Germany

Refugees and migrants to provide support in the medical and agricultural sectors amid COVID-19 labour shortages

As many European countries continue to struggle with the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, the Council of Europe and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) encourage member states to benefit from the support refugee and migrant health professionals can provide to national health systems at this critical juncture. In addition, the lack of agricultural workforce due to the closure of borders to seasonal workers remains a potential threat to the entire European food supply chain, according to the European Commission. As a solution, countries like Germany, Italy, UK, Belgium and Ireland are exploring the opportunities for granted working permits. This article gives a brief look into the different solutions and remaining challenges.

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Five EU member states agree on new temporary relocation scheme to share responsibility of migrants and refugees rescued at Sea

On September 23, the interior ministers of Germany, France, Italy, Finland and Malta agreed on a temporary and voluntary scheme to divide migrants that arrive or are saved from the Mediterranean Sea among the five countries, outside of an EU framework. The proposal aims at relieving Italy and Malta from the high number of migrants and refugees that are arriving at their ports and moves away from the actions of the previous Italian government led by Matteo Salvini, who forbade several rescue boats to dock in Italy. The five countries hope that the scheme may set up an EU-wide relocation scheme that can increase the efficiency of resettling those rescued at sea.

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Interview with Zerai Kiros Abraham, co-organiser of the Ride4Justice campaign

Zerai Kiros, Eritrean human rights activist living in Frankfurt, is one of the organizers of the ‘Ride4Justice’ campaign.  In the interview, he explains the underlying reasons of the Ride4Justice project which aimed to bring attention on the situation of migrants in Libyan detention centers where thousands of people are trapped, in a growing climate of  political tension and military instability.

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