A boat with 56 migrants on board was spotted off the coast of Cyprus on Sunday. The Cypriot authorities checked the documents of people on board at sea and then asked the group to return to Lebanon from where they had set off.
A Somali asylum seeker has been sentenced to 146 years in prison for human smuggling by a Greek court, according to the European Council on Refugees and Exiles. Other migrants defended the man in court, saying that he started steering their boat to save lives after a capsizing.
The IOM has confirmed that at least 17 migrants are believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean on Wednesday evening. Their ship, which is thought to have departed from Libya, got into difficulty off the Tunisian coast. Two women were rescued.
The Council of Europe has expressed its wish that Greece investigate further the allegations of pushbacks and ill-treatment of migrants in the Aegean in an open letter. The Greek government in the meantime accuses some NGOs of working with smugglers in the area.
After more than 2,000 migrants landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa over the weekend, various EU member states have reacted to the situation. Italy is calling once again for EU solidarity, but how would it be enacted and which member states will come forward to help?
A new report has placed a spotlight on the migrant smuggling business and other illicit activities running through the Western Balkans, including drugs and money laundering. The report estimates that the migrant smuggling business alone could be worth up to €50 million per year in the region.
About 1,000 people gathered outside the Danish parliament in Copenhagen on Wednesday to protest against the government’s plans to repatriate some Syrians who come from the area around the capital Damascus.
The last flight carrying recognized refugees from the Greek Islands landed in Germany on Thursday, April 22. On board were 103 people, including several children.
As Germany prepares to pull its military out of Afghanistan, the country’s defense minister says she could be prepared to offer protection to up to 520 Afghan translators and their families.
A total of 113 migrants on seven small boats arrived safely in the UK port of Dover on Monday. About 72 were stopped from crossing by the French authorities.
The Italian interior minister has met with Libyan leaders in Tripoli. Migration was at the top of the agenda as ministers from both countries “reaffirmed the importance of their bilateral relations.”
A new website in Germany in four languages has bundled together the projects and studies looking to improve the psychological health of refugees and migrants. The site www.mentalhealth4refugees.de shows seven projects where migrants might be able to access help.