Around a week after France announced increased controls for migrants at the border with Italy, French police and civil volunteers have started checking trains near the Italian town of Ventimiglia.
The French authorities rescued 61 migrants on Tuesday. At least 30 of them had to be plucked from the water after spending about 25 minutes in the sea.
In recent years, the number of Tunisians attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Italy have increased. Many hope to find work and a better life in Italy, but some might also be fleeing problems. However, as citizens of a classified ‘safe country,’ finding ways to stay in Italy can be difficult for them.
The organization Human Rights Watch has released a report in which it documents at least 11 incidents of sexual violence between 2016 and 2022 committed against refugee and asylum-seeking women and girls in Egypt. According to HRW, three of the rapes resulted in pregnancy, and all of the women experienced "severe physical effects."
Albert Kalenda Kabongo is originally from Congo. He now lives in Sicily and works as a cultural mediator for the Sicilian region. He has also just been chosen as one of a handful of migrant entrepreneurs who will be backed by the region to start their own business.
Greek authorities said Tuesday that a search and rescue operation was underway in rough waters off the island of Crete. They are reportedly looking for as many as 500 migrants.
At least four people have been confirmed dead, up to three are reported missing and seven migrants were rescued after their boat ran into trouble between Algeria and the Italian island of Sardinia on Sunday, authorities said.
More than 10,000 unaccompanied minors have already arrived in Italy by boat since the beginning of 2022. At least 30% reside in Sicily, and are looked after by various projects until they become adults. InfoMigrants visited two such projects in Palermo.
More than half the minors who disembarked from the Ocean Viking ship on November 11 in the French port of Toulon are reported to have left the protective care in which they were placed.
Italy's interior minister made some concillatory noises towards France but said that welcoming migrants 'had its limits' and that what was needed was a "new European policy." On Thursday, Italian police issued 18 arrest warrants against an alleged smuggling ring between Tunisia and Sicily.
Reports suggest that four people died and two are still missing after an inflatable boat carrying migrants sank shortly after departing Tunisia for Europe.
A Bangladeshi man, suspected of migrant smuggling and human trafficking, has been arrested in Bangladesh. The man is accused of smuggling Bangladeshis to Europe through Libya.