15 Nov CoReMH 19th General Meeting was held

Members exchanged inputs from 3 countries located along the Western Balkans transit route. Here are the most critical conclusions from the meeting:

• Refugee numbers across the region are declining, but many people continue to transit informally, leading to significant discrepancies between official data and realities on the ground.
• Access to asylum is becoming increasingly restricted, with slow or obstructed procedures, very few positive decisions, and new punitive or exclusionary policies, e.g. in Greece.
• Support systems are weakening, as funding decreases, services shut down, and relocations to remote centres create additional barriers to health care, schooling, and integration.
• Public attitudes and political environments are becoming less welcoming, influenced by misinformation, media confusion, and a rise in far-right narratives.
• New migration routes and emerging risks, such as the Libya–Crete route, are leading to more dangerous journeys and to groups arriving without adequate reception systems in place.

The next meeting will be held in January 2026.