A group of 26 rejected asylum seekers has arrived in Kabul after being deported from Germany, officials said, the chartered flight landed at 7am (02:30 GMT), airport officials in Kabul said early on Wednesday. It marked the 35th deportation flight from Germany to Afghanistan since December 2016, DPA news agency reported. A total of 963 failed asylum seekers have been sent back to Afghanistan since then. The last deportation flight from Germany was in December, other European countries have also resumed deportation flights. The deportations have been deeply controversial, with critics saying the war-torn country is too dangerous to send … Continue reading Failed Afghan asylum seekers deported from Germany land in Kabul

More than 150 migrants arrived in England after attempting to cross the Channel at the weekend. On Saturday, Border Force dealt with 103 people on six boats, while the French authorities stopped three vessels from entering UK waters. One boat, with about 30 people on board, was rescued 23 miles off beachy head after it got “into difficulty”. Another 57 people in four incidents were dealt with by the UK on Sunday, the Home Office confirmed. The coastguard’s fixed-wing aircraft and Border Force vessels Searcher, Vigilant and Neptune were deployed to search UK waters. The government said it would assess each … Continue reading More than 150 migrants enter UK on small boats

A Spanish-flagged humanitarian ship on Sunday was seeking a port of safety for 265 migrants its crew rescued from the Mediterranean Sea in the last few days. The Open Arms charity tweeted that its vessel on Saturday had safely brought on board 96 migrants who had been adrift in a wooden boat with without life vests in international waters. It said the passengers, most of them from Eritrea, included two women and 17 minors and were suffering from hypothermia. In a separate operation two days before that rescue, Open Arms took on board 169 migrants, who had departed Libyan shores, … Continue reading Open Arms boat rescues 265 migrants in Mediterranean

Hundreds of migrants have been left without shelter amid harsh winter conditions after a camp was closed and then set on fire in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Aid agencies pulled out of the Lipa camp, in the north-western city of Bihac, saying it was unsustainable without water and electricity. Residents forced to leave the facility, set up to provide shelter during the Covid-19 pandemic, looted equipment and set fire to tents, police said, no injuries were reported. On Wednesday morning, the residents of the Lipa facility were given food and sleeping bags as they left the camp. Some later set up makeshift camps … Continue reading Bosnia migrant camp closure leaves 1,400 in cold

Migrants wait to be evacuated by Gendarmerie forces at a makeshift camp set below the motorway in Saint-Denis, France, on Nov. 17, 2020.    French police officers began dismantling an illegal migrant camp near Paris on Tuesday morning where more than 2,000 people lived in difficult conditions, the operation to clear the camp located under a motorway slip road in Saint Denis, northeast of Paris, and resettle it’s residents started at around 07:00 CET. Seventy buses were to take the migrants to reception centres and sports halls in the Ile-de-France region. Law enforcement authorities said on Twitter that the operation would … Continue reading French police dismantle 2,000 strong migrant camp near Paris

At least 140 Europe-bound migrants have drowned off the coast of Senegal in the deadliest shipwreck recorded this year, the United Nations migration agency said on Thursday, the boat carrying 200 passengers caught fire and capsized on Saturday a few hours after leaving the fishing town of Mbour, 100km (62 miles) south of the capital, Dakar, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. The Senegalese and Spanish navies and fishermen rescued some 60 people, but “at least 140 people have drowned”, the IOM said in a statement. The perilous sea passage from West Africa to the Canary Islands was once … Continue reading 140 Europe-bound migrants drown off the coast of Senegal

Two adults and two children have died after a boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of northern France, a large search and rescue operation began earlier after the vessel was seen in difficulty near Dunkirk. Two children – aged five and eight – and a man and a woman, believed to be from Iran, have died. Fifteen others have been taken to hospital. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his thoughts were with the victims’ loved ones, he said “We have offered the French authorities every support as they investigate this terrible incident, and will do all we can … Continue reading Four dead as boat sinks near Dunkirk in the English channel

At least eight migrants have drowned and 12 are missing after human smugglers forced them off a boat near Djibouti, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Another 14 migrants survived and are receiving medical care, a statement said. The migrants were all believed to be Ethiopians returning to the Horn of Africa after failing to reach Saudi Arabia via Yemen due to COVID-19 border closures, the pandemic and the conflict in Yemen have made the journey to Gulf nations more dangerous, and some migrants have turned back. At least eight migrants have died and 12 are missing at … Continue reading TRAGIC: Eight migrants drown after forced off boat by smugglers

The government considered building an asylum processing centre on Ascension Island, a UK territory in the Atlantic. Home Secretary Priti Patel asked officials to look at asylum policies which had been successful in other countries, and ‘Ascension Island’ was suggested as an outpost to process applications, a source said ministers were looking at every option that can stop small boat crossings and fix the asylum system. The idea of “offshoring” is being looked at, but sources said finding an appropriate location would be key, the UK has a long and proud history of offering refuge to those who need protection. … Continue reading UK considered ‘Ascension Island’ as location for asylum centre

A Turkish coast guard officer, wearing protective gear to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, carries a child off a life raft during a rescue operation in the Aegean Sea. Shortly after reaching the Greek island of Lesbos, a group of Afghan migrants say, their hopes for a new life in Europe were cut short when Greek authorities rounded them up, mistreated them, shoved them into life rafts and abandoned them at sea. Associated Press journalists on a Turkish government-organized coast guard ride-along were aboard the patrol boat that picked up the 37 migrants, including 18 children, from two orange … Continue reading Greece accused of ‘pushing back’ migrants at sea to Turkey

A Greek coastguard vessel approaches the port of Preveza, northwestern Greece. A major search-and-rescue operation launched overnight after a migrant smuggling boat sank off the southern Greek island of Crete continued Tuesday, with survivors unable to say how many people had originally been on board and whether there were people still missing. Greece’s coast guard said one more person had been rescued in the early hours of Tuesday, bringing the total number of people saved to 57. Three bodies those of two children and a woman were recovered from the sea Monday night. Authorities were alerted after a person claiming … Continue reading Rescue operation continues after migrant boat sinks off Crete, Greece