Four years ago, Amadou Diallo arrived in Greece as a 16-year-old unaccompanied child from Guinea. Since arriving he has fought hard for his education and the right to asylum. Finally, at the end of July, after several failed attempts he was granted not only the right to asylum in Greece but with it, the path to take up a university scholarship in Paris.
Migrants and refugees in the EU can apply to reunite with their children and bring them to Europe if the children are minors. But what if they reach majority during the proceedings? They can still be reunited with their parents, because what matters is the age they were when the application was filed, the European Court of Justice has ruled.
Unaccompanied minors made up 7% of all asylum applications in 2019, according to the EU's statistics office, Eurostat. The number, however, is about 20% down from applications filed the previous year.
Spanish authorities are searching for migrants on three boats missing in the Atlantic Ocean. Another boat capsized on Tuesday en route to the Canary Islands. 14 people, including two children, reportedly died.
In the last few months, Morocco has ramped up arrests and clamped down on migration across its borders to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Now migrants still hoping to cross the border in order to reach the EU prefer to keep themselves hidden.
Solitude, too much time to kill and a need for money: All these factors make sports bets or gambling tempting for asylum seekers. We investigated the phenomenon in Germany, an Eldorado for slot machines and sports betting shops.
In the city of Mamou, in the central Guinean highlands, there’s not a single neighborhood that hasn’t been plagued by the massive youth departures for Europe. Although both authorities and NGOs are working hard to warn of the dangers involved in hitting the migrant trail, the departures continue.
The Guinean region of Mamou has long seen its young people leave to seek their luck in the bigger cities. But things have gotten particularly bad in the last five years due to the mass exodus to Europe. We visited Dara, a village where elders have to split the heavy farming workload between themselves to survive.
Eight migrants have been rescued from a lorry near the border crossing in Ventimiglia. The migrants, who were from several African countries, had been having trouble breathing and were unable to open the truck from inside.
Many girls and women in Africa suffer from the effects of female genital mutilation (FGM), although it is banned in several countries. Doctors on the ground and in Germany provide medical and psychological help.
Two young migrants in Italy are training for triathlon contests with the help of a project supported by the Tuscan region to promote social inclusion and employment through sport.
Camara, Diawara, Yassin and Farid were all born in countries where homosexuality considered shameful, taboo and sometimes even a crime. Camara is from Mali, Diawara from Guinea and Yassin and Farid are from Morocco. When their secret was discovered, all four of them fled their home countries-- afraid of ending up in prison and terrified about what their friends, family and neighbors might do to them. Today, these four are all seeking asylum in France. InfoMigrants met them through Le Refuge, an organization that helps LGBT people who find themselves isolated. Le Refuge is providing these four men with a roof over their heads and psychological support while their asylum claims are being processed.