Countries in the EU will be able to return migrants to Greece from mid-March, the European Commission has announced.
Brussels hopes the move will help to restore the bloc’s migration policies, which collapsed under a mass influx in 2015.
But human rights and refugee agencies have said Greek facilities remain so overcrowded they will simply be unable to cope with the extra migrants.
Under EU rules, the first country of entry is responsible for handling an asylum claim, but that system broke down last year in Greece, the main gateway to Europe for more than a million refugees and migrants.
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Unable to cope, Greece let many of them pass through on their own to Germany and other wealthy EU states in defiance of the bloc’s rules. That led countries along the route gradually to close their borders, stranding many asylum seekers in Greece, which struggled to offer them proper shelter.
The European Commission on Thursday said Greece has improved in hosting and registering arriving asylum-seekers.
It recommended that EU states be allowed to send back to Greece asylum-seekers who enter the bloc that way and make it deeper into Europe from mid-March onwards. The recommendation does not apply to those who have already made that journey.
As many as 13,000 people who registered in Greece’s refugee camps have now gone missing and many are thought to have made the journey into Europe.
“This will provide further disincentives against irregular entry and secondary movements, and is an important step for the return to a normally functioning... system,” said Frans Timmermans, the commission’s deputy head.
The bloc’s asylum policy and its zone of internal free travel both collapsed last year as an uncontrolled flow of migrants and refugees triggered bitter disputes between EU states on how to handle them.
These disputes remain unresolved and more than 62,000 people are still in Greece, even though an EU agreement with Turkey in March reduced the arrivals to a trickle.
The failure is largely due to reluctance by EU states to take in people from Greece and Italy to help process their asylum requests and ease the burden on the two frontline states.
So far, fewer than 8,200 people have been moved from these two Mediterranean countries to other EU states under a plan that was supposed to cover 160,000 people and which expires next September. The commission called on EU states to step up.
“Our aim is to relocate all those in Italy and Greece who are eligible for relocation within the next year,” said the bloc’s migration chief, Dimitris Avramopoulos.
He also said: “Asylum seekers need to know they can’t relocate themselves and that if they do so they will be sent back.”
World news in pictures
World news in pictures
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1/126 6 September 2017
Police patrol the area as Hurricane Irma slams into San Juan, Puerto Rico
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A masked witness points to the police officers suspected of killing 17-year-old Kian delos Santos as she testifies during a senate hearing in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines
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(L-R) Brazil's President Michel Temer, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Africa's President Jacob Zuma and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pose for a group photo during the BRICS Summit at the Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Cente rin the Fujian province
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This undated picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) looking at a metal casing with two bulges at an undisclosed location. North Korea has developed a hydrogen bomb which can be loaded into the country's new intercontinental ballistic missile, the official Korean Central News Agency claimed on 3 September. Questions remain over whether nuclear-armed Pyongyang has successfully miniaturised its weapons, and whether it has a working H-bomb, but KCNA said that leader Kim Jong-Un had inspected such a device at the Nuclear Weapons Institute.
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A girl looks on as muslims offer prayers during the Eid al-Adha festival in Agartala
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A cyclist looks at a truck flipped into floodwater in Port Arthur, Texas
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People attend prayers for the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia
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U.S. Marine Corps F-35B fighter jets (front) and South Korean air Force's F-15K fly over South Korea during a joint military drill
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Pope Francis is greeted by pilgrims as he arrives to lead his Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican
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Retiring paramilitary policemen prepare for a group photo before retirement in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China
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The sun sets on the playa as approximately 70,000 people from all over the world gathered for the annual Burning Man arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada
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12/126 27 August 2017
A member of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) tells a Rohingya girl not to come on Bangladesh side. Thousands of people have fled their homes following two days of violence in a deepening crisis in the state of Rakhine in Myanmar. Members of the Muslim Rohingya minority escaped to the border with Bangladesh but Bangladeshi border guards are turning them back.
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100 newlyweds wearing Han Dynasty style outfits attend a group wedding in Pingdingshan, Henan province of China.
