Migration

EU leaders push to speed up migrant deportations

EU leaders are pushing for quicker ways to deport people amid a broader push to crack down on immigration, according to a draft report obtained by POLITICO. The leaders plan…

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Finland plans tougher rules on detention, deportation and entry of foreigners

The Finnish government, led by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, has presented a bill to Parliament proposing stricter regulations for non-citizens, aiming to tighten immigration and asylum policies. The bill seeks…

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Italy to offer more migrant work visas to caregivers for old people

Italy will offer an extra 10,000 migrant work visas next year for people who look after old people and the disabled, the government said, as it adopted a new package…

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Italy’s government to extend migrant NGO crackdown to planes

Italy will impose fines of up to 10,000 euros ($11,150) on pilots of aircraft that search for migrant boats in distress at sea, according to a draft government decree. The…

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France Set for Tougher Immigration and Security Measures Amid Rightward Shift

France is on the brink of implementing significantly tougher immigration and security policies, reflecting a broad societal shift to the right, according to the country's newly appointed interior minister, Bruno…

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Tunisian Opposition and Migrants’ Advocates Seek ICC Investigation Over Crackdown and Migrant Abuse

Lawyers and families of jailed Tunisian opposition leaders have appealed to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to launch an investigation into the Tunisian government's crackdown on political dissent and the…

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UK PM Starmer pledges to work with Italy on migration

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed Italy's efforts to tackle illegal immigration this week, saying the two countries would share intelligence and work more closely together to "smash" the people…

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Netherlands seeks to opt out of EU migration rules

The Netherlands' right-wing government said on Wednesday it had asked the EU for an opt-out on migration rules so it can implement a clamp-down on unwanted arrivals. "I just informed…

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UK PM Starmer pledges migration cooperation ahead of Italy talks

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised "a new era" in cross-border cooperation to tackle people smuggling gangs ahead of talks on Monday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, part…

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Germany’s tighter border controls take effect, irking neighbours

Germany reintroduced temporary controls on its western and northern borders on Monday as part of efforts to combat irregular migration and cross-border crime, the interior ministry said. The restrictions are…

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Hungary ready to sue EU executive over border protection costs, PM aide says

Hungary is ready to sue the European Commission to reimburse the costs of protecting the European Union's external border, which Budapest says has cost it some 2 billion euros ($2.20…

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Germany makes proposals to reduce number of asylum seekers

Germany's government presented a plan to implement more rigorously European rules on asylum that would see more people turned away at its borders, a day after it announced it would…

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Germany tightens border controls in immigration clampdown

Germany will temporarily institute tighter controls at all of its land borders to reduce irregular migration and to improve security, Berlin said Monday. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced in…

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Germany’s migration commissioner proposes Rwanda migrant deportation plan

Germany's migration commissioner proposed deporting to Rwanda migrants who arrive illegally to the European Union through its borders with Belarus, as Berlin contemplates measures to restrict refugees arriving in the…

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Canada turning away more foreigners

Canada is closing its doors to more visitors and temporary residents by approving fewer visas and turning away more people who reach its borders with official documents, according to government…

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Cyprus records high rate of asylum applicants

Cyprus received 29.9 applications from first-time asylum seekers for every 100,000 people in May 2024 compared to its population, according to data published by Eurostat. The drop in first-time asylum…

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Australia to limit foreign student enrolments in migration crackdown

Australia said on Tuesday it would limit the enrolment number of international students at 270,000 for 2025, as the government looks to rein in record migration that has contributed to…

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Germany’s Scholz promises more deportations after weekend mass stabbing

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to step up deportations on Monday during a visit to Solingen, where a deadly mass stabbing linked to Islamic State has emboldened the far-right opposition…

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Immigration biggest issue for Britons for first time since 2016, poll shows

Immigration tops the list of issues that Britons consider most important for the first time since 2016 - when Britain voted to leave the European Union - following riots this…

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Migrant arrivals in Italy down 62%

Irregular migrant arrivals on Italy's coasts have dropped by 62.3% in the first seven months of 2024, with a boom in landings recorded instead in Spain and Greece, according to…

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EU agency finds ‘widespread rights violations’ at borders

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) issued a scathing report on Tuesday decrying the situation on the bloc's borders. The report found that migrants and refugees were often subject…

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Europol reports on migrant smuggling, human trafficking challenges and digital adaptation.

The new report by Europol’s European Migrant Smuggling Centre (EMSC) looks into the latest developments and main threats in migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings, based on the most…

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Risks multiply for Mediterranean-bound migrants, UN study shows

More migrants and refugees are embarking on dangerous journeys across Africa towards the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea where they face growing risk of abuse such as kidnapping and…

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US expels more than 100 Chinese migrants in rare mass deportation

The US has sent back 116 Chinese migrants in the first such “large charter flight” in five years, the Department of Homeland Security has said. “We will continue to enforce…

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Australia doubles foreign student visa fee in migration crackdown

Australia said on Monday it had more than doubled the visa fee for international students, the latest move by the government to rein in record migration that has intensified pressure…

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UK migrant boat crossings hit 19-month high

More than 800 asylum seekers arrived in Britain via small boats on Tuesday, the highest single-day figure since late 2022, adding to pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of…

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Finnish law to halt migrants at Russia border makes progress in parliament

A Finnish government proposal to temporarily reject asylum seekers arriving across the country's border with Russia can be accepted by parliament if some amendments are made, an influential committee of…

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Biden to give legal status to undocumented spouses

President Joe Biden is set to announce a new policy that would protect hundreds of thousands of undocumented spouses of US citizens from deportation, according to administration officials. The action…

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Migrant shipwrecks off Italy leave 11 dead, more than 60 missing

Eleven people died and more than 60 were missing, including 26 children, following two migrant shipwrecks off Italy's southern shores, aid groups, coastguard officials and U.N. agencies said. German aid…

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How does Italy’s migration deal with Albania work?

