Mafia took control of migrant centre for a decade, received tens of millions of euros from state funds, Italian police say

Italian mobsters took charge of one of Europe’s largest migrant reception centres, using a Roman Catholic charity organisation as a cover to skim millions of euros in state funds, prosecutors have revealed. Police arrested 68 people in early morning raids in southern Italy, including a priest and the head of the local Misericordia association that …

UNHCR spokesperson: More than 1,350 people are now missing or dead in the Mediterranean Sea

Reports emerging from the sea rescue effort between Italy and Libya suggest around 20 men, women and children are missing and feared dead after rescuers were able to pluck some 500 survivors from the Mediterranean Sea over the weekend. Information gathered by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, in Italy indicates that the survivors were rescued …

Germany and Italy want to take control of Libya-Niger border to stem flow of migrants

The interior ministers of Germany and Italy have written to Brussels urging the creation of an “EU Mission” at the border between Libya and Niger “as soon as possible,” after over 40,000 people traveled through the North African country into Europe this year. “The first months of this year have shown that our efforts up …

Growing row in Italy over claims of NGOs colluding with smugglers

There is growing controversy in Italy over claims that some NGOs involved in the rescue of migrants at sea have been colluding with Libyan people smugglers. Italy’s justice minister slammed the claims as “lies” and the Sicilian prosecutor behind the accusations has been called before the High Council of the Judiciary next week to explain. …

Hungary completes new anti-migrant border fence with Serbia

Hungary says it has finished building a second fence on the border with Serbia to keep migrants out. The double layer barrier stretches for 155 kilometres and comes equipped with alarms and thermal imaging cameras. Fences went up along the southern borders with Serbia and Croatia in 2015 after an estimated 400,000 migrants and refugees, …

Two women face jail for having sex with ‘unaccompanied children’ at Danish migrant shelter

Two women have been charged over claims they had sex with underage asylum seekers at a migrant shelter in Denmark. The pair, aged 36 and 52, are facing up to four years in jail each after allegedly having sex with two 17-year-olds while working at Børnecenter Tullebølle, located on the Danish island of Rudkøbing. The …

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi is worried about Nigerian refugees in Cameron

“I am extremely worried that large numbers of Nigerian refugees hosted in Cameroon are again returning to northeast Nigeria – into a situation dangerously unprepared to receive them” says United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. Three weeks ago UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency warned about the situation in the Nigerian border town of …

More than 120 migrants feared drowned in Mediterranean after smugglers steal outboard motor

Up to 126 refugees and migrants are feared to have drowned in the Mediterranean after Libyan smugglers stole the outboard engine of their dinghy. The dinghy, which left from a beach on the Libyan coast, was heading north towards Italy when a boatload of traffickers turned up and removed the motor. Without an engine, waves …

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