The Jesuit Refugee Service has called on Italy and the EU to activate a search-and-rescue operation in the Mediterranean. The call follows the death of several migrants, including a pregnant women, in a shipwreck off Lampedusa.
Malaria remained the leading cause of disease among refugees in 2020, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Young children in sub-Saharan Africa are especially vulnerable to the mosquito-borne disease.
The non-profit sea rescue group Sea-Watch on June 30 said it witnessed the Libyan coast guard fire live ammunition at a migrant boat in an apparent effort to stop the crowded boat from crossing the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe.
Concerns are growing over a hunger strike by hundreds of undocumented migrants in Belgium's capital. Four men have stitched their lips together in protest against the authorities' refusal to grant them legal status.
Human smugglers often subject migrants to extreme violence, torture, rape and kidnapping. Authorities take little action to persecute these crimes, according to a new report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.