The body charged with improving the way the EU spends its money says efforts to improve the situation for asylum seekers in Greece and Italy have largely failed. Migrants in the so-called hotspots continue to face years in limbo because of legal bottlenecks and poorly performing EU schemes.
While migrant camps on the Aegean islands have reached breaking point, and with Turkey threatening to 'open the gates', migrants continue to arrive in Greece in the hundreds every week. Most come by sea, but in recent months, growing numbers have crossed via the land route across the Evros River. Many claim they are subjected to violent and illegal treatment by authorities at the border.
Migrant arrivals to Greece continue unabated: Nearly 800 migrants crossed from Turkey to Greece in just 48 hours this week, marking the highest pace of arrivals in 40 months. The Council of Europe during a visit to migrant camps on the Greek islands warned of an explosive situation and described living conditions there as 'horrible.'
The new conservative government in Athens pledges to speed up asylum procedures and return thousands of migrants to Turkey. Not an easy task for a country at the heart of the so-called migrant crisis.
One day after Turkey launched an assault on US-backed Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria, Turkish President Erdogan angrily rejected international criticism of his military campaign and reiterated his threat to "open the gates" to allow millions of Syrian refugees to leave Turkey for western countries - unless Europe halts its criticism. European politicians slammed Erdogan’s warning and reacted sceptically to his resettlement plan.
After a deadly fire underlined the dire conditions faced by refugees in Greek refugee camps, the continuing stream of arrivals is alarming EU authorities. What can Europe and Turkey do to find a solution?
Top German and EU officials have pledged Turkey support to address refugees at a time when migrant arrivals to Greece are on the rise. German Interior Minister Seehofer said Turkey is facing massive refugee pressure.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has presented a plan to transfer at least two million refugees to an area in northeast Syria, saying that Turkey doesn't intend to host refugees forever.
Turkey is facing another refugee exodus as Syrian government forces close in on Idlib, the last rebel held enclave in the country .A summit in Ankara earlier this month attended by the presidents of Turkey, Russia and Iran ended in deadlock over Turkish efforts to end the Idlib siege.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer is to hold talks in Ankara and Athens on the continuing migration crisis. His trip comes as the number of migrants crossing to Greece from Turkey grows once more.
As the situation for refugees and migrants in Turkey is going from bad to worse, particularly for Afghans, a growing number of them is trying to reach the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. Many of these islands are mere kilometers away from the Turkish coast. InfoMigrants answers important questions about the worsening crisis, including how it came to a head.
The Greek government wants to start returning thousands of migrants to Turkey following a deadly fire which broke out at an overcrowded camp. Officials called for action to ease pressure on overcrowded migrant camps.