From Ivory Coast to Macedonia, from the Balearic Islands to Greece, InfoMigrants reported throughout 2025 on the experiences of migrants while also documenting the migratory policies of countries of departure, transit and arrival.
1. Ten years since the "refugee crisis" of 2015
InfoMigrants returned this year to five places affected by the unprecedented arrival of migrants to Europe in 2015. The team first went to Lampedusa -- the emblematic Italian island where migrants arrived en masse upon leaving North African shores that year.
Next, we interviewed the inhabitants of Idomeni, a village of 100 people in northern Greece, where 13,000 migrants were blocked in front of the Macedonian border during the cold winter months of 2015 and 2016.
InfoMigrants also returned to Budapest, where thousands of people had been held at the station of Keleti in September 2015, transforming the huge square in the middle of the city into an informal settlement.
We also traveled to Munich, the German city which opened its arms wide open to people fleeing war, poverty, violence and destruction ten years ago.
Finally, InfoMigrants also returned to Lesbos -- the Greek Island in the Aegean Sea, which became the second-most important point of entrance for migrants into the European Union that year, as some 110,000 people arrived on its shores between January and August 2015 alone.
>> Read our five-part series: "Ten years since the 2015 migration movements"
- Lampedusa, from humanity to making migrants invisible (1/5)
- In Idomeni, Greece, people still remember the 'chaos' of what happened (2/5)
- Keleti station, Budapest, was once a migrant camp (3/5)
- Munich between promise and pressure (4/5)
- Lesbos, a symbol of solidarity turned into 'prison island' (5/5)
2. Ivory Coast: InfoMigrants meets with young returnees
InfoMigrants met up with young Ivorians who had returned to Abidjan after their attempts to settle in France had failed. With the help of the French Office for Immigration and Integration (Ofii), some were able to begin new lives in Ivory Coast, turning their initial failure into new-found hope.
>> Read our reportage:
Migrants return to Ivory Coast 'shattered' or traumatized
InfoMigrants also spoke with the family of a migrant who disappeared along with other migrants, who were traumatized by their migratory journey and struggled to find a place for themselves in society.
We also encountered young people secretly preparing their departure for Europe, and discussed their dreams, while highlighting some harsh realities.
>> Read the interview:
An Ivorian mother's distress after her daughter's death on the road to Europe
3. The Balearic Islands: Huge migratory influx during the summer
In 2025, Spain's Balearic Islands faced an unprecedented surge in migrant arrivals in the summer months.
While Spanish and EU controls have tightened on migratory routes from African countries like Morocco and Mauritania, the route linking Algeria to the Balearic Island is much less strictly monitored, and has become increasingly popular this year.
"Boats arrived almost every day this summer. There were also corpses, missing people. These are situations that we didn't see last year," a spokesperson for Acollim, a group of migrant advocacy organizations, told InfoMigrants
>> Read our reportage:
'This summer was chaotic': the Balearic Islands face an unprecedented number of migrant arrivals
4. Calabria: Encounters with migrant agricultural workers
Hundreds of migrants arrive every year in Calabria in southern Italy to work in the citrus groves during the harvesting season.
For the longest time, there had been reports of severe exploitation of these indispensable seasonal workers; however, in recent year, they have seen their working conditions improve, as the Italian government has increasingly intervened to recognize them as part of a major branch of the country's agricultural economy.
Meanwhile, certain cooperatives continue to fight to establish a more dignified life to these seasonal workers by offering them regular contracts, fair salaries and decent working conditions.
Various associations have also helped by providing decent housing to these seasonal workers, like the Hostel Dambe So in Bambara - the "House of dignity."
Despite these efforts, insecurity, bad housing conditions and exploitative tactics of seasonal migrant workers persist across Italy.
>> Read our series:
How Italy's Calabria region is improving the living conditions of seasonal migrant workers (1/4)
5. United Kingdom: Anti-migrant sentiments turn into violent protests
A wave of anti-migrant protests swept across Britain in the summer of 2025 following reports of a sexual assault committed by an Ethiopian asylum seeker on a 14-year-old adolescent.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the migrant hotel in the market town of Epping just outside London, where the assault took place and where the accused person was staying.
In London, InfoMigrants met a local who regularly protests with other women against the presence of asylum seekers at a nearby hotel.
Our newsroom also spoke with the collective "Epping for Everyone," which brings together local women who disagree with the anti-migrant sentiments which spread across the country in the summer more, especially outside hotels accommodating asylum seekers targeted.
>> Read our analysis :
UK: Hotels used as a 'contingency measure' to house asylum seekers amid record arrivals
6. Spain: Navigating 'restrictive' asylum policies
Spain recorded over 167,000 asylum requests in 2024, resulting in its immigration services being overwhelmed with the sheer volume of applications.
"Migrants are bounced from office to office and region to region as a result. Sometimes, a year goes by before they can even submit their application," Mauricio Valiente, director of the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR), a Madrid-based NGO, told InfoMigrants.
Many asylum claims in Spain are dismissed as invalid, as many people coming there hail from safe countries of origin, such as Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria, among others.
But due to these lengthy processing times and backlog of cases, many people whose claims have been rejected found a loophole as a last resort: obtaining a residence permit known as "arraigos," which is reserved for people who can prove they have been in the country for at least two years.
While obtaining these permits also involves a long process, the number of "arraigos" is on the rise -- despite various attempts by the Spanish government to reform its asylum policies.
>> Read our reportage:
Spain's restrictive asylum system: Long waits, low acceptance rates
7. North Macedonia: A transit country in turmoil
North Macedonia has emerged as a transit country for migrants who succeed in reaching Greece and wish to move further into western Europe, as its borders are more porous than some of its neighbors in the Balkans' region. However, some people now get stuck in this small country, which always was meant to be only a stopover for them on the Balkan Route.
Some 150 asylum claims were recorded in the small country in 2025. Most were filed by Syrian nationals, followed by people from Nepal, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan and Egypt.
North Macedonia, which is not part of the European Union, rarely offers international protection, and has repeatedly been accused by human rights groups of practicing pushbacks into Greece; various NGOs have also repeatedly condemned the nation for arbitrary and illegal arrests of migrants.
Authorities, however, defend some of those practices as an extension of the fight against people smugglers.
>> Read our reportage:
North Macedonia: A stopover for vulnerable migrants on their way to western Europe (1/3)
>> Read our investigation:
>> Read our reportage:
8. Northern Italy: Unaccompanied minors find new hope
Over 16,500 unaccompanied minors were recorded as living in Italy in 2025, with many being housed in the country's north.
In Monfalcone and Trieste, two cities in northern Italy located near the Slovenian border, two reception centers assist young people who arrive via the Balkan route.
In collaboration with local municipal authorities, these facilities provide dignified accommodation solutions for unaccompanied minors from Egypt, Ukraine, The Gambia, and Tunisia.
At these centers, the young people can rest, regain their strength, attend classes, learn Italian, go to school, and start planning their futures.
>> Read our reportage: