More than 5,300 migrants and refugees have arrived on Italy's coasts irregularly so far in 2021. That's more than twice the number of people who arrived during the same period in 2020. Meanwhile, the number of migrants intercepted and returned to Libya reportedly also increased.
The European agency Frontex reported Thursday that illegal border crossings at Europe's external borders in January fell by almost half from the previous year to about 5,800.
Asylum applications in the European Union dropped by 31% last year and fell to a record low. The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) attributed the decline mainly to coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
The overall number of foreigners who registered in Italy's civil registry in 2019 dropped by 7.3% on 2018 figures. Registrations by migrants from Africa decreased by 28%, according to the Italian statistics bureau ISTAT.
The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) has published its latest analysis of the most recent asylum trends in Europe. In addition to COVID-19 related issues, EASO also highlighted a surge of asylum seekers coming to the EU from Belarus.
A survey by the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) highlighted that the main reason Tunisian migrants leave disadvantaged neighborhoods is in order to provide financial support for the family. Those who leave residential neighborhoods, on the other hand, are more likely to depart due to the desire to buy a home and improve their living conditions.
Migrant arrivals from Tunisia in Italy have increased significantly this year, a new report by FTDES has found. The number of undocumented migrants rose 180% compared to the same month last year.
Foreign workers in Italy paid almost €18 billion euros in taxes and social security dues in 2019, according to a new report. Foreign employees reportedly produced 9.5% of the Italian GDP.
The organization Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) has reported that 2,235 Tunisian migrants reached Italy's coasts in August. This brings to 7,890 the total number of Tunisians who landed in Italy illegally between January 1 and August 31, 2020.
Germany saw a 2.1% increase in the population with a migrant background in 2019, though the rate of increase was the least rapid since 2011. The largest group hails from Turkey, around one in three are from the EU.
Tunisia has begun its first census on immigration. The census aims to help define the country's migration policies, the Tunisian statistics institute has announced.
Around 1.83 million people who sought protection on international, humanitarian or political grounds were registed in Germany in 2019, only slightly more than in the previous year. The majority came from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.