News Highlights: UNHCR concern over ‘scattered’ refugees in Tigray, 1000 refugees returned to Libya, EU visa restrictions proposed over returns
1 Apr 2021

News Highlights: UNHCR concern over ‘scattered’ refugees in Tigray, 1000 refugees returned to Libya, EU visa restrictions proposed over returns

by | posted in: Asylum Seekers, Belgium, Coast guards, COVID-19, Detention, Eritrea, Ethiopia, EU funding, European Politics, European Union, Germany, Hitsats camp, Horn of Africa region, Human Rights abuses, Human Trafficking, IGAD, IOM, Libya, Médecins Sans Frontières, Mediterranean Sea, Migration, Refugee Camps, Refugees in the EU, Relocation system, Search and Rescue Operations, UNHCR | 0

In this week’s news highlights: UNHCR confirms destruction of refugee camps in Ethiopia; Reports of forced displacement of Tigrayans in western Tigray region by Amhara troops; Report of meeting between Eritrean and Ethiopian senior officials and foreign experts in Tigray; Kenya aims to close two refugee camps housing Somali refugees; Joint EU-IOM plan for returning migrants from Libya to Horn of Africa and other countries; IOM appeals for $99 million for migrants stranded in Yemen; Around 1000 migrants intercepted and forced to return to Libya; Spanish NGO rescues more than 200 migrants and refugees at sea; IOM report on high number of deaths at sea; EU to consider visa restrictions for 13 African and Middle East countries; EU Commissioner calls on Greece to investigate allegations of illegal pushbacks; Drones used for surveillance on migrants and refugees at EU external borders; Angela Merkel approves the EU-Turkey deal on migration; and IOM analysis on benefits of migration on communities.

News Highlights: UN and EHRC agree on joint war crime probe in Tigray, EU proposes visa pressure to force returns to Africa 
19 Mar 2021

News Highlights: UN and EHRC agree on joint war crime probe in Tigray, EU proposes visa pressure to force returns to Africa 

by | posted in: Africa, Asylum Seekers, Belgium, COVID-19, EEPA news and activities, Eritrea, Eritrean Women, Ethiopia, European Parliament, European Politics, European Union, Frontex, Horn of Africa region, Human Rights abuses, Human Trafficking, Italy, Médecins Sans Frontières, Mediterranean Sea, Migration, Somalia, South Sudan, UNHCR | 0

In this week’s news highlights: UN agrees to joint probe on possible war crimes in Tigray with Ethiopian Human Rights Commission; NRC says situation in Sheraro “beyond dire”; Funding needed to tackle humanitarian crisis in South Sudan; Intentional attacks on health facilities in Tigray;  Returns of stranded Ethiopians from Yemen resume; Police raid migrant and refugee camp in Melilla; EU considering rejecting visas to African countries not cooperating with returns; EU-Turkey migration deal should not be used as “blueprint”, says Amnesty International; EU’s Frontex Agency under investigation by Parliament and OLAF for possible violation of human rights and misconduct; UK criticised for spending on  “unnecessary” anti-migrants policies; UK plans to process asylum seekers abroad; Father on trial for his son’s death while crossing the Aegean; Women refugees marginalized in humanitarian system.

News Highlights: Violations in Tigray may lead to further sanctions, EU migration policies endanger lives,  Trafficking victims freed in Libya
12 Mar 2021

News Highlights: Violations in Tigray may lead to further sanctions, EU migration policies endanger lives,  Trafficking victims freed in Libya

by | posted in: Africa, COVID-19, EEPA news and activities, Eritrea, European Union, Horn of Africa region, Libya, Mediterranean Sea, Migration, Sanctions, Search and Rescue Operations | 0

In this week’s news highlights: War in Tigray regional seemingly pre-planned; Updates about human traffickers at Addis Ababa court; Displaced Tigrayans and Eritreans forcibly relocated; Christian prisoners released in Eritrea amidst Eritrean involvement in Tigray war; IDPs in Somalia relocated by IOM; UNHCR says it should have full access to Tigray as long as it alerts authorities; Migrants drowned off Djibouti coast on the way to Yemen; A fire in a migrant detention facility claims lives; 120 refugees held by human traffickers freed in Bani Walid; Migrants and refugees dead after two shipwrecks off the coast of Tunisia; EU and UK float further sanctions to Ethiopia over human rights violations; ActionAid investigates Italian and European migration responses; Migrant dead after stepping on a mine along the Bosnian border; UK anti-migrant rhetoric prevents undocumented migrants from getting vaccines; EU migration policies endanger lives; Surge of anti-migration rhetoric worries academics; and COVID-19 socio-economic pressures impact refugee women especially.