Greece is seriously failing to respect the rights of asylum-seekers and migrants, Amnesty International warned in a briefing published today.

Every year, tens of thousands of irregular migrants and asylum-seekers from the Middle East, Asia and Africa cross the Greek land and sea border with Turkey in search of shelter, refuge or just a better life within the European Union (EU). Few of them find it in Greece.

12/16/2012 14:59 GMT

ATHENS, Dec 16, 2012 (AFP) - The death toll in the sinking of a makeshift boat carrying migrants off a Greek island near the Turkish coast rose to 21 Sunday after another body was found on a beach, police said.

Six people are still missing, a press officer with the Lesbos island police told AFP.

The latest victim, a man, was found on the island's Thermi beach like all others before him.

Police continued to search for those missing on Sunday.

EEA Grants, a funding mechanism supported by European Economic Area (EEA) members Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, has signed an agreement with IOM that will provide EUR 4 million to support NGOs in Greece that run reception centres for vulnerable migrants and asylum seekers, especially unaccompanied minors.

ATHENS / GENEVA (3 December 2012) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, François Crépeau, stressed today that the plight of the growing number of irregular migrants trapped in Greece on their way to other European Union destinations requires a EU-wide approach focused on human rights. He also urged the Greek Government to step up its efforts to ensure that the rights of all migrants within its territory are fully respected.

JOHANNESBURG, 21 November 2012 (IRIN) - Desperate to escape the conflict in Syria, but reluctant to see out the war in a dusty refugee camp in Jordan, Emmad Saeed* and his family paid smugglers to take them to Europe. They hoped to reach relatives in Germany or Sweden but their smugglers guaranteed only that they would get to Europe, and the country their small boat washed up on was Greece.

20 October 2012
Rafah, Gaza Strip

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) opened a new Greek-funded school in southern Gaza yesterday that will serve Palestine refugee children and young people in the Rafah area. The school provides much-needed educational space for approximately 1,120 boys and girls in one of the most densely-populated areas of the occupied Palestinian territory.

ATHENS, 15 October 2012 (IRIN) - When Vahid Pejman, a former journalist from Afghanistan, arrived in Greece with his wife and 11-year-old daughter, he anticipated a brief stay before heading somewhere more welcoming.

“I knew about the financial crisis here, but I wasn’t planning to stay more than a week,” he told IRIN, nearly a year later. “I didn’t mind where I went, as long as they accepted me and looked at me like a human.”

Rome, 8 October 2012

Following an invitation by the Government, I conducted a visit to Italy from 30 September to 8 October 2012. During my 9-day visit, I visited Rome (CIE Ponte Galeria), Florence, Palermo, Trapani (CIE Milo), Bari (CIE Palese) and Castel Volturno. I met with Government representatives, civil society and international organisations, as well as many migrants themselves, including many who were in an irregular situation.

Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme

Sixty-third session

Geneva, 1-5 October 2012

Update on UNHCR’s operations in Europe

A. Situational analysis including new developments

In the first half of 2012, more than 154,000 asylum applications were lodged in the 38 European countries for which UNHCR compiles statistics. Some 122,500 of the applications were made in European Union (EU) member States. Europe continued to receive large numbers of unaccompanied and separated children (UASC).