New highlights: Yemini prisoners in Eritrea, Italy considers shutting out boats, mandate Special Rapporteur Eritrea extended

In this week’s news highlights, Italy is threatening to close its ports to foreign boats carrying stranded migrants and refugees; worrying reports state that hundreds of Yemeni prisoners are detained and abused, including at an AUE base in Eritrea; the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea is extended; an in-depth report looks at how Israel aims to get rid of its Eritrean and Sudanese refugees; and 2.000 leave South Sudan each day to flee violence and hunger.

Mandate of UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea extended through resolution in Human Rights Council

At the 35th session of the UN Human Rights Council, a resolution on Eritrea has been adopted that extends the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea, Ms. Sheila Keetharuth, for another year. The resolution also expresses deep concern for the human rights situation in Eritrea, and urges the Eritrean government to implement the recommendations of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea (COIE).

News Highlights: Eritrea-Djibouti tensions, global displacement, counter-terrorism in Sahel

In this week’s news highlights, the UN Refugee Agency published its annual report on global displacement, showing a continuing upward trend in the numbers of displacement; the tensions over migration between European Union member states continue; counter-terrorism force in Sahel region approved by UN Security Council; tensions between Djibouti and Eritrea rise, and fears grow that tensions between Arab allies may cause conflict in the Horn of Africa; and International organisations have not learned their lessons from previous engagements with the Eritrean regime.