Arrivals/Departure: On 18 January, the number of arrivals to the Greek islands remained low due to difficult sea conditions. Since the end of December 2015, an increasing number of refugees and migrants are reportedly returned from Germany to Austria.
Bottlenecks: On 18 January, at border crossings along the refugee and migrant travel route, 474 people were returned or denied access to onward movement primarily reported between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia.
Condition of People: British charity Save the Children warned that refugee children are at grave risk of hypothermia as they transit with their parents through Greece and the Balkans in temperatures as low as -20C. In Greece, at the border crossing with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, several cases of unregistered persons who arrived through the land border with Turkey, as well as cases of false documents were noted. On the Island of Leros, volunteers reported substandard detention conditions at the police station, including lack of food; where many Moroccan and Algerian nationals continue to be detained, as their scheduled transfer to Athens did not take place as of 18 January. UNHCR is following up.
Deaths at Sea: None reported.