Daily Report
Arrivals and Departures
According to the Turkish Coast Guard, 1,252 people were intercepted and rescued in the Aegean Sea so far in April.
There were 567 apprehensions on land in the same period.
Conditions of People
In Serbia, the number of people accommodated in government facilities continued to decrease, with only 51 remaining in the Sid and Adasevci Refugee Aid Points and 95 in the Presevo Reception Centre. Almost 400 people are currently staying in Belgrade; many planning to depart towards the Hungarian border, where some 350 people are waiting in the open to be admitted into the transit zones. Some 68 individuals were admitted on 20 April. 396 people expressed intent to seek to asylum in Serbia so far in April whilst a total of 2,343 people have expressed intent to apply for asylum in 2016.
On 20 April, Eurostat released its latest statistics on the number of positive asylum decisions per EU member state in 2015. The 28 EU Member States granted protection status to 333,350 asylum seekers in 2015, an increase of 72% compared with 2014.
In 2015, the number of asylum applicants from Syria rose to 363 thousand in the EU Member States, which was 29 % of the total. Afghan nationals accounted for 14 % of those applying and Iraqi nationals for 10 %, while Kosovans and Albanians accounted for 5 % and Pakistanis for 4 %. Among the most numerous groups of applicants in the EU Member States in 2015 and by far the largest relative increase compared with 2014, was recorded for people from Iraq.
Critical Developments
The European Commission released the first progress report since regarding the implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement of 18 March. At the press conference discussing the report’s findings, the Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs & Citizenship emphasised the need for solidarity, and noted that an improved spirit of ‘unity’ developed as a result of the common aim of curbing ‘irregular movement from Turkey to the EU (…) through legal channels of resettlement.’ He also noted that numbers of arrivals to the Greek islands had dropped, however continued efforts are needed. “The Greek authorities had put in place the necessary operational and legal measures and work continues to improve conditions in reception facilities. The European Commission is working with Turkish authorities to ensure protection is available to those that require it”, he specified. A second progress report will be available in June.
The Council of Europe assembly released a report entitled “The situation of refugees and migrants under the EU-Turkey Agreement of 18 March 2016”. The report lists numerous concerns regarding human rights violations, people kept in overcrowded and insanitary closed facilities on the Greek islands to inadequate legal protection for people seeking to appeal against rejection of an asylum claim.