As the lockdown continues across the UK, charities and organizations that help migrants are feeling the pinch. InfoMigrants caught up with one of them, which has been forced to close down its cookery lessons.
52 charities signed an open letter to council leaders all over England to demand "urgent steps […] to protect and support vulnerable migrants" during the Covid-19 pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of migrants could be at risk of starvation, they say, as support networks are suspended during the lockdown.
The EU Commission stated on Tuesday that it was working with the Greek authorities on an emergency plan to prepare for a potential outbreak of coronavirus in the overfilled migrant camps on the Greek islands.
The head of Europe's border agency Frontex has said that even with the coronavirus crisis, the pressure on Europe's borders will "remain high." His statement comes as the Greek authorities reported more unrest at its border with Turkey and a UN official criticized Greece for refusing to let people through.
Belgium could do better in its treatment of migrants without papers, a new report by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) finds. In some migrant services, though, the country has made progress since the last report in 2013.
On March 18, the Turkish government announced that it would be closing its borders with EU countries Greece and Bulgaria. The reason: The Covid-19 pandemic. The announcement came a day after talks between some EU leaders and the Turkish president, where more help was promised for Turkey to support migrants and refugees.
Many European countries have introduced states of emergency in order to deal with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. In many countries that has affected migrant, asylum and refugee services too. Here is our rundown of changes in Greece, Italy, Germany and France.
The Norwegian Refugee Council has warned that the coronavirus could decimate refugee communities around the world if more measures are not put in place to tackle the issue for these vulnerable groups.
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?
Over 400 migrants have been picked up by the Libyan coast guard and returned to Libya over the weekend. That’s according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which called the action “unacceptable.”
Around 440 migrants who were being held on a Greek naval vessel off Lesbos have been transferred to a detention facility on the Greek mainland. Various news agencies have reported they will be held at the center, north of Athens, ahead of being returned to Turkey.
The international newspaper The New York Times published a report on March 10 in which it accused the Greek government of detaining migrants at a “secret extrajudicial location before expelling them to Turkey without due process.” The Greek government dismissed the claims.