Report of the Roundtable – Inhumane treatment and trafficking of people in Libya: EU and EU Member States’ Responsibility

On 1 April 2019, a Roundtable entitled “Inhumane treatment and trafficking of people in Libya – The EU’s and EU Member states’ responsibility” was held from 18:30 – 20:00 in the European Parliament. The event was hosted by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) Marie-Christine Vergiat (GUE/NGL Group) and Ana Gomes (S&D Group) together with the organisation Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA). Speakers in this event were,among others, representatives of Médecins Sans Frontières, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, expert on human trafficking, legal experts, a journalist and human rights activists.

News Highlights: Press conference: Eritrea Foundation summons EU, EU pushback to Libya, operation Sophia ships suspended

In this week’s news highlights: Foundation prepares legal action against EU over use of forced labour in Eritrea; European Parliament hosts Roundtable on Libya; Pro-Asyl denounces EU push back of migrants and refugees; EU suspends ship operations of operation Sophia; French Constitutional Council authorises bone tests to determine migrants age; 200 refugees forced to leave their accommodation in Greece; WRC reports on the sexual violence practicises against refugees in Libya; 30 migrants lost in the Mediterranean; Amnesty International denounces the human rights situation in Libya at UNHRC; Closure of detention centre Al Hamdi in Tunisia; Eritreans continue to flee their country, says Ethiopia; and the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan reports a ‘endemic’ sexual violences situation in the country.

News Highlights: Deaths in Libyan detention centres, “peace did not change Eritrea”, NGOs criticise returns to Libya

In this week’s news highlights: conditions deteriorate in the Zintan detention centre in Libya; MSF reports the degrading conditions for refugees in Tripoli centre; Refugees in Tunisian UNHCR shelter driven to suicide attempts; Political and economical instabilly and protest continue in Sudan; UN Human Rights Council discusses lack of progress on human rights in Eritrea; EU’s continued engagement in Eritrea criticised; Ethnic violence and humanitarian crisis threaten to escalate in Southern Ethiopia; Head of mission Libya of MSF criticises Europe’s and France’s migration policy; NGO Alarmphone alarmed by European policy to deter refugees and migrants; and asylum applications in the EU in 2018 decline to pre-2014 levels.