(Philenews) Cyprus has achieved the European Union’s highest return-to-arrival ratio at 179% whilst recording a 69% drop in asylum applications between 2022 and 2024, government officials announced on Wednesday. Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou and Deputy Minister for Migration Nicholas A. Ioannides presented […]
(Philenews) More than 1,300 Syrian nationals in Cyprus have requested voluntary repatriation following the fall of the Assad regime, officials announced today. Deputy Minister for Migration Nicholas A. Ioannides reported that 1,367 Syrians expressed interest in returning to Syria between December 9, […]
(Reuters) Asylum applications in Germany fell by 34% last year, the interior ministry said on Tuesday, in news welcomed by the outgoing Social Democrat interior minister amid heated debates over migration ahead of a national election set for Feb. 23. Public angst […]
(Deutsche Welle) The date January 29, 2025, will be remembered for a long time in Germany. It was the day the conservative group comprising the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union, the largest opposition force in the Bundestag, put forward a […]
(AP) An Italian appeals court on Friday refused to approve the speedy expulsion of 43 asylum seekers detained in Albania under a controversial migration deal to move the proceedings beyond the European Union’s borders. The migrants, whose asylum requests have already been […]
(AFP) Germany’s ex-chancellor Angela Merkel weighed in Thursday on a controversy flaring ahead of February elections, slamming her party successor for relying on far-right support on the flashpoint issue of immigration. Conservative CDU leader Friedrich Merz sparked outrage Wednesday when he pushed […]
(Toronto Sun) Questions are being asked after a board member of a prominent Canadian pro-Palestinian organization described the terror designation of Hamas as “problematic.” During a Jan. 15 interview on CP24’s Live at Five newscast, Dalia El Farra — introduced by anchors […]
(Politico) Ultranationalist social media influencers from Algeria are spreading hate across France — the country that used to rule it. The trend has triggered a wave of nervousness in government in Paris, with several high-profile arrests over the past few weeks. A […]
(Reuters) Germany’s government and opposition parties duelled on Monday over rival border control policies, with opposition leader Friedrich Merz, favourite to become next chancellor, saying he would advance his plan with the help of the far right if needed. Merz called for […]
(DPA) Germany’s conservative CDU/CSU alliance is to put forward two motions in the nation’s parliament this week to stiffen migration policy amid an increasingly febrile debate following a recent double murder and ahead of elections next month. “Current asylum and immigration policy […]
(AP) Italy said Sunday it was transferring 49 migrants picked up in the Mediterranean to new processing centers in Albania, in the third such attempt facing hurdles by courts. The navy vessel Cassiopea with the migrants on board was expected to reach […]
(Jewish News) The yellow and green flag of Iranian proxy terror group Hezbollah was openly waved on the streets of Dublin on Saturday. Crowds took to the streets days after a new government coalition administration was made official. The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign […]
(European Conservative) Bomb threats targeting 292 schools across Hungary caused widespread evacuations and the cancellation of classes on Thursday, January 23rd. Police conducted thorough searches of the affected institutions, but no explosive devices were found, allowing pupils to return to school on […]
(AFP) A deadly knife attack on a play school group in Germany, where an Afghan man was arrested at the scene, reignited a bitter immigration debate on Thursday, a month before elections. Germany was stunned by the latest in a series of […]
(DPA) The southern German city of Aschaffenburg on Thursday mourned the victims of a deadly knife attack on a group of children, as investigators searched for a motive and lawmakers questioned why the Afghan suspect was not deported earlier. Mayor Jürgen Herzing […]
(AP) More than 550 migrants have arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands in boats over the past two days, Spain’s maritime rescue service said Thursday. At least one body was found in one of the boats. The Spanish archipelago off northwest Africa is […]
(Anadolu) The French Foreign Ministry said that it does not want its nationals who are detained in northeastern Syria for their alleged membership in the Daesh/ISIS terror group to face trial in France. Anadolu asked [the] Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Christophe Lemoine if […]
(AP) More than 1,000 Syrian nationals have withdrawn their applications for asylum or international protection because they intend to return to their homeland, while another 500 have already gone back, a Cypriot official said Friday. Cyprus’ Deputy Minister for Migration and International […]
(Reuters) The number of migrants entering the European Union by [irregular] routes dropped overall by 38% in 2024, reaching the lowest level since 2021, the EU border agency Frontex said on Tuesday. However, the number of people crossing from the EU’s borders […]
(Morocco World News) Former French officials, netizens, and activists have condemned Algeria’s refusal to accept the return of an Algerian influencer, who France expelled on Thursday. French police arrested the influencer known as Doualemn on TikTok on Sunday in Montpellier, after he […]
(AP) The European Court of Human Rights in a landmark ruling Tuesday found that Greece illegally deported a woman back to neighboring Turkey, and described the use of summary expulsions, or “pushbacks,” as systematic. The decision could impact how Europe handles migrants […]
(Brussels Times) The next government must decide whether or not to repatriate Belgian fighters in Syrian prisons, the interim foreign affairs minister has stated. Following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, the Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis (OCAM) has identified […]
(Reuters) The European Union could submit a proposal as soon as March on the creation of so-called “return hubs” to expedite the removal of illegal migrants, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Thursday. Kristersson sketched out the potential timetable during a […]
(AFP) A record 46,843 migrants reached Spain’s Canary Islands illegally in 2024 via the increasingly deadly Atlantic route, the second consecutive year of unprecedented arrival numbers, official data showed on Thursday. The landmark came as the European country received 63,970 irregular migrants […]
(AFP) Spanish police said on Sunday they had arrested seven people smugglers accused of murdering four migrant[s] during a sea crossing in November from the African mainland to the Canary Islands. The seven were detained at an emergency accommodation centre on the […]
