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.
Italian authorities at the Port of Salerno on January 14 discovered 26 migrants who had illegally entered the country on a ship from Turkey. They had hid for more than three days inside two containers.
In the past year, the number of migrants arriving in Malta has dropped. While that may have eased pressure on the EU 'frontier' state, few are feeling relief. Migrants are being detained for more than a year in "miserable conditions", as a Moroccan held at Safi barracks told InfoMigrants.
Fewer people attempted to enter the EU without authorization in 2020, largely due to coronavirus restrictions, the bloc's border agency said. Syrians were again the largest group of people trying to enter the bloc.
Portugal has started talks with other EU member states about the bloc's proposed asylum and migration pact. The aim is to find common ground and overcome differences, a statement from the Portuguese interior ministry said.
Four migrants were found dead on arrival when a boat carrying 47 migrants landed in Tenerife at dawn, Spanish coast guards said Tuesday. Three others were hospitalized with burns and other injuries.
Former Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini on Saturday appeared for the second time in court in connection with the delay in disembarking 131 migrants from the Gregoretti ship last July. At the hearing in Catania, transport minister Danilo Toninelli accused Salvini of being responsible for the delay, stressing that he had the responsibility to decide whether to disembark the migrants.
In recent months, thousands of migrants have been taken in by hotels on Spain's Canary Islands. This has caused tension in the islands' vital tourist industry, which was hit hard by the coronavirus crisis. It remains unclear if the migrants' presence will hurt the popularity of the holiday destination at all -- but xenophobia is on the rise.
Fondazione Migrantes, run by the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI), has presented its 2020 report on asylum rights. The report noted that "refugees are left ever more alone", underscoring the need for the Italian Church to continue to make itself heard on the issue.
On the Canary Islands, the new wave of migrant arrivals is becoming a real challenge for the archipelago's long-standing culture of hospitality. The islands have been hit hard by the economic crisis that followed the COVID-19 pandemic, and is now facing the biggest migrant influx since 2006.
The quest for a better future in a continent starved of opportunities has left many African youths with a dilemma. The journey to Europe and the USA, which has for a long time been sold as the best solution for the realization of dreams, is proving to be a mirage. On this week's 77 Percent, we hear from young African migrants in Sicily, Italy.