The new conservative government in Athens pledges to speed up asylum procedures and return thousands of migrants to Turkey. Not an easy task for a country at the heart of the so-called migrant crisis.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said that more than 1,000 people had died at sea in the Mediterranean in 2019 in a bid to reach Europe. The statement came on the anniversary of the shipwreck off Lampedusa on October 3, 2013.
More than 200 migrants have reportedly arrived on Italian shores over the weekend. The number of arrivals in Italy is on the rise once more.
Many of the migrants saved by the Ocean Viking private rescue boat celebrate their arrival in Italy, as they know they've made it to the European Union. But there's still a long road full of uncertainties ahead for the new arrivals. For the time being, however, they focus on sharing their hopes and dreams.
Authorities in Italy are concerned over so-called "phantom" migrant landings, which have become a daily occurrence on the coasts of Sicily, Sardinia, and Calabria.
The Italian Interior Ministry advised that a total of 1,200 migrants had arrived by sea in September to date. Meanwhile, arrivals by small boat continue unabated, in particular on the islands of Lampedusa and Sardinia.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto slammed the new Italian government's decision to open its ports to private charity ships disembarking migrants rescued at sea. He called the move "deplorable and dangerous" and said the move would create a lasting diplomatic clash between his country and Italy. His Italian counterpart meanwhile called for sanctions for EU member states who refuse to take on migrants under a proposed redistribution scheme.
The charity rescue vessel Ocean Viking was allowed to disembark the 82 remaining migrants on board on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa. The boat, which is run by the SOS Mediterranee charity and MSF, says it is now ready to embark on its next mission.
A record number of 86 migrants were intercepted in the English Channel on Tuesday as they tried to cross from France to the UK in small boats. It was the highest known number of migrants to have attempted the crossing at the same time.
Boats carrying migrants wishing to make it to the EU continue to land on Italian shores, despite interior minister Matteo Salvini's 'closed ports' policy. On Saturday, 46 Algerians landed on Sardinia.
The Spanish maritime rescue service has rescued more than 200 migrants from Mediterranean waters in the past 24 hours. The rescue comes at the same time as Spain is getting ready to welcome 15 migrants it picked up from Sicily using a naval warship.
Lampedusa Mayor Totò Martello is criticizing the stall on transferring migrants rescued by the ship Open Arms, who are currently on the island, to Spain. "What's happening in Lampedusa is paradoxical," he said on Facebook. "Now those migrants are all on the island, with the migrant reception center full."