Archive for the ‘Migration’ Category
Mediterranean Migrant Arrivals in 2016: 172,458; Deaths: 714
Saturday, April 9th, 2016Greece – IOM reports that an estimated 172,458 migrants and refugees have entered Europe by sea into Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Spain through 6 April 2016.
Arrivals to Greece over the past seven days (31 March – 6 April) totalled 1,758 men, women and children. IOM calculates this was roughly the daily average over the three months of January, February and March. This is a significant drop from two weeks ago, which saw 5,293 arrivals by sea.
On Tuesday, April 5, the Greek Coast Guard reported that not a single migrant or refugee arrived by sea in Greece – the first “zero day” recorded since last year.
As of 6 April 2016, cumulative arrivals in Greece by sea for 2016 stand at 152,461, with 914 arriving by land, according to IOM.
The Greek Coast Guard reports that the number of unaccompanied minors arriving on the Greek island of Lesbos in the first quarter of 2016 was 537. This compares to 750 unaccompanied minors arriving on Lesbos through all of 2015.
Meanwhile arrivals in Italy for 2016 have increased to 19,322 – about a thousand since this time last week. On Thursday, 7 April, the Italian Coast Guard rescued 314 migrants from a fishing boat in the Maltese Search and Rescue zone reportedly sailing from Egypt.
IOM Rome reported they were brought to Crotone (Calabria). The migrants on board came from Egypt, Somalia, Eritrea, the Comoro Islands and included some Syrians.
1 Jan – 7 April 2016 |
1 Jan – 30 April 2015 |
|||
Country |
Arrivals |
Deaths |
Arrivals |
Deaths |
| Greece |
152,461 |
366 (Eastern Med route) |
22,408 |
31 (Eastern Med Route) |
| Cyprus |
27 |
269 (Jan-Dec 2015) |
||
| Italy |
19,322 |
343 (Central Med route) |
26,228 |
1,687 (Central Med route) |
| Spain |
648 |
5 (Western Med and Western African routes) |
3,845 (Jan-Dec 2015) |
15 (Western Med and Western African routes) |
Estimated Total |
172,458 |
714 |
52,750 |
1,733 |
European Migration Situation Report: International Organization of Migration
Saturday, April 9th, 2016Europe-Med-Migration-Response_Sitrep18-7April2016
“….As of 6 April 2016, 175,797 migrants and refugees have arrived to Europe by land and sea routes since the start of 2016, the majority of whom have entered by sea through Greece (152,461) and Italy (19,322).
On 4 April, as part of the EU-Turkey agreement, Greece began deportations of migrants to Turkey. Under heavy security measures on the island of Lesvos and Chios, 202 individuals were deported to Turkey (136 from Lesvos and 66 from Chios).
As of 9 March, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Croatia and Slovenia all closed their borders, shutting down the Western Balkans route. Due to the closure of the route, as of 5 April, the number of migrants and refugees who have been registered in the country since the start of the year remain at 89,623. The number of people remaining at the reception centre in Gevgelija is currently 125, out of which 30 are women, 38 are men and 57 are children. In Tabanovce centre, approximately 1,100 people remain stranded.
In Serbia, new arrivals have also ceased and as of 6 April, the total number of migrants and refugees that have entered the country remain at 90,177.
In Croatia, no new entries have been registered at the Slavonski Brod reception transit centre. Since its opening in November 2015, the Slavonski Brod reception transit centre has accommodated 347,152 migrants and refugees. Currently there are only 111 people hosted in the centre.
On 31 March, the Slovenian Government appointed an interdepartmental working group to coordinate the implementation plan to relocate 567 persons from Italy and Greece and to permanently resettle 20 from Syria. The working group will prepare an accommodation plan for those being resettled as well as an integration plan that will focus on accessing the labour market and the education system.
Migrant riot in a Greek detention camp: “Afghans are angry because Syrians can get asylum in Europe, and they can’t.”
Saturday, April 9th, 2016
** Amnesty International: Migrants held on the Greek islands Lesbos and Chios live in “appalling” conditions with little access to legal aid or information
Friday, April 8th, 2016** Frontex, the EU’s border police, has said that terrorists may have entered Europe by hiding among asylum seekers.
Thursday, April 7th, 2016
Authorities on the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios deported 202 migrants and refugees on boats bound for Turkey Monday
Monday, April 4th, 2016‘….”This is the first day of a very difficult time for refugee rights. Despite the serious legal gaps and lack of adequate protection in Turkey, the EU is forging ahead with a dangerous deal,” Giorgos Kosmopoulos, head of Amnesty International in Greece, told the Associated Press from Lesbos….’
The traffic into Europe through the Arctic began late last summer, with more than 5,000 migrants on bicycles suddenly pouring across Russia’s previously tightly controlled northern border into Norway.
Monday, April 4th, 2016Migration Crisis…..again!
Sunday, April 3rd, 2016REUTERS :
“….Less than 24 hours before Greece is due to begin returning migrants to Turkey, little sign of preparation is evident on Lesbos…… Returns are due to begin on Monday, but where they will take place from and how many will be returned remains unclear…..”
“…..All forced returns to Syria are illegal under Turkish, EU and international law.
“In their desperation to seal their borders, EU leaders have wilfully ignored the simplest of facts: Turkey is not a safe country for Syrian refugees and is getting less safe by the day,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s Director for Europe and Central Asia.
“The large-scale returns of Syrian refugees we have documented highlight the fatal flaws in the EU-Turkey deal. It is a deal that can only be implemented with the hardest of hearts and a blithe disregard for international law.”
The EU-Turkey deal paves the way for the immediate return to Turkey of Syrian refugees arriving on the Greek islands, on the grounds that it is safe country of asylum. EU officials have expressed the hope that returns could start as of Monday 4 April.
The EU’s extended courting of Turkey that preceded the deal has already had disastrous knock-on effects on Turkey’s own policies towards Syrian refugees.
“Far from pressuring Turkey to improve the protection it offers Syrian refugees, the EU is in fact incentivizing the opposite,” said John Dalhuisen.
“It seems highly likely that Turkey has returned several thousand refugees to Syria in the last seven to nine weeks. If the agreement proceeds as planned, there is a very real risk that some of those the EU sends back to Turkey will suffer the same fate.”……”
Amnesty International: Turkey has illegally forced about 100 Syrians a day since mid-January back to their war-torn country
Friday, April 1st, 2016
** “…Under the “non-refoulement” principle of international humanitarian law, a state is prohibited from deporting individuals to a war zone…..”
Turkey’s deputy premier says his country has reached the end of its “capacity to absorb” refugees but will continue to take them in.
Monday, February 8th, 2016** The deputy premier also said that Turkey is hosting a total of 3 million refugees, including 2.5 million Syrians.