Lies and intentionally misleading reports about migrants are becoming more widespread in Europe, with claims that they pose a COVID-19 infection risk among the latest examples. But according to a new study, tackling the flood of disinformation about migrants means more than simply pointing out false claims.
EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, speaking at Med Dialogues 2020 in Rome, highlighted that the new EU Pact on Migration "represents a new beginning" in which "the central element is to strengthen cooperation with our neighbors and with our partners."
Mawda Shawri was just two years old when she died in May 2018. The Kurdish toddler was in a van transporting her parents and other migrants towards the Belgian coast, in the hope they could make it to the UK. A policeman was charged with involuntary manslaughter in January this year -- today the trial begins.
The European Commission has announced a new plan to help countries better integrate migrants. The plan is aimed at fostering migrants' sense of belonging and fighting an 'us and them' narrative.
At a high-level conference on migration on November 19, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen underscored that Italy, Greece, and Spain are concerned that they do not have the capacity to deal with migration flows and that they need help from other European countries.
In Belgium, 32-year-old Sammy Mahdi, the son of an Iraqi refugee, has just been appointed Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration. He said his goal is to increase deportations.
The UN agencies IOM, UNHCR, and UNICEF said that over 1,000 asylum seekers have been transferred from Greece to other European countries through this year, with the EU initiative for relocations.
The Italian trade unions CGIL, CISL and UIL have criticized the proposal for a new pact on migration and asylum presented by the European Commission, underscoring that the initiative ''upholds the mainly security-based approach'' on migration.
In Belgium, migrants have been strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic -- not only did they face difficulties in filing their asylum applications, the government has also imposed stricter regulations for accessing accommodation. Conditions for migrants have become extremely precarious, says the director of the NGO Ciré.
A plan to fix migration polices with a system of "mandatory solidarity" by all states is likely to face heavy debate. New proposals include tougher border checks and new rules on deportation.
In a joint legal complaint, human rights organizations Oxfam and WeMove Europe have called on the European Commission to investigate what they say are "systematic breaches of EU law" by Greece in its treatment of asylum seekers.
In an interview with ANSA and other European media outlets, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson explained the new migration and asylum pact due to be unveiled on September 23, stressing that nobody will find ideal solutions but rather a well-balanced compromise that will ''improve the situation''.