The Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan, an unprecedented influx of migrants in eastern Europe, an increase in deaths in the English Channel, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic – 2021 has been a tumultuous year for migrants and refugees on many fronts. We take a look at six of the most important developments of the year.
The human rights organization Amnesty International accuses the Greek authorities of illegally detaining migrants in an EU-funded camp for asylum seekers on the island of Samos in the Aegean Sea.
The Greek Council for Refugees has released a damning report on the 'tragic' conditions at the new migrant camp on the island of Samos. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis recently lauded the camp as 'impeccable'.
An organized group of residents from the Greek island of Samos blasted Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis over his claims that migrant pushbacks have not been taking place.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has spoken out against a new center for asylum seekers that was opened by the EU and the Greek government on September 18 on the Greek island of Samos, saying that it is "like a prison".
The new facility is one of five being built with EU funds. Rights groups have complained that the Samos camp, with its barbed-wire fences and surveillance cameras, is more like a jail.
The Vathy camp was overtaken by a major fire on the eve of migrants being transferred out. Many are headed to a new €43 million ($50 millon) "closed" high-tech secure facility.
Refugee Rights Europe and Still I Rise presented a new report on the current situation of unaccompanied minors on the island of Samos, Greece, denouncing a "gravely disheartening picture" of their condition.
Franck and his wife, originally from the DRC, were granted refugee status in Greece on March 1. Yet, due to a lack of work and integration, the family is still stuck in the camp on the Greek island of Samos, with no prospects for the future. "We feel we have been abandoned to our sad fate," says Franck.
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.
A six-episode documentary attempts to give a voice to migrants under the age of 18 in Greece who have witnessed one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time. The web series, named "Through Our Eyes," is sponsored by the NGO Still I Rise.
Greece has announced that 7,200 migrants stuck in temporary accommodation since the blaze at the Moria camp in September will be moved to permanent accommodation by September 2021. The European Commission will support the Greek government with the building project.