Eighteen associations promoting the health rights of migrants and refugees have appealed to European governments and to EMPs to change the model of large holding centers in the new European pact on migration and asylum. Large centers, they said in the recent appeal, "have devastating effects on the mental health of refugees and asylum seekers."
After nine migrants fled an asylum center in northwestern Italy, local politicians are calling on the Rome government to take "immediate measures to put an end to an emergency situation." They claim the migrants pose a "risk for public health and safety."
An attempted revolt and escape took place at a migrant repatriation center in Gradisca d'Isonzo, northeastern Italy. The incident occurred during the night between Friday and Saturday and ended in three arrests as well as serious damage to the facility.
A video about a policeman humiliating Tunisian migrants in Italy has sparked controversy after going viral. It shows a police officer slapping a migrant and forcing other refugees to slap each other as "punishment" for having tried to escape from a migrant reception center. The incident led to the police officer being placed under investigation for abuse of correction methods.
Two centers for asylum seekers in Mainz and Regensburg have reported scores of new COVID-19 cases -- even though the number of new infections in Germany overall has decreased. Researchers warn that the virus can spread rapidly in asylum centers.
At least 70 people at a refugee home near Bonn have tested positive for COVID-19. News of the outbreak prompted calls for better protection for asylum-seekers and more testing at the often crowded facilities.
Refugee rights organizations in Germany say people in asylum seeker accommodation centers are in grave danger from coronavirus and have called for them to be shut down. Migrants who were quarantined in one center are being made to wear wristbands in public.
A pregnant woman appealed to be released from the shelter, saying it was impossible to socially distance in the crowded facility. The court in Münster agreed — criticizing the double standard in rules at refugee homes.
COVID-19 is spreading in Germany's refugee homes and lockdown measures are causing havoc among people who are already traumatized. The authorities are still looking for ways to resolve the crisis.
Migrants should be housed in reception centers even if they no longer meet the requirements for housing, the Italian interior ministry said in a circular sent to prefects amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In the Netherlands, migrant children are finding ways to cope with "the new normal" under virus containment measures. Together with a local non-profit group they have come up with some creative solutions.
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.