Arab diaspora

Hollywood star Lindsay Lohan has visited a refugee camp in the Nizip district of the southeastern province of Gaziantep. Lohan met with Syrian refugees during her visit and shared a photo of herself and an aid personnel working in the camp from her Instagram account.
 
"I met a wonderful aid worker (Azize) at The Refugee Camp in Antep," Lohan wrote on Oct. 8.

Only 13 of the 416 people who sought asylum in Albania between 2014 and September 2016 really intended to stay in the country, Interior Ministry data on asylum claims obtained by BIRN shows. 

In 2014, the number of asylum seekers in Albania was 134. In 2015, the number fell to 106, while it grew again in 2016 to 176 citizens so far.

Bulgaria compares to most other EU member states which have not accepted a big enough share of the 160 000 migrants from Italy and Greece, EU data released on Wednesday shows.

Bulgaria has so far taken in only six people, all from Greece, the same figure that was reported by the State Agency for Refugees early in August.

A total of 1,614 Syrian refugees from Turkey have been resettled in the EU since the implementation of a migrant deal between Turkey and the bloc, while a total of 578 migrants were returned to Turkey, the European Commission said in a report on Sept. 28. 

The government approved the additional expenses on the budget of the Ministry of Foreign affairs for 2016 for the purpose of paying the first Bulgarian installment to the Facility for Refugees in Turkey, reported the press centre of the Council of Ministers.

UN war crimes investigators on Monday called on European countries to let them interview more newly-arrived Syrian refugees to document fresh violations, saying it had become increasingly difficult.

The European Union will more than double emergency aid to Greece in order to improve living conditions for refugees and migrants who have been stranded in the country for months. 

Some 115 million euros ($129 million) in emergency support is being provided by the EU, in addition to 83 million euros earlier this year, the European Commission said on Sept. 10. 

The European Commission announced today the largest project for humanitarian aid in the history of the EU. The project is worth Euro 348 M and is aimed at helping over 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan referred to the refugee problem during his press conference he held while in China. He said, "The racist position of the West on refugees, trying primarily to ensure their safety, is a disgrace to humanity."

Europe has turned a blind eye to human rights problems inside Turkey to tackle the global refugee crisis, Amnesty International Secretary-General Salil Shetty has said on the sidelines of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul.