SAR operations by NGOs: new report inverts the relation of causality and clarifies role of NGOs

During the last months the NGOs that conduct the Search and Rescue (SAR) operations in the Mediterranean have been at the centre of a political and media storm.The report by Forensic Oceanography assesses that a toxic rhetoric has been created where the only victims are the NGOs, and most importantly no concrete evidence has been found in this “criminalization campaign”.The report goes beyond, and addresses not only the accusation of collusion in smuggling per se, but rather it challenges the assumptions reinforcing this accusation.

EU and African Union: building a future-proof partnership

The European Union started this week with a Foreign Affairs Council centered on the relations between the EU and Africa. More specifically, the 28 EU foreign affairs ministers discussed the relations with the African Union and the future of this partnership, as well as the core issues on which this cooperation will focus.

News Highlights: concerns for minor refugees, Libya detention centres, Sudanese politics

In this week’s news highlights, the European Court of Auditors report shows dangerous conditions in Greek and Italian refugee camps especially for the 23000 children, while Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) again denounces the appalling conditions in Libyan detention centres. In the Horn of Africa, the UN Monitoring Group will deliver the midterm report on the 30th of April; Eritrea figures again at the bottom of the list in the Freedom of Press Index; furthermore, Sudanese politics are a house of cards, according to the Institute for Security Studies.