(AP) Greece is seeking stricter European Union migration policies as it braces for a potential surge in migrants and refugees due to ongoing war in the Middle East, a senior government official said Wednesday. Migration Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said the government is […]
(Reuters) Italy’s government on Monday passed a decree aimed at overcoming court objections to its flagship immigration plan that is aimed at deterring boat migrants by sending them to detention camps in Albania. The plan, launched last week, was immediately undermined as […]
(AP) A court in Italy on Friday ruled against the right-wing government’s move to detain 12 migrants at newly opened centers in Albania, highlighting a key hurdle in the administration’s plan to outsource some of its migrant processing to the Balkan country. […]
(Euronews) Ursula von der Leyen has offered her strongest endorsement yet to the controversial project of establishing so-called “return hubs” outside the European Union territory to transfer asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected. The idea was reflected in a letter the […]
(AP) Italy is transferring the first group of migrants to Albania, the Interior Ministry said Monday, as part of a contentious plan to process thousands of asylum-seekers outside its borders. A naval ship departed from the island of Lampedusa with 16 men […]
(Breitbart) Dividends have begun to pay off for Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s migration strategy as figures have shown a near-two-thirds reduction of illegal arrivals over last year. Statistics released this week by the Italian Interior Ministry showed that 41,530 illegal immigrants landed […]
(AFP) The number of migrants reaching the Canary Islands more than doubled in the first 7.5 months of 2024 as Spain’s prime minister announced plans to visit west Africa next week. Figures show that 22,304 migrants reached the Atlantic archipelago in the […]
(AP) The United Nations’ refugee agency said Friday that Cypriot efforts at sea to stop numerous Syrian refugee-laden boats departing Lebanon from reaching the European Union-member island nation mustn’t contravene international human rights laws or put passengers at risk. Cypriot authorities have […]
(AP) Cyprus said Saturday it’s suspending processing all asylum applications by Syrian nationals because large numbers of refugees from the war-torn country continue to reach the island nation by boat, primarily from Lebanon. In a written statement, the Cypriot government said the […]
(Politico) Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides will head to Lebanon on Monday for talks on migration after the Mediterranean island declared a crisis on refugee flows. “We are indeed in a crisis, but I want to assure you that we will do everything […]
(Politico) Rising numbers of migrants arriving have left Cyprus in “a state of serious crisis,” the country’s President Nikos Christodoulides said Wednesday as he called for the EU to step in. More than 2,000 people arrived in Cyprus by sea in the […]
(AP) The president of Cyprus said on Tuesday that he has personally asked the head of the European Union’s executive arm to intercede with Lebanese authorities to stop boatloads of Syrian refugees from heading to the east Mediterranean island nation. President Nikos […]
(AP) Albania’s Parliament voted Thursday to approve a deal for the country to hold thousands of asylum seekers for Italy, despite protests from opposition lawmakers and human rights groups. Under the five-year deal, Albania would shelter up to 3,000 migrants rescued from […]
(European Conservative) A report released on Monday, February 12th, just in time for the start of the Munich Security Conference on Friday, reveals that Russia is no longer perceived as the biggest security threat by people living in the largest economies in […]
(Reuters) Irregular immigration to the EU from Western Africa rose more than ten times on the year in January, according to the bloc’s Frontex border agency, which expects overall arrivals to grow in 2024 and says halting the movement of people completely […]
(AP) More than 1,000 migrants from sub-Saharan countries arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands in 18 boats over the past three days, Spain’s marine rescue service said Monday. A body was found in one of the boats. The archipelago off northwest Africa has […]
(Politico) The European Union on Wednesday broke years of political deadlock by agreeing on a deal that will significantly change how the bloc limits migrant entry, moves migrants around EU countries and effectively makes it easier to deport unsuccessful asylum seeker applicants. […]
(EUobserver) Sweden has called for an EU immigration crackdown to stop terrorism, with a right-wing slant on Muslims that risks sharpening division. EU ministers should discuss in December how to prevent attacks such as the killing of two Swedish football fans by […]
(Politico) Belgium had big plans for its upcoming Council presidency. But its handling of the October 16 shooting spree by Tunisian gunman Abdesalem Lassoued, which left two Swedish football supporters dead, has since led to a series of embarrassing revelations. Lassoued was […]
(Reuters) The leaders of Belgium and Sweden and the European Union’s chief executive promised on Wednesday to tighten border security and step up repatriations after a failed asylum seeker from Tunisia shot dead two Swedish football fans in Brussels. They spoke after […]
(AP) European Union countries on Wednesday overcame a major obstacle in their yearslong quest to overhaul the bloc’s asylum rules amid warnings that time is running out to clinch agreement on the entire scheme before next year’s EU elections. EU envoys clinched […]
(Reuters) The European Union should deal with a surge in migrants by sealing its borders and rejecting any idea of relocating them within the bloc, Poland’s ruling party said on Tuesday as it takes a tough stance on migration before an election. […]
(AP) The Italian government approved new measures to crack down on migration Monday, after the southern island of Lampedusa was again overwhelmed by a wave of arrivals setting off from Tunisia and the migration issue returned to center stage in Europe with […]
(AP) EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged the swift return of “irregular” migrants to their home countries and a crackdown on the “brutal business” of migrant smuggling Sunday during a visit with Italy’s premier to a tiny fishing island overwhelmed […]
(Reuters) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Lampedusa on Sunday, an official said, as dozens of the Italian island’s citizens protested over a recent surge in migrant arrivals. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called on Friday for the […]
