Temperatures in northwestern Bosnia have dropped below zero, leaving hundreds of migrants in a makeshift forest camp struggling for survival. A senior human rights envoy who visited the camp on Tuesday demanded its immediate closure.
The European Union’s new Commissioners take up their posts on December 1 2019. So how will the EU’s future migration policy shape up under Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and her team. InfoMigrants takes a look at what might come to pass in terms of migration to Europe.
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.
A Croatian migrant rights group has placed a sign saying ''Welcome to Croatia - Country of torture'' at the border between Croatia and Bosnia to protest against reported cases of violence against migrants at the hands of the authorities. The protest is also directed against Croatia joining the Schengen zone.
In the dispute with the right-wing nationalist government in Hungary over providing for rejected asylum seekers, the European Commission has upped the pressure. The government in Budapest has not yet smoothed out concerns, the responsible EU authority in Brussels said. Hungary now has one month to comply with EU rules or else face court action.
The incoming chief of the European Commission has rejected calls to change the name for her new migration commissioner. The title "Protecting our European Way of Life" is seen by some as redolent of far-right rhetoric.
The European Commission's incoming President Ursula von der Leyen has been coming under fire ever since she announced some of the titles for her new Commissioners. She was in particular criticized for the portfolio she handed to the Commissioner in charge of migration, security, employment and education which she wants to call "Protecting our European Way of Life."
Asylum seekers detained at a migrant center in Malta on Monday staged a protest, demanding to be released. It was the second demonstration in a week.
European leaders have already agreed to a massive boost for the border protection agency, Frontex. The incoming head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, wants to bring forward the expansion.
Dealing with issues concerning migration, especially relations with Libya and the renewal of an EU anti-smuggling operation in the Mediterranean: Those are some of the difficult tasks Italy's new Minister of Defense Lorenzo Guerini is facing.
The Italian Interior Ministry said the European Commission is planning to distribute the 80 migrants rescued by NGO rescue vessel Open Arms. The migrants, currently on the islands of Sicily and Lampedusa, will be received by EU countries that have expressed willingness to take them in. Meanwhile, an Italian polician said the situation on Lampedusa is becoming increasingly unsustainable.
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?