The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Migrant crisis

  • Pope Francis visits migrant camp

    Pope Francis has made an emotional visit to a detention camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, telling the migrants there “you are not alone”.

    The Moria camp holds more than 3,000 people, some of whom may face deportation to Turkey, the BBC reports.

    “Do not lose hope,” the Pope said, as he urged the world to show “common humanity” on the migrant crisis.

    Thousands of migrants are now stuck on Lesbos after last month’s European Union-Turkey deal to try to ease the flow.

    The Vatican insists that the Pope’s visit is purely humanitarian and religious in nature and should not be seen as a criticism of the deportations.

    Pope Francis first met a group of young boys who had made the dangerous overseas journey alone.

    As he toured the camp, TV pictures showed one woman kneeling at his feet, delivering an emotional appeal.

    A young girl handed him some artwork. The Pope said “Bravo, Bravo,” before telling his staff: “Don’t fold it. I want it on my desk.”

    In his speech, the Pope acknowledged “the great sacrifice” the people in the camp had made, saying he wanted to “draw the attention of the world to this grave humanitarian crisis.”

  • EU talks focus on migrant crisis

    European Council President, Donald Tusk, is due to visit Greece and Turkey as he tries to find a common approach to Europe’s worsening migration crisis.

    Mr. Tusk has said reducing the number of migrants travelling from Turkey to the Greek islands is key to avoiding a humanitarian disaster, the BBC reports.

    More than 25,000 migrants are now stranded in Greece as border controls further north are tightened.

    Migration is also due to be discussed at a United Kingdom-French summit on Thursday.

    The British Prime Minister, David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande will hold talks in the French city of Amiens.

    Counter-terrorism and conflicts in Libya and Syria are also expected to be on the agenda.

    Hours before the meeting, French Finance Minister, Emanualle Macron, said his country could allow migrants to travel unchecked to the UK if British voters chose to leave the European Union in a June referendum.

    Authorities in the northern French port of Calais have been clearing part of a sprawling camp known as the Jungle, from where many migrants are trying to enter the UK illegally.

    But Mr. Macron said an exit vote in the referendum could end a bilateral deal allowing the UK to vet new arrivals on French territory.

  • Europe can’t allow Greece chaos – Merkel

    Europe cannot allow Greece to fall into “chaos,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said, amid sharp divisions among members over the migrant crisis.

    Austria and several Balkan countries have introduced restrictions stranding migrants in Greece.

    Mrs. Merkel said European Union nations had not battled to keep Greece in the euro just to leave it “in the lurch,” the BBC reports.

    She also defended her decision to open German borders to migrants, despite a resulting slump in her popularity.

    More than one million people arrived to claim asylum last year, sparking opposition within her governing coalition and a rise in far-right extremism.

    But speaking on Germany’s ARD television, Mrs. Merkel said she had no “Plan B” and would not change course, rejecting a proposed limit on migration.

    In the coming weeks she faces a major test when voters go to the polls in three German states.

    On Greece she said: “Do you seriously believe that all the euro states that last year fought all the way to keep Greece in the eurozone, and we were the strictest, can one year later allow Greece to, in a way, plunge into chaos?”

    Greece is the main entry point for migrants arriving in Europe, and was infuriated after a group of countries led by Austria installed controls.

    It recalled its ambassador to Austria after the group held talks but did not invite Greece.

    A key meeting is scheduled on March 7 between EU members and Turkey and a further summit due later that month.

  • Migrant crisis: Greece recalls envoy from Austria

    Greece has recalled its ambassador to Austria amid sharp divisions among European Union states over the migrant crisis.

    It acted after Austria hosted a meeting with Balkan states on the migrant issue, to which Greece was not invited, the BBC reports.

    Meanwhile, EU and Balkan interior ministers met in Brussels to try to heal rifts over the migrant issue.

    Speaking afterwards, the EU’s migration commissioner warned the bloc’s migration system could “completely break down” within weeks.

    Dimitris Avramopoulos said member states had until a March 7 summit with Turkey to curb the number of migrants.

    “In the next 10 days, we need tangible and clear results on the ground,” he told reporters.

     

  • Migrant crisis to dominate EU summit

    Germany and several other nations are to discuss with Turkey ways of settling thousands of Syrian refugees ahead of the final European Union summit of the year.

    Those attending the meeting will discuss a proposal to resettle Syrians straight from camps in Turkey, the BBC reports

    But German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, the driving force behind the plans, faces resistance from other EU states.

    Thursday’s full EU summit in Brussels is set to focus heavily on the migrant crisis which has divided members.

    The wider EU summit will discuss European Commission plans to create an EU coast guard, and other ways to strengthen external borders.

    The fight against terrorism is also expected to dominate the summit after it emerged that at least two of the Paris attackers used the migrant route to travel to France.

    Many migrants are themselves fleeing violence in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, seeking to reach northern Europe.

    Keen to keep migration and terror as separate issues, European Council President, Donald Tusk, said “the protection of our external borders is not intended to scare off those who flee wars or persecution.”

    “Europe is a community of freedom and will always provide shelter for those in danger,” he wrote in a summit invitation.

  • Germany to speed up asylum process

    Germany has unveiled plans to speed up the asylum process, after the governing coalition resolved a rift on the issue.

    Chancellor Angela Merkel said they would create up to five special centres for asylum-seekers deemed to have little chance of staying.

    Mrs. Merkel’s Christian Democrats and junior coalition partners the Social Democrats have quarrelled for weeks over the issue, the BBC reports.

