The Sea-Eye 4 rescued more than 800 people from the central Mediterranean this week — including 200 minors and five pregnant women. The overcrowded ship was stuck at sea for days before getting permission to dock.

Greek officials claim Turkey is acting like a "pirate state in the Aegean Sea" in regards to migrants. Athens has called on the EU to put pressure on Ankara to meet its international obligations.

In this special edition, we focus on the migrant crisis brewing on the European Union's eastern border. Thousands of people from the Middle East have travelled to Belarus in the hope of entering the EU. Now they are trapped on the border with Poland, desperately trying to survive in freezing conditions. We take a closer look and speak to Kinda Youssef from our InfoMigrants website.

Polish security forces report multiple attempts by migrants to cross the border and detain over 100. A migration policy expert says Poland is flouting EU law.

Activists who took part in search and rescue operations off Greece now face charges including human trafficking, espionage, and money laundering.

The migrants were "crammed" into the trailers of two trucks, according to the local head of the Human Rights Commission. Most were from the neighboring state of Guatemala.

As temperatures across Europe plummet, thousands of migrants are still stuck in Belarus, hoping to find a route into the European Union — although Brussels insists the bloc will not accept them. DW's Nick Connolly met some of them in Minsk.

The Belarusian strongman has encouraged migrants to continue their journey into the European Union. "We will not try to catch you, beat you, and hold you behind barbed wire," he said.

Many of the migrants currently languishing at the Poland-Belarus border come from Iraq. Most of them hail from the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan in the north of the country. This area is often described as a haven of peace, but the reality is somewhat darker. Our correspondent Lucile Wassermann went to meet the Iraqis ready to risk everything to flee their region.

Citizens of Afghanistan were by far the biggest group of people applying for asylum in the EU, Switzerland and Norway in September 2021.

Activists who helped migrants reach Greece in 2018 are on trial on the island of Lesbos. The accusations against them include spying and human trafficking. DW caught up with some of those facing the most serious charges.

Though some countries in the EU have decriminalized cannabis, the island nation is the first to legalize recreational use and cultivation for adults. Germany and Luxembourg are expected to follow suit early next year.