HIGHLIGHTS
Italy witnessed a 43% rise of sea arrivals over the last month, compared to December 2014, bucking the seasonal decrease of refugees and migrants arriving by sea and the downward trend registered in the second half of 2015. Arrival trends for December include the steady decrease of Syrians arriving by sea and the continuing proportional increase of Nigerians.
At the end of December 2015, the total number of arrivals stands at 153,842 persons, compared to 170,100 in 2014 at the same time, corresponding to a 10% decrease.
In December 60 asylum-seekers were relocated to Finland, Portugal, Belgium and Spain under the EU relocation scheme. Since the decisions of the Council of Europe entered into force, 190 persons were relocated by Italy. One additional hotspot became operational in Trapani in the second half of December, with a capacity of up to 400 places. Italy opened two hotspots in 2015.
UNHCR became aware of more instances of denied access to the asylum procedures. This, included also persons from refugee producing countries. On 28 December, 190 persons who were not subject to adequate screening were served with a rejection orders upon their arrival in Palermo. **