The German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees noted in its latest statistics that there was a significant rise in the numbers of people seeking asylum in Germany from the Americas in 2018.
More than 16,000 migrants were returned home from Libya in 2018 under a voluntary return program run by the UN's migration agency, the IOM. Many of them had tried - and failed - to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said that 6,413 migrants and refugees have reached Europe by sea in 2019 as of February 3. A total of 208 were reported to have died during the crossing over the same period.
The European Union has signed an agreement with Montenegro for border management of migrant flows in the Balkans area.
Migrants seeking asylum in Paris will be able to receive free legal aid from students at the prestigious Professional Bar School through a program set to begin next week. The students will help with tasks such as writing up statemen1