The full extent of the destruction in the wake of the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria this week is only beginning to emerge, as the overall death toll nears 20,000. Displaced populations and refugees appear to be disproportionately affected by the tragedy.
The number of cases of church asylum has been on the rise in Berlin in recent months. The German capital has a long history of hosting people seeking protection in churches.
Across the Middle East, hundreds of people have been deciding to embark on dangerous journeys at sea to seek better opportunities. Some are trying to escape the Syrian war, others from economic hardship in Lebanon, and some want to overcome the legacy of decades of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians – only to meet their death.
Jihad Michlawi is a Palestinian who had been working in Lebanon. He was one of around 150 people who recently boarded a boat from Tripoli, Lebanon, to make it to Europe. En route, the boat capsized and at least 100 people died. Michlawi survived and told his story to the news agency Associated Press.
The fate of around 60 Lebanese and Syrian migrants on a sinking fishing boat in the Mediterranean is unknown after contact was lost on Monday. They had reported running out of food and water, and that two young children on board had died.
Survivors and families of the victims of migrant boat that sank off the coast of Lebanon have filed a lawsuit accusing the military of detaining two missing survivors.
Despite staunch opposition from the UN and rights organizations, Lebanon has announced it intends to start repatriating tens of thousands of Syrian refugees within the next few months. The plan will entail sending back 15,000 Syrian refugees each month.
Lebanese military personnel have reportedly arrested 64 migrants during an attempt to sail to Europe from the north of the country. More people are seeking to leave the small Middle Eastern country to look for a better life in Europe.
In 2020, a monk in Germany decided to take in a rejected asylum seeker from the Palestinian Territories who was facing deportation. For years, the legality of such an interpretation of church asylum remained unclear. Now, for the first time ever in Germany, there is a final ruling on this kind of case, which could serve as a legal precedent for future trials.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR has urged governments around the world to do more to help stateless persons on the seventh anniversary of their #IBelong campaign.
Eleven people, including a baby, were found hiding in a freight train traveling from Italy to northern Germany on Sunday. Police said the stowaways were Turkish and Palestinian nationals.
German authorities were unable to establish the origins of more than 470 people seeking asylum last year. Meanwhile, fewer rejected asylum seekers have been deported due to the pandemic.