COVID-19 Archives - Page 16 of 23

5 Jun 2020

News highlights: Border skirmish between Ethiopia and Sudan, 30 migrants and refugees murdered in Libya, NGO health workers in Somalia abducted and executed

by Shelly De Groote | posted in: COVID-19, ECRE, Eritrea, Libya, Malta, Netherlands, Somalia | 0

In this week’s news highlights: Somalian NGO health workers abducted and murdered; Border skirmish on Ethiopia-Sudan border; Amnesty International urges Ethiopia to prosecute human rights violations of security forces; TPLF calls for elections; Eritrean organisations write to Abiy Ahmed over refugee policy; Reports of deliberate starvation in Eritrea; Dire situation in Eritrea explained 2 years after the peace agreement; Malta and Libya to set up ‘centres’ countering migration; Dutch foreign affairs minister answers parliamentary questions on Eritrea; European Parliament asks the EU to stop forced labour; Local Greeks protest expansion of migrant camp; Asylum seekers in Greece protest eviction; UNHCR concerned over asylum seekers in Greece; ECRE overview of COVID-19 response in Europe; 30 migrants and refugees murdered in Libya by trafficker’s family; UK’s financial support to Libya under judicial review; UNICEF helps displaced families near Tripoli; And Africa needs solidarity amid economic and health consequences of COVID-19

2 Jun 2020

EU’s unsustainable and deadly Libyan migration policy

Between May 24 and May 27 around 400 migrants and refugees have been picked up by the Libyan coastguard and returned to Libya. Two of them drowned during the operation. An additional 90 migrants and refugees have been stopped by a commercial ship and have been returned to Libya as well. The pushback operations are funded and supported by the European Union (EU) and individual member states like Malta and Italy. While Libya has been an unsafe place from the start of the EU’s so called externalized border policy, COVID-19 brings even more risks as detention camps in Libya are high-risk areas for the spread of the virus and rescue operations on the Mediterranean Sea have been minimized. An additional element of danger is the intense civil war in Libya, which has turned into a geopolitical conflict and a proxy war between Russia and The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the one hand and Turkey on the other. The war takes its toll on the civilian population; on June 1 another 5 civilians were killed and 11 wounded in a rocket attack near Tripoli.

29 May 2020

News highlights: Hundreds intercepted by Libyan coastguard, