The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against Italy for the "inhuman and degrading treatment" of a young Gambian migrant who was treated by authorities as adult and placed in a shelter for adults, despite having informed them he was a minor.
Frontex is losing credibility following further allegations it was involved in pushbacks. Now, the private sea rescue organization Sea-Watch is alleging that the European border agency is implicated in so-called pullbacks near Malta as well, launching legal proceedings at the EU Court in Luxembourg.
The foreign minister of Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn, has urged the European Union to accept quotas of refugees from Afghanistan. But some EU countries, including Austria, say Afghans fleeing the Taliban takeover should not be offered protection in Europe.
The European Court of Justice has ruled that unaccompanied minors may only be sent back to their country of origin if there were "adequate reception facilities." Otherwise, the court said, they should be allowed to stay.
The European Union’s smallest state, Luxembourg, is the first EU member state to deliver on its promise to transfer unaccompanied migrant children from overcrowded camps in Greece. Germany is expected to follow suit on Saturday.
A number of EU member states want to take in refugee children stuck in Greece. However, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn now says the coronavirus pandemic has made that impossible.
On Friday a group of seven EU states announced they would take in some of the most vulnerable migrants, mostly children, from Greece. The lists are still being finalized, as are the number of countries willing to participate. InfoMigrants asked some international organizations: How it is decided who goes on the list?
The European Court of Justice issued a new ruling on November 12. They declared that the withdrawal of vital living standards, including food and shelter, cannot be applied as a form of punishment against asylum seekers in reception centers and accommodation, even those who violate laws and social conventions.
Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said that thus far this year, there have been 5,044 forced repatriations of migrants who did not have the right to stay in Italy. she added that more than 200 voluntary returns had also taken place.
More than two-thirds of the 182 migrants disembarked in Italy from the Ocean Viking rescue ship are to be relocated to other EU countries. The Italian Catholic Church has confirmed it will take responsibility for the largest number.
France and Italy have agreed on a new system to distribute migrants across the European Union. It comes ahead of an interior ministers meeting in Malta next week.
The charity rescue vessel Ocean Viking was allowed to disembark the 82 remaining migrants on board on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa. The boat, which is run by the SOS Mediterranee charity and MSF, says it is now ready to embark on its next mission.