Greece
Thousands of refugees and other migrants are heading to the Greek mainland from the eastern Aegean islands after the country's seamen's union called off rolling 48-hour ferry strikes.
The strike, which began Monday, had stranded an estimated 25,000 people on the islands. Ferries began operating again Friday morning.
Several ships dedicated to refugees set sail from the islands of Lesbos and Chios, while others were taking ships from other islands on the regular passenger ferry service.
France
France is busing asylum-seekers from elsewhere in Europe to small towns in the French heartland, after months of criticism that French authorities weren't doing their share to take in refugees and other migrants pouring into Europe this year.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that 18 men and one woman who fled Eritrea are being bused Friday from Italy to the Loire Valley region in western France. They are among 200 people France is taking from Italy and Greece this month, 300 next month and 400 in January, the statement said.
France has agreed to take in 30,000 refugees from around Europe as part of EU-wide agreements — compared with hundreds of thousands in neighboring Germany, and 4 million Syrian refugees taken in by Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.
Spain
The Spanish government said Friday it expects a first group of 19 refugees to arrive in Madrid on Sunday from Italy as part of a European Union relocation program.
Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria told reporters the group comprised mostly Eritreans and included many women. She said the 19 are part of a group of 50 refugees due to come for relocation.
She added that the government has approved plans for the resettlement in Spain this year of 854 refugees in countries bordering Syria.
She said this is part of plans for Spain to accept 1,449 refugees over the next two years under the EU resettlement program.
Germany
Germany's interior minister has urged Albanians to stop going to his country to seek political asylum as their claims are considered groundless and will be rejected.
Thomas de Maiziere expressed "great concern" over the fact that about 50,000 Albanians have asked for asylum in Germany this year, coming second only to Syrian refugees.
During a visit to Albania Friday, he said Albanians migrate to Germany to seek jobs and improve their living standards.
De Maiziere said all requests would be denied in a faster, three-week process, after Albania was included in a list of safe countries.
"There is no reason for Albanians to ask for political asylum," he said." Their country is democratic."
Germany’s Interior Ministry wants to give many Syrians arriving in the country a form of protection that wouldn’t allow them to bring relatives for two years, according to an agreement by government leaders this week.
The ministry said Friday that Syrians who don’t present authorities with direct evidence of individual persecution but are fleeing the civil war in general should be given “subsidiary protection,” something that falls short of full asylum status but is granted to people who face serious risks in their homeland. While people with full asylum status get a three-year residence permit, those with “subsidiary protection” get a renewable one-year permit.
On Thursday, Chancellor Angela Merkel and her coalition partners agreed that people with that status shouldn’t be able to bring relatives to Germany for two years.
