Stranded at the Border: Policy Changes and Migration Realities: Summary of Regional Migration Trends Middle East

Closing Borders: The borders surrounding Syria are becoming increasingly closed, limiting the ability of people within Syria to seek protection internationally. For Syrians today, very few legal routes to exit the country remain. Their situation is characterised by tightly controlled land borders, strict visa requirements to enter Lebanon, a recently closed Jordanian border, and visa requirements for entry to Turkey by sea or air. Declining Arrivals in Greece: June and July continue to mark significantly declining arrivals of refugees and other mixed migrants in Greece compared to the same months in 2015. Both months show a significant decrease from 2015 arrivals with June 2016 arrivals down 95.0% from the same month in 2015, and July arrivals down 96.5% from the same month in 2015. The European Commission points to the “sharp and continued decline” in irregular arrivals to Greece as evidence of the “successful implementation” of the EU-Turkey Agreement.

This summary of inter and intra-regional displacement and displacement-induced mobility is produced by DRC Middle East and North Africa regional office drawing widely on available sources. It covers events, trends and data for the Middle East region (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq).