European migrant crisis

At least six people have drowned after a boat carrying migrants to a Greek island sank in the Aegean Sea on April 6, Turkish officials have said.

Nine people were also rescued, the governor of the southwestern province of Mu?la, Amir Çiçek, told the Anadolu Agency.

The migrants, believed to be Syrians and Iraqis, were heading to Greece illegally.

Italian navy and coast guard ships rescued around 1,500 migrants aboard five boats in the southern Mediterranean in less than 24 hours, officials said on April 5.
   
All of the migrants were rescued on Saturday by two coast guard ships and one navy ship in five separate operations, the coast guard said in a statement.
   

Authorities on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos this week issued ? dire warning that the border isle turning into a new "Lampedusa" as some 3,000 illegal migrants ? all from Third World countries ? have arrived just this year!

Africa's envoy to the European Union warned Wednesday that EU plans to process migrants in the countries they leave or transit on their way to Europe are "a dangerous approach."

The EU is trying to persuade Niger, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Turkey to pre-screen migrants and has launched a pilot project to send immigration officers abroad to help assess asylum demands.

Coast guard officers on the northern Aegean island of Lesvos expressed concern Tuesday at a spike in the number of undocumented migrants arriving on Greek shores in a rise that senior officials believes is the result of the war in Syria.

Serbs and Greeks arrested for smuggling migrants

BUDAPEST -- The Hungarian police have arrested two Serbian and two Greek citizens in two separate incidents related to illegal border crossings of a total of 28 migrants.

Greek border police say they have rescued about 70 migrants stranded on a berm on the Greek-Turkish border after they crossed the river dividing the two countries and found the fields on the Greek side flooded following days of heavy rainfall.

EU Commissioner of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos arrived in Malta on Thursday, where he expressed the Union’s solidarity to the island nation in its efforts to deal with a growing tide of illegal migrants attempting to reach its territory.

The number of asylum applicants in Bulgaria increased by 55% on an annual basis in 2014, according to Eurostat data.

The number of applicants in Bulgaria increased from 7 145 in 2013 to 11 080 in 2014, according to the statistical office of the European Union.

Bulgaria's share of asylum seekers amounted to less than 2% of the EU total.

VIENNA - Ten countries of central and southeastern Europe and the EU agreed on Monday in Vienna to strengthen cooperation in the fight against Jihadism and to ensure better training for border authorities.