A group of activists from Switzerland visited western Bosnia in late December to provide assistance to thousands of refugees and migrants trying to enter the EU-member state Croatia from there. The conditions they live in in Bosnia are far from good, says activist Stefan Dietrich.
Arbitrary arrests and expulsions of migrants have risen to a historic high in Algeria, Amnesty International says. The human rights organization has called on Algerian authorities to comply with international conventions.
A report by a UK government immigration watchdog has revealed that many properties for asylum seekers are dirty, damp and infested with vermin. Inspectors also found that much accommodation is unsuitable, putting vulnerable migrants under further strain.
Libyan authorities have forcibly removed more than 79 migrants who had refused to leave a container ship that had rescued them at sea and taken them to a port east of Tripoli. Human rights organizations have expressed serious concern about Libya's actions.
The Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights has said that Italy's security and migration decree is a step back for the protection of migrants.
A UN team has been denied permission by the Hungarian government to visit transit zones housing migrants and asylum seekers. The experts had been in the country on Budapest's invitation.
Amnesty International has accused the EU's "cruel" migration policies of leaving refugees ''trapped'' in Libya, at risk of abuse in detention centers and "with no way out."
UNHCR has launched another warning about deteriorating living conditions of migrants on the Greek islands Samos and Lesbos, calling them ''abhorrent''.
The horrifying stories that migrants have shared with workers of the Federation of Evangelical Churches of Italy (FCEI) on the island of Lampedusa prove that the situation in Libya remains dangerous. Violence, rape and abductions continue to make Libya a dangerous transit country for migrants and refugees.
The recent wave of mass migrant deaths in the Mediterranean shows no signs of slowing, with more than 176 migrant victims and 273 missing this year alone off the coast of Spain, reported Spanish NGO APDHA. A newborn was amongst the victims of the most recent two shipwrecks last week, reported APDHA.
As EU leaders discussed migration at the European Parliament in Brussels on Thursday, migrants and refugees themselves gathered next door to discuss their challenges at a first refugee and migrant summit at EU level.
Amnesty International has decried the "systematic violations" of the rights refugees and migrants on the French-Italian border after conducting an observation mission on October 12-13. The mission was in the Briancon area of the French Alps, not far from the Italian village Claviere, the focus of recent polemics connected with the crossing of the border by French gendarmie.