News Highlights: EU plans for Syria, Libya, Yemen, New Italy-Libya deal, US sanctions Eritrea
6 Apr 2017

News Highlights: EU plans for Syria, Libya, Yemen, New Italy-Libya deal, US sanctions Eritrea

by | posted in: Eritrea, European Union, Horn of Africa region, Libya, Mediterranean Sea, Sudan, Syria, Uncategorized, United Nations, Weekly news highlights, Yemen | 0

This week’s news highlights include the outcomes of the EU Foreign Affairs Council held in Luxembourg this Monday, an investigation showing little evidence of the allegations of NGO connections with human smugglers in the Mediterranean Sea and an update of the arrivals in EU. A new deal between Italy and Libya on the Libyan Southern border was reached. Eritrea was put under new sanctions by the United States while the flow of people fleeing the country towards South Sudan is increasing.

UNHCR, IOM and MSF urge the EU not to see Libya as safe
3 Feb 2017

UNHCR, IOM and MSF urge the EU not to see Libya as safe

by | posted in: European Union, Libya, Mediterranean Sea, Migration, Refugees in the EU, United Nations | 0

Friday 3 February, European leaders meet at the informal summit in Valletta, Malta, to discuss migration. The meeting is focused specifically on halting migration along the Central Mediterranean Route, with Libya as its focal point. In a joint statement, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) urging the EU to not consider Libya a safe third country. The humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned the EU about an inhumane approach to migration.

Ambassadors of EU member states question COI report on Eritrea: Is the critique legitimate?
12 Jan 2017

Ambassadors of EU member states question COI report on Eritrea: Is the critique legitimate?

by | posted in: Eritrea, European Politics, United Nations | 0

On Friday, the 6 January 2017, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (F.A.Z.) released an article titled “Not everything is that bad in Eritrea, is it?” (orig.: Alles gar nicht so schlimm in Eritrea?) in which European diplomats raise doubts about the credibility of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry (COI) report 2016 concerning the human rights situation in Eritrea.