Migration

Open Arms ship rescues more migrants

The Open Arms NGO said Friday that one its ships saved 69 people in the Mediterranean overnight and it called for the vessel to be assigned a port of safety.…

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Ursula von der Leyen to propose new migration and asylum pact

Ursula von der Leyen said Friday that she wants to "propose a new pact for migration and asylum" as she meet Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte for a bilateral meeting in…

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Libya to close three migrant detention centres

Libya plans to shut down three of its biggest migration detention centres, the country's Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha has announced. The centres in question are in Misrata, Tajoura and Khoms.…

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Salvini accuses Germany of ‘blackmail’ over migration

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini accused Germany on Thursday of "blackmail" in the latest spat between the two countries over migrants rescued at sea. According to German media, Salvini wrote in…

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Salvini bans the Alan Kurdi from entering Italian waters

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has banned the Alan Kurdi rescue ship carrying forty migrants from entering Italian waters. The Alan Kurdi is run by German charity Sea-Eye and…

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Alan Kurdi heads to Lampedusa with 40 migrants on-board

Migrant rescue ship the ‘Alan Kurdi’, is heading to Lampedusa with 40 migrants on-board that it rescued off the coast of Libya. The ship is heading to Lampedusa as it…

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Italy reaches deal with five EU nations over stranded migrants on the ‘Bruno Gregoretti’

Italy announced that it would allow an Italian coastguard ship to finally disembark 116 migrants who were stranded for days in a Sicilian port, ending its latest standoff with the…

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Migrant’s death exposes UN failures in Libya

As tragedy and controversy continues to move hand in hand with the migrant voyages from the shores of Libya across the Mediterranean, Rana Jawad, the BBCs North Africa correspondent gives…

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“Father, Why?” – Pope Francis appeals for decisive and speedy action to address migration

Pope Francis has once again called on the international community “to act with speed and decisiveness” to address the issue of migration. His appeal came during the Sunday Angelus, when…

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62 bodies recovered from Mediterranean’s worst tragedy this year

Libya's Red Crescent said Friday its rescue workers had recovered the bodies of 62 migrants a day after one of the deadliest shipwrecks this year in the Mediterranean. "Our Red…

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Italy would not let Italian coastguard dock until EU countries agree to take them – Salvini

Matteo Salvini said on Friday he would not let an Italian coastguard boat carrying 135 migrants dock until European Union countries agreed to take them in. The Gregoretti coastguard vessel…

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Up to 150 people are feared to have died in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya

Up to 150 people are feared to have died in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya, while another 150 were rescued and are being returned to Libya, a spokesman…

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Renewed commitment to Mediterranean rescues encouraging, but ‘overriding priority’ must be ‘lasting peace’, say UN officials

The heads of the two key UN agencies championing refugees and migrants have called for an end to their “arbitrary detention” across Libya, following an agreement on Tuesday by European…

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Maltese-registered cruise ship rescues over a hundred migrants near Greece

A Maltese-registered cruise ship sailing close to the Greek mainland has rescued more than a hundred migrants, the country's coast guard said on Sunday. The migrants were picked up by the…

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Justin Bieber asks Trump to ‘let kids out of cages’

Singer Justin Bieber has used Donald Trump's response to A$AP Rocky's custody battle to criticise the president's US border policy. The US rapper received an unlikely boost in his bid…

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Spain will give Morocco €30 million to curb irregular immigration

Spain’s acting government will approve a €30 million outlay to fund Morocco’s efforts at curbing irregular immigration into Europe. This direct injection of funds is in addition to the €140…

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People smuggling network busted in Greece

The Greek Police, supported by Europol, dismantled an organised criminal group (OCG) smuggling migrants from Turkey to Greece and facilitating their secondary movements to other EU Member States. The network…

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Italy to fine migrant rescue ships €1 million

NGO run migrant rescue ships will be fined up to one million euros for defying a ban on entering Italian waters under a new League amendment to the government's second…

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EU interior ministers fail to find compromise on Mediterranean refugee rescue

European Union interior ministers meeting in Finland on Thursday failed to strike a stopgap deal to address ongoing disagreements about the bloc's migration policies, particularly issues of who should take…

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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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Poland tops list of countries giving first residency permits to nonEU nationals – Ukraine tops the receiving end list – Malta’s main recipients are Serbians

More than three million first residence permits were granted by European Union member states in 2017, figures from the bloc's official statistics agency revealed on Monday. Poland was the main…

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US launches raids targeting migrant families

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Sunday launched raids targeting undocumented migrants across the country, according to the US officials. US President Donald Trump described Sunday's planned action targeting families as a…

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Germany calls for EU migrant redistribution ‘coalition’

Germany's foreign minister says willing EU countries should redistribute migrants saved in the Mediterranean Sea. Some EU countries have vehemently opposed any form of redistribution in recent years. Foreign Minister…

