The European Commission has awarded €171 million to Cyprus, Spain, Greece, Italy and Poland to help manage asylum reception and returns. The funds are aimed at easing the burden of migrant arrivals in the border Member States.
As more than 100,000 people have likely started fleeing Ukraine following the Russian invasion, European nations have been quick to respond to the unfolding humanitarian crisis. Ukraine's neighbors in particular are making provisions to host thousands of people. But is it going to be enough? Here's an overview of the latest.
Countries in Eastern Europe have been preparing for large numbers of people fleeing Ukraine should there be a Russian offensive. The European Commission has said there could be more than a million refugees if military tensions escalate.
Cyprus has struck a deal with the European Union to help improve the country’s migrant reception facilities. Under the new agreement it will also be easier for Cyprus to send back rejected asylum seekers.
After fights broke out in a migrant reception camp on Cyprus on Tuesday and Wednesday, the country's Interior Minister said that repatriation would be key to easing overcrowding.
A meeting of EU interior ministers in France on February 3, resulted in the establishment of a new Schengen Council as well as proposals to get member states to either accept migration quotas or pay towards supporting other members that do.
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said the EU is seeing a "de-escalation" at the eastern border of the European Union.
Fifteen EU countries have pledged to offer protection to nearly 40,000 people from Afghanistan. Germany alone has agreed to take in more than half of the evacuees.
A move by the EU Commission to restrict asylum rights at the bloc's external border with Belarus has come in for sharp criticism. Meanwhile, a controversial border protection law has already come into force in Poland.
Germany and Poland are among the European countries that want greater efforts to stop migrants from crossing the EU's eastern borders. But Brussels has made it clear that it will not pay for "barbed wire and walls" with EU funds.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell visited Libya on Wednesday. He said that he hopes that more political stability in the country will make it "easier to find more humane solutions for migrants."
Afghans who have been refused asylum in Europe and have ended up back in Afghanistan are now in serious danger from the Taliban, an Afghan aid worker has told InfoMigrants.