A year after she was arrested for bringing 53 rescued migrants ashore in Italy without permission, sea captain Carola Rackete says nothing has fundamentally changed for migrants crossing the Mediterranean. The German activist also endorsed a campaign against the EU border agency Frontex.
Migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean are regularly being picked up by the Libyan authorities and returned to Libya. Charities report their rescue ships are often out-run by Libyan coast guards who beat them to take the migrants back. Nearly 500 migrants have been returned to Libya in recent days, according to the UN migration agency IOM.
An investigation carried out by German news magazine "Der Spiegel," German TV show "Report Mainz" and Netherlands-based media non-profit organization "Lighthouse Reports" claims that Greek Coast Guard officers intercept migrant boats coming from Turkey and send them back to Turkey in unseaworthy life rafts.
The number of migrants seeking to enter the EU tripled in May compared to the previous month. It's a sign traffic along Europe's migration routes is picking up again after a lull brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The European Union border agency Frontex expects a large number of migrants to attempt to cross the border from Turkey into Greece after Turkey lifts coronavirus restrictions. Turkey closed its borders in mid-March as a measure against the pandemic.
The UN refugee agency says COVID-19 and curfew conditions in Libya have reduced the possibilities for people to find ways to survive, prompting an increase in migrant departures from Libya towards Europe.
Germany said it will not withdraw its Frontex border agents from Greece despite the growing coronavirus pandemic. Greece had asked the EU border agency to increase its support in bolstering its border with Turkey in early March.
According to the Turkish government, some 6,000 migrants waiting at the Turkish-Greek border to cross into the European Union were sent to cities inside the country. The move is reportedly one of several measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The EU agency Frontex has reported that the number of irregular border crossings on Europe's main migratory routes in January and February 2020 rose by 27% compared to the same period last year.
The European border and coast guard agency Frontex announced on Friday that it has deployed 100 additional border guards to the Greek land border with Turkey. The additional guards, says Frontex, “are part of a rapid border intervention requested by Greece.”
The Greek government announced it would suspend asylum applications for one month on Sunday, March 1. It said it was invoking an emergency EU clause to do so; but suspending asylum has no basis in international law says the UNHCR.
The EU agency Frontex reported Wednesday that migrant crossings using central Mediterranean routes doubled between December 2019 and January 2020 to about 1,500.