Aftermath of war

As the world marks International Refugee Day with a record number of displaced people hit by ongoing conflicts and coronavirus pandemic on top of it, the U.N. Refugee Agency's representative for Turkey called on the international community to ramp up support given for countries hosting a large number of refugees and asylum seekers.

The U.N. refugee agency says war, violence, persecution and human rights violations caused nearly 3 million people to flee their homes last year, even though the COVID-19 crisis restricted movement worldwide as countries shut borders and ordered lockdowns.

Noting that Turkey hosts the most refugees of any country in the world, a U.N. representative said on June 16 that it should receive more support from other states in this regard. 

A new report by a Serbian human rights lawyer published on Wednesday said that the country only accepted 27 per cent of 223 applications for asylum last year, fewer than in 2019.

"The first conclusion that can be drawn from these figures is that the number of total decisions has dropped by 28 per cent in comparison to 2019 and was the lowest in the past four years," the report said.

A rubber boat drifting off the coast of western Izmir province with 34 asylum seekers was rescued on March 13 by Turkish Coast Guard units. 

Turkish authorities received a distress call from the asylum seekers and found the boat drifting because a strom. All onboard were rescued.

They were referred to the provincial migration office.

In a separate incident, a refugee was arrested after breaking into a house

UN agencies are pressing the European Union to end the growing practices of denying migrants their right to apply for asylum, collectively expelling them and using violence against people trying to enter the bloc without authorization.

Central Athens is home to people from many different social, ethnic and religious backgrounds, but if there is one big love that unites many of them, it's soccer.

A new national plan for migration and refugee integration has been drafted in response to growing needs, according to Deputy Minister of Migration Policy Sofia Voultepsi. 

"Our priority is the social integration of refugees and migrants and social cohesion," she stressed Tuesday.

A Washington-based Syrian rights group filed a case with the International Criminal Court on Thursday, calling for an investigation into alleged crimes against humanity by Greece for its mistreatment of refugees.