News Highlights: Eritreans deported from Ethiopia, UK Court deems Rwanda deportations unlawful, New patrol boats to Libya

In this week’s News Highlights: Violence against civilians and refugees; Public facilities attacked and aid restricted in Sudan; Two-day Eid ceasefire broken; Women and civil society urge for cessation of violence in Sudan; RSF releases 125 SAF soldiers; Displacements due to conflict and food insecurities in Sudan; Troika condemns violence in Sudan; Kenyan President Ruto say there are ‘signs of genocide’ in Sudan; UNSC talks about Sudan; Eritreans face forced return from Ethiopia; Tigray church calls for resume of food aid to Tigray as hunger related death toll rises; Study finds children in primary school experience high levels of trauma; Facilities in Oromia looted and destroyed; Tigrayans disappeared during war still missing; Officials removed in Puntland, Somalia; EU delivers patrol boats to Libya coast guard despite its links with militia groups; NGO vessel rescues 86 people off Libyan coast; Dozens missing and 3 dead off Tunisian coast; Frontex contacts Libyan coast guard for SaR operations; Tunisian model should be extended in other countries, says EU chief; Hungary and Poland block conclusions on migration at EU Summit; ECtHR rules in favour of 67 ill-treated migrants and refugees; Walid case continues in the Netherlands; Rwanda deportation plan deemed unlawful; UK says cost of transferring to Rwanda is in the hundreds of thousands; Greece to continue “strict but fair” migration policy after elections; Greek police and Spanish NGO rescue more than 300 migrants and refugees; Save the Children’s proposal for the protection of unaccompanied minors in Italy; Spain and Morocco under investigation for delayed rescue; and Amnesty accuses Spain and Morocco of Melilla cover-up.

by S. Fons
Posted on December 13, 2019December 13, 2019
EEPA news and activities

On December 10, on International Human Rights Day, the European Commission and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) co-hosted an event addressing the issue of trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation in conflict situations. The event marked the end of the global campaign ‘16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence’. Trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation in conflict zones is particularly important to address as key challenges remain that make it difficult for women to gain protection; prosecution rates are low, protection laws are poorly implemented and extremist groups use sexual exploitation as a weapon of war. Representative of the UNODC at the event, Yatta Dakowah, stated that 72% of victims are female, indicating the need to address this issue from a gendered perspective.