Greece Migrant Crisis

The migration minister for Greece, one of the countries worst affected by arrivals of growing numbers of undocumented migrants, on Wednesday hailed a landmark overhaul of EU asylum and migration rules as a "historic day".

The EU recommended on Thursday that member states resume sending asylum seekers back to Greece from March next year, after transfers were halted for five years because of poor conditions there.

A search and rescue operation was underway off the coast of the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos today, after a boat carrying migrants overturned, leaving a child dead and six people missing.

Four bodies were recovered and 340 people rescued Friday from a sinking migrant boat carrying a "significant number" of people in the Mediterranean Sea south of the Greek island of Crete, authorities said.

Pope Francis arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday, turning the world's attention to the frontline of Europe's migrant crisis which has claimed hundreds of lives in the past year.

Pope Francis and the spiritual head of the world's Orthodox Christians will set aside centuries of dispute on Saturday when they visit a Greek island on the front line of Europe's migrant crisis to highlight the plight of refugees.

Pope Francis will visit Greece on April 14-15, a Greek government official said on Tuesday, getting a first-hand look at the front line of Europe's migrant crisis and thousands of refugees fleeing conflict.

In early March, Europe's migration chief Dimitris Avramopoulos squelched through a muddy refugee camp on Greece's border with Macedonia and peered through the barbed-wire topped fence that stands between tens of thousands of migrants in Greece and richer countries that lie to the north.

Greece will not be able to start sending refugees back to Turkey from Sunday, the government said, as the country struggles to implement a key deal aimed at easing Europe's migrant crisis.

Greece increased efforts on Saturday to move thousands of migrants near the border with Macedonia to sheltered camps, as the spread of infection became a concern with one person in a sprawling tent city diagnosed with Hepatitis A.

Portugal's divided parliament may refuse to approve Lisbon's contribution to new bailout loans for Greece and a European Union aid package to help Turkey deal with the migrant crisis, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Saturday.

Refugees and migrants stranded at Greece's border with Macedonia vowed to stay put on Tuesday, hours after the European Union and Turkey hailed a tentative accord to stop a scramble by hundreds of thousands of people to reach Europe from war zones.

A European Union draft deal with Turkey to stop migrants reaching Greece introduces a harder edge of coercion to what critics have derided as a hitherto feeble EU response to a crisis tearing it apart.

At least 18 migrants died on Sunday after their boat capsized in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece, a Turkish official said.

Thousands of refugees are stuck on Greece's border with Macedonia, overflowing from a packed camp into the surrounding fields, as they wait for Macedonian authorities to let them continue their trek through the Balkans.

The migration minister for Greece, one of the countries worst affected by arrivals of growing numbers of undocumented migrants, on Wednesday hailed a landmark overhaul of EU asylum and migration rules as a "historic day".

The EU recommended on Thursday that member states resume sending asylum seekers back to Greece from March next year, after transfers were halted for five years because of poor conditions there.

A search and rescue operation was underway off the coast of the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos today, after a boat carrying migrants overturned, leaving a child dead and six people missing.

Four bodies were recovered and 340 people rescued Friday from a sinking migrant boat carrying a "significant number" of people in the Mediterranean Sea south of the Greek island of Crete, authorities said.

Pope Francis arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday, turning the world's attention to the frontline of Europe's migrant crisis which has claimed hundreds of lives in the past year.

Pope Francis and the spiritual head of the world's Orthodox Christians will set aside centuries of dispute on Saturday when they visit a Greek island on the front line of Europe's migrant crisis to highlight the plight of refugees.

Pope Francis will visit Greece on April 14-15, a Greek government official said on Tuesday, getting a first-hand look at the front line of Europe's migrant crisis and thousands of refugees fleeing conflict.

In early March, Europe's migration chief Dimitris Avramopoulos squelched through a muddy refugee camp on Greece's border with Macedonia and peered through the barbed-wire topped fence that stands between tens of thousands of migrants in Greece and richer countries that lie to the north.

Greece will not be able to start sending refugees back to Turkey from Sunday, the government said, as the country struggles to implement a key deal aimed at easing Europe's migrant crisis.

Greece increased efforts on Saturday to move thousands of migrants near the border with Macedonia to sheltered camps, as the spread of infection became a concern with one person in a sprawling tent city diagnosed with Hepatitis A.

Portugal's divided parliament may refuse to approve Lisbon's contribution to new bailout loans for Greece and a European Union aid package to help Turkey deal with the migrant crisis, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Saturday.

Refugees and migrants stranded at Greece's border with Macedonia vowed to stay put on Tuesday, hours after the European Union and Turkey hailed a tentative accord to stop a scramble by hundreds of thousands of people to reach Europe from war zones.

A European Union draft deal with Turkey to stop migrants reaching Greece introduces a harder edge of coercion to what critics have derided as a hitherto feeble EU response to a crisis tearing it apart.

At least 18 migrants died on Sunday after their boat capsized in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece, a Turkish official said.

Thousands of refugees are stuck on Greece's border with Macedonia, overflowing from a packed camp into the surrounding fields, as they wait for Macedonian authorities to let them continue their trek through the Balkans.