Europe is facing 'no burning crisis' of people crossing its external borders, according to the EU’s border and coastguard agency, Frontex. But despite a drop in arrivals, the agency says stronger border controls are needed.
Western countries took in less than five percent of refugees needing to be resettled from poorer regions last year, despite record numbers of displaced people around the world. Fewer than 56,000 refugees were given new homes in 2018 under the UN’s resettlement program, a decline from previous years.
The Sea Watch 3, a non-profit search and rescue ship, remains in Catania port in Sicily after Dutch authorities decided last week that it needed maintenance. The ship had been allowed to enter port only after being stranded at sea for ten days with 47 migrants on board. InfoMigrants spoke to Kim Heaton-Heather, who was responsible for the search-and-rescue operations on the ship's last two missions. He thinks the move to keep the Sea Watch 3 docked in Sicily is a reflection of a growing anti-immigrant feeling in Europe.
'Travel now, pay later' schemes offered by smugglers seem to be increasing the risks to migrants and refugees, especially in parts of Africa. One of the dangers is being kidnapped for ransom, a business that thrives in lawless regions and traps migrants with no way out.
In 2015, more than a million people fled to Europe, making it a record year for migration. But a lot has changed since then. As 2019 gets underway, fewer and fewer people are attempting to get to Europe by irregular means.
Asylum seekers from Turkey have much higher levels of education than the average among migrants in Germany. More than 10,600 Turkish nationals applied for asylum in Germany in 2018 – nearly half of them said they already had university degrees.
More than 16,000 migrants were returned home from Libya in 2018 under a voluntary return program run by the UN's migration agency, the IOM. Many of them had tried - and failed - to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
More than 1,000 Ghanaians have been assisted to return home under a program run by the UN migration agency IOM since 2017. The IOM says it offers people the chance to go home 'with dignity', as well as helping them to reintegrate.
The civilian rescue vessel Sea Watch 3, which was detained in Italy on Friday, is the latest of such boats to stop operations in the central Mediterranean. Now, only the Libyan Coast Guard is able to save migrants risking their lives at sea in an attempt to reach Europe from North Africa.
Refugees and other migrants hardly ever choose a destination country based on their understanding of the asylum system or migration policies there, or how much financial support they would get. Instead, family, friends and people smugglers, plus a fair amount of chance, are what determine a migrant’s destination.
Figures seen by DW show how many people were caught by the German Federal Police after they entered the country irregularly between January and November 2018. The total number is probably higher.
An Australian singer-songwriter, Amy Shark, says two people were discovered hiding in the luggage compartment of her tour bus traveling from Brussels. The pair were reportedly migrants trying to reach Britain.