The government in Cyprus has announced it will deport 17 migrants as soon as international flights allow. The migrants, whose nationalities and alleged crimes have not been disclosed, are being held in a detention center on the island.
British authorities say they have recorded a surge in attempted boat crossings in the English Channel this year - a trend that appears to be reinforced by coronavirus travel restrictions forcing migrants on boats rather than trucks. On Wednesday, a Sky News reporter witnessed the rescue of around 65 migrants traveling to UK shores on tiny dinghies. Meanwhile, human rights lawyers are concerned that migrants are being returned from the UK to France illegally.
4,088 people were deported from Germany to their countries of origin or other European states in the first quarter of this year, around 27% fewer than the same period last year. The Left party says deportations should be called off completetely in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Against the coronavirus backdrop, Austria's government remains a hard-line stance on immigration. It's continuing its policy of deporting well-integrated asylum-seekers, some of whom are qualified health workers.
As the COVID-19 outbreak continues, the security minister of Bosnia-Herzegovina suggested that migrants should be deported from the country. He alleged that refugees and migrants posed an economic burden amid the pandemic — as well as a security threat. The mood against migrants in Bosnia is beginning to turn sour.
Germany has suspended deportations to Afghanistan for the time being. The decision comes as a response to a request by Afghan authorities, the German interior ministry said.
The Italian interior ministry has asked all prefects to monitor the health of migrants at repatriation centers to prevent an outbreak of Codiv-19. One coronavirus case at a CPR in northern Italy was confirmed last week.
Germany has halted transfers of asylum seekers within Europe because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, no general suspension of deportations to third countries has yet been announced.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, on March 12 a German charter deportation flight landed in Kabul. It may have been the last such flight for now, given the virus’ spread and ensuing global aviation shutdown.
Around 440 migrants who were being held on a Greek naval vessel off Lesbos have been transferred to a detention facility on the Greek mainland. Various news agencies have reported they will be held at the center, north of Athens, ahead of being returned to Turkey.
On Monday, a Frontex operated repatriation flight took off from Spain’s Canary Islands for Mauritania. 51 African migrants were on board. This is the third such flight this year, says the Spanish Ombudsman. The repatriations are a result of a 2003 agreement signed between Spain and Mauritania.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Spain was not in violation of European law when it returned two migrants to Morocco who, along with several dozen others, had scaled the border fence at the Spanish enclave of Melilla in northwest Africa in 2014.