The Cypriot government has lashed out at Turkey, saying it was indirectly involved in helping create a new migration route that "disproportionally burdened" Cyprus. The island nation and EU member state has had the bloc’s highest percentage of asylum seekers for several years.
The European agency Frontex reported Thursday that illegal border crossings at Europe's external borders in January fell by almost half from the previous year to about 5,800.
The European Commission has begun an infringement procedure against Hungary for its law on NGOs commonly known as 'Stop Soros', which bans foreign-funded organizations from providing assistance to migrants.
During her current visit to Bosnia, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson urged the non-EU country to further improve living conditions for thousands of migrants stuck there on their way to western Europe.
Asylum applications in the European Union dropped by 31% last year and fell to a record low. The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) attributed the decline mainly to coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
While EU member states disagree over how to handle asylum seekers, all agree protecting the bloc's external borders is key. But Frontex, the agency tasked with the job, is in crisis. Marina Strauss reports from Brussels.
The European Parliament has approved a resolution calling for stronger measures against human trafficking. The situation for victims – many of them migrant women and children – has gotten even worse since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the resolution's sponsors.
Pressure is growing on the head of the European border agency Frontex after new accusations of abuses, which the EU described as "very worrying." Frontex head Fabrice Leggeri has recently been subject to accusations over the methods used to stop migrants, as well as irregularities in Frontex spending.
Thousands of migrants are enduring a cold winter in northern Bosnia, unable to make it across the border to the EU. Stranded in Bosnia, they face hostility and attacks from local residents.
The British government has staunchly dismissed rumors and views among some migrants and refugees in Calais that chances for getting asylum in the United Kingdom might improve for them after Brexit, stressing that the opposite was true.
The situation on the migration route to the Canary Islands is extremely serious, Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said Tuesday in a debate in the EU parliament. She said the bloc needed to work with external partners to protect human lives and fight against traffickers.
Bosnian Premier Zoran Tegeltija has said that Bosnia-Herzegovina can't handle the migrant crisis on its own. The country needs support from the European Union, not just financially, he said in an interview published on January 15.