Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have agreed to step up efforts to send asylum seekers with no right to asylum in Europe back to their homelands. "All of us in Europe must work for the repatriation of those who do not have rights [to stay]," Mr Renzi said after a meeting with Ms Merkel.

A refugee who raped a ten-year-old boy has claimed he did not know sexually assaulting the child was wrong as it was 'culturally acceptable' in his homeland. Mufiz Rahaman told Sydney's Downing Centre Court raping children was not seen as morally wrong in his native Myanmar when he pleaded guilty to the aggravated sexual assault of a 10-year-old refugee on Wednesday, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Anti-refugee activists clad in black quickly scaled the 85-foot-high Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Germany’s capital and attached a giant banner atop the monument reading: “Secure the borders — Secure the future.” The early-morning takeover of the country’s best-known landmark a week ago didn’t last long: Dozens of heavily armed police brought down the 15 activists after less than an hour. And Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller later called the protest “despicable.”

Of 23 asylum seekers that have been relocated to Latvia as part of the European Union's refugee relocation program, 21 persons are already in Germany, as Latvian Television has found out. For instance, a Syrian mother of three, who at the end of July said she was planning to settle in Latvia and had already learned some Latvian, told the television that she had left Latvia as the mentor provided by the state was unable to help her family solve various practical day-to-day problems.

Up to 40 percent of refugees who asked for asylum in Switzerland over the past three months reportedly disappeared from Swiss reception centers shortly afterwards, with their whereabouts unknown to the authorities. The country’s State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) confirmed that within the last quarter some 20 to 40 percent of refugees who have been assigned to reception centers have vanished from the monitoring system completely, Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung reports.

While the number asylum seekers arriving in Austria has significantly dropped, the number having trouble with the law is on the rise. Some 11,158 were suspected of committing offences in the first half of 2016, compared to 15,236 in the whole of 2015. The staggering figures were revealed by the Austrian newspaper, Krone, which referenced data received by the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) from the Ministry of Interior as the result of an information request. The statistics are to be officially published on Tuesday.

A group of 292 Syrians went back to the Syrian town of Jarablus from Turkey on Wednesday, marking the first formal return of civilians since Ankara launched a military incursion two weeks ago to try to secure the border region, a Turkish official said. Jarablus, which had been held by Islamic State, was the first town captured by Turkey's army and its Syrian rebel allies in an offensive launched on Aug. 24 that aims to sweep away jihadists and Syrian Kurdish militias from the frontier.

Some 1,475 minor refugees, mostly girls, have arrived in Germany already married, the majority of whom come from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq, an official report cited by German media says. Almost one in four are reportedly less than 14 years old. The numbers from the government migration office were released in the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) newspaper on Friday.

There are more people in Germany who could potentially commit terrorist acts than ever in the past, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told German daily Bild in an interview, adding that the terrorist threat in Germany is “very real.” More than 520 people in Germany are capable of committing “unexpected” and potentially “high-profile” terrorist attacks inspired by Islamism, de Maiziere said in the interview, published on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the US.

Some 235,000 migrants in Libya are ready to make the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to Italy as soon as the opportunity arises, UN envoy Martin Kobler said in an interview published Thursday. According to Italy's interior ministry, nearly 128,400 migrants have arrived via the Mediterranean since the start of the year - which is a five percent jump over the same period in 2015.

Violent clashes between refugees and locals have broken out in Greece - as the number of migrants arriving from Turkey has doubled to 1,000 in just one week. On Chios, local residents were sprayed with tear gas by police after hundreds marched through the main square demanding the removal of the island's huge refugee camp. On Lesbos, migrants have lead two demonstrations through the capital Mytilene demanding the right to leave the island and travel to mainland Greece having been stranded there for months.

Three illegal immigrants were in custody in Paris today after a teenager was found tied up and gagged after allegedly being gang raped underneath the Eiffel Tower. The horrifying attack is said to have taken place after the 19-year-old was lured on a Facebook ‘date’ in the French capital.

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has called on Europe to tighten its border control, warning the migrant crisis affecting the continent "has the look of a peaceful invasion". In his speech to The Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists on Saturday night, Abbott addressed issues surrounding a post-Brexit world, urging Europeans to stand guard on their borders. Speaking in Prague, he held up Australia's strict boat turn-back policy as a model of successful border protection.

The trial begins in Bonn this week of a Syrian man who threw his three children from a first-floor window, allegedly because he disliked his wife’s desire to enjoy the same freedoms as German women. The 36-year-old refugee is suspected of attempted murder after hurling the children out the window of the asylum centre where the family lived. His seven-year-old daughter and five-year-old son suffered broken bones and skull fractures in the fall.

Refugees fleeing brutal conflict in the Middle East should aspire to return home, the Dalai Lama has said. In an interview with Piers Morgan, the Tibetan Buddhist leader, one of the world's highest-profile political exiles, said those who have left to escape fighting and disorder in countries like Syria and Libya should focus on bringing peace to their homelands.

A German mayor who wanted to accommodate refugees has reportedly been assaulted in a suspected xenophobic attack. Joachim Kebschull, 61, mayor of Oersdorf, was struck on the back of the head with a club or wooden beam on his way to a town hall meeting. Mr Kebschull lost consciousness and was taken to hospital, German newspaper Bild reports.

Should a 14-year-old married girl who migrates to Europe be viewed as a child - or a spouse? The issue has put European governments in a spin: forcing a policy U-turn in Denmark, new legislation in the Netherlands and an agonised debate in Germany. Analysts say early marriage is often carried out in refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey by families trying to protect girls from poverty or sexual exploitation. Elsewhere, poor families might marry off their young daughters in exchange for dowries.

Hungary's right-wing leader is hoping to "give the finger" to the European Union on Sunday in a nationwide referendum over immigration, according to experts. Viktor Orban's government is urging voters to reject an EU plan requiring countries to welcome a quota of migrants who have traveled from the Middle East and beyond. Imposed last year, the program requests that Hungary accept 1,294 asylum-seekers — around 0.01 percent of its 9.9 million population.

Five Syrian refugee children have been arrested and detained in Greece after they were found carrying plastic toy guns on their way to perform in a children's play. The boys, aged between 12 and 16, were seized "on suspicion of being members of an armed group", and then allegedly detained, beaten and forced to strip naked.

The German mayor has begged for intervention over the 'explosive situation' caused by a refugee crimewave in the picturesque ski town. Police say refugees brawl in the streets and vandalise public property in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and residents allege they are responsible for serious sexual assaults. Dr Sigrid Meierhofer has now written about the 'massive problems' in a letter begging for help from Bavarian politician Maria Els, which was leaked to the press.