Several years ago the numbers of refugees who came to Europe skyrocketed. It marked a turning point in politics across the European continent and gave a boost to right-wing parties who vowed to clamp down on asylum-seekers and other migrants. In Norway, a group is helping refugees bring their skills into the labor market and turn their experiences into innovative business ideas.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has compiled a list of ten challenges that young refugees face. These include things such as difficulty getting legal recognition and access to instruction, discrimination, difficulty in finding work, and a lack of safety and security.
Six of the 26 countries that make up part of the Schengen area - Denmark, France, Germany, Austria, Norway and Sweden - have reintroduced border controls.
When more than a million refugees and migrants flooded into Europe in 2015, several European countries set up border controls, suspending the Schengen system of open-border, passport-free travel. Almost three years on, the European Commission is calling for those border checks to be lifted.
A new UNICEF report titled revealed that countries in northern Europe, which are the world leader on children's rights, still aren't managing to provide full protection to asylum-seeking children. The report is titled :"Protected on Paper? An analysis of Nordic country responses to asylum-seeking children."
The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) said that in January 2018, there were 54,000 applications for international protection from the 28 member states of the European Union together with Norway and Switzerland (EU+) while 60,000 decisions were made regarding pending applications. Despite these figures, about 450,000 cases are still awaiting a decision.
Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous countries on the planet, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council. The West needs to rethink its policy towards the region, or risk the situation deteriorating even further.
A recent report by the Norwegian Refugee Council said that 72% of Afghan refugees who returned home were forced to flee again due to violence. The organization is calling on Europe to block repatriations of Afghan citizens.
One in two refugees who filed for asylum between 2015 and 2016 in Europe was still waiting for an answer at the end of last year, according to a study published by the Pew Research Center.
This is the story of Ramadan, who fled Ethiopia because he did not want to fight in the army any longer. For years, he has been wandering around Europe, looking for a place to settle. Now, he is building his future in Italy.
A group of Nigerians was arrested in Italy in a case of human trafficking and forced prostitution. Norway seeks full-face veil ban in schools and universities and the EU opens a legal case against Warsaw, Budapest, and Prague over migration. This and more in today's roundup.
The Norwegian government has proposed a ban on full face veils in schools and universities. The law would apply to students taking part in introductory programs and language courses for newly-arrived refugees.