News Highlights: Refugees in Tigray under threat, Denmark returning Syrian refugees “a dangerous precedent”, 1 in 3 trafficking victims are minors

In this week’s highlights: Eritrean refugees unsafe in Ethiopia; WFP running out of food in Tigray; 3,000 Ethiopian refugees from Amhara crossed over into Sudan this week; 32 suspects of human trafficking arrested in Sudan; 5,500 people pushed back this year in Europe; Denmark to return Syrian refugees in “a dangerous precedent”; Trafficking victims exploited in Europe identified in Italy are increasingly mothers and children; Nearly 1,000 refugees have died crossing the Central Mediterranean; Turkey refusing to take on more refugee cases as 500 refugees intercepted this week; Over 550 refugees intercepted by UK and French coast guard; 70th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention; COVID-19 has worsened global malnutrition.

News Highlights: Aid blocked in Tigray, Amnesty criticises Libya for refugee “horror”, EU aims to resettle 30,000 refugees until 2022

In this week’s highlights: Ethnic Tigrayans rounded up across Ethiopia; Tigray access to aid under “siege”; UN operations accused of mismanagement in Tigray; UN calls for ‘verifiable’ withdrawal of Eritrean forces in Tigray; EEPA hosts […]

EU’s unsustainable and deadly Libyan migration policy

Between May 24 and May 27 around 400 migrants and refugees have been picked up by the Libyan coastguard and returned to Libya. Two of them drowned during the operation. An additional 90 migrants and refugees have been stopped by a commercial ship and have been returned to Libya as well. The pushback operations are funded and supported by the European Union (EU) and individual member states like Malta and Italy. While Libya has been an unsafe place from the start of the EU’s so called externalized border policy, COVID-19 brings even more risks as detention camps in Libya are high-risk areas for the spread of the virus and rescue operations on the Mediterranean Sea have been minimized. An additional element of danger is the intense civil war in Libya, which has turned into a geopolitical conflict and a proxy war between Russia and The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the one hand and Turkey on the other. The war takes its toll on the civilian population; on June 1 another 5 civilians were killed and 11 wounded in a rocket attack near Tripoli.