The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has urged countries not to "close avenues to asylum" as part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus. He is worried that some countries could completely block the right to seek asylum.
A number of EU member states want to take in refugee children stuck in Greece. However, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn now says the coronavirus pandemic has made that impossible.
The EU has taken drastic action to attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19, effectively shutting borders to non-citizens. Germany will stop taking in refugees, including thousands stranded at the Turkish-Greek border.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR have announced a temporary suspension of resettlement travel for refugees because of COVID-19.
The EU has also offered migrants on the Greek islands money for a voluntary return to their home country. Some 5,000 refugees, currently housed in overflowing camps, could take up the €2,000 offer.
Germany's government is seeking a "coalition of the willing" to take in the children across Europe. The EU wants to avoid repeating the 2015 refugee crisis as thousands of refugees and migrants gather at Greece's border.
A humanitarian corridor organized by Caritas, UNHCR, and the Italian government was suspended at the last minute by the Italian government. The corridor would have brought refugees to Italy from Niger.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, says less than five percent of refugees in urgent need of resettlement last year were moved to safety. The agency has repeated a call for governments around the world to offer more resettlement opportunities.
An investigative report by German magazine Stern alleges that UNHCR staff in Uganda and Kenya are engaged in fraud. The report said refugees were paying about $2,500 (2,250 euros) each to get resettled to western countries, with the corruption also including fake medical certificates to ease entry.
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 UN has described rising numbers of people fleeing their homes, saying more must be done to "shoulder this responsibility." German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Germany will welcome more refugees in the future.
In Libya, traffickers allegedly make migrants pay for a place in a closed detention center. They claim this is a fast-track method for the migrants to be evacuated and resettled in Europe. This information is false, but several hundred people have already fallen victim to the scam.