The stand-off over the Aquarius rescue ship revealed yet again the tragic humanitarian consequences of Europe’s migration policy. But for every action there is a reaction and it also showed that every negative inhumane action will be met with countless positive counter-reactions, in this case from cities, civil society, religious and (some) political leaders.

Following an intense conflict at the Moria hotspot, on Lesvos, Greece on 25 May 2018, which left at least 70 people injured, a group of nearly 1,000 people, including families with young children, fled the violence and sought protection in other areas of Lesbos.

In the last two weeks, the French authorities have carried out evacuations of three unofficial camps on the streets of Paris, and rounded up almost 2,000 migrants who had been living there.

The 1 -3 June saw devastating loss of life across all the three major Mediterranean migration routes, making it the deadliest weekend in the region this year. An estimated 125 men, women and children have drowned off the coast of Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria, Spain and Morocco in separate incidents.

Representatives of countries along the Balkan route (Greece, Albania, FYROM, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria) committed to closer cooperation and information exchange on migrants arriving on their territory, during a meeting held on 7 June 2018 in Sarajevo.