News Highlights: Fighting surges in Sudan, Greek authorities criticised after disastrous shipwreck, Decline in support for refugees

In this week’s News Highlights: Violence erupts in Khartoum while ceasefire still in place; RSF controls most of Khartoum, as situation in West Darfur deteriorates further; Wagner continues to supply arms to the RSF; Incidences of rape by RSF corroborated and verified; People from West Darfur arriving in Chad with gunshot wounds; Violence calming in North Kordofan, Sudan; Humanitarian aid into Sudan severely restricted; RSF threatens to bomb oil fields; Sudanese refugees in Egypt stuck at the border; IDPs dying amidst aid shutdown in Tigray; WFP hopes to resume food aid within a month in Ethiopia; FANO attack in Oromia; Special Rapporteur updates the HRC on situation in Eritrea; Eritrea is among the 10 countries with highest prevalence of modern slavery, report says; Parties agree on ceasefire after fighting in Puntland, Somalia; Yakani on the regional situation of the Horn of Africa; Eritrean refugees asked to pay ransom; Tunisia to tighten its borders; EU to allocate funds for Egypt to host Sudanese refugees; Greek authorities criticised as hundreds disappeared in shipwreck; 2 dead and at least 35 missing in the Atlantic; Italy and NGO Open Arms rescue 220 people in the Mediterranean; Court in Italy rejects appeals from Médecins Sans Frontières on port assignment; UN agencies call for EU action to prevent deaths at sea; EU to invest 15 billion euro in migration policies; EU proposal on digitalisation of visa applications; Lack of protection puts health of child migrants and refugees in the UK at risk; Sudanese mother taking legal action over failed family reunification; Survey reveals decline in support for refugees; and Yemen deadliest route according to IOM report of 2022.

News Highlights: Offensive against Tigray forces starts, Shooting in Libyan detention centre kills 6, Increasing harassment of refugees in EU

In this week news highlights: Ethiopian government launches offensive against Tigray forces; US ponders sanctions; UN recalls two officials over audio recordings; High ministerial meeting on Ethiopia; Tigray interim government member seeks asylum; Sudan Tribune reports unconfirmed news that Salva Kiir would mediate in Tigray conflict; Eritrea re-elected to UN Human Rights Council – critics cry foul; 6 migrants shot and killed by Libyan detention centre guards following crackdown; 15 migrants bodies found off to shore of Libya; 1,100 migrants and refugees crossed the English Channel during the weekend; Migrants and refugees facing harassment in Northern France; NGO unable to operate in militarized Greece-Turkey border area; Greece and Croatia suspected of illegal pushbacks at the borders using EU funds; UNHCR urges greater access to mental health for refugees.

The EU and its “no more roads approach” in Eritrea

On June 15, the European Parliament Committee on Development (DEVE) held a hearing in the European Parliament (EP) on the European Union’s development cooperation with Eritrea and in particular the road rehabilitation project that is carried out with the help of national service labour, which is widely defined as forced labour. The hearing included a change of views between the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO), the Europe External Action Service (EEAS) and members of the committee on progress and the possibilities on getting results on the very difficult situation in Eritrea. The ‘no more roads’ decision can be seen as the most important outcome.