In this week’s news highlights we will share with you the latest reports on migration and international affairs. This includes the situation of unaccompanied minors in Europe, human trafficking in the Libya and a report on South Sudan that explains how the country ended up in a state of famine and violence. This week’s news highlights also includes a press release by Eritrean Afar State in Exile concerning the displacement of indigenous people in Eritrea and the latest news about migration in Europe and the famine in the Horn of Africa.
Europe
Europe: report unaccompanied minors
A new thematic report on migrant and refugee children was released by the Council of Europe’s Special Representative of the Secretary General on migration and refugees, Tomas Bocek. The report highlights the precarious conditions of unaccompanied minors in Europe of which many are left without guardianship, legal aid and are subject to neglect and violence. Euobserver talked to Tomas Bocek and gives an overview of the key findings in the report.
Europe: consequences for not hosting refugees
Reuters reported on EU Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos’s warning that EU member states will face consequences if they fail to host refugees. According to Reuters, Avramopoulos was speaking in Poland concerning this matter. Poland has so far rejected the application of mandatory quotas.
Europe and Africa
Eritrea – follow up: joint mission
Last week, EEPA shared with you the report of the St. Galler Tagblatt on the secret mission of Switzerland, Germany, Norway and Sweden to Eritrea with the common effort to curb migration from Eritrea. The talks are expected to lead to new repatriation agreements with Eritrea. An English summary on the cooperation is now available on EEPA’s webpage.
Eritrea: excluded from financial aid
Last week an appeal by British aid organisations was launched to assist people in urgent need for assistance at the Horn of Africa. Members of the Eritrean community published a letter in the Daily Telegraph which expresses their incomprehension that assistance excludes Eritrea despite the fact that the El Niño drought has caused acute widespread malnutrition in the country, Martin Plaut reports.
Libya: smuggling report
Global Initiative against Transnational Organized launched a new report entitled The Human Conveyor Belt : trends in human trafficking and smuggling in post-revolution Libya. The report highlights the consequences that emerged from smuggling activity in the aftermath of the Libyan Revolution and gives a critical view on EU’s migration policies that exacerbated the situation, according to the author. EEPA gives an overview of the findings in the report.
Italy: interior ministers meeting
Meanwhile, interior ministers from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Libya, Malta, Slovenia, Switzerland and Tunisia and the European Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos gathered to discuss further steps for curbing migration from North Africa. According to TheNewArab, the meeting included talks about a Libya-based operational centre and touched upon the topic of the repatriation of asylum seekers.
Horn of Africa
Eritrea: displacement of indigenous people
The organisation Eritrean Afar State in Exile (EASE) criticised the Eritrean government in a press release from Monday, 20 March 2017, for the systematic displacement of the ethnic group of Afar people from their ancestral homeland Dankalia. EASE calls out the Eritrean government for enforcing the policy with violence and for violating fundamental rights contrary to international law on ethnic grounds.
A promotion video by the mining company Danakali Limited gives reason to the assumption that the displacement shall make way for an upcoming mining project for potash in the region.
South Sudan: new famine report
The Enough Project released a new report entitled How The World’s Newest Country Went Awry: South Sudan’s war, famine and potential genocide. The report provides a historic overview of events which led the country into a state of conflict, famine and corruption. It also highlights the involvement of external actors, including oil companies and arms providers, which play a key role in the ongoing mass atrocities in South Sudan.
The South Sudan News Agency presents selected highlights and key recommendations of the report.
The DailyBeast gives an overview of the main findings of the report with a selected excerpt:
South Sudan: oil deal with Guinea
Meanwhile, South Sudan and Equatorial Guinea announced a new oil and gas partnership on Monday, 20 March 2017. According to Africanews, South Sudan’s and Equatorial Guinea’s oil ministers see the partnership as a “way for information exchange between the countries” that will “benefit the people and the national economies.”
South Sudan: inside the famine
CBS News gives an insight in the desperate situation of South Sudanese children of which many are severely malnourished and traumatised by conflict and violence.
Sudan: testimonies of Eritrean detainees
Africa Monitors spoke to Eritrean detainees in Sudan’s Al-Huda Prison. In the interviews the victims describe the inhuman conditions in the prisons and how they managed to escape Eritrea. (Part 2)
Eritrea: flight from Eritrea
Irinnews covers the story of Eritrean refugees fleeing to Ethiopia. The article sheds light on their flight, on the smuggler business in the region and gives insight into the current situation in Eritrea.
The EEPA-Team