ‘three to four’ times, shipper reveals

The Maltese government paid for pushbacks by the Dar Es Salaam 1 “three to four times”, the vessel’s owner has told a judge this afternoon. Mr Justice Lawrence Mintoff is hearing the…

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Beyond Migration – Western Sahara leader’s treatment in Spain angers Morocco

Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front which wants independence for Western Sahara, is receiving medical treatment in Spain, angering Morocco which annexed the former Spanish colony decades ago. Here…

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Political agreement reached on EU blue card in new rules for migrant workers

The Commission welcomes the agreement reached yesterday by the European Parliament and the Council on new rules for the entry and residence of highly skilled workers from outside the EU…

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Spain sends army as 5,000 migrants reach Ceuta

Spain has deployed troops to Ceuta to patrol the border with Morocco after thousands of migrants swam into the northern African enclave amid heightened diplomatic tensions, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska…

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At least 57 migrants drown in shipwreck off Tunisia

At least 57 migrants drowned in a shipwreck off Tunis as they tried to cross the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy and 33 were rescued, humanitarian organisation Tunisian Red Crescent…

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VIDEO: Over 2,700 migrants illegally enter Spain’s Ceuta enclave

Over 2,700 Moroccan citizens on Monday illegally entered Spain's northern Africa enclave of Ceuta, several Spanish outlets reported citing information from the Spanish government's delegation in Ceuta. Among the 2,700 migrants, there were around…

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Council of Europe accuses Greece of migrant pushbacks, says they must stop

Europe's top human rights watchdog has urged Greece to end pushbacks of asylum-seekers on its borders, a practice that Athens denies carrying out. In a letter to Greek ministers dated May 3…

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Austria snubs EU plea to accept Lampedusa migrants

Austria on Tuesday rejected a plea for other European Union countries to accept migrants from Italy, following a surge in arrivals on Lampedusa that seems likely to expose deep-seated divisions…

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Italian PM’s office denies Rome wants EU to pay Libya to block migrants

Prime Minister Mario Draghi's office denied a media report on Tuesday that Italy was proposing that the European Union should pay Libya to stop migrants leaving its shores for Europe.…

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Malta: 70 asylum seekers brought to Malta after rescue

A group of 70 asylum seekers were brought to Malta on Tuesday afternoon, Newsbook.com.mt has learnt. The information was confirmed by a spokesperson for the Home Affairs Ministry after a spokesperson for…

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EU executive says member states should help Italy with migrant relocation

European countries need to show solidarity towards Italy after the arrival by boat of hundreds of migrants on the country's southern island of Lampedusa at the weekend, the EU's home…

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