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.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has said Russia is likely behind a wave of illegal immigrants from Belarus. He also says the EU has much to do on migrant policy despite numbers being below those of 2015 and 2016.
People from as far as Cuba are heading to Belarus to try to enter the European Union. But pushbacks and violence along the Polish border mean that fewer migrants are succeeding with their plans. The EU believes that Belarus is deliberately sending migrants across the border to destabilize the bloc.
Germany says the number of migrants arriving from Poland and Belarus has soared in recent months. The EU accuses Belarus of fueling mass migration, and Poland has said it will spend millions to build a wall.
The European Commission says a request from the UNHCR to resettle 42,500 Afghans in the next five years is "doable" but down to individual EU member states.
The European Court of Auditors has published a report saying that more sharing of data between EU nations would help to counter migrant trafficking.
The Polish Parliament has voted to extend a state of emergency on the border with Belarus. Aid workers and journalists still cannot reach the migrants who continue to gather at the border – at least five migrants have died there in recent weeks.
In the second trimester of 2021, a reported 103,895 people filed for the first time a request for international protection in an EU country. This marked a 115% increase on the second trimester of 2020 and a 9% rise compared to the first trimester of 2021, Eurostat has said.
Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese has said that some proposals in the European Union's New Pact on Migration and Asylum are "unacceptable" for Italy and other Mediterranean countries.
Since the Taliban swept back to power in Afghanistan, Greece has stepped up measures to fortify its border with Turkey and stem the tide of refugees. Now, the EU is calling for more transparency.
The number of Afghans, including unaccompanied children, who are seeking asylum in Europe is steadily approaching the number of Syrians. But EU figures for July show that only half as many Afghans are granted protection.
The EU effort to return unsuccessful asylum seekers is failing, the EU policy and financial watchdog has warned. Half a million people are ordered to leave the EU each year, but less than a fifth are actually sent home.