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Protesters block rail tracks during a demonstration of "Ende Gelaende" activists against the open cast Garzweiler brown coal mining near Vanikum, Germany.
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Italian Police use a water cannon as they clash with refugee squatters who had occupied a small square in central Rome
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Thailand's Patsapong Amsam-ang competes in the men's pole-vault athletics final of the 29th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) at the Bukit Jalil national stadium in Kuala Lumpur
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A child reacts after a big wave on a waterfront as Typhoon Hato hits Hong Kong
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Soldiers march during a changing of the Guard at the Mamayev Kurgan World War Two memorial complex and Mother Homeland statue (back) in Volgograd, Russia
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19/126 21 August 2017
Italian emergency workers rescue a baby (C) after an earthquake hit the popular Italian tourist island of Ischia, off the coast of Naples, causing several buildings to collapse overnight. A magnitude-4.0 earthquake struck the Italian holiday island of Ischia, causing destruction that left two people dead at peak tourist season, authorities said, as rescue workers struggled to free two children from the rubble
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Damage to the portside is visible as the Guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) steers towards Changi naval base in Singapore following a collision with the merchant vessel Alnic MC. The USS John S. McCain was docked at Singapore's naval base with "significant damage" to its hull after an early morning collision with the Alnic MC as vessels from several nations searched Monday for missing U.S. sailors.
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A protester covers her eyes with a China flag to imply Goddess of Justice during the rally supporting young activists Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow in central in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow were jailed last week after being convicted of unlawful assembly.
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22/126 19 August 2017
An extreme cycling enthusiast performs a stunt with a bicycle before falling into the East Lake in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. This activity, which requires participants to ride their bikes and jump into the lake, attracts many extreme cycling enthusiasts from the city.
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23/126 18 August 2017
People gather around tributes laid on Las Ramblas near to the scene of yesterday's terrorist attack in Barcelona, Spain. Fourteen people were killed and dozens injured when a van hit crowds in the Las Ramblas area of Barcelona on Thursday. Spanish police have also killed five suspected terrorists in the town of Cambrils to stop a second terrorist attack.
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24/126 17 August 2017
Participants take part in Panjat Pinang, a pole climbing contest, as part of festivities marking Indonesia's 72nd Independence Day on Ancol beach in Jakarta. Panjat Pinang, a tradition dating back to the Dutch colonial days, is one of the most popular traditions for celebrating Indonesia's Independence Day.
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25/126 16 August 2017
Demonstrators participate in a march and rally against white supremacy in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Demonstrations are being held following clashes between white supremacists and counter-protestors in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed in Charlottesville when a car allegedly driven by James Alex Fields Jr. barreled into a crowd of counter-protesters following violence at the Unite the Right rally.
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South Korea protesters hold placards with an illustration of U.S. President Donald Trump during a during a 72nd Liberation Day rally in Seoul, South Korea. Korea was liberated from Japan's 35-year colonial rule on August 15, 1945 at the end of World War II.
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27/126 14 August 2017
The Chattrapathi Shivaji Terminus railway station is lit in the colours of India's flag ahead of the country's Independence Day in Mumbai. Indian Independence Day is celebrated annually on 15 August, and this year marks 70 years since British India split into two nations Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan and millions were uprooted in one of the largest mass migrations in history
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A demonstrator holds up a picture of Heather Heyer during a demonstration in front of City Hall for victims of the Charlottesville, Virginia tragedy, and against racism in Los Angeles, California, USA. Rallies have been planned across the United States to demonstrate opposition to the violence in Charlottesville
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Jessica Mink (R) embraces Nicole Jones (L) during a vigil for those who were killed and injured when a car plowed into a crowd of anti-fascist counter-demonstrators marching near a downtown shopping area Charlottesville, Virginia
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White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the “alt-right” clash with counter-protesters as they enter Lee Park during the “Unite the Right” in Charlottesville, Virginia. After clashes with anti-fascist protesters and police the rally was declared an unlawful gathering and people were forced out of Lee Park
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A North Korean flag is seen on top of a tower at the propaganda village of Gijungdong in North Korea, as a South Korean flag flutters in the wind in this picture taken near the border area near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea
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A firefighter extinguishes flames as a fire engulfs an informal settlers area beside a river in Manila
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A rally in support of North Korea's stance against the US, on Kim Il-Sung square in Pyongyang.
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Rocks from the collapsed wall of a hotel building cover a car after an earthquake outside Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan province
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People in Seoul, South Korea walk by a local news program with an image of US President Donald Trump on Wednesday 9 August. North Korea and the United States traded escalating threats, with Mr Trump threatening Pyongyang “with fire and fury like the world has never seen”
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A Maasai woman waits in line to vote in Lele, 130 km (80 miles) south of Nairobi, Kenya. Kenyans are going to the polls today to vote in a general election after a tightly-fought presidential race between incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta and main opposition leader Raila Odinga
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Pro-government supporters march in Caracas, Venezuela on 7 August
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Children pray after releasing paper lanterns on the Motoyasu river facing the Atomic Bomb Dome in remembrance of atomic bomb victims on the 72nd anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, western Japan.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin (L), accompanied by defence minister Sergei Shoigu, gestures as he fishes in the remote Tuva region in southern Siberia.
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A family claiming to be from Haiti drag their luggage over the US-Canada border into Canada from Champlain, New York, U.S. August 3, 2017.
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A disabled man prepares to cast his vote at a polling station in Kigali, Rwanda, August 4, 2017
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ATTENTION EDITORS -People carry the body of Yawar Nissar, a suspected militant, who according to local media was killed during a gun battle with Indian security forces at Herpora village, during his funeral in south Kashmir's Anantnag district August 4, 2017.
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A general view shows a flooded area in Sakon Nakhon province, Thailand August 4, 2017.
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A plane landed in Sao Joao Beach, killing two people, in Costa da Caparica, Portugal August 2, 2017
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Hermitage Capital CEO William Browder waits to testify before a continuation of Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 27, 2017
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TOPSHOT - Moto taxi driver hold flags of the governing Rwanda Patriotic Front's at the beginning of a parade in Kigali, on August 02, 2017. Incumbent Rwandan President Paul Kagame will close his electoral campaigning ahead of the August 4, presidential elections which he is widely expected to win giving him a third term in office
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TOPSHOT - Migrants wait to be rescued by the Aquarius rescue ship run by non-governmental organisations (NGO) "SOS Mediterranee" and "Medecins Sans Frontieres" (Doctors Without Borders) in the Mediterranean Sea, 30 nautic miles from the Libyan coast, on August 2, 2017.
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Two children hold a placard picturing a plane as they take part in a demonstration in central Athens outside the German embassy with others refugees and migrants to protest against the limitation of reunification of families in Germany, on August 2, 2017.
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Flames erupt as clashes break out while the Constituent Assembly election is being carried out in Caracas, Venezuela, July 30, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
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People in the village of Gabarpora carry the remains of Akeel Ahmad Bhat, a civilian who according to local media died following clashes after two militants were killed in an encounter with Indian security forces in Hakripora in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, August 2, 2017. REUTERS/Danish Ismail
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- Incumbent Rwandan President Paul Kagame gestures as he arrives for the closing rally of the presidential campaign in Kigali, on August 2, 2017 while supporters greet him. Rwandans go the polls on August 4, 2017 in a presidential election in which strongman Paul Kagame is widely expected to cruise to a third term in office.
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Soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) get ready for the military parade to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the foundation of the army at Zhurihe military training base in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China.
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Cyclists at the start of the first stage of the Tour de Pologne cycling race, over 130km from Krakow's Main Market Square, Poland
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Israeli border guards keep watch as Palestinian Muslim worshippers pray outside Jerusalem's old city overlooking the Al-Aqsa mosque compound
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A supporter of Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif passes out after the Supreme Court's decision to disqualify Sharif in Lahore
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Australian police officers participate in a training scenario called an 'Armed Offender/Emergency Exercise' held at an international passenger terminal located on Sydney Harbour
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North Korean soldiers watch the south side as the United Nations Command officials visit after a commemorative ceremony for the 64th anniversary of the Korean armistice at the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas
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Bangladeshi commuters use a rickshaw to cross a flooded street amid heavy rainfall in Dhaka. Bangladesh is experiencing downpours following a depression forming in the Bay of Bengal.
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The Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft for the next International Space Station (ISS) crew of Paolo Nespoli of Italy, Sergey Ryazanskiy of Russia, and Randy Bresnik of the U.S., is transported from an assembling hangar to the launchpad ahead of its upcoming launch, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan
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A protester shouts at U.S. President Donald Trump as he is removed from his rally with supporters in an arena in Youngstown, Ohio
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Indian supporters of Gorkhaland chant slogans tied with chains during a protest march in capital New Delhi. Eastern India's hill resort of Darjeeling has been rattled at the height of tourist season after violent clashes broke out between police and hundreds of protesters of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) – a long-simmering separatist movement that has long called for a separate state for ethnic Gorkhas in West Bengal. The GJM wants a new, separate state of "Gorkhaland" carved out of eastern West Bengal state, of which Darjeeling is a part.
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62/126 23 July 2017
Demonstrators clash with riot security forces while rallying against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela. The banner on the bridge reads "It will be worth it"
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The Heathcote river as it rises to high levels in Christchurch, New Zealand. Heavy rain across the South Island in the last 24 hours has caused widespread damage and flooding with Dunedin, Waitaki, Timaru and the wider Otago region declaring a state of emergency.
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A mourner prays at a memorial during an event to commemorate the first anniversary of the shooting spree that one year ago left ten people dead, including the shooter in Munich, Germany. One year ago 18-year-old student David S. shot nine people dead and injured four others at and near a McDonalds restaurant and the Olympia Einkaufszentrum shopping center. After a city-wide manhunt that caused mass panic and injuries David S. shot himself in a park. According to police David S., who had dual German and Iranian citizenship, had a history of mental troubles.
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Palestinians react following tear gas that was shot by Israeli forces after Friday prayer on a street outside Jerusalem's Old City
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Ousted former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra greets supporters as she arrives at the Supreme Court in Bangkok, Thailand
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Marek Suski of Law and Justice (PiS) (C) party scuffles with Miroslaw Suchon (2nd L) of Modern party (.Nowoczesna) as Michal Szczerba of Civic Platform (PO) (L) party holds up a copy of the Polish Constitution during the parliamentary Commission on Justice and Human Rights voting on the opposition's amendments to the bill that calls for an overhaul of the Supreme Court in Warsaw
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A firefighter stands near a grass fire as he prepares to defend a home from the Detwiler fire in Mariposa, California
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Michael Lindell ,CEO of My Pillow reacts as U.S. President Donald Trump attends a Made in America roundtable meeting in the East Room of the White House
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Giant pandas lie beside ice blocks at Yangjiaping Zoo in Chongqing, China. Yangjiaping Zoo provided huge ice blocks for giant pandas to help them remove summer heat
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People ride camels in the desert in Dunhuang, China, as stage 10 of The Silkway Rally continues
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17th FINA World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Team North Korea practice under coach supervision
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IAAF World ParaAthletics Championships - London, Britain - July 17, 2017
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Workers check power lines during maintenance work in Laian, in China's eastern Anhui province
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Russia Kamaz's driver Dmitry Sotnikov, co-drivers Ruslan Akhmadeev and Ilnur Mustafin compete during the Stage 9 of the Silk Way 2017 between Urumqi and Hami, China
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Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull talks with Special Operations Command soldiers during a visit to the Australian Army's Holsworthy Barracks in western Sydney
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Men in traditional sailor costumes celebrate after carrying a statue of the El Carmen Virgin, who is worshipped as the patron saint of sailors, into the Mediterranean Sea during a procession in Torremolinos, near Malaga, Spain
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People participate in a protest in front of the Sejm building (the lower house of the Polish parliament) in Warsaw, Poland. The demonstration was organized by Committee for the Defense of Democracy (KOD). Members and supporters of the KOD and opposition parties protested against changes in the judicial law and the Supreme Court
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People prepare to swim with a portrait of late Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong on the bank of the Yangtze River in Yichang, Hubei province, China to celebrate the 51st anniversary of Chairman Mao swimming in the Yangtze River.
