Latest Migration News
On the move
Recent highlights
Since the beginning of 2025, the migratory situation in the Mediterranean has been marked by several tragedies. Along the Atlantic and Western Mediterranean routes, the Canary and the Balearic Islands came under heavy pressure, with more than 600 migrants arriving in just two days in the Canaries. The reception system, is under strain from the large numbers of arrivals – a record-breaking number of 47 000 in the Canaries in 2024 – forcing people to sleep on the port dock.
In the Eastern Mediterranean, the crossings are just as dangerous. On January 17th, a shipwreck off the Greek island of Samos killed 7 people and 31 others were rescued by the Turkish coastguard. In 2024, Greece saw a 25% increase in migrant arrivals, fleeing humanitarian, political and social crises.
In the Central Mediterranean, crossings from Tunisia and Libya remain deadly. On January 26th, a shipwreck off Lampedusa claimed the lives of a mother and her three children. On January 27th, the humanitarian vessel Ocean Viking rescued 22 people, then intervened a second time with the NGO Sea Punks, saving a total of 167 people, including a 7-year-old girl who was evacuated by helicopter following a cardiac arrest. IOM highlighted that although the number of recorded crossings decreased by 60% in 2024, the decline in deaths and disappearances was only 30%, underscoring that the risks for those attempting the journey have intensified.
On the geopolitical front, on January 17th of 2025, the Italian government released a Libyan criminal who was under an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) as he is accused of murder, rape and torture in Mitiga prison in Libya.
Positive News
- On the 07th of January 2025, the European Court of Human Rights delivered its ruling in the case of A.R.E v. Greece. In 2019, the Greek authorities pushed back an asylum seeker in the Evros region. Greece was condemned for deporting this Turkish citizen to her country of origin, without first examining her application for international protection. The judgment also states that her arrest and detention were legally unjustified and notes the degrading treatment suffered by the applicant. The work of lawyers from the Greek Council of Refugees was indispensable in this victory, which recognizes the systematic nature of the refoulement of migrants and refugees.
- On the 30th of December 2024, Algeria released 60 young Moroccans imprisoned for “irregular” migration. In a context of diplomatic tensions and closed borders, these young people were repatriated. The Moroccan Association for the Assistance of Migrants in Vulnerable Situations is following the case of 480 migrants still in prison or missing.
EU updates
- On January 18th, during a visit to Athens, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, told the Greek Prime Minister that the issue of returns was something they ‘absolutely must hold on to’.
- Following a Guardian investigation conducted in 2024 into sexual abuse and violence against migrants by EU-funded Tunisian security forces, the European Commission has announced it will review its funding to Tunisia. According to a Commission’s spokesperson, new conditions will be introduced, linking payments to the protection of human rights, with reinforced monitoring until 2027.
- On January 29th, 2025, the EU pledged €3 billion in funding and investment to Jordan as part of a strategic partnership for the 2025-2027 period. This agreement closely mirrors those previously signed with countries like Tunisia, Lebanon, and Egypt, raising concerns that the EU is prioritizing migration control over genuine development and human rights.
- On January 29th, a report titled “State Trafficking: Expulsion and Sale of Migrants from Tunisia to Libya” was presented at the European Parliament. This document was written by the collective “X researchers” and is based on 30 testimonies from sub-Saharan migrants expelled from Tunisia to Libya between June 2023 and November 2024.
- On January 30th, at an informal meeting focusing on migration management, interior ministers in Warsaw, Paris and Berlin reiterated their demand for the early application of the pact on migration and asylum.
- The European Union has introduced bans on certain uses of artificial intelligence (AI) from February 2nd 2025, as part of the AI Act. However, critics point to major loopholes that allow European law enforcement and migration authorities to use AI.
- The European Commission is preparing yet another legislative proposal to increase returns, including setting up ‘return hubs’ outside the Eu for asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected, following the Italy-Albania model which has been a failure so far and it does not respect fundamental rights. The proposal, backed by a number of countries including Austria, Germany, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Latvia and Malta, aims to speed up expulsions. Some countries, such as Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Belgium, have reservations. With the draft due by February 2025, it risks repeating past mistakes without addressing the core issues.
- On February 5th, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk openly threatened to breach the Migration Pact in the presence of Ursula von der Leyen, declaring, ‘Poland will not implement the Migration Pact in a way that would introduce additional quotas of immigrants in Poland.’ Despite the Commission’s previous commitment to taking legal action against countries that fail to adhere to the Pact, it refrained from confirming any such measures in response to Tusk’s statements this past Monday.
- A report published on February 6th by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights outlines serious concerns about the proposed creation of return hubs in third countries. These hubs would temporarily hold individuals with EU removal orders until their deportation is organized. The report stresses that such facilities could lead to violations of fundamental rights, including exposure to inhuman treatment and arbitrary detention. It highlights the need for robust legal safeguards, agreements with host countries, and independent human rights monitoring, but raises doubts about the feasibility of ensuring these protections. The report calls for a careful reassessment of the plan.
Countries
Return Mania
Mapping policies and practices in the EuroMed region
The research provides an overview of the current return policies and practices in the Euro-Mediterranean region and sheds a light on the violations of human rights entailed by this “return obsession”, which is shared across Member States, EU institutions and third countries alike. The report covers national return policies and practices in the Mashreq and Maghreb regions, focusing on returns from Turkey and Lebanon to Syria, and on readmission agreements between Italy and Tunisia, Spain and Morocco as well as France and Morocco. It also looks at returns from Germany and Italy to Egypt. Read More