(NL Times) The new political party De Vonk in Amsterdam has caused controversy by inviting the leader of Samidoun, the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, to the launch of their political movement, De Telegraaf reported. Mohammed Khatib has been banned from the Netherlands […]
(AP) Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government vowed on Monday to open controversial migrant processing centers in Albania that have remained dormant after Italian courts refused to validate the transfer of the first two groups of migrants. Government ministers “repeated the firm intention […]
(Euronews) Far-right protesters have held a rally in Magdeburg, following Friday evening’s attack on a Christmas market which left five people dead and hundreds injured. Police estimate around 1,000 protesters gathered in the city’s central square, calling for stronger controls on migration […]
(AP) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Saturday drew a direct link between immigration and an attack in Germany where a man drove into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers, killing at least five people and injuring 200 others. During a […]
(Politico) A driver plowed a car at high speed into crowds of people at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, adding further tension to an election campaign already riven by a bitter debate over migration. Right-wing parties seized […]
(AP) A car plowed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday, killing at least two people and injuring at least 60 others in what authorities called a deliberate attack. The driver was arrested at […]
(Politico) Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini was acquitted Friday on kidnapping charges over his decision in 2019 to block a migrant rescue ship carrying more than 140 people from coming ashore in Italy. Salvini, who was serving as Italy’s interior minister […]
(Algemeiner) The Jewish community in France has lambasted a European Union lawmaker for arguing that French-Palestinians must be able to join the “Palestinian armed resistance” if their French-Israeli counterparts are allowed to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Rima Hassan, a […]
(AP) Italy’s deputy premier, Matteo Salvini, has sounded defiant ahead of Friday’s court verdict in Sicily for blocking some 100 migrants at sea on a humanitarian rescue boat in 2019 when he was interior minister. Salvini, who leads the Euroskeptic, anti-migrant League, […]
(Brussels Times) Federal migration centre Myria has called on the government to stop revoking the Belgian nationality of children of Palestinian descent born in Belgium. This request follows a report published on Thursday by the national migration centre. Since the summer of […]
(Reuters) Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni urged the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Tuesday to dismiss objections to her government’s flagship plan to send sea migrants to Albania. EU judges have been asked to weigh in on the scheme by Italian […]
(Philenews) A top secret file of Syrians who arrived as migrants on the island years before the Assad demise and had suspected links with HTS, now ruling the country, has resurfaced following the group’s emergence as the key player in the new […]
(AP) European Union countries agreed on Friday a draft law aimed at preventing and countering migrant smuggling, which critics say could be used to target people or charity groups that try to help migrants in trouble. The aim of the new law […]
(Reuters) Austria’s conservative-led government said on Friday it is offering Syrian refugees a “return bonus” of 1,000 euros ($1,050) to move back to their home country after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer reacted quickly to Assad’s overthrow on […]
(Jerusalem Post) The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) was operating its website with the help of German and Canadian servers until mid-October 2024, German public broadcaster BR24 revealed following an investigation. An IT expert confirmed the findings. According to […]
(AP) Some European Union countries on Thursday doubled down on their decision to rapidly halt asylum procedures for Syrian migrants in Europe, but said that it was too early to consider sending any of the hundreds of thousands of people who have […]
(Politico) When Osama Sabsabi learned that opposition forces had captured the city of Homs, where he grew up, he did something that would have been unthinkable just days earlier: He booked a ticket home. “We, the Syrian people, are experiencing an indescribable […]
(Brussels Times) There are around ten Belgian citizens in the Islamist group that ousted Bashar al-Assad from power in Syria last week, according to Belgium’s interim Foreign Minister Bernard Quintin (MR). In a shock chain of events, the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir […]
(Swiss Info) Does it harm Switzerland’s good offices if it bans Palestinian militant group Hamas? Parliament has been debating this for years. Now the arguments in favour of a ban have won. Until now, Switzerland has deliberately exercised restraint in banning terrorist […]
(Breitbart) The Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that led the recent overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria has been tied to the terrorist beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty. Potentially undermining claims from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Mohammed al-Joulani that his organisation has […]
(AFP) France’s hardline interior minister on Friday said Britain could no longer “sub-contract” Channel border security out to Paris, with no end in sight to the flows of migrants heading across the waterway. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau is set to meet with […]
(Brussels Times) Antwerp police are considering monitoring the Jewish neighbourhood in the city with smart cameras to detect violent anti-Semitic incidents in advance. The Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 and Israel’s subsequent criticised military offensive against the Gaza Strip, and later […]
(AFP) France’s justice minister said on Monday that he was “resolutely opposed” to a bill aimed at removing “apology for terrorism” from the criminal code, a move that has attracted condemnation across the political spectrum. The hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) proposal aims […]
(Sky News) Two men who ran a people-smuggling operation from a car wash have pleaded guilty. Dilshad Shamo, 41, and Ali Khdir, 40, had previously denied the charges of assisting a breach or attempted breach of immigration laws. But on Friday, on […]
(Belga) The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office has 13 open cases involving Belgian suspects accused of participating in the genocide of Yazidis. Attacks were carried out by the terrorist organisation Islamic State (ISIS) in northern Iraq in 2014. This information was confirmed by […]
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