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A woman takes a selfie picture with her mobile phone next to the statue of Omer Halisdemir in Istanbul, in front of a memorial with the names of people killed last year during the failed coup attempt .
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French President Emmanuel Macron gestures next to US President Donald Trump during the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris.
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Philippine National Police chief Ronald Bato Dela Rosa holds an M60 machine gun during a Gun and Ammunition show at a mall in Mandaluyong city, metro Manila, Philippines
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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker embrace before the EU-Ukraine summit in Kiev, Ukraine
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US President Donald Trump (R) and First Lady Melania Trump disembark form Air Force One upon arrival at Paris Orly airport on July 13, 2017, beginning a 24-hour trip that coincides with France's national day and the 100th anniversary of US involvement in World War I
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Iraqis walk on a damaged street in west Mosul a few days after the government's announcement of the liberation of the embattled city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters
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Iraqi boys wash a vehicle in west Mosul a few days after the government's announcement of the liberation of the embattled city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters
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Afghan policeman pour fuel over jerry cans containing confiscated acetic acid before setting it alight on the outskirts of Herat. Some 15,000 liters of acetic acid, often mixed with heroin, were destroyed by counter narcotics police
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Police from the anti-terror squad participate in an anti-terror performance among Acehnese dancers during a ceremony to commemorate the 71st anniversary of the Indonesian police corps in Banda Aceh
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Residents stand amid the debris of their homes which were torn down in the evicted area of the Bukit Duri neighbourhood located on the Ciliwung river banks in Jakarta
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Boys play cricket at a parking lot as it rains in Chandigarh, India
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Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the 22nd World Petroleum Congress (WPC) in Istanbul
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New Mongolia's president Khaltmaa Battulga takes an oath during his inauguration ceremony in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
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US army 1st Division, US air force, US Navy and US Marines, march down the Champs Elysees, with the Arc de Triomphe in the background, in Paris during a rehearsal of the annual Bastille Day military parade
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Participants run ahead of Puerto de San Lorenzo's fighting bulls during the third bull run of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain. Each day at 8:00 am hundreds of people race with six bulls, charging along a winding, 848.6-metre (more than half a mile) course through narrow streets to the city's bull ring, where the animals are killed in a bullfight or corrida, during this festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and dating back to medieval times and also featuring religious processions, folk dancing, concerts and round-the-clock drinking.
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Iraqi women, who fled the fighting between government forces and Islamic State (IS) group jihadists in the Old City of Mosul, cry as they stand in the city's western industrial district awaiting to be relocated
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US President Donald Trump arrives for another working session during the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany
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People climb up on a roof to get a view during riots in Hamburg, northern Germany, where leaders of the world's top economies gather for a G20 summit
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Anti-capitalism activists protest in Hamburg, where leaders of the world’s top economies will gather for a G20 summit.
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A military helicopter rescues people trapped on the roof of the Ministry of Finance by an intense fire in San Salvador
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Donald Trump arrives to deliver a speech at Krasinski Square in Warsaw, Poland.
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A firefighter conducts rescue operations in an area damaged by heavy rain in Asakura, Japan.
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Crowds gather for the start of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain.
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A member of the Iraqi security forces runs with his weapon during a fight between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq.
