Several NGOs and human rights groups in Greece have spoken out to criticize the government's decision to cut spending on a housing program for asylum seekers by up to 30%. The groups warn that this means less safe living places for vulnerable groups.
The state of Berlin has passed a decree to bring 300 vulnerable refugees from Greece to Germany. Separately, Germany's federal government has announced that an additional 243 refugee children from the Greek Islands would arrive at the end of June or the beginning of July.
The state of Berlin is planning its own relocation initiative to bring 300 vulnerable refugees from Greece to Germany. The draft decree is on the table for discussion in the state senate Tuesday.
Three EU member states will take in some of the 425 migrants disembarked in Malta this weekend after they were held offshore for more than a month. According to the European Commission, France, Portugal and Luxembourg have agreed to relocation.
France has announced it will take in some 750 asylum seekers, including 350 unaccompanied minors, from Greece. The first transfers are expected to take place in July.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have released a joint statement, calling on Malta and other EU states to find a way to bring some 160 migrants on board two private vessels on the Mediterranean to safety.
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.