Under a proposed law, Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) would be allowed to examine refugees' mobiles to establish their identity. The bill aims to prevent refugees from giving false identities.

Amidst impassioned opposition, the German government is insisting that rejected asylum applicants must be sent home. But there is great disagreement about which countries of origin are actually safe.

Tens of thousands of people joined a protest in Barcelona urging the Spanish government to increase its refugee intake. Only 1,100 migrants have been resettled under a plan to take in 17,000 people.

A Swedish court on Thursday handed a life sentence to a Syrian refugee over his participation in a 2012 mass execution of seven government soldiers in Syria. He left Syria for Sweden in 2013 to seek asylum.