According to figures released by the Italian government, 335 migrants landed in Italy between January 1 and March 15 this year, compared to 5,945 during the same period in 2018 - a 94 percent decline. Expulsions have quadrupled compared to arrivals during the same period, the vast majority of which were forced.
Fewer migrants are leaving Germany – both willingly and unwillingly. In the past year, the number of people choosing voluntary repatriation has almost halved, while forced returns have also slightly declined.
The British Home Office's decision to repatriate some 50 Jamaican nationals who were residing in the country has been condemned by the opposition. The government says it has ordered the charter deportation flight to remove foreign national offenders.
The number of expulsions and forced repatriations of undocumented migrants in Spain has risen significantly in 2018 compared to the previous five years.
Italy's guarantor for the rights of detainees, Mauro Palma, has denounced an increase in forced repatriations from Italy to Egypt or Nigeria because these countries "have not set up a national mechanism for the prevention of torture."
As the so-called ‘Salvini decree’ becomes law in Italy, the future for many migrants and refugees in the country is about to change. So how would those who work in the field of migration propose tackling the issue instead?
The Italian government has put out a tender worth 12 million euros for the implementation of projects for the assisted voluntary repatriations of 2,700 migrants.
Germany is returning more rejected asylum seekers to Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. The number has increased since 2016 due to closer cooperation between Germany and the Maghreb states.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said it obtained the release of 67 irregular Ethiopian migrants detained in Tanzania, who were repatriated to Ethiopia thanks to the cooperation between the two governments and the UN agency.
A total of 76 Ethiopians stranded in Libya returned to their country through a voluntary repatriation program of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). It was the highest number of people repatriated from Libya so far.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has travelled to Tunis to meet with local authorities and talk about immigration. Salvini called the visit "fruitful," although Rome did not obtain the increase in repatriations it had hoped for.
Germany's Angela Merkel has praised Algeria for its "constructive cooperation" in repatriating rejected asylum-seekers. Merkel's Algeria visit comes ahead of an EU leaders' summit, where migration is certain to dominate.