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471,000 citizens from outside the EU were refused entry into the EU in 2018

In 2018, the EU refused entry to more non-EU citizens than in 2017, but fewer were found to be illegally staying within EU borders or asked to leave the territory,…

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IOM and UNHCR urges EU to restart Mediterranean Rescue Operations

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have called on the EU to implement a series of measures aimed at assisting people trapped in Libya or…

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IOM, Experts Gather on Environmental Migration and Reintegration of Returning Migrants

In West Africa, environmental challenges are widely believed to drive migration from rural areas, where livelihoods are largely dependent on natural resources (agriculture, mining and fisheries). Simultaneously, these challenges impact…

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Washington Post on Malta’s role in the Mediterranean migrants’ rescue operations

With Italy firmly blocking its seaports, the tiny island country of Malta has emerged as an unlikely and reluctant lifeline for migrants making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea.…

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Migrants in Tripoli go on hunger strike

More than 360 people on Tuesday participated in a hunger strike that started over the weekend at the Tajoura migrant detention center on the outskirts of the Libyan capital,…

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Pope Francis bombarded with insults after tweeting to pray for migrants

Insults in Italian replying to a tweet from Pope Francis flooded Twitter on Monday after he wrote about migrants. "Migrants are first of all human persons, and that they are…

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47 persons rescued by Italian Coast guard disembark in Pozzallo

47 persons who found themselves in distress in the Mediterranean Sea and were were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard disembarked in Pozzallo. In all, 53 persons were rescued from…

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Who is Alan Kurdi?

In February 2019 the rescue ship Professor Albrecht Penck of the German sea rescue organization Sea-Eye was renamed to Alan Kurdi . Following a serious confrontation, similar to the one in early July…

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Photo Story: Pope Francis celebrates Mass on the sixth anniversary of his visit to Lampedusa

A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows Pope Francis celebrating the Holy Mass on the sixth anniversary of his visit to Lampedusa, Vatican City. Photo: EPA-EFE/VATICAN

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Pope Francis expresses his hope for humanitarian corridors for migrants

Pope Francis on Sunday invited the faithful to join him in prayer for the “poor, unarmed people who were killed or injured by an air strike on a detention center…

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Updated: All 65 migrants on board the NGO rescue ship Alan Kurdi are to be brought to Malta for distribution in the EU

All 65 migrants on board the NGO rescue ship Alan Kurdi are to be brought to Malta for distribution in the EU after talks between Malta, Germany and the European…

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Maltese Armed Forces rescued 58 persons on migration route in the Mediterranean

The Malta Independent reports that a group of 58 migrants was rescued by the Armed Forces of Malta in Maltese waters earlier this morning. These are not the same migrants…

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‘Alex’ docks in Lampedusa despite ban

A charity boat carrying 41 rescued migrants has docked in an Italian port despite a ban on it doing so. The captain of the Alex decided to leave international waters…

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Moroccan Navy rescues 330 persons in 2 days

Morocco says that the Royal Navy has rescued about 330 migrants trying to cross the Strait of Gibraltar in unseaworthy craft. The official Moroccan MAP news agency said that there…

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Salvini wants to strengthen security at Italian land borders

Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Friday said "we are controlling our borders by sea, and we also want to control them by land with all means necessary," referring to…

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Sea Watch captain to sue Salvini

The Sea Watch captain Carola Rackete announced she would sue Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini for instigating hatred and crimes, after she received rape threats on social media.…

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Head of Italian magistrates union says Salvini should explain his ‘judgement’ of judge Vella in Rackete case

The head of the Italian magistrates union, the ANM, said Salvini should explain where the judge who released the Sea-Watch3 skipper, judging her innocent of ramming a police boat, went…

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The Netherlands mulling making it a crime to rescue migrants at sea

Government Coalition party the VVD has proposed to make it a crime to rescue migrants from drowning at sea, despite international treaties making it an obligation. The plan has a…

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83 persons die as boat carrying migrants from Libya sinks in the Mediterranean Sea

A boat carrying 86 migrants from Libya sank in the Mediterranean Sea and only three passengers are known to have survived the shipwreck the day after an airstrike on a…

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UN says Libyan guards opened fire on fleeing migrants after airstrike on detention centre

The United Nations said on Thursday it had information that Libyan guards shot at refugees and migrants trying to flee from airstrikes that killed at least 53 people, including six…

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Sea-Watch ship captain moved to secret location after threats

Carola Rackete, the German captain of a rescue charity ship, has received threats and has been moved to a secret location, the German charity Sea-Watch said on Wednesday. An Italian…

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New task force at Europol to target the most dangerous criminal groups involved in human trafficking and migrant smuggling

On 2 July, the Joint Liaison Task Force Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking in Human Beings (JLT-MS) was launched at Europol. This new operational platform will allow liaison officers from all…

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