A new migrant route has sprung up in the Balkans, and local governments are attempting to stem the flow. Governments in the region want to collaborate more in order to prevent another crisis.
The flow of refugees into Greece is rising again – not just on the Aegean islands, but mostly along the river Evros, Greece‘s border with Turkey. For many of the people who attempt the crossing, it becomes a deathtrap.
As Germany remembers the xenophobic attack in Solingen 25 years ago, it is reminded of the challenges of the present. Experts believe that the current political climate supports violence against foreigners, including refugees.
The EU Commission plans to pay for two-thirds of the second installment in its €6 billion fund for refugees in Turkey. The remaining €1 billion will have to come from individual member states.
A report by the Transnational Institute in collaboration with Dutch anti-arms trade organization Stop Wapenhandel said Europe "is making deadly agreements with dictators to stop refugees" and "has turned its back on an unconditional commitment to human rights, democracy, freedom and human dignity." The report said that in recent years, Europe has expanded "in a problematic way its own border externalization policies" which bring "advantages to the security industry but provoke highly damaging human and development costs."
The International Organization for Migration is launching a project to prepare Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey for resettlement in Europe. The Link It project funded by the EU hopes to overcome problems faced by migrants in integrating successfully in host countries.
A Greek media report says more than 1,650 people, most of them Syrians and Iraqis, crossed the river Evros from Turkey last month. In the same period last year, just 262 people made the journey.
A German media report says growing numbers of Syrian refugees are leaving Germany and returning to their families in Turkey. Having sacrificed so much to come to Europe, they are choosing to travel the same risky routes in reverse, for the sake of their loved ones.
Turkey has begun deporting Afghan migrants after thousands entered the country in recent weeks. Turkey is a common transit country for migrants trying to reach Europe.
The migrants who entered were mostly from Afghanistan. Local authorities are trying to stem the flow of migrants with a border wall and anti-trafficking centers.
Some 15 migrants have been reported missing after they called for help from the Evros river, at the border between Greece and Turkey, Greek authorities were quoted as saying by local media.
A clampdown on Europe's eastern borders and the Aegean Sea has forced migrants to seek different — and more dangerous — routes to the Continent. Hunters and fishermen find their bodies, reports Anthee Carassava.