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.
In the early hours of Tuesday, German media reported that 56 migrants were left by the side of the motorway in snowy south-eastern Germany, not far from the Czech border.
In the latest discovery of migrant smuggling in Europe, police in the Czech Republic found 48 people inside a Turkish truck. The migrants reportedly said they were from Syria and on their way to Germany and the Netherlands.
The European Union looks poised to find broad political agreement on a new EU migration pact. German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said that the 27 member states might be able to adopt the new legislation before the end of the year.
Hungary's Viktor Orban, Poland's Mateusz Morawiecki and the Czech Republic's Andrej Babis shot down the EU's planned migration reform ahead of scheduled talks. The Visegrad group rejects asylum seeker quotas.
The European Court of Justice has ruled that Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic acted against EU law when they rebuffed a migrant distribution deal as displaced people arrived to the bloc en masse in 2015.
Saed, which is not his real name, is only 25 but in some ways he looks much older. He left Syria in 2015 because he could no longer live under Assad’s regime and wanted to find a place where he could be free and state his own opinions without fear. When he arrived in Dresden he ended up homeless for a few nights, but today he shares a house with Germans and has just begun studying once again at university. In addition he leads tours of the city for school pupils with the organization Querstadtein.
Czech PM and billionaire businessman Andrej Babis has for years stoked anti-migrant sentiment in his country. But many foreigners, who came to the Czech Republic under dubious circumstances, work for his companies.
Czech leader Andrej Babis said his country might follow the lead of Austria, the US, and Hungary. Meanwhile, the EU expressed its disappointment in Vienna for withdrawing after playing a key role in the negotiations.
The Czech Prime Minister, Andrej Babis, says his country will not accept one single refugee, and neither should the rest of the European Union.
Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have called for the EU's border management agency to be strengthened. The Visegrad Group has pushed for tough policies on irregular migration to the EU.
In many EU countries, right-wing populists are reaping the benefits of the unsolved migration problems. A European solution is becoming increasingly difficult, and countries are starting to go it alone.