Situation at the border

In the fight against the COVID-19 disease, all EU countries put in place some border or travel restrictions. NGOs had to suspend their search & rescue operations at sea to comply with emergency legislation. Italy, Malta and Cyprus closed their ports for most boats. There were also media reports of Cypriot authorities pushing back a boat with 175 Syrians, including 69 children.

The duty of search and rescue and to allow disembarkation in a place of safety are imperatives of international law.

Asylum procedure and residence permits

Travel bans and other emergency measures led to a 43 % decline in asylum applications in March 2020. Due to the pandemic, many countries suspended asylum procedures. In Sweden, asylum application facilities remained open with measures taken to ensure health and safety. Denmark reintroduced the resettlement of refugees.

Several countries (Croatia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, North Macedonia and Poland) allowed certain third-country nationals whose residence permit expired to remain legally in the country until the end of the pandemic.

Situation in reception centres

Many organisations raised alarm about the deplorable conditions in reception centres, for example in Cyprus, Greece, Italy or Malta and in the informal camps in France, stressing that they make preventing the infection impossible. Lack of information on the COVID-19 measures in different languages has been a problem across the EU as well.

For countries receiving high numbers of arrivals, relocation of refugees can be an important measure of European solidarity.

Child protection

Many children continued living in precarious and overcrowded conditions, making it difficult to properly implement COVID-19 measures.

Detention and return

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