AUSTRIA (Euronews) Austria may lift veto preventing Romania and Bulgaria joining Schengen – Austria’s Interior Minister has hinted that Austria could lift its veto on full Schengen area membership for Romania and Bulgaria after improvements in border protection.
BELGIUM (Belga) Belgium addresses its approach to Afghan women’s asylum applications – Outgoing state secretary for asylum and migration, Nicole de Moor (CD&V), stated that Belgium has a long history of recognising the perilous situation Afgan women face when evaluating their applications for international protection.
CZECHIA (Brno Daily) Czech PM Fiala Calls For Global South Countries To Help Reduce Migration Flows – Speaking to Czech journalists after the end of the European Political Community summit in Budapest yesterday [7 November], Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that countries in the global south need to be much more involved in reducing migration into Europe.
FRANCE (Euractiv) France signs first-ever return migration deal with Kazakhstan – On 5 November, French President Emmanuel Macron and his Kazakh counterpart, Kassym-Jomart Tokaïev, signed a readmission agreement, the first ever between France and a Central Asian country.
FRANCE (AFP) French court jails 18 members of Channel people smuggling gang – A French court on Tuesday issued prison terms of up to 15 years to 18 people, mainly Iraqi Kurds, convicted of forming a vast gang to smuggle people aboard small boats across the Channel to England.
GERMANY (DPA) German Cabinet approves laws to implement EU asylum reform – The German Cabinet has approved two amendments needed to implement the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) in Germany, translating the European Union reform package, “one for one”, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday [6 November].
GERMANY (InfoMigrants) Germany to launch asylum payment card for asylum seekers nationwide – The rollout of the payment card for people seeking asylum, designed to streamline the distribution of benefits, is reportedly imminent in some German states, with a nationwide launch expected soon after. Some states, such as Bavaria, already introduced a payment card months ago.
GREECE (To Vima) Greek Refugee Camp Protests Over Critical Lack of Interpreters – People in Greek refugee camps are protesting because they have been left without legally required interpretation services for months.
GREECE (Greek City Times) Four Migrants’ Bodies Recovered After Boat Sinks off Rhodes; Search and Rescue Operations Continue – Greek authorities have recovered the bodies of four people – three men and one woman – following the sinking of a migrant boat off the island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea, the Hellenic Coast Guard reported on Wednesday [6 November].
GREECE (Greek City Times) Greece Considers New Migrant Facility on Rhodes as Arrivals Surge – Greece is exploring the establishment of a detention facility on the island of Rhodes to address a sharp rise in arrivals from neighbouring Türkiye, according to Migration Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos.
IRELAND (RTE) Ukrainians in Ireland are being evicted for ‘unsanctioned absences’ – Organisations supporting Ukrainian refugees in Ireland have raised concerns about people being evicted from hotel accommodation for leaving without permission.
ITALY (InfoMigrants) Central Mediterranean: NGOs rescue nearly 300 migrants, hundreds of others arrive on Lampedusa – There have been a series of rescues and arrivals of people on the move in the Central Mediterranean this week. The crews of the rescue ships Ocean Viking and Sea-Eye-5 rescued 295 people between them. In addition, more than 1,000 people arrived on the island of Lampedusa.
ITALY (Reuters) Italian navy ship carrying migrants arrives in Albanian port – An Italian navy ship carrying a small group of people seeking asylum docked in an Albanian port on Friday [8 November] in an attempt by Rome to salvage a plan to process asylum seekers abroad after a first attempt hit legal hurdles.
See more (Euractiv) Rome court blocks Meloni’s plans to transfer migrants to Albania again – A Rome court on Monday decided to once again disrupt Meloni’s recently established Italy-Albania migration outsourcing scheme by suspending the transfer of seven people seeking asylum, adding to the 12 transfers it suspended in mid-October.
MALTA (Times of Malta) Robert Abela urges EU leaders to collaborate on fighting migration ‘phenomenon’ – Robert Abela urged EU leaders on Thursday [7 November] to collaborate on fighting the migration “phenomenon” and sending a message that it was not up to human traffickers to decide who entered Europe.
MALTA (Malta Independent) Jurisdiction remains central question in El Hiblu 3 trial, groups say as they call for dismissal – The appeal hearing to the Bill of Indictment on the question of jurisdiction in the case of Malta against the El Hiblu 3 took place yesterday [6 November], the Free the El Hiblu 3 campaign said.
NETHERLANDS (NL Times) Refugees who quickly leave asylum centers integrate faster into Dutch society – Refugees who stayed in asylum reception for a long time and moved frequently during that period have a harder time learning the Dutch language. In the long term, they also have less chance of finding paid work or otherwise participating in society. This is the conclusion of researchers who followed a group of Syrian refugees who were granted a residency permit between 2014 and 2016 for years.
PORTUGAL (Euractiv) Portuguese government ready to up support for UNRWA – Portugal is ready to step up its support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) within the framework of the EU after Israel banned its activities, Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel told parliament Tuesday.
SPAIN (InfoMigrants) Spain: More than 700 migrants rescued off the Balearics over four days – In just four days this week, over 700 people were rescued near Spain’s Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean. Regional authorities said accommodating them is challenging and urged the federal government in Madrid to amend laws to allow more transfers to other regions in Spain.
UK (i) ‘Smash the gangs won’t work’: Home Office officials doubt Labour small boats plan – Home Office officials do not believe Labour’s plan to “smash the gangs” will work as a way of bringing down “illegal” migration to the UK, i can reveal.
UK (BBC) Migrants stranded on Diego Garcia offered move to UK – People who are stranded for years on the remote Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia will be offered the right to come to the UK, under a government proposal.
