A Greek court has sentenced 15 people to jail in connection with one of the largest migrant and refugee smuggling gangs in northern Greece.

More than 2,100 people have been rescued in the Mediterranean and are heading to Italy. Warmer weather has encouraged even more human traffickers in Libya to launch unseaworthy boats packed with migrants toward Europe.

Thousands of people fleeing conflict and persecution have been detained by Libyan authorities. The UN refugee agency's chief has called for them to be freed as the agency boosts its presence in the North African country.

Germany has passed a new set of laws for quicker deportation of rejected asylum seekers. Families of over 500 Tunisian youths who went missing in 2011 on their way to Europe, are pleading to governments for help in finding them and1