Please see below the Press Release from the University of Tilburg (NL).  An English version of the press release will follow in the coming days.

Hoogleraar Mirjam van Reisen benoemd tot lid Adviescommissie Internationale Vraagstukken

Hoogleraar Mirjam van Reisen, bekleder van de Marga Klompé leerstoel, is per 1 januari door de Ministerraad benoemd als lid van de Adviescommissie Internationale Vraagstukken (AIV). Zij wordt tevens Voorzitter van de Commissie Ontwikkelingssamenwerking van de AIV. De AIV is een onafhankelijk adviesorgaan dat de regering en de Staten-Generaal adviseert over buitenlands beleid, met name de rechten van de mens, vrede en veiligheid, ontwikkelingssamenwerking en Europese integratie. Van Reisen is verbonden aan de Tilburg School of Humanities.

Read more: EEPA Director Prof. Mirjam van Reisen was appointed as member of the Independent Advisory...

As the Cotonou Agreement expires in 2020, policy makers on both the ACP and EU side need to start looking towards future options. External challenges such as climate change and the increasing role of emerging economies challenge the status quo and will require changes responses.

Earlier this year (February 2013), following a request from the European Parliament’s Committee on Development, the European Commission published a policy brief which draws up three different scenarios for ACP-EU Relation after 2020.

Read more: ACP-EU relations after 2020: Review of options

Saudi Arabin authorities have announced the completion of the first phase of building a wall that along its border from the Red Sea to the border with Oman. The decision to build the wall, which will be some 2, 000 kilometres long, was prompted by the fall of Yemen President Ali Abdulla Saleh, in February 2012, and the resulting deterioration of security in the country.

Following the Arab Spring and the ousting of leaders in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen there have been large scale movements of migrants, as people tried to flee these conflict zones. This has lead to an increase in border patrol and making migration routes harder to for those trying to flee to other countries.

Like Saudi Arabia, earlier this year, Israel completed the main section of a $416 million fence along the Egyptian border. The Israeli military has since prevented dozens of potential asylum seekers gaining entry to Israel, most of them Eritreans. According to Human Rights Watch, Israel has also unlawfully deported dozens more back to Egypt.

Read more: Saudi Arabia Building Wall At Border With Yemen

The Sinai has become the prison of thousand of refugees from Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan. They are kidnapped by criminals, imprisoned and at times, tortured to death. To escape this fate, they are forced to call their families while being tortured to beg for ransom.

Since the shift of power in Egypt, the northern peninsula has become a lawless zone allowing for a strong footing for criminals. Murder rates increased and human trafficking is flourishing.

The gravity of the situation has been neglected for too long by the international community but it is gaining attention in many European countries.

Most recently, articles appeared in the German Der Spiegel, in Die Zeit, and in the MOZ newpaper (not published online) highlighting the gravity of desperation of refugees also giving voice to some who managed to escape.

Read more: Sinai trafficking gaining attention in German media

On 31 March 2013, forty-one refugees from sub-Saharan Africa went on hunger strike in Tunis against the lack of recognition and concrete solutions following the influential World Social Forum.

On the 3rd day of the strikes, three refugees were taken into hospital for endangering their already weak health. They joined one other member, who was already hospitalised on Sunday 31 March.

The refugees who come from the Shousha camp, which is scheduled to be closed in June 2013, have been on a hunger strike in front of the UNHCR offices and knocking on the doors of the World Social Forum to protest against the unjust integration program Tunisia is imposing on them.

Read more: Refugees on 4th day of hunger strike for human dignity in Tunis