News Highlights: UN Sanctions on Eritrea lifted, Eritreans escaped and recaptured in Libya, Valetta Migration Plan discussed in Ethiopia

In this week’s news highlights: UN Security Council sanctions on Eritrea lifted; IOM says most Horn of Africa migrants move within region; leaders of Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea meet; abuses and accidents on the refugee route to Sudan; Eritrean refugees escape from Libyan detention camp and are recaptured; Netherlands cannot ban Eritrean diaspora tax outright: report; migration meeting with European and African officials in Ethiopia; Italy receives 51 refugees via resettlement; and Czech Republic another EU country that will not sign UN Migration Compact.

News Highlights: EU Sanctions Regime in development, Eritrean regime infiltrates Norwegian churches, France/Italy border tension

In this week’s news highlights: Ports at the Red Sea disputed in regional rivalries; Russia intensifying it ties with Eritrea; Ethiopian government and rebel group sign peace treaty; new direct flights from Asmara to Europe; Berhane Abrehe’s son speaks out; criticism about EU’s collaboration with Egypt; criticism of Global Migration Compact; border tensions between France and Italy after migrant pushback; MEPs back Dutch proposal for new sanctions regime; Eritreans in Norway afraid of Eritrean regime in churches; Tusk discards mandatory quotas for refugees in EU; Libya’s foreign minister opposes EU migration centres in Libya; and aiding migrants criminalized in Morocco.

EU migration collaboration with Egypt: critical assessments

The European Union (EU), in order to stem migration, has made deals with Northern African countries like Libya. The latest plan is that Egypt will be the new partner of the EU in helping to decrease the movement of migrants and refugees towards Europe. The collaboration with Libya has faced criticism from international organizations and the civil society as migrants and refugees become trapped in inhumane conditions. The UN Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein has also characterized the EU’s policy of helping Libyan authorities in detaining migrants as “inhuman”. Collaboration with Egypt faces its own critical assessments, as it is a country with dubious human rights records.