On Friday a group of seven EU states announced they would take in some of the most vulnerable migrants, mostly children, from Greece. The lists are still being finalized, as are the number of countries willing to participate. InfoMigrants asked some international organizations: How it is decided who goes on the list?
The Finnish government has announced it will take in 175 vulnerable asylum seekers from various camps in Greece, Italy, Cyprus and Malta. It hopes its gesture will help to "alleviate the humanitarian situation," in the Mediterranean region.
Three European Catholic cardinals have written a letter to the Episcopal Conferences of the European Union calling for refugees and asylum seekers in Greece, in particular on the island of Lesbos, to be relocated to other EU countries.
UNHCR is appealing to Greek authorities to increase efforts to put an end to "alarming" overcrowding and precarious conditions for migrants staying on the Greek islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Kos, and Leros.
In 2016, Ankara and Brussels signed a refugee agreement designed to stem the flow of illegal entries into the EU via Turkey. Now, both sides are unhappy with the deal, but a revision looks difficult.
The EU and Turkey reached a so-called refugee deal in 2016 to prevent illegal migration. But new figures show that a tiny fraction of migrants are being returned to Turkey, while the EU is resettling significantly more.
68 asylum seekers have been sent from Rome to Paris as part of an EU-wide relocation program. Since September 2019, some 464 people have been redistributed from Italy to other EU countries.
Greece and Serbia have discussed a plan to relocate about 100 unaccompanied migrant children currently in Greece to Serbia. The plan was agreed last month and will be carried out with the help of the UN.
A group of Eritrean asylum seekers have held a protest in Slovenia against asylum request procedures, which the community sees as unfair. They also demonstrated against the rejection of five asylum claims filed by Eritreans.
The European Union has decreased its Mediterranean rescue efforts, while Greece and Italy are struggling to deal with displaced people who have already arrived. German cities are demanding permission to take action.
Norway says it will take 600 asylum seekers recently evacuated to Rwanda from Libyan detention centers. The Norwegian immigration minister told media that his country wants to stop the sometimes deadly smuggling of migrants across the Mediterranean Sea.
The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) will deploy up to 2,000 personnel to Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Malta in 2020 to support national authorities with asylum and reception. While support to Greece will double compared to 2019, support to Italy will be decreased as the country faces less workload within first instance asylum procedures.