The offensive on Syria's Idlib province is forcing thousands of civilians to flee, many of them to Turkey. Turkish President Erdogan has now warned that a deal on refugees with the EU is in jeopardy.
Seven migrants were killed in eastern Turkey after their boat sank in Lake Van, according to the official Anadolu news agency. Turkish authorities meanwhile said that they rescued 64 people.
The Turkish president has described a new humanitarian crisis as thousands of Syrians flee renewed bombing in Idlib. But he warned that Turkey "will not carry such a migrant burdens on its own."
Asylum-seekers are continuing to arrive on the shores of the Greek islands such as Lesbos and Samos, with the crisis only getting worse. The Greek government predicts 100,000 more people to arrive from Turkey in 2020.
According to a confidential EU report, 70,000 migrants have crossed from Turkey to the EU this year. The numbers raise questions about whether a EU-Turkey refugee deal is unravelling.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has renewed calls on Germany and other countries to take in migrants and refugees currently stuck in Greece. At the same time, his government plans to expedite deportations in the new year.
The number of migrants and refugees stuck on the Greek islands has peaked at above 40,000. The Greek government hopes that the introduction of new laws next year will help bring the numbers down — by deporting many asylum seekers back to Turkey.
Turkey should stop its 'blackmail' if it wants more aid from the European Union, the Greek migration minister has said. He also blamed Turkey for the recent rise in the number of migrants arriving in Greece.
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.