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A U.S. MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile is fired during the combined military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea against North Korea at an undisclosed location in South Korea
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North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un looks on during the test-fire of inter-continental ballistic missile Hwasong-14
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Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a signing ceremony following the talks at the Kremlin
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Belarussian servicemen march during a military parade as part of celebrations marking the Independence Day in Minsk, Belarus
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Ambulance cars and fire engines are seen near the site where a coach burst into flames after colliding with a lorry on a motorway near Muenchberg, Germany
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An aerial view shows women swimming in the Yenisei River on a hot summer day, with the air temperature at about 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit), outside Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia, June 28, 2017
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Protesters demonstrating against the upcoming G20 economic summit ride boats on Inner Alster lake during a protest march in Hamburg, Germany. Hamburg will host the upcoming G20 summit and is expecting heavy protests throughout.
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Investigators work at the scene of a car bomb explosion which killed Maxim Shapoval, a high-ranking official involved in military intelligence, in Kiev, Ukraine, June 27, 2017
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Protesters carry a large image of jailed Chinese Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo as they march during the annual pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong. Thousands joined an annual protest march in Hong Kong, hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up his visit to the city by warning against challenges to Beijing's sovereignty.
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Jockey Andrea Coghe of "Selva" (Forest) parish rides his horse during the first practice for the Palio Horse Race in Siena, Italy June 30, 2017
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A man takes pictures with a phone with a Union Flag casing after Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) inspected troops at the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Hong Kong Garrison as part of events marking the 20th anniversary of the city's handover from British to Chinese rule, in Hong Kong, China June 30, 2017
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A protester against U.S. President Donald Trump's limited travel ban, approved by the U.S. Supreme Court, holds a sign next to protesters supporting the ban, in New York City, U.S., June 29, 2017
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Israeli Air Force Efroni T-6 Texan II planes perform at an air show during the graduation of new cadet pilots at Hatzerim base in the Negev desert, near the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva
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A woman gestures next to people spraying insecticide on a vehicle during a mosquito-control operation led by Ivory Coast's National Public and Health Institute in Bingerville, near Abidjan where several cases of dengue fever were reported
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A Libyan coast guardsman watches over as illegal immigrants arrive to land in a dinghy during the rescue of 147 people who attempted to reach Europe off the coastal town of Zawiyah, 45 kilometres west of the capital Tripoli, on June 27, 2017. More than 8,000 migrants have been rescued in waters off Libya during the past 48 hours in difficult weather conditions, Italy's coastguard said on June 27, 2017
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A man leaves after voting in the Mongolian presidential election at the Erdene Sum Ger (Yurt) polling station in Tuul Valley. Mongolians cast ballots on June 26 to choose between a horse breeder, a judoka and a feng shui master in a presidential election rife with corruption scandals and nationalist rhetoric
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People attend Eid al-Fitr prayers to mark the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan at a play ground in the suburb of Sale, Morocco
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A plain-clothes police officer kicks a member of a group of LGBT rights activist as Turkish police prevent them from going ahead with a Gay Pride annual parade on 25 June 2017 in Istanbul, a day after it was banned by the city governor's office.
AFP/Getty Images
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Pakistan army soldiers stands guard while rescue workers examine the site of an oil tanker explosion at a highway near Bahawalpur, Pakistan. An overturned oil tanker burst into flames in Pakistan on Sunday, killing more than one hundred people who had rushed to the scene of the highway accident to gather leaking fuel, an official said.
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Rescue workers search for survivors at the site of a landslide that occurred in Xinmo Village, Mao County, Sichuan province, China
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Student activists shout anti martial law slogans during a protest in Manila on June 23, 2017
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A diver performs from the Pont Alexandre III bridge into the River Seine in Paris, France, June 23, 2017 as Paris transforms into a giant Olympic park to celebrate International Olympic Days with a variety of sporting events for the public across the city during two days as the city bids to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games
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Debris and smoke are seen after an OV-10 Bronco aircraft released a bomb, during an airstrike, as government troops continue their assault against insurgents from the Maute group, who have taken over parts of Marawi city, Philippines June 23, 2017
Reuters
Brussels put additional conditions on returning people beyond March, saying Greece should give individual assurances of fair treatment for any returnees and that unaccompanied children not be sent back at all.
