'No progress in years' in Libya, says UN migration body
Fewer people may be crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Libya compared to recent years, but the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says underlying problems remain entrenched.
Roma refugees from Ukraine face Czech xenophobia
Facing with war at home and xenophobia in the Czech Republic, Ukraine's Roma refugees are falling between the cracks of Europe's great humanitarian effort.
EU: Ukrainians hesitating to register for protection
Some 2.7 million Ukrainians have registered for protection in the EU. But many others are hesitating to do the same.
News in Brief
- Dutch journalists sue EU over banned Russia TV channels
- EU holding €23bn of Russian bank reserves
- Russia speeds up passport process in occupied Ukraine
- Palestinian civil society denounce Metsola's Israel visit
- Johnson refuses to resign after Downing Street parties report
- EU border police has over 2,000 agents deployed
- Dutch tax authorities to admit to institutional racism
- Rutte calls for EU pension and labour reforms
Syria donor conference shuns Russia
Russia was not invited to an international donor conference on Syria in Brussels given its war in Ukraine. Moscow had also recently threatened to veto a humanitarian corridor from Turkey to Syria.
Feature
Hungary sets dogs on non-Ukrainian refugees
Orbán's government is still beating up and pushing back non-Ukrainian migrants, including one Lebanese man who fled the Ukrainian war zone to Europe.
EU 'foot dragging' on Poland border wall with Belarus
NGOs and academics say Poland's wall with Belarus violates EU environmental laws. The EU commission says "public safety" exemptions exist — in a possible endorsement of the 186km-long wall.
French EU presidency struggling on asylum reforms
The French EU presidency is pressing to make some last-minute headway on the EU's migration and asylum reform but is still meeting resistance from a handful of member states.
Rescue crew face 20 years jail for saving migrants
Four defendants in a larger case by Italian prosecutors face 20 years in prison for having helped rescue hundreds of people from drowning in the Mediterranean Sea.
Frontex chief tenders resignation
Fabrice Leggeri took on the role of the executive director of #Frontex in 2015. He posted a resignation letter earlier this week. Another senior official, Thibauld de la Haye Jousselin, may also have resigned.
Transparency lawsuit filed against Frontex
German sea rescue organisation Sea-Watch is suing Frontex for refusing to disclose some 73 documents on its possible role in helping the Libyan coast guard intercept migrants in Malta's rescue zone.
EU eyes job deal with Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia
The European Commission wants to set up so-called "talent partnerships" with foreign states to help fill the labour gaps in the EU — on the condition they help prevent irregular migration.
EU makes bogus claims on Libya coast guard safety
The European Commission continues to claim its actions supporting the Libyan coast guard are designed to save lives at sea. But those intercepted are often sent to detention centres where they face torture, rape and murder.
Opinion
EU welcome for Ukraine refugees — a new gold standard?
The way the EU has helped Ukrainian refugees should be a gold standard for how Europe responds to all people in need — regardless of the colour of their skin.
Magazine
Experts: climate change will not mean mass migration
Reality or alarmist?: EUobserver talks to two leading experts who question the conventional assumption that climate change will drive millions of people to migrate to Europe.
Local Poles near Belarus risk trouble for helping refugees
Three locals near the Polish exclusion zone with Belarus say they cannot leave refugees and migrants to die or freeze in their woods. But by leaving bags of food in the woods, they risk possible fines or worse.
Ukraine will prevail, says defiant Kharkiv leader
Tetiana Yehorova-Lutsenko is Kharkiv's regional council leader. Along with her two boys, they hid in a basement for two weeks amid Russian aerial bombardment. On Wednesday, she met Ukrainian refugees at a Polish train station.
Opinion
How east Europe's social services cope with Ukraine refugees
More than 50 percent of the 300,000 refugees that arrived in the Czech Republic are children, and 80 percent of all adult refugees are women. More is needed for employment for women and access to nurseries for children.
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Latest News
- EU summit will be 'unwavering' on arms for Ukraine
- Orbán's new state of emergency under fire
- EU parliament prevaricates on barring Russian lobbyists
- Ukraine lawyer enlists EU watchdog against Russian oil
- Right of Reply: Hungarian government
- When Reagan met Gorbachev — a history lesson for Putin
- Orbán oil veto to deface EU summit on Ukraine
- France aims for EU minimum-tax deal in June
Open border with Ukraine is crime threat, France warns
Hardened criminals could use the Ukraine war to sneak into the EU bringing with them more firearms and drugs, European police fear.
EU lawmakers refuse to sign off Frontex budget
European lawmakers sitting on a parliament committee refused to sign off on the agency's budget, in a move that adds political pressure for Frontex to right its wrongs.
Too many Ukrainian refugees in Poland, EU says
EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson in Brussels said efforts need to be made to encourage refugees from Ukraine in Poland to fan out to other member states.
EU commissioner risks court action over Frontex
EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson may end up in court in Luxembourg over a fresh case dealing with the EU's border guard agency Frontex.
EU index identifies Poland, Austria as needing refugee aid
Poland, followed by Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic and Estonia, are under greatest pressure from the influx of Ukrainian refugees, according to an EU commission burden-sharing index.
Canada steps forward to help EU with Ukrainian refugees
Ahead of a visit to Brussels by Justin Trudeau, it looks likely Canada will offer to take unlimited numbers of Ukrainian refugees displaced by the Russian invasion.
'Huge risk' children from Ukraine will be trafficked
It's now emerging that the exodus from Ukraine brings heightened risks that criminal gangs will take advantage of vulnerable people crossing at the borders.
Opinion
An EU response to the biggest humanitarian disaster since WWII
There are things we can do to lessen the suffering of people caught in Ukraine and the more than one million and a half Ukrainians who have fled across the border to Poland, Moldova, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and beyond.
Foreign students in Ukraine excluded from EU refugee law
Short-term residents in Ukraine, such as foreign students won't be given the same rights and protections in the EU as Ukrainian refugees.
Risk that EU hospitality 'wears out' warns UN refugee chief
The United Nations high commissioner for refugees says Europe's hospitality depends on how many refugees arrive, and how long they stay.
Opinion
Fortress Europe should lower drawbridge — for all
Racist statements by European politicians have already shocked and hurt many, and they have reinforced perceptions of Europe as inherently wedded to bigoted, Eurocentric and Orientalist narratives.
Ukrainians arriving in EU could get extended right to stay
The European Commission is preparing to activate a law allowing Ukrainians to remain on EU territory for at least a year, though some member states still remain cautious.
Solidarity with Ukraine refugees, but there may be limits
EU states are - for the moment - showing solidarity with Ukraine and its refugees. But how long that will last depends on the duration of the conflict and the numbers in need.
Ukrainians fleeing as aid groups scramble to offer support
Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, warned that "humanitarian consequences on civilian populations will be devastating."
Belarus seen stepping-up use of migrants as a weapon
Tragedies continue: a 26-year old man from Yemen has been found dead, apparently of hypothermia, in a swampy area near the Polish town of Tolipo.
EU 'assured' by Poland's preparation on Ukraine
The European Commission says it is working with EU states as part of a Blueprint Network to prepare contingency plans for a refugee influx.
