Will irregular migration to Europe increase again once COVID-19 related travel restrictions are lifted? Europol thinks so. In a new report, the European Union's policing agency also said the coronavirus pandemic is already changing migrant smuggling and trafficking.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Wednesday that 53% of migrants in Tunisia lost their jobs during the lockdown period decreed by the authorities in order to contain the spread of COVID-19. Attempts to leave the country on boats headed for Europe meanwhile continue.
Police and immigration authorities have discovered 64 bodies and 14 survivors in the back of a truck in Mozambique. The people are believed to be migrants from Ethiopia hoping to reach South Africa.
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.
Divided Cyprus, split by a demarcation line not recognized as a border, has become a popular destination for migrants in recent years. Now, the government has introduced a series of measures to curtail the number of arrivals. Separately, it closed four of nine border crossing points with the northern part of the island over coronavirus fears last week.
Croatia announced its willingness to accommodate unaccompanied minors "who are currently living in an inhumane situation in Greek refugee camps." North Macedonia and Serbia, meanwhile, said they are ready to close their borders.
Greece has said more than 1,600 people tried to enter the country from Turkey between Sunday and Monday morning. The Greek government, meanwhile, has decided to construct a new migrant camp to house arrested migrants who crossed into the country irregularly.
The EU has advised the 12,500 migrants gathered at the Greek border that "illegal crossings will not be tolerated." France's top diplomat accused Ankara of "blackmail" after Turkey decided to open its borders to Europe.
The number of migrants arriving in the Spanish Canary Islands increased last month to 18 times the number in January 2019, the AFP news agency reports. However, fewer migrants are trying to reach mainland Spain by boat.
A proposal to use trail cameras to detect migrants along Italy's border with Slovenia has created controversy.
A reported 445,000 undocumented migrants were apprehended in Turkey in 2019, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in an interview to CNN Turk. The previous year, the number of irregular migrants held was 268,000.
With the United Kingdom poised to leave the European Union on January 31, the number of boat arrivals on the British coastline has dramatically risen in recent months.