In the first nine months of the year, significantly fewer migrants have come to Europe from Turkey by irregular means. That's according to a German media report that cites EU sources, which also revealed that Germany is no longer receiving the most asylum requests in Europe.
The Greek government announced its final plans to extend and strengthen the wall along a section of the Turkish border on Monday, October 19. The wall is expected to cost €63 million and will extend the existing barrier by about 26 kilometers.
The allegations against the Greek coast guard come as Greece accuses Turkey of aiding human traffickers move migrants and refugees to Greece.
A vessel with 74 migrants and two people smugglers on board has reached the port of Katakolo in western Greece after sending distress signals over the weekend. Two Turkish nationals on board the yacht have been detained.
Greece's migration minister rejected claims on Monday saying that the Greek government was involved in illegally pushing back migrants and refugees at sea. Notis Mitarachi said that false reports about pushbacks were being spread by people smugglers, as changes to Greece’s border policies was damaging their business.
German soldiers have filed reports saying that they had repeatedly observed migrant boats in the Mediterranean being pushed back into Turkish waters. The German dpa news agency said it had information chronicling at least three such instances in June 2020 alone.
Several German federal states have offered to take in refugees and migrants currently stuck in Greek Island camps. German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer however has blocked their efforts, arguing for a unified solution on the federal level as well as across the European Union. His critics accuse the minister of sending mixed messages.
Earlier in the year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hoped to gain political leverage by threatening to send migrants and refugees into the EU. But numbers published by the European Commission show that his attempts were futile — largely because of the extent of the global pandemic slowing down migration patterns.
The German newspaper Die Welt reported that Germany accepted almost 10,000 migrants and asylum seekers between 2016 and March 2020 under the EU-Turkey deal. The numbers were released following a question to the interior ministry from a member of the liberal FDP party.
Turkish authorities say they have intercepted a boat with 276 migrants and eight suspected smugglers on board. The ship was reportedly about to set sail.
Up to 60 migrants remain missing after a boat capsized on Lake Van in south-eastern Turkey over the weekend. So far, only six bodies have been recovered from the site.
Two Afghan men have been found guilty by Greek courts and sentenced to jail for six years and nine months each. The men are alleged to have taken part in riots on Tuesday at a migrant detention center in northern Greece. They deny any wrongdoing.