(AP) A flotilla of flimsy boats, crowded with migrants and launched from Tunisia, overwhelmed a tiny southern Italian island on Wednesday, taxing the coast guard’s capability to intercept the smugglers’ vessels and testing Premier Giorgia Meloni’s pledge to thwart irregular migration. Compounding […]
(AP) Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni on Sunday called for new, more equal relationships between Europe and migrants’ countries of origin and transit as she convened a summit of some 20 nations, EU officials and international organizations aimed at stanching flows of illegal […]
(AFP) Italy has invited Mediterranean countries to Rome on Sunday for an “international conference” aimed at extending an EU-backed deal with Tunisia to curb the arrival of migrants to European shores. Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is expecting leaders from the […]
(Politico) Cash is king in the EU’s plan to stop migrants from coming to Europe. On Sunday, the EU finalized a deal with Tunisia — a common departure point for people seeking asylum in Europe — that essentially offers the country millions in exchange […]
(AFP) The European Union and Tunisia on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding for a “strategic and comprehensive partnership” on irregular migration, economic development and renewable energy. The deal, which includes financial assistance, came as Tunisia has been under fire over its […]
(Reuters) Just as King Canute failed to hold back the seas, so Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has floundered in her efforts to stop the flow of migrants to Italy since she took office last October. Despite pledges before last year’s national election […]
(AP) Nine men suspected of crewing a migrant smuggling ship that sank off Greece leaving more than 500 missing were ordered held in pretrial custody Tuesday, as new accounts emerged on the sinking and the appalling conditions on the trip from Libya […]
(Politico) Italy finally gave its blessing. Rome’s green light on Thursday evening unlocked a major deal to overhaul the EU’s asylum procedures for the first time in years after a grueling gathering of home affairs ministers in Luxembourg. “I wasn’t sure this […]
(Politico) The EU called Monday on Greece to investigate allegations that it is abandoning migrants at sea amid concerns that the center-right government in Athens is violating EU law. The EU’s executive urged Greece to launch a probe into alleged illegal migrant […]
(National-UAE) The Turkish diaspora in Europe gave President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a boost in his tight re-election race, preliminary results showed on Monday. In Germany, where the Turkish community of three million is the largest abroad, Mr Erdogan was ahead with 65 […]
(AFP) Hundreds of refugees protested against Greece’s tough migration policies in Athens on Saturday, accusing the conservative government of “murdering” asylum seekers through illegal pushbacks. “Stop pushbacks, down with the government of murderers,” read one of the banners at the rally in […]
(Reuters) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday called for European Union financing for border fences, reviving an idea long seen as inadmissible ahead of a summit of the bloc’s leaders to discuss curbing irregular immigration. The gathering of the 27 national […]
(Breitbart) The European Commission has come under criticism over its decision to promote an Islamic youth organisation with alleged ties to the radical Muslim Brotherhood organisation. French broadcaster CNews revealed on Thursday that, earlier this month, an Instagram post celebrating International Youth […]
(AFP) European Commissioner Ylva Johansson on Friday offered to deploy the EU’s border agency to Senegal to help combat migrant smuggling, following a surge in perilous crossings to Spain’s Canary Islands. At a news conference in the Senegalese capital Dakar, Johansson said […]
(Politico) European Council President Charles Michel turned heads Wednesday when he claimed the EU could legally fund border barriers — calling into question a long-standing EU refusal to allow such financing. “Based on an opinion of the Legal Service of the Council, […]
(AP) European Union officials on Wednesday accused Belarus of state-sponsored “trafficking” of human lives by luring desperate migrants to the Polish border — the edge of the EU — where many are now stuck in makeshift camps in freezing weather. As the […]
(AP) Hundreds if not thousands of migrants sought to storm the border from Belarus into Poland on Monday, cutting razor wire fences and using branches to try and climb over them. The siege escalated a crisis along the European Union’s eastern border […]
(AFP) Polish lawmakers on Friday gave the go-ahead to build a controversial wall on the EU member’s eastern border with Belarus, in response to an unprecedented wave of migrants, mostly from the Middle East. The wall will cost an estimated 353 million […]
(AP) European Union leaders pledged on Friday to “keep up the pressure” on Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to halt the flow of migrants from his country and raised the prospect of new sanctions amid calls by some bloc members to build walls […]
(AP) The prime ministers of Poland and Lithuania said Friday that tighter security at their borders with Belarus was the best way to ease pressure from migrant inflows there, as they expect what they called a “hybrid attack” from Belarus to continue. […]
(Politico) In Greece, officials are swiftly erecting patrol units and surveillance systems to intercept any Afghans crossing into the EU — and they say the EU should help foot the bill. Officials back in Brussels have refused, insisting any payments must be […]
(Reuters) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday pledged support for Lithuania, which is experiencing a quickly growing flow of migrants though its 679-kilometre border with Belarus. The Lithuanian government declared a country-wide emergency on Friday as 150 migrants crossed […]
(Reuters) The head of the European Commission said it will make a proposal to Turkey to ensure the flow of funding for refugees that the country hosts, adding that Ankara must however respect human rights and the rule of law. Ursula von […]
(AFP) The European Union said on Monday that Turkey must “urgently” resume accepting migrants from Greece, where thousands are being held in camps, days before EU chiefs are to visit Ankara. Greece, which has also been seeking support from EU allies in […]
(Middle East Eye) A coalition of civil society organisations on Monday urged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to investigate France at the European Court of Justice over its controversial “imam charter,” saying that it violates Muslims’ right to free speech […]
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