‘The Walls of Europe’

On Saturday November 9, Europe celebrated the 30-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall that marked the end of a separated Europe from two different, controlling ideologies. However, 30 years later Europe is building walls again, only this time to keep refugees and migrants from entering Europe. A report recently published by the Dutch organisation Stop Wapenhandel argues that “Europe is divided not so much by ideology as by perceived fear of refugees and migrants, some of the world’s most vulnerable people”. The report finds that Europe is spending a lot of money and technology on protecting its borders in a time where new migration policies permeate interior policies in Europe.

Human rights abuses in Eritrea: A cry from a prison cell

“Dawit Isaak once was free but now is silent,” says the preface of his book, Hope. Dawit is a Swedish-Eritrean writer and journalist, who wrote award-winning books, articles and theater plays. Until 2001. That year, Dawit was imprisoned in Eritrea. He was never put on trial and is not in contact with lawyers, agencies or friends. Up to today, even his family does not know where he is. On November 5, the Swedish NGO Free Dawit organized a seminar, hosted by Member of the European Parliament (MEP) David Lega (EPP), to discuss the human rights situation in Eritrea and to highlight the case of Dawit Isaak, a prisoner of conscience.

News highlights: Libyan decree to affect NGOs, Protests in Ethiopia, EU Parliament rejects motion on search and rescue

In this week’s News Highlights: Protests lead to killings of civilians in Ethiopia; Returnees to Ethiopia face difficult conditions; Follow the journey of Eritrean refugees; Human rights in Eritrea the topic of seminar in European Parliament; Right-wing groups in the European Parliament vote against improving rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea; Rescue ship waits 11 days at sea; Eritreans in the Netherlands protest against the presence of the Eritrean regime; Photographer reports on the inequality of the new lives of refugees in Europe; New decree to neutralize rescue NGOs in Libya’s waters; Arrest warrant for Libyan human trafficker; Libyan coast guard threatens rescue vessels with shots; Migrants and refugees evacuated from Libya to Rwanda still looking for safety; and new report on the Global Compact for Migration.