News Highlights: Military tensions in the Horn, Refugee arrests in Libya, IFRC accuses EU of double standards
20 May 2022

News Highlights: Military tensions in the Horn, Refugee arrests in Libya, IFRC accuses EU of double standards

by | posted in: Ethiopia, Horn of Africa region, Human Trafficking, IFRC, Libya, shipwreck, Somalia, Uncategorized, UNOCHA | 0

In this week’s News Highlights: Military tensions building in the Horn; Ethiopian Federal government and Oromo opposition clash in conflict that affects civilians; Journalist from The Economist expelled from Ethiopia; OCHA humanitarian update on Northern Ethiopia; Hassan Sheikh Mohamud elected as President of Somalia; One person in the Horn is dying from hunger every 48 seconds, warn international organisations; Press conference recording announcing investigation into atrocity crimes in Eritrea; Campaign of refugee arrests in Libya; 19 persons drowned between Spain from Algeria; Network of 11 alleged human smugglers shut down between Morocco and Spain; Ukrainian women at risk of sex trafficking, OSCE warns; Camp of around 350 people evicted in Calais; A dozen alleged sex traffickers arrested in the UK and Romania; Petition for the recognition of gender-based violence in migration submitted to EU Parliament; Increase in crossings of the Channel due to milder weather conditions; Palermo Court hears of ‘dire conditions’ endured by refugees during 2019 rescue; Training programme for refugees and vulnerable migrants in Italy; Wreckage of boat to be erected as memorial in Calabria; and IFRC President says Europe applies “double standards”.

News Highlights: Journalists in danger in the Horn, Frontex director resign after accusations, Deaths at sea rise in the Mediterranean
6 May 2022

News Highlights: Journalists in danger in the Horn, Frontex director resign after accusations, Deaths at sea rise in the Mediterranean

by | posted in: African Union, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, European Parliament, France, Frontex, International Criminal Court, Journalists, Libya, Mediterranean Sea, Refugees in the EU, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tigray, Turkey, UNHCR, United States | 0

In this week’s News Highlights: TPLF states a general was murdered in Ethiopian federal prison; Somali region of Ethiopia has not seen rain since 18 month; Dozens of resistance committees members arbitrarily held in Sudanese jail; Al-Shabaab strikes on Somalian African Union base; Ethiopia as ‘worst jailers of journalists’ on the continent; Video allegedly shows abuses by the Ethiopian army towards ethnic Tigrayan boy; US Chargé d’Affaires calls for an immediate protection of journalists in South Sudan; New investigation strategy on crimes against humanity by the ICC in Libya; Eritrean refugees detained and pushed back by Egyptian authorities; Frontex director resigns after accusations of illegal pushbacks; UNHCR calls for urgent state action as deaths at sea rise in the Mediterranean; 547 migrants and refugees crossing the Channel in two days; Migrant and refugee camp attacked in Paris; Erdogan’s project of voluntary return for one million Syrian refugees; public seminar on Libya at the European Parliament; Alleged human trafficking network dismantled in North Wales; 20th World Press Freedom Index reveals ‘polarisation’ of journalism.

Ecological and political factors are stacking the deck against the population in Ethiopia amidst severe drought
2 May 2022

Ecological and political factors are stacking the deck against the population in Ethiopia amidst severe drought

by | posted in: Drought, El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Ethiopia, Horn of Africa region, Humanitarian Crisis, La Niña, UNHCR, World Food Programme, World Meteorological Organization | 0

On 19 April, the World Food Program announced that the number of people pushed to hunger by the severe drought in the Horn of Africa could rise from the current 14 million to 20 million by the end of the year. This is the latest in a long list of warnings from various international organisations that have been drawing attention to the agropastoral and food crises caused by this drought  since 2020. But contrary to the 2016-2017 drought in the Horn, sufficient measures have not been put in place upstream, organisations warn. Although the whole region faces alarming consequences, with for example half a million already starving people in Kenya, Ethiopia is currently the most affected country with more than 7 million people already affected by famine. This is due to various climatic, but also political circumstances.