News Highlights: Extremist groups funded by human trafficking in Libya, EU ‘deepens partnership’ with Morocco on migration, UNHCR pressures people to leave GDF in Libya
12 Dec 2019

News Highlights: Extremist groups funded by human trafficking in Libya, EU ‘deepens partnership’ with Morocco on migration, UNHCR pressures people to leave GDF in Libya

by | posted in: Abiy Ahmed, Asylum Seekers, Eritrea, Ethiopia, European Politics, European Union, Horn of Africa region, Human Trafficking, Italy, Libya, Norway, Refugee Camps, Refugees in the EU, Sudan, Torture, UNHCR | 0

In this week’s news highlights: Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed avoids talking to the media; Africa requests funding to fight climate crisis during COP25; Eritrean girl Ciham Ali Abdu held incommunicado since she was 15; New initiative to assist internally displaced persons introduced in Ethiopia; Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces plans to categorise immigrants in the UK ahead of election; Asylum seekers at risk when crossing the Croation border; Eritreans protest in Norway; President Ursula von der Leyen meets representatives from AU to discuss cooperation; New Return and Reintegration Platform initiative formalised; New app to assist refugees in Italy; EU to strengthen cooperation with Morocco on migration through new funding, UNHCR pressures refugees to leave the GDF; UN experts release report on foreign armed groups in Libya, stating IS in Libya is funded largely by human trafficking; State Representatives discuss Libya at the Rome Mediterranean Dialogues; And Sudanese citizens abused by human traffickers in Libya.

EU unable to defend decisions about funds to Eritrea: questions remain unanswered
6 Dec 2019

EU unable to defend decisions about funds to Eritrea: questions remain unanswered

by | posted in: Eritrea, European Commission, European Politics, European Union | 0

“In 2019, the EU began to use the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa to support the procurement of equipment for a road building project in which it accepts that national service labour (i.e. forced labour conscripts) may be used. How will the Commission independently monitor the human rights impact of its funding, including working conditions?” Member of the Parliament, Michèle Rivasi (Greens/EFA), asked this written question to the commission on November 4. As of yet, Rivasi did not receive a written reply. Despite the criticism, the EU keeps funding projects in Eritrea and seems unable to defend its decisions.

Criminalisation of Search and Rescue Operations in the Mediterranean Sea
4 Dec 2019

Criminalisation of Search and Rescue Operations in the Mediterranean Sea

by | posted in: EEPA news and activities, European Politics, Greece, IOM, Italy, Libya, Médecins Sans Frontières, Mediterranean Sea, Operation Sophia, Search and Rescue Operations | 0

The preamble of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, an instrument applicable to all member states of the European Union (EU) when implementing EU law, holds that “the Union is founded on the indivisible, universal values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity,” centralising the idea that EU member states must protect human life. Yet, several Southern European Member States have criminalised search and rescue (SAR) operations in the Mediterranean Sea and charged the rescue operations with the criminal act of smuggling. Therefore, the operators face years in prison if convicted. At the same time, the EU has closed down its own SAR operations, relying on its deals with the Libyan coast guard to intercept boats.