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Albania on Wednesday, where her government plans to build reception camps to house thousands of migrants picked up at sea. Looking to curb migration…

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Starmer vs Sunak: How Britain’s parties are addressing immigration concerns

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is promising to cut immigration levels if his Conservative Party wins next month's election, making the issue one of the major battlegrounds of the upcoming…

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Scholz vows to toughen up German deportation rules after attacks

Germany will tighten its deportation rules so that the glorification of terrorist offences is grounds for deportation, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday after a series of attacks prompted calls…

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Italy’s Meloni blames organised crime for ‘alarming’ migrant visa fraud

Criminal gangs are exploiting loopholes in Italy's legal visa system for foreign workers to smuggle in illegal immigrants, a problem the anti-Mafia prosecutor should investigate, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told…

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UPDATED: AfD politician injured in second attack in less than a week in Mannheim

A suspect was arrested after a local council candidate for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was attacked with a knife, police and prosecutors said on Wednesday. The attack on Tuesday…

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Biden imposes sweeping asylum ban at US-Mexico border

U.S. President Joe Biden instituted a broad asylum ban on migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, a major enforcement move in the run-up to November elections that will decide…

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Illegal migrant arrivals 60% down says Meloni

The Italian government has managed to get illegal migrant arrivals down by 60% this year with respect to the same period last year, Premier Giorgia Meloni told the cabinet Tuesday."The…

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Vatican to EU election voters: don’t dehumanise migrants

The Vatican's point man on migration and social justice on Monday urged EU citizens who might be tempted to vote for far-right parties in this week's European Parliament elections to…

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Syrians in Lebanon fear unprecedented restrictions, deportations

The soldiers came before daybreak, singling out the Syrian men without residence permits from the tattered camp in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. As toddlers wailed around them, Mona, a Syrian refugee…

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Influx of Syrians pushes German naturalisations to record level

Germany granted citizenship to a record number of people last year, due largely to a jump in the number of Syrians who qualified for a passport after fleeing their country…

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Finland calls for EU-wide solutions to prevent migrant flow from Russia

Finland wants the European Union to find common measures to prevent what it calls instrumentalised migration, meaning a flow of migrants arriving from Russia without valid travel documents, Prime Minister…

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Finland to present plan to push back migrants on Russian border

Finland will propose a law next week allowing border agents to block asylum seekers trying to enter from Russia, the prime minister said, a decision that could cause Helsinki to…

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EU agrees on a new migration pact

European Union nations endorsed sweeping reforms to the bloc’s failed asylum system on Tuesday as campaigning for Europe-wide elections next month gathers pace, with migration expected to be an important…

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Italy bans NGO planes from using airports close to migrant routes

Italy announced that planes used by charities to track migrant boats in difficulty would no longer be able to fly from airports on the islands of Sicily, Pantelleria and Lampedusa…

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UK begins detaining migrants set to be deported to Rwanda

British authorities have started to detain migrants in preparation for them to be sent to Rwanda in the next nine to 11 weeks, the government said, laying the groundwork for…

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Rights concerns, costs undermine Turkey-EU migrant deal

Turkey's poor human rights record and economic factors are undermining the effectiveness of the European Union's migration deal with Ankara, EU auditors said on Wednesday. Under the 2016 deal, Ankara…

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What is UK’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda?

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised on Monday to start sending asylum seekers to Rwanda within 10 to 12 weeks after parliament passed much-delayed legislation to facilitate the deportation of…

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UK’s Sunak says nothing will stop Rwanda policy; migrants die in channel

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed that nothing would prevent him from sending asylum seekers to Rwanda after parliament finally approved the divisive policy that is designed to deter migrants…

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491 dead and missing in central Med in 2024 – IOM

There have been 167 migrants dead and 324 missing in the central Mediterranean since the beginning of the year, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Libya reported in its…

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Slovakia will not implement new EU migration rules

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico refused to implement the European Union's new migration system in his country, a sign that tensions around the matter are set to remain high despite…

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UNHCR warns Sudanese refugees may head to Europe if aid not provided

The United Nations refugee chief said on Friday that Sudanese refugees could be making their way to Europe if humanitarian aid was not adequately provided to the people of the…

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Little girl among nine migrants that drowned in Malta’s SAR area

Nine migrants including a little girl died in waters within Malta's search and rescue zone on Wednesday while another 22 were rescued, the Italian Coast Guard said. It said that…

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Poland won’t accept migrant relocation mechanism, PM says

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland will not accept a European Union immigrant relocation mechanism despite the European Parliament's approval of legislation meant to curb migration into the continent. European…

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New Zealand tightens visa rules amid near record migration

New Zealand said that it was making immediate changes to its employment visa program after a near record migration last year which it said was "unsustainable". The changes include measures…

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Cyprus demands Lebanon control migrant flows

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides will head to Lebanon on Monday for talks on migration after the Mediterranean island declared a crisis on refugee flows. “We are indeed in a crisis,…

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UPDATED: Cyprus seeks EU help to curb surge of Syrian refugees from Lebanon

NICOSIA, April 3 (Reuters) - Cyprus appealed on Wednesday for vigorous action from the EU to stem a recent tide of mostly Syrian refugees arriving by sea via Lebanon, saying…

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Migrant crossings to UK hit new record

More than 4,600 asylum seekers have arrived in Britain on small boats so far in 2024, a record total for the first three months of the year and giving Prime…

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EU to provide $178 mln for Tunisian security forces to curb migration

(Reuters) - The European Union plans to provide up to 164.5 million euros ($177.74 million) over three years to Tunisian security forces, the Financial Times reported. Brussels pledged 105 million…

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