    Germany said it expects to receive at least 800,000 asylum seekers this year.

    Earlier, the European Commission said that three million migrants were likely to arrive in Europe by the end of 2017.

    The huge influx of asylum seekers has caused political turmoil across the European Union with member states disagreeing about how to deal with the crisis.

    “We took a good and important step forward,” said Mrs. Merkel, whose open-door refugee policy has come in for strong criticism in Germany.

    The five special centres would hold migrants from countries deemed safe, those barred from re-entering Germany, and those refusing to co-operate.

    In an accelerated asylum process, cases could be heard in a week, not months, and appeals would take only a further two weeks. Most could expect to be deported.

    At a news conference, Mrs. Merkel and Social Democrat leader Sigmar Gabriel also stressed the importance of tackling the reasons causing people to flee their countries and of securing the EU’s external borders.

    The United Nations said the onset of bad weather has failed to stem the flow of migrants risking perilous sea journeys to Europe.

  • Migrant Balkan path blocked

    Tensions are building among thousands of migrants heading north through Balkan states as their route to Western Europe is stalled by new controls.

    Croatia had asked its northern neighbour Slovenia to accept 5,000 migrants daily, but Slovenia said it would only take half that number.

    The move has led to a build-up of people on Croatia’s border with Serbia.

    An official told the BBC that Croatia could run out of room in its transit camps within days.

    Buses crammed with people were backed up in Serbia on Sunday, and tempers flared between frustrated migrants and overstretched police officers.

    Overnight, many were forced to wait in the cold and the rain.

    Thousands of asylum seekers are travelling north through the Balkans, with most aiming to reach Austria, Germany and other European Union states.

    Hungary, citing security concerns, has closed its borders with Serbia and Croatia, forcing migrants to switch to a slower route via Slovenia.

    Explaining Slovenia’s new restrictions on Sunday, Interior Ministry State Secretary, Bostjan Sefic, said its northern neighbour Austria was only accepting a maximum of 1,500 people a day.

    He said that Slovenia “cannot accept unlimited numbers of migrants if we know that they cannot continue their journey.”

  • Slovenia braces for migrant influx

    Migrants have begun arriving in Slovenia by bus from Croatia, after Hungary shut its border with Croatia to try to stem the numbers arriving en route to Western Europe.

    Hungary closed its frontier, reinforced with a razor-wire fence, at midnight local time on Friday, the BBC reports.

    Many of the migrants aim to continue north to Austria and Germany.

    Earlier European Union leaders failed to agree a plan backed by Hungary to send a force to prevent migrants reaching Greece.

    Hungary’s closure of its border with Croatia comes just a month after it shut its frontier with Serbia, which was another transit route to Western Europe.

    Until Friday night, 5,000 to 8,000 people were being allowed across Hungary every day, without registration, bound for Austria.

    There are fears in Slovenia that the latest border closure will channel many more migrants through the country.

    Extra police had been deployed to the border with Croatia, Slovenia interior minister, Vesna Gjorkos Znidar, said.

    But the country will keep accepting refugees as long as Austria and Germany’s borders remain open, she said.

    Slovenia’s national Security Council is due to meet on Saturday.

  • EU backs Turkey’s migrant plan

    European Union states have backed an action plan with Turkey, which it is hoped will ease the flow of migrants to Europe.

    Nearly 600,000 migrants have reached the EU by sea this year, many of them travelling from Turkey, the BBC reports.

    The leaders agreed to speed up visa liberalisation talks for Turks if Ankara stems the influx and to “re-energise” Turkey’s accession dialogue.

    Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said he felt “cautious optimism” over the deal.

    Meanwhile, a migrant thought to be Afghan was shot dead by a Bulgarian border guard after entering the country from Turkey late on Thursday.

    Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, left the Brussels talk on hearing the news.

    At Thursday’s summit in Brussels, European leaders agreed to:

    Accelerate visa liberalisation for Turks wanting to visit the EU’s borderless Schengen area – if Turkey complies with certain criteria.

    Turkey had also asked for €3bn (£2.2bn, $3.4bn) in aid, something German Chancellor Angela Merkel said EU states were considering.

    Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said talks over the aid would continue with Turkish officials over the coming days.

    Mrs. Merkel will travel to Turkey at the weekend.

    “There is still a huge amount to do,” Mrs. Merkel said. “But you cannot say that we’ve achieved nothing.”

  • 12 migrants drown in Mediterranean, 500 others rescued

    Italian coast guards on Friday in Rome confirmed the death of 12 migrants on Thursday when their overcrowded rubber dinghy sank off the coast of Libya.

    It said no fewer than 500 others were rescued in the latest episodes in the Mediterranean migrant crisis.

    The guards said the corpses of the victims were found in the sea by the Coast Guard ship, Dattilo, some 40 miles north of Libya.

    The organisation said Dattilo saved 106 people from the same dinghy, which was half submerged when help arrived.

    No details were available on the nationalities of the victims or those rescued.

    It said Dattilo was still involved in other rescue operations involving boats in difficulty.

    A total of 393 other migrants were saved in four different operations carried out by the Dattilo on Thursday.

    Similarly, while another 106 migrants were saved by two Coast Guard frigates operating off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.

    Tens of thousands of migrants fleeing war and hunger in Africa and the Middle East have crossed the Mediterranean to Italy and Greece in 2015.

    Reports say investigation revealed that the vast majority of them are departing from the coast of Libya and no fewer than 2,000 migrants are estimated to have drowned