There has been a slight rise in the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey, according to the Turkish migration authorities. The city of Istanbul alone hosts more than half a million Syrian exiles.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi is visiting Turkey. The country hosts the largest number of refugees worldwide, including more than 3.5 million Syrians and hundreds of thousands of Afghans.
The Afghan diaspora in Turkey live in fear: xenophobic sentiments are at an all-time high, as migrants are being blamed for many of the country's woes. And politicians are trying to cash in on those popular sentiments.
Anti-migrant sentiments in Turkey are high once more, as there are increasing reports of a refugee wave from Afghanistan about to hit the country. Locals say they have enough to worry about already.
The director general of the UN migration agency has expressed "extreme concern" over the "deteriorating situation in Afghanistan." The Taliban advances are causing huge amounts of displacement both internally and externally, contributing to a rise in the number of people who are fleeing.
Frontex is resorting to cutting-edge technology to stop people smugglers from getting migrants into Greece. There are fears, however, that this will drive migrants into resorting to using the more dangerous Aegean Sea route.
Turkish authorities have detained 415 migrants during a series of raids in the country's largest city, Istanbul. In another operation in the east of the country, another 86 migrants have been intercepted.
Turkish authorities again apprehended dozens of irregular migrants in the border province of Van, three days after a similar incident. The group comprised at least 113 migrants, state news agency Anadolu reported. Increased violence and the prospect of civil war in Afghanistan correlate with a rising number of Afghans seeking safety in neighboring countries.
The vaccination campaign is underway in Turkey, but migrants face an especially large number of challenges on the road to immunization. The government has been keeping a low profile on the issue.
Greece's decision to consider Turkey a safe third country is "unacceptable," 38 humanitarian organizations have argued in a letter to the Greek government and the European Union. Greece recently declared Turkey safe for asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR says it has observed "several hundred cases" of suspected pushbacks in the Aegean Sea since the beginning of last year. It is stepping up pressure on Greece to investigate the reports.
A 25-year-old Afghan man, father to a five-year-old child who died in November in an attempt to reach the Greek island of Samos from Turkey by boat, has spoken out about being charged with endangering his son's life by the Greek authorities and why he is bringing a counter-case against the Greek coast guard.