News Highlights: Ethiopian PM visits Eritrea, Greece prepares for more refugees amid Turkey tensions, Refugees from the Horn on frontlines in Yemen
24 Jul 2020

News Highlights: Ethiopian PM visits Eritrea, Greece prepares for more refugees amid Turkey tensions, Refugees from the Horn on frontlines in Yemen

by | posted in: Abiy Ahmed, Africa, Asylum Seekers, COVID-19, Detention, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Horn of Africa region, IOM, Libya, Mediterranean Sea, Refugees in the EU, Sudan, Trafficking, UNHCR | 0

In this week’s News Highlights: Visit of Ethiopian PM in Eritrea; Eritrean president travels to Sudan; Amnesty international concerned about political detainees in Ethiopia; Ethiopian and Eritrean government accused of plotting against Tigray political party; Lack of funding for COVID-19 response in Ethiopia; Refugees from East Africa recruited to work in military camps in Yemen; Teenage pregnancies on the rise amid pandemic in Kenya; IOM response to Euronews investigation of returns; Greece prepares for higher number of refugees amid Turkey tension; Conference calls for better prosecution of human traffickers; Number of refugees in French informal camp increases; Protest of Sudanese asylum seekers in the Netherlands; COVID-19 affects mixed migration routes in North Africa; And health center for refugees and migrants re-opened.

News highlights: Mandate of UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea extended, Greek abandonment results in homelessness of refugees, LNA invites Egyptian military to intervene in Libya
17 Jul 2020

News highlights: Mandate of UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea extended, Greek abandonment results in homelessness of refugees, LNA invites Egyptian military to intervene in Libya

by | posted in: Africa, Asylum Seekers, COVID-19, Detention, Doctors without Borders, Eritrea, Ethiopia, EU funding, European Commission, European Parliament, European Politics, European Union, Germany, Greece, Horn of Africa region, Libya, Malnutrition, Médecins Sans Frontières, Mediterranean Sea, Migration, Refugee Camps, Refugees in the EU, Relocation system, Sudan, Trafficking, UN Special Rapporteur, Unaccompanied Minors, United Nations, Weekly news highlights | 0

In this week’s news highlights: Mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea extended by one year; Eritrea says peace deal with Ethiopia insufficient; Petition launched to urge UN to prevent starvation in Eritrea; FGM banned in Sudan amidst political reform; Tensions mount as Ethiopia starts to fill up controversial dam reservoir; Measures in Greece threathen to force thousands of refugees into homelessness; German states to take in refugee families; EU’s proposal for externalized asylum centers to feature in migration pact; EU’s far reaching surveillance apparatus for foreigners; EU to cooperate more with Africa to curb human trafficking; Libya’s LNA invites Egyptian military intervention; More displacement and COVID-19 in Libya; and COVID-19 is fuelling global hunger.

Hachalu Hundessa: Ethiopia’s ghost of the past, the present and the future
15 Jul 2020

Hachalu Hundessa: Ethiopia’s ghost of the past, the present and the future

by | posted in: Abiy Ahmed, Africa, Ethiopia, Horn of Africa region | 0

On June 29th prominent Oromo singer and activist Hachalu Hundessa was murdered by gunmen in the capital of Ethiopia. Hachalu Hundessa’s life, death and the events following his death are deeply tied to the path Ethiopia is taking as a nation. The remnants of the former dictatorial regime, ethnic tensions, in/out group politics, regional versus national power and the power and abuse of state actors delineate the character and struggle of politics in Africa’s second most populous country. When Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali was elected in 2018 he opened up the political system towards more inclusion for ethnic groups and regional authorities. Powerful political opponents counter these new narratives of inclusiveness with their own narratives of ethnic/regional autonomy and self-rule. The response of Abiy Ahmed’s government after Hachalu Hundessa’s death are illustrative of botched responses that undermine Ahmed’s path towards an inclusive government.