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.
According to the Turkish government, some 6,000 migrants waiting at the Turkish-Greek border to cross into the European Union were sent to cities inside the country. The move is reportedly one of several measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Dunja Mijatovic, the human rights commissioner of the Council of Europe, has asked member states to release as many people as possible from detention centers for migrants amid the coronavirus emergency. She says that these facilities "provide poor opportunities for social distancing and other measures to protect against Covid-19 infection."
Oxfam is accusing Greece of using the coronavirus as a pretext to suspend the asylum procedures. Numerous other organizations, including the Greek Refugee Council, have called on the Greek government to do more to protect migrants and refugees on the Greek Aegean islands from Covid-19.
As the coronavirus continues to spread worldwide, calls are growing for more to be done for vulnerable migrants and refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people have signed petitions and open letters demanding the urgent evacuation of migrant camps on the Greek islands.
The EU Commission stated on Tuesday that it was working with the Greek authorities on an emergency plan to prepare for a potential outbreak of coronavirus in the overfilled migrant camps on the Greek islands.
In Greece, thousands of refugees and asylum seekers have been waiting for months, or even years, to be integrated in Greek society or to be allowed to move on to another European country. Some are starting to lose hope. At the Malakasa migrant camp near Athens, more than 1,600 people are struggling to keep themselves occupied.
The civil liberties commission of the European Parliament has called on the EU to take immediate action to prevent an outbreak of Covid-19 among refugees and migrants in the overcrowded camps on the Greek islands.
Cruises across Europe have been suspended because of the coronavirus emergency. Migrant sea rescue organization Sea-Watch wants the empty cruise ships to be used to evacuate migrants from the Greek islands.
Greek authorities have denied at least 625 people who arrived on the island of Lesbos between March 1 and 18 the right to seek asylum, the organization Human Rights Watch claims.
The head of Europe's border agency Frontex has said that even with the coronavirus crisis, the pressure on Europe's borders will "remain high." His statement comes as the Greek authorities reported more unrest at its border with Turkey and a UN official criticized Greece for refusing to let people through.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has urged countries not to "close avenues to asylum" as part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus. He is worried that some countries could completely block the right to seek asylum.