A first batch of 500 migrants are set to return from Greece to Turkey on Monday under the terms of an EU deal reached this month, a European Commission source said.
Turkish police on Tuesday detained at least 20 people in a nationwide operation aimed at cracking down on the trafficking of migrants seeking to reach the European Union, reports said.
Greece has begun evacuating migrants from the main Idomeni camp on the Macedonia border, while the flow of refugees arriving on Aegean islands has slowed to a trickle, officials said Saturday.
Finland and Russia have signed an agreement to close their northern border crossings to migrants, blocking off the Arctic route into the European Union, Helsinki said on Wednesday.
A total of 1,662 migrants have landed on Greek islands near Turkey since a landmark EU-Turkish deal on curbing the influx took effect on Sunday, a Greek coordination panel said.
Flimsy boats packed with migrants continued to land in Greece from Turkey on Sunday despite the start of a landmark deal between the European Union and Ankara to stem the massive influx.
Nine migrants trying to reach Europe have drowned off Libya and hundreds more been rescued, the Red Crescent said Sunday amid fears of an increase in crossing attempts as the route from Turkey closes.
A plan to return all irregular migrants arriving on Greek islands back to Turkey could take effect on Sunday if EU leaders strike a deal with the Turkish prime minister, senior EU officials said.
More than 2,400 migrants and three corpses have been recovered from people smugglers' boats off Libya since Tuesday, Italy's coastguard said Wednesday.
European leaders launch a charm offensive to win backing for a migrant deal with Turkey on Wednesday, seeking to heal rifts between member states on the eve of a key summit with Ankara.
Some 1,500 migrants who managed to cross into Macedonia, despite the border being closed to them for a week, have been sent back to Greece by Macedonian troops, officials said Tuesday.
Three Afghan migrants, including a pregnant woman, drowned in a river swelled by heavy rain as they tried to cross into Macedonia from Greece early on Monday, officials said.
