Will you be sent back to Italy if you had your fingerprints taken there, but then applied for asylum in another EU country? What happens if you are to be deported under Dublin but you refuse? We put these questions and more to a number of experts, including German lawyer Albert Sommerfeld.
The number of migrants seeking to enter the EU tripled in May compared to the previous month. It's a sign traffic along Europe's migration routes is picking up again after a lull brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Human rights organization Amnesty International is accusing the Croatian border police of an unprecedented degree of brutality in their treatment of migrants. The NGO referred to personal accounts of six Pakistanis and Afghans as well as statements by attending physicians.
In recent months there have been increasing reports, from humanitarian organizations and migrants themselves, about the mistreatment of migrants and refugees in Bosnia and Croatia. Now organizations like CARE International are calling on the international community to act.
Bosnian authorities on Wednesday said they arrested eight people suspected of migrant trafficking and prevented the smuggling of 45 migrants into the European Union.
As the COVID-19 outbreak continues, the security minister of Bosnia-Herzegovina suggested that migrants should be deported from the country. He alleged that refugees and migrants posed an economic burden amid the pandemic — as well as a security threat. The mood against migrants in Bosnia is beginning to turn sour.
Slovenia will reinforce its border with Croatia and by putting up more fencing to stem the number of illegal crossings, the interior ministry said on Tuesday. Since 2015, Slovenia has erected about 196 kilometers of fencing along its 670-kilometer-long border with its eastern neighbour.
Croatia announced its willingness to accommodate unaccompanied minors "who are currently living in an inhumane situation in Greek refugee camps." North Macedonia and Serbia, meanwhile, said they are ready to close their borders.
Bosnia-Herzegovina announced that it may send soldiers to its borders to block a new influx of migrants into the country following the crisis between Turkey and Greece. Meanwhile, Serbia said it will continue to express solidarity with migrants but will also defend its borders. Croatia emphasized it will not tolerate illegal crossings.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has warned that the migration crisis between Turkey and Greece could lead to an increase in migrant flows and Bosnia could have to deal with up to 10,000 arrivals a day.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Spain was not in violation of European law when it returned two migrants to Morocco who, along with several dozen others, had scaled the border fence at the Spanish enclave of Melilla in northwest Africa in 2014.
In recent presidential elections in Croatia, the powerful right-wing lost to the social democrats, led by Zoran Milanovic. However, the political turnaround will have little impact on migration policy in the short term. Here’s why.