A fresh United Nations-led bid to seek to resolve decades of tensions in Cyprus began in Geneva on Tuesday, with Secretary-General António Guterres “realistic” about the chances of making progress, his Spokesperson said.

Nearly 140 asylum seekers were relocated from Greece to Germany on Wednesday through a European Commission-funded initiative that has relocated more than 1,000 people so far this year alone, three UN agencies have reported. 

UN agencies in Greece have expressed concern at the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the education of refugee children in the country, as a charity partner warns that funding for educational programmes is on the verge of running out.

Greece must take immediate action to end the violence against migrants and asylum seekers at the border between Turkey and Greece, an independent UN human rights expert said on Monday, expressing alarm at reports of violence at the hands of some Greek security officers and unidentified armed men.