Obligatory quotas on refugees are now the focus of a tug of war between EU states seeking to reform their troubled common asylum rules.
The commission said arrivals from Turkey to Greece stood at an average of 92 people a day since March, compared with thousands that were at times making it in a single day before the deal with Ankara. It said 1,187 people have been deported from Greece to Turkey since March this year.
Under the deal with Turkey, which looks fragile now due to a breakdown in ties following Ankara’s crackdown in the wake of a botched military coup in July, Brussels also said it had spent €677m (£570m) of the €3bn promised to help Syrian refugees living on Turkish soil.
Eva Cosse, Human Rights Watch’s Athens-based Western Europe researcher, said the facilities in place in Greece were not robust enough to process any more refugees.
“Despite some positive reforms to its asylum and reception system, in a time of deep economic crisis the exceptional number of arrivals by sea, border closures along the Balkans route, a flawed EU-Turkey deal, and a lack of EU solidarity are putting a strain on Greece’s ability to effectively deal with the mass arrival of migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees,” she said
“The dire situation leaves over 62,500 refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers – including women, children, and people with disabilities – effectively stranded in Greece.
“Thousands of asylum seekers have been kept on islands and forbidden from moving on, often living for months in overcrowded and abysmal conditions in EU-sponsored facilities while their claims are processed.
“There are now more than 16,295 asylum seekers on the five main Greek islands that are hosting asylum seekers and migrants – double the capacity of the facilities on those islands.
“Due to lack of space in dedicated shelters, unaccompanied children are often detained, sometimes with adults, for lack of a better alternative.
“Reinstating Dublin returns to Greece would not only be unfair for Greece, but above all it would be catastrophic for the rights of asylum seekers fleeing war and persecution and seeking refuge in Europe.”
Sacha Myers, who is based in Greece with Save the Children, said the charity was concerned with the commission’s announcement.
“The closed facilities on the islands, where returning asylum seekers would register and live, have been well over capacity for months now – some are hosting more than double their capacity.
“And asylum seekers continue to arrive in Greece as the main drivers forcing families to leave their homes – such as war, persecution and extreme poverty – remain unresolved.
“Due to the overcrowded conditions, families and children are living in tents and getting drenched with every rainstorm.
“In some camps the toilets and showers are dirty and there’s a lack of proper drainage systems. This means that when it rains, the tents are flooding and there’s no way for families to get warm and dry again.
In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea
In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea
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A baby being taken on to MSF's Bourbon Argos ship from a boat carrying 130 migrants and refugees
Lizzie Dearden
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A refugee boat carrying 101 people being rescued by MSF's Bourbon Argos
Lizzie Dearden
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A refugee boat carrying 101 people being rescued by MSF's Bourbon Argos
all images by Lizzie Dearden
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A baby among refugees on a boat carrying 185 people off the coast of Libya
Lizzie Dearden
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Migrants and refugees sleeping after being rescued by MSF's Bourbon Argos ship
Lizzie Dearden
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A crew from MSF's Bourbon Argos ship rescuing a boat carrying 130 migrants and refugees off the coast of Libya, at sunrise
Lizzie Dearden
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A woman in a stretcher being lifted onto MSF's Bourbon Argos ship from a boat carrying 130 migrants and refugees off the coast of Libya
Lizzie Dearden
“The processing of asylum claims in Greece is also moving at a snail’s pace and some families have been languishing in camps for nine months now waiting for their application to be processed.
“It’s inconceivable how the EU can propose sending more people to live in these conditions.
“But it’s also unsurprising, considering Brussels’ track record on migration policies so far.
“Member states continue to wash their hands of a challenge that needs to be tackled by all European countries working together, not just leaving Greece and Italy to shoulder all the responsibility.
“EU Member states are dragging their feet on relocating migrants from Greece and Italy, and choosing instead to invest resources to keep out – and now deport – as many vulnerable people as possible – all while living in denial of any wrongdoing.
“If nothing else, this is setting a dangerous precedent in today’s troubled context where migrant and refugee rights are being challenged worldwide.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
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