EU border agency Frontex said on January 8 that the number of irregular entries by migrants into the EU fell to its lowest since 2013 last year. Entries were down 41% compared to 2018 along the central Mediterranean route.
After 75,000 migrant arrivals on the Greek shores in 2019, the country's and international authorities predict that the refugee crisis in Greece will continue in 2020. It's a case of new year, same challenge for Greece and the country's authorities as they continue to wrestle with the ongoing migrant crisis.
Nearly 1,300 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean in 2019, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement published on January 3. The 1,282 drownings were 44% down on 2018, it said. The number of deaths since 2014 was now 19,164, IOM reported.
The first migrant arrivals on Italian shores in 2020, from North Africa, disembarked on the southern coast of the island of Sardinia. Altogether 45 migrants have been transferred to reception centers.
The Italian interior ministry has reported that this year migrant landings in the country have halved compared to 2018.
Eurostat said the EU has experienced a 12% increase in first asylum requests in the third quarter of 2019 - compared to numbers from the previous quarter. For the first time, asylum seekers from Venezuela are in the top three of nationalities submitting asylum requests.
13 people have been arrested in a joint Italian-Greek police operation to break up an alleged smuggling gang. The gang specialized in sailing small groups of migrants between Greece and the south-east Italian coast.
The migrants were travelling in an overcrowded boat. They were towed ashore Monday. According to Cyprus police, most of them were from Syria. Two Syrian men suspected of people smuggling were arrested.
Migrant arrivals to Greece continue unabated: Nearly 800 migrants crossed from Turkey to Greece in just 48 hours this week, marking the highest pace of arrivals in 40 months. The Council of Europe during a visit to migrant camps on the Greek islands warned of an explosive situation and described living conditions there as 'horrible.'
Greece has seen a 200% increase in the number of refugee arrivals in recent months. It's forced Athens to introduce fresh measures to handle the new migrant crisis. But there are serious fears that migration flows may grow even further in the wake of Turkey's offensive in Syria. Anthee Carassava reports from Athens on how Greece's ancient tradition of hospitality to foreigners is fading.
A five-year-old boy was killed on the Greek island of Lesvos after he was hit by a truck near the Moria refugee camp. Migrant arrivals have spiked in recent weeks despite increased controls.
Following a meeting of interior ministers in Rome, Italy and Spain are calling for increased involvement from the EU to support border countries facing migrant arrivals.