With the establishment of a Regional Asylum Office of Crete in July 2017 the island emerged as key location in Greece’s reception of refugees and migrants. While UNHCR has successfully accommodated approximately 240 refugees, those arriving irregularly to the island face harsh conditions and risk of deportation.

Last week, the first deportation from Germany to Afghanistan was carried out after the country temporarily suspended deportations of Afghans in May following an attack close to the German Embassy. The deportation concerned eight Afghan nationals. On the same day an attack was reported to have killed three civilians in Kabul.

The number of arrivals to Romania by sea has increased over the past months, as indicated by several incidents of Coast Guard interception of boats travelling through the Black Sea.

Informal refugee camps in cities – a (new) European reality? Reports of informal refugee camps and mounting police violence against the people inhabiting them are coming from all over Europe at the moment: Brussels, Paris and Rome. In an interview on the situation in Brussels, Jolien Potemans, Policy Officer at the Flemish Refugee Action, explains what is at stake for asylum seekers, refugees and migrants sleeping rough at the city’s Northern train station and how this problem is interlinked with national and European policies.

Introduction