About: hotspots

Thousands march in Germany urging EU to take in Moria refugees
Thousands of people demonstrated Sunday (20 September) in Berlin and other German cities, urging the European Union to take in migrants left without shelter after a fire destroyed their biggest camp in Greece.
Germany to take in 1,500 refugees from Greek islands, Michel urges for more EU solidarity
Germany said it will take in more than 1,500 refugees from Greece from the island of Lesbos as Berlin tried to rally a fresh EU response to a years-long migrant crisis that flared anew.
Greek government accuses migrants of ‘burning’ Moria camp
Greece on Monday (14 September) accused migrants of deliberately burning their overcrowded camp last week on Lesbos island, where hundreds reluctantly moved to a new temporary site with "no showers or mattresses".
Greek PM promises permanent migrant centre after fire on Lesbos
Greece will build a permanent migrant reception centre on Lesbos to replace the overcrowded refugee camp destroyed by a fire last week, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday (13 September), calling for closer European involvement.
17 newly arrived migrants in Lesbos test Covid-19 positive
Greece has been lucky – 17 migrants, all from Somalia, are safely isolated at Kara Tepe camp in the island of Lesbos, a show-case reception centre on the island. But at the overcrowded Moria camp on the same island the...
Greece to move migrants out of congested island camps
Greece will this month begin moving hundreds of elderly and ailing asylum seekers out of congested island camps to protect them from the coronavirus, the migration ministry said on Thursday (16 April).
‘Corona time’ in Europe’s main migrant camp in virus lockdown
In Europe's biggest asylum seeker camp of Moria, on the Greek island of Lesbos, authorities are trying to keep residents apart from a population with at least three coronavirus cases.
Greece to restrict migrant camp movements in virus measure
Greece has said it is placing migrant camps across the country on a two-week shutdown to visitors to ward off the new coronavirus. “Visits (to camps) by individuals and organisations are suspended for at least 14 days,” the migration ministry...
Migrants clash with Greek police, diplomatic efforts underway
Greek police fired tear gas to repel hundreds of stone-throwing migrants who tried to force their way across the border from Turkey on Sunday (1 March), with thousands more behind them after Ankara relaxed curbs on their movement.
Greece to start setting up closed-type migrant camps
Greece will begin setting up closed-type camps for asylum seekers on its Aegean islands in March, the country's migration minister said Monday (10 February), in response to growing tensions over the migrants' current overcrowded facilities.
Asylum-seekers in Greece, Italy hotspots face ‘years of limbo’
Asylum-seekers crowded into "hotspots" in Greece and Italy face limbo that can drag on for years because of legal bottlenecks and poorly performing EU schemes, a report said Wednesday (13 November).
‘Hell on earth’: The Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos
Living conditions in the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, housing thousands of refugees, are particularly difficult, according to Oxfam. As the weather turns colder, the charity is calling for an immediate reaction from Europe. EURACTIV France reports.
Malta demands EU solution before migrants disembark
Malta is pushing other European countries to take in around 250 migrants in its care before it will allow dozens of people stuck on two rescue boats to disembark, a government source said Tuesday (8 January).
Greece vows to improve conditions on island hotspots
Greece's migration minister on Tuesday (18 September) pledged to improve living conditions for migrants in camps on islands in the Aegean Sea, where he said arrivals had doubled this summer.
Greece’s Moria migrant camp faces closure over public health fears
Greece's biggest migrant camp faces closure next month unless authorities clean up "uncontrollable amounts of waste", the regional governor said, citing public health risks.
Activists held in Greece for illegally aiding migrants
Police in Greece said on Tuesday (28 August) they had arrested three members of a Greek NGO on suspicion of helping migrants illegally enter the country.
‘Controlled centres’ for migrants – not ‘hotspots’, say EU leaders
The European Council’s idea of “controlled centres” for migrants put forward in its conclusions is strikingly similar to the 2015 hotspots. EURACTIV.fr reports.
Italy cannot be ‘Europe’s refugee camp’, Salvini says
Italy's new hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini said Sunday that "common sense" was needed to stop the country from being "Europe's refugee camp" as he visited a migrant centre in the south.
Far-right group attacks migrants on Greek island
A far-right group launched a violent attack overnight on migrants staging a sit-in protest on the Greek island of Lesbos, injuring around a dozen people, police said Monday (23 April).
EU officials fear new wave of migrants after Greek court ruling
A top Greek court ruled on Wednesday (18 April) that migrants landing on Greek islands should no longer be held there while asylum claims are assessed, a decision raising alarm among EU officials in Brussels.
Only 16% of asylum seekers in Greece to be sent to Turkey, despite EU deal
Only "16% of asylum seekers" who have arrived in Greece are likely to be sent to Turkey despite a controversial EU deal, the former head of Greece's asylum service said Sunday.
Human traffickers capitalise on ‘chaos’ at Europe’s migrant hotspots
Human traffickers are capitalising on widespread chaos at migrant reception centres across southern Europe to transport their victims undetected and lure other migrants into forced labour, a European security watchdog said yesterday (31 January).
Migration to dominate ‘Club Med’ summit in Rome
The heads of seven southern European states gather in Rome today (10 January) to tackle one of the stubbornest thorns in the EU's side: flows of migrants from war-torn and impoverished countries.