News Highlights: TDF advances towards Djibouti-Addis Ababa road, IOM appeals for 40 million USD in Tigray, Refugees end hunger strike in Brussels

In this week’s highlights: 54,000 flee homes in Afar as Tigray conflict develops; WFP suspends operations via Semera into Tigray; IOM appeals for 40 million USD to assist 2 million people in Northern Ethiopia; Gender based violence increasing in Sudan; 17 refugees dead and 380 rescued in shipwreck off Tunisian coast; 476 migrants and refugees end mass hunger strike in Brussels; France and Britain agree to crackdown on migrants and refugees attempting to cross the Channel; NGOs demand Europe cease deportations to Afghanistan; Italy/Slovenia border patrols to resume; Three refugees die in a fire in France.

News Highlights: EU-US meeting on Tigray ahead of G7, Tigrayans starving to death, Webinar highlights destruction of heritage

In this week’s news highlights: Webinar highlights the destruction of heritage and holy sites and massacres of Tigray religious leaders; In-depth report on Mai Kadra massacre published by Reuters; BBC interviewed Tigryans who said they are starving to death; UNHCR concerned about Ethiopian refugees returned from Djibouti against their will; MMC report on onward migration of refugees and migrants from East Africa; Libyan PM meets the EU Commissioner Johnsson on migration and political transition; EU and US talk about crisis in Tigray ahead of G7; People seeking asylum in Denmark could be deported according to new law; UK MPs call for parliamentary inquiry on Eritrea’s role in Tigray; Court of Auditors found “worrying” deficiencies in Frontex’s procedures; Kent threatens legal action against Home secretary over poor services for child asylum seekers; Kent council threatens to reject asylum seeker applications for speaking to the media.

by A. Coessens
Posted on January 29, 2021January 29, 2021
Africa

In this week’s news highlights: Fear for civilians, refugees and forced conscripts as threats emerge of renewed offensive from Eritrea on Tigray; Allegations of mass sexual violence in Tigray; Tigray’s population in severe humanitarian crisis; Renewed violence in Darfur, Sudan; Ethiopian journalist found dead in Tigray; UNHCR warns of acute risks for refugees and migrants on Mediterranean routes; Departures from Tunisia overtake departures from Libya in 2020; 80 migrants and refugees returned to Libya, 300 returned so far this year; Frontex fails to provide information in internal pushback investigation; More than 370 rescued refugees land in Sicily; EU-Turkey meeting on migration; Two smugglers jailed over the deaths of Vietnamese people locked in a lorry truck; Danish Prime Minister wants zero refugees; Lowest number of refugee resettlement in twenty years.