Most European media continue to report on the migrant crisis. Most media quote Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos during a press conference on Friday as saying that “Europe is facing the worst refugee crisis since World War II.” Commenting on the implementation of the first measures under the European Agenda, he maintained that Europe must welcome in a decent and civilised manner all those seeking refuge, adding that leaders should show “responsibility” and not give in to “populist” opposition to immigration.

Greek media additionally report that during the conference, Dimitris Avramopoulos announced that on top of the €474 million approved on Monday (10 August) through a regular national programme on border and asylum management, Greece will soon get €2.74 million of emergency assistance to support activities of the UN refugee agency.
Ert1 TV and Mediapool.bg add that Greece will also submit soon a plan for the relocation of 16.000 refugees to other countries. During his speech, Avramopoulos made particular reference to the urgent situation in Greece, Italy and Hungary, Philenews.com writes.

In an interview with La Repubblica, Commissioner Avramopoulos maintains that member states have to improve cooperation, especially concerning the moment immediately after the arrival of refugees, and reports that countries such as Greece and Italy, which will receive €558 million, to support their additional efforts. Most Italian media, as well as some other European media, report that on Saturday an Italian naval patrol-boat came to the rescue of a trawler carrying 400 people, 21 miles from the Libyan coast. They discovered the bodies of 49 men packed into the hold of the vessel, killed by diesel fumes.

A Norwegian vessel patrolling the Mediterranean as part of the EU’s Triton rescue operation joined the Italian navy ship and took on board the 312 survivors. Le Figaro writes that, according to the International Migrants Organisation, the Sicily Channel is the deadliest maritime route in the world.

The Daily Telegraph, the Irish Independent, The Irish Examiner and TF1 report on the situation in Kos. The Daily Telegraph notably reports that yesterday, hundreds of Syrian migrants on the Greek island of Kos began boarding a cruise ship that is to house and process them in a bid to ease chaotic conditions onshore. The ship will host 2.500 migrants, who will remain onboard for 2 weeks until the identification process is completed, according to Greek media. Meanwhile, as stated in The Irish Examiner, it has been reported that the number of migrants trying to get into the Eurotunnel terminal near Calais has fallen to as few as 100 a night after security was stepped up at the port.

Corriere della Sera writes that as 32,000 migrants are to be relocated in September, right-wing parties are demonstrating all over Europe to express their dissatisfaction. Former MEP and President of the Party of France, Carl Lang, claimed on Europe 1 that migrants will have to understand that “there is no social and economic future for them in our countries.” Cypriot media report that Hungary is expected to complete the construction of a 175km long border fence with Serbia by the end of August, while Denmark’s ruling party Venstre is expected to launch an awareness campaign deterring migrants and refugees from entering the country.

Meanwhile, British PM David Cameron said that taking a boat to cross the Mediterranean does not confer the right to settle in Europe, Gazeta Wyborcza writes. An INYT editorial on the European migrant situation criticises the reaction of northern European counties, which have left it to the likes of Greece, Italy and Spain to bear a disproportionate burden and laments the rise in attacks on migrants in Germany. According to Corriere della Sera, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on the international community for common evaluations, and condemned the attacks aimed at refugees. Indeed, Finnish media, as well as news websites aktualne.cz and ihned.cz quote her as saying that the migrant crisis could become a bigger challenge for the EU than the Greek debt crisis or the stability of the euro and called for the common asylum policy.

German media report that Chancellor Angela Merkel already talked with EC President Jean-Claude Juncker about the issue. In an interview with Hamburger Abendblatt, Federal Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière talks about the refugee crisis in Germany and Europe, stressing how important it is to enable refugees to work as soon as possible to speed up the integration. Mr de Maizière furthermore calls for less “petty political debates” and says that member states might have to “learn to improvise” again.

Finally, several media reveal the International Organisation for Migration’s latest data on the issue. According to the organization, the number of migrants and asylum seekers who have arrived in Europe by sea so far in 2015 is now approaching 250,000. With rescues at sea occurring at a rate of over 1,000 migrants a day this summer off Italy and Greece, the number of arrivals has already surpassed the total arrivals in 2014, the IOM said in a press release.

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