EU: MED-CRISIS: (27.8.15)
27 August 2015
Refugees face death threats at Italian hotel (The Local.it, link):
"Italian police are investigating claims that dozens of immigrants have received death threats in a xenophobic letter sent to the hotel which is hosting them in Lombardy's Valtellina valley."
Migrant crisis: Grim find of bodies in Austria lorry (BBC News, link):
"At least 20 migrants have been found dead in a lorry abandoned in a motorway lay-by near the eastern border with Hungary, the Austrian authorities say. The number of dead could be as high as 50, police say. Their bodies had started to decompose." and Migrant tragedy leaves dozens dead in Austria (The Local.at, link)
European Commission:
Funding to main migration-related activities in the Western Balkans and Turkey (pdf)
Migrants crisis: Austria and Balkans call for EU answer (BBC News, link):
"Serbia and Macedonia have told a summit in Vienna the EU must come up with an action plan to respond to the influx of migrants into Europe."
Hungary scrambles to confront migrant influx, Merkel heckled (Reuters, link):
"The chief commissioner of Hungarian police, Karoly Papp, said police were readying six special border patrol units of an initial 2,106 officers, equipped with helicopters, horses and dogs, to be sent in depending on the situation on the Serbian border."
More than 50 migrants found dead on boats near Libya coast (euractiv, link):
"Rescuers saved about 3,000 migrants, but found more than 50 dead on boats near the coast of Libya yesterday (26 August), the Italian coast guard said."
Migration hijacks EU-Balkan summit in Vienna (euobserver, link)
Desperate migrants find holes in Hungary's razor-wire fence strategy - Viktor Orbán’s populist government hoped to deter new arrivals, but instead, his country is the new focal point of Europe’s migration crisis (Guardian, link)
GREECE:
Refugee life at makeshift detention centre in Lesbos - shadow economy has sprung up in a refugee detention centre on the Greek island of Lesbos. (BBC News, link-video): There are thousands of people living in the facility, and now makeshift shops have opened up inside the camp. And see: Report:
Kara Tepe, transit camp for refugees, Lesvos (Greece) Outline development proposals (pdf)
GREECE:
Minister chides mayors calling for migration action (ekathimerini.com)
German employers 'should hire more refugees' (DW, link):
"The Federal Employment Agency has urged German businesses to hire more refugees and harness their potential. Their ability to speak several languages is among the qualities it says would be an asset to firms."
GERMANY:
Rostock riots revealed 'the dark side of humanity' (DW, link):
"Heidenau, Solingen, Rostock-Lichtenhagen: Germany has a long history of attacks on asylum seekers. One former Rostock city official has spent his career thinking of ways to combat xenophobia."
Syrians cross Norway's Arctic border on bicyles (The Local.no,link)
"More than 100 Syrian refugees have crossed the Arctic border from Norway to Russia on bicycles, exploiting a loophole in the country's border regulations."
Norway gives €5m to Greece for refugees (The Local.no, link):
"Norway has given Greece €5m in emergency funding to help it provide for a sudden influx of refugees at a time when it is facing its own protracted economic crisis."
AUSTRIA:
Kurz threatens tighter border controls (The Local.at, link):
"Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz has threatened to introduce stricter border controls in Austria if a European solution cannot be found for the asylum crisis."
LN:
Detention centre for refugees not suitable for children (Prague Monitor, link)