aegean sea

• Turkey
• Greece

Urging the EU to push Turkey to stick to its obligations under a 2016 refugee deal, Greece has requested the immediate return to Turkey of almost 2.000 migrants living in camps on the Greek Aegean Islands. Turkey continues to refuse to take back rejected asylum seekers.

• Greece

The non-governmental organization Aegean Boat Report has vehemently rejected accusations by Greek police that its members, along with those of other organizations, are involved in facilitating the illegal transfer of refugees and migrants to the Greek islands or that it was involved in espionage.

• Turkey
• Greece

Three months ago, 28-year-old Stephanie* flew from Kinshasa to Istanbul to join her husband. To reach Europe, the young woman took a boat from Turkey. She said that her boat was turned back by the Greek coast guard, and that she and the other migrants were threatened with guns. This is her story.

• Greece

The Greek government has said that construction of the camp intended to replace the temporary Mavrovouni camp on the Greek island of Lesbos still isn't underway, despite promises to have it up and running by September.

• Greece

The Council of Europe has expressed its wish that Greece investigate further the allegations of pushbacks and ill-treatment of migrants in the Aegean in an open letter. The Greek government in the meantime accuses some NGOs of working with smugglers in the area.

• Turkey
• Greece

Greece has accused Turkey of trying to help migrant boats in the Aegean Sea to reach Europe. The Greek coast guard claimed that in one incident, two Turkish patrol vessels "tried to push" a migrant dinghy into Greek territory.

• Greece

The Greek island of Lesbos has become a symbol of Europe's failed refugee policies. European ideals are falling by the wayside in the refugee camps, but there are few alternatives elsewhere. Florian Schmitz reports.

• Syria
• Croatia
• Bosnia & Herzegovina

The UN refugee agency UNHCR says it has observed "several hundred cases" of suspected pushbacks in the Aegean Sea since the beginning of last year. It is stepping up pressure on Greece to investigate the reports.

• Greece

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has announced that the destroyed Moria migrant camp on Lesbos will not be rebuilt. A new structure elsewhere on the island will reportedly replace the temporary Kara Tepe camp.

• Greece

The Kara Tepe camp for displaced people on the Greek island of Lesbos is ill-suited for the harsh winter conditions. Aid agencies are sounding the alarm about catastrophic conditions there.

• Turkey
• Greece

The Greek migration minister Notis Mitarakis has once again denied claims that Greece is pushing migrants back to Turkey. He called the allegations "fake news," and said the claims were part of a strategy propagated by Turkey.

• Turkey
• Greece

Beatings, threats and abandoning people at sea: According to human rights group Mare Liberum, the violence against migrants at the hands of European border guards has "reached an entirely" new dimension. In a new report, the organization documented close to 10,000 pushbacks in 2020.