EU: Refugee crisis: latest news from across Europe (5)
04 November 2015
Helicopters winch Lebanese, Syrian migrants from sea off Cyprus (ekathimerini.com, link):
"Twenty-six people thought to be Lebanese and Syrian were winched to safety by helicopters off Cyprus in an overnight operation when their sailboat began to sink in rough seas, authorities said. Radars picked up a distress signal from the boat sailing off the island's south-eastern tip, which is prone to very strong sea currents. Police said a number of passengers required medical treatment for hypothermia."
European Union states have relocated just 116 refugees out of 160,000 (Guardian, link):
"EU agreed in September to transfer 160,000 people from most affected states but so far just 86 have moved from Italy and 30 are due to leave Greece"
Austria puts up barbed wire at border despite chancellor's pledge (GUardian, link):
"Werner Faymann last week criticised Hungary for blocking refugees with barbed wire fences and said Austria’s project was different"
Greece repatriates undocumented migrants (ekathimerini.com, link):
"A group of 70 undocumented immigrants from Pakistan are set to be repatriated later Wednesday in the first such operation in about 18 months. The EU-funded operation is overseen by the bloc’s border agency Frontex in cooperation with the Greek police’s Aliens Bureau. The immigrants, who are currently held at the Amygdaleza detention facility north of Athens, will be flown to Islamabad shortly after midnight." and:
Greek coast guard says 5 die in boat accident (link)
Tusk calls migration summit number 5 (euractiv, link):
"European Council President Donald Tusk has called another EU summit on the migrant crisis, the fifth this year, this time in Valletta, on 12 November. The summit of the EU leaders will be held back-to-back with an EU-Africa summit on migration, which will start the previous day. Migration summitry has produced many decisions, but has been followed by minimum implementation."
All eyes on Germany as refugee exodus continues (euractiv, link):
"Member states are affected in very different ways by the refugee crisis. But all of them worry about what will happen when Germany’s capacity to absorb asylum seekers reaches saturation point... The first EU leaders to announce that they would close their borders if Germany does were Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, his Romanian colleague Victor Ponta, and their counterpart from candidate country Serbia, Alexandar Vucic."
EU tests new screening process on Greek island where over 300,000 migrants have arrived (usnews.com, link):
"registration center for migrants and refugees in Moria village on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, where thousands are camping out in a tent city that has sprung up around the police registration center chosen for the pilot program, which includes translators and police interviewers who use a secret questionnaire aimed at helping to quickly determine the migrants’ country of origin."
A Syrian Migrant’s Journey from Syria to Europe (IOM, link)
Roma driven to homelessness across Europe (euractiv, link):
"Roma are being evicted from their homes across the European Union in systematic forced evictions. What is needed is the political will to use EU anti-discrimination laws to sanction member states guilty of leaving Roma homeless."
Hungary:
Parliament rejects refugee quotas, sets legal battle with EU (Budapest Journal, link):
"Parliament yesterday set up a legal battle with the European Union by approving a resolution rejecting an EU plan to introduce a quota system that would share refugees among member nations, according to reports"
Agence Europe reports, some good news, at last:
"The Commission also decided on Tuesday to grant additional funding of €2 million for refugees and asylum seekers currently in the Western Balkans. With the arrival of winter, this humanitarian aid will enable the UNHCR to provide 200,000 refugees with warm clothes for the winter and temporary shelter and protection at reception sites in the region."
DENMARK:
October was a record month for asylum-seekers in Denmark (The Copenhagen Post, link)
DENMARK:
Rise in human trafficking cases fuelled by refugee crisis (The Copenhagen Post, link)
FRANCE:
VIDEO: Explosion at Calais refugee camp (The Local, link)
POLAND:
Survey: Poles believe Poland cannot afford refugees (The News, link):
"73 percent of Poles consider that their country cannot afford to take in refugees, at the same time 53 percent believe that as an EU member Poland should take an active part in solving the migration crisis, a recent poll by the TNS Polska has indicated."
UN refugee chief: funding shortage triggered Europe arrivals (Washington Post, link)
NETHERLANDS:
Western Balkan countries are safe, says Dutch justice minister (Dutch News, link):
"Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia have been added to the Dutch list of safe countries, which means their nationals have no right to asylum in the Netherlands."