Serbia: Afghan migrants face an uncertain future
The majority of migrants and asylum seekers in Serbia are Afghan nationals. They hope to continue their journeys to western Europe, but many fail in the attempt.
eu
Erdogan again threatens to send refugees to EU as he defends 'safe zone,' Syria offensive
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.
Austria extends border checks on Slovenia, Hungary borders
Austria’s interior minister has said his country will continue to conduct checks on the borders with neighboring Hungary and Slovenia. All three EU countries are members of the Schengen zone whose members don't have controls at their mutual borders. But six Schengen countries, including Austria, have reintroduced border checks for security reasons.
Italy's new migrant decree promises repatriations in 4 months
The Italian government has presented a new asylum decree, which would see the waiting time for an asylum decision cut from two years to just four months, resulting in faster repatriations in applicable cases. Speaking at a press conference in Rome, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said the decree would also update the list of countries considered safe for repatriations.
Germany to stop relocation if migrants in the 'thousands'
A spokesperson for the German Interior Ministry said the country could seek to leave the planned automatic redistribution mechanism for asylum seekers if the mechanism were to increase the number of migrants into the thousands.
Migrants: Libya unsafe, UNHCR tells Di Maio
UNHCR chief Grandi told the Italian foreign minister that Libya has to be ruled out as a country to send migrants back to due to ongoing conflict and the humanitarian conditions there. He stressed that letting migrants return to the North African country must be "avoided at all costs." However, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio wants to keep Libya on board as part of the solution.
Migrants in Serbia recount acts of violence employed by Croatian border police
The Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migration confirmed that it has numerous reports of Croatian border police resorting to violence against migrants who enter the country illegally. In one case, an underage Afghan migrant even reported being "tortured by the police" with electric shocks. Croatian authorities meanwhile reject the charges.
Italy and Spain ask EU for more border support
Following a meeting of interior ministers in Rome, Italy and Spain are calling for increased involvement from the EU to support border countries facing migrant arrivals.
Von der Leyen calls for new pact on migration and asylum
The incoming head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has outlined her agenda on migration in letters sent to the EU’s new Vice President Margaritis Schinas, who is tasked with migration affairs, and Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson. The letters stressed the need for a new pact on migration and asylum in Europe.
One year after the EU summit on migration, little has changed
Last year, the European Union planned to introduce reforms to its migration policies, aimed at gaining better control over the migration situation into Europe. What's left of all those plans one year on?
EU border force implicated in migrant abuse
New reports place the EU border agency Frontex at scenes of brutality against migrants. The border guards of Greece, Bulgaria and Hungary have been found to be especially brutal.
Migrants taken back to bombed Tajoura detention center in Libya
A controversial migrant detention center in Libya has reopened two weeks after an airstrike killed more than 50 people there. The United Nations had called for the compound located close to the front-lines of the country's civil war to be emptied.