Germany's asylum office has moved away from its restrictive practice against church asylum. The introduced changes pertain to the time limits within which responsibility for an asylum seeker would move to Germany from other EU countries. The obstacles to church asylum had previously been so high that help for hardship cases was made nearly impossible.
Last month, the appeals court for the Administrative Court of Bordeaux granted the status of "sick foreigner" to a Bangladeshi suffering from a respiratory disease, taking into account the air pollution in his country of origin. The decision was a first in France.
Refugees and migrants in Greece trying to reach western Europe have accused EU border protection agency Frontex of taking part in illegal deportations known as "pushbacks." DW reports.
The rights of a 10-year-old boy were denied when the Netherlands failed to acknowledge that he was stateless and eligible for international protection, a UN committee has found. It is the first such decision on the right of children to acquire nationality.
2020 has been a difficult year for many people the world over. A global health pandemic, economic problems and even more people displaced than before were just some of the challenges we all faced. But to try and spread a bit of cheer as the year comes to a close, InfoMigrants decided to look back at some of the positives that people who work with migrants found in this most challenging of years.
The risk of COVID-19 in their country of origin can be considered a reason to grant migrants humanitarian protection in Italy, a Milan court has ruled. Meanwhile, new data shows that more than 34,000 migrants and refugees arrived on Italian shores in 2020.
A Syrian who received subsidiary protection but not asylum had filed a lawsuit against German authorities. The European Court of Justice found that fleeing military service in a violent regime could be seen as sufficient grounds for asylum.
The Dutch government is reassessing the cases of dozens of Ugandans who were granted asylum, after it uncovered a criminal network that helped them to fake their sexual orientation in order to claim protection.
Notis Mitarakis, the Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum, has told InfoMigrants about plans to get tougher on migration, with closed camps, new asylum laws and tighter border controls. But he denied allegations of migrant pushbacks, saying Greece has acted within the law.
In Belgium, 32-year-old Sammy Mahdi, the son of an Iraqi refugee, has just been appointed Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration. He said his goal is to increase deportations.
In Belgium, migrants have been strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic -- not only did they face difficulties in filing their asylum applications, the government has also imposed stricter regulations for accessing accommodation. Conditions for migrants have become extremely precarious, says the director of the NGO Ciré.
Austrian leader Sebastian Kurz has said that Europe took "completely the wrong turn" when it allowed in so many migrants five years ago. The chancellor said large numbers of migrants cause problems because they "change" the host societies.