Five years ago, the migration deal between the European Union and Turkey was signed. The deal has trapped migrants and refugees on the Greek islands, exacerbating mental health issues and re-traumatizing many, says NGO Intersos.
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.
An Italian association, ARCI, has expressed its "profound worries" after several asylum seekers housed in various structures across Italy revealed they are being tested and sent to quarantine ships off the coast when they test positive for COVID-19. Some of these asylum seekers have been in Italy several years.
In Belgium, migrants have been strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic -- not only did they face difficulties in filing their asylum applications, the government has also imposed stricter regulations for accessing accommodation. Conditions for migrants have become extremely precarious, says the director of the NGO Ciré.
Sol Escobar is the chairperson of the Cambridge Assessment Refugee Support Committee in the UK. At the beginning of 2019 she went to Calais as a relief volunteer -- a trip that convinced her that she needed to do more to communicate refugee and migrant stories in order to change the narrative of them within the community.
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has called on Hungary to withdraw a new law that will see asylum seekers turned away at the border. The agency says the act could breach international and European laws.
A new, free app called Workeen was launched in Italy on the occasion of World Refugee Day. It is to help migrants, refugees and asylum seekers find work through a "serious game."
Europe’s human rights commissioner has blamed EU countries for trying to bypass laws. Dunja Mijatovic said some politicians promote the idea that migrants' rights should be sacrificed in order to protect borders.
Majeda Khouri was detained in Syria for peacefully protesting the Assad regime. After her release, raids on her house prompted her to leave -- first for Lebanon and eventually the UK, where she was granted refugee status. In London, she has founded her own catering business and helps other Syrian refugee women from poorer backgrounds use their own cooking skills to earn a living in London.
The Greek Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development relaxed its coroanvirus restrictions to allow more foreign workers to come and help with the Greek harvest, amid fears that produce would rot in the fields. But could migrants and refugees help fill the gap?
Refugee rights organizations in Germany say people in asylum seeker accommodation centers are in grave danger from coronavirus and have called for them to be shut down. Migrants who were quarantined in one center are being made to wear wristbands in public.
In Germany, three migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and Cameroon are suing the state for accessing personal data on their mobile phones. A civil rights group taking part in the action says the phone searches are a serious invasion of privacy.