A group of Eritrean asylum seekers have held a protest in Slovenia against asylum request procedures, which the community sees as unfair. They also demonstrated against the rejection of five asylum claims filed by Eritreans.
French authorities have hardened their policy of attrition against migrants in Calais, forbidding food distribution in most of the city center while police continue to evict migrants from their shelters every two days.
Nearly all decisions to grant migrants asylum in Germany were justified, officials found after reviewing some 62,000 claims, according to a newspaper report. Hundreds of officials work on reviewing old cases.
A media report that Hamburg footballer Bakary Jatta is playing under a false name has sparked investigations by the DFB (German FA) and city authorities. The report claims there are also doubts about Jatta's age.
Among the refugees who arrived at Rome airport from Lebanon were several children. This latest flight brings the total number of refugees welcomed through humanitarian corridors to more than 2,500.
The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR has launched a series of consultations to better protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) refugees. Consultations will take place over the next few months in different parts of the world.
Inhabitants of Fürstenfeldbruck, a refugee processing center near Munich, told DW of overcrowding, filth and bureaucratic limbo, leading to at least one suicide attempt. Bavarian officials say conditions are adequate.
Germany lacks skilled workers especially in the field of elderly care. Can refugees and asylum seekers access the vocational training necessary for the job and how does it work? InfoMigrants takes a look at the rules and regulations.
Faced with a declining demographics and wanting to portray itself as a "humanist" country, Portugal is open to attracting newcomers to its territory. To that end, the country actively participates in European resettlement programs and is favorably inclined toward requests to accept migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by humanitarian vessels. But it is also getting an increasing number of requests for "spontaneous" asylum, filed by people who arrived in Portugal by their own means. For these people, the course is often more complicated. InfoMigrants went to meet them in the reception center in Bobadela, a suburb of Lisbon.
Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, has voted in favor of declaring four additional countries "safe countries of origin." However, the Bundesrat, the upper house, still has to ratify the decision. The addition of Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Georgia to list of safe nations is not without controversy.
When Belgium signed up to the UN Migration pact in December, the Prime Minister said he wanted to be 'on the right side of history.' At the same time, the government has faced criticism for 'stigmatizing and criminalizing' migrants.
Italy passed the "Salvini decree," clamping down on asylum rights, and refused to grant entry to rescue ships. Greece struggled – and failed – to provide adequate accommodation on Samos and Lesbos. Meanwhile, Hungary effectively banned helping asylum seekers. 2018 was not an easy year for migrants and refugees. We sum up the biggest developments of the year.