Tag Archives: migrants

Countries bordering Belarus on Thursday warned the migrant crisis on the European Union’s eastern borders could escalate into a military confrontation while Ukraine said it would deploy thousands more troops to reinforce its frontier. Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia said Belarus posed serious threats to European security by deliberately escalating its …

Russia took the rare step of dispatching two nuclear-capable strategic bombers to patrol Belarusian airspace on Wednesday in a show of support to close ally Belarus at a time when it is locked in a migrant standoff with the European Union. Moscow’s decision to up the ante came as the …

The EU said Tuesday it is pressing more than a dozen countries to prevent their nationals leaving for Belarus on a perilous attempt to get into the bloc. The effort is part of Brussels’ reaction to what it says is an orchestrated campaign by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to destabilize …

Bulgaria on Monday deployed 350 soldiers to the border with Turkey to help police cope with the growing influx of migrants, the defense minister announced. “Soldiers arrived at the Bulgarian-Turkish border since today to back up the border police,” Georgi Panayotov told the private bTV channel. The 350 troops deployed …

German foreign ministry on Friday said talks with Iraq to stop migrants’ flights to Belarus were successful, adding that Jordan has also cancelled several charter flights. German authorities have registered 4,889 unauthorised arrivals with a connection to Belarus so far in October, which is more than half of all such …

Greece mounted a rescue operation on Friday for a cargo ship carrying about 400 migrants after it sent out a distress signal off the island of Crete, the coast guard said. The Greek coast guard quoted passengers as saying the Turkish-flagged vessel had sailed from Turkey, calling it “one of …

Former Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini is facing up to 15 years in prison in a controversial trial over his 2019 order to prevent migrants picked up by NGOs while crossing the Mediterranean Sea from entering Italy. The trial, which started on Saturday in Palermo, is about one particular incident …

Britain has rescued or intercepted a total of 1,115 migrants attempting to cross the English Channel over just two days, the country’s interior ministry said on Sunday. Rising numbers of Channel crossings by migrants in small boats have contributed to growing tensions between the UK and France following Britain’s departure …

Hundreds of women and children among those detained during raids in Gargaresh town. A major crackdown in western Libya has resulted in the detention of 4,000 migrants, including hundreds of women and children, according to officials. The raids took place on Friday in the western town of Gargaresh as part …

The US Department of Homeland Security is seeking to terminate a Trump-era migration rule, which required asylum-seeking migrants to stay in Mexico while awaiting court proceedings. The department issued a memo in June ending the program, formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), but a Texas-based federal judge ruled …

Mexican officials are urging Haitians on the Texas border trying to reach the United States to give up and return to Mexico’s frontier with Guatemala to request asylum, even as discontent grows over the treatment meted out to the beleaguered migrants. Up to 14,000 mostly Haitians were camped just north …

Pope Francis said on Sunday that Hungary could preserve its Christian roots while opening up to the needy, an apparent response to nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s stand that Muslim immigration could destroy its heritage. Francis was in Hungary for an unusually short stay that underlined differences with the anti-immigrant …

French maritime officials rescued 126 migrants attempting to cross the Channel to Britain as tensions escalated over record arrivals on England’s southern coast. At least 14,100 people have now crossed the Channel to the UK on small boats this year, according to Britain’s domestic Press Association news agency — some …

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Thursday that France would not accept Britain violating international maritime law or “financial blackmail” as London steps up efforts to prevent migrants crossing the Channel. “France will not accept any practice that breaks maritime law, nor any financial blackmail,” Darmanin wrote on Twitter. “Britain’s …

Two small children were among the dozens of migrants rescued from the English Channel on Tuesday after a summer that has seen record numbers attempt the dangerous journey from France. This year, hundreds of boats carrying migrants have attempted the dangerous crossing from France to England, often in small, inflatable …

Poland declared a state of emergency in two regions bordering Belarus on Thursday following a surge of illegal migration that Warsaw has blamed on its neighbour. Poland and the European Union have accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of encouraging hundreds of migrants to cross into Polish territory to put pressure …

An interfaith coalition called on Polish authorities Tuesday to give humanitarian aid to a group of migrants who have been stuck in the open air at Poland’s border with Belarus for more than three weeks. The coalition, which includes Christian, Jewish and Muslim representatives, noted that the people stuck at …

Italy said it has taken in the largest number of Afghans fleeing the war-ravaged country following the Taliban takeover, vowing “not to abandon” vulnerable groups after airlift evacuations end. Western nations are scrambling to get their citizens out of Kabul airport ahead of an August 31 deadline, along with Afghan …

Around 350 migrants tried to scale the fence from Morocco into Spain’s Melilla enclave before dawn on Saturday but none managed to get across, a Spanish government spokesman said. Spanish border forces had been alerted at around 5:30 am by their Moroccan counterparts that “a group of 350 sub-Saharan Africans” …

The United States needs to invest in development, not just migration restrictions, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Thursday. Mexico will always seek to have a good relationship with the United States, Lopez Obrador said at a regular news conference in response to a question about the U.S. …