To combat the coronavirus pandemic, many European countries have gone into lockdown. People can no longer move around freely, and many administrative services have been significantly reduced. How is this affecting asylum seekers in Italy, Germany and other countries across Europe? InfoMigrants asked its Facebook users.
Several migrant aid groups have called for the immediate release of around 900 migrants who are currently being held in French detention centers. Conditions in the facilities are completely at odds with the government’s new guidelines to try to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus, the groups said in a statement.
The Italian interior ministry has said that pushbacks of migrants at the French border have been "in sharp decline in recent days." This comes after the mayor of an Italian border town claimed that French officers were bringing migrants back to the Italian border, despite the coronavirus emergency.
Due to the nationwide lockdown in France, some administrative services are suspended and some exceptional measures have been put in place. InfoMigrants takes a look at services dealing with the rights of foreigners.
Aid organizations are concerned that migrants living in informal camps in France are the great forgotten ones in the country's measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The French government imposed a nationwide 15-day lockdown on Tuesday.
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 EU has also offered migrants on the Greek islands money for a voluntary return to their home country. Some 5,000 refugees, currently housed in overflowing camps, could take up the €2,000 offer.
Members and supporters of German far-right groups have been involved in clashes with demonstrators on the Greek island of Lesbos. The right-wing activists have traveled to Greece, they say, to show solidarity with islanders and defend Europe's borders against migrants.
The community center in the French village of Cloître-Saint-Thégonnec in Brittany serves as an “alternative school” for migrants and asylum seekers. The students at the center learn everything from French, mathematics and science to the local Celtic language, Breton. The classes, which are offered by volunteers, help the migrants integrate into French society. InfoMigrants went to visit.
The novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 disease, is a global challenge that requires responsible action on the part of each individual. Every single citizen, but also companies, institutions and organizations can take measures to protect themselves from the virus and be prepared for a pandemic.
They come from all over the world and have recently arrived in Europe in search of a better life. On the road to exile, some have found love, others have just missed it. Some say they were able to overcome a daily reality of hunger, beatings and humiliations with the help of their loved one. Others discovered that their relationships exacerbated the pain of leaving home. InfoMigrants met some of them. This is the story of Nahid, a young Afghan woman who, while already on the route to exile, discovered that her husband was a very violent man. After living through daily beatings, even while pregnant, and running the risk of being killed if she returned to Afghanistan, Nahid finally broke free and started a new life. On her own.
They come from all over the world and have recently arrived in Europe in search of a better life. On the road to exile, some have found love, others have just missed it. Some say they were able to overcome a daily reality of hunger, beatings and humiliations with the help of their loved one. Others discovered that their relationships exacerbated the pain of leaving home. InfoMigrants met some of them. "Her story, his story" tells the story of two young Syrians who, for years, traveled to the same places and knew the same people, but never actually met each other -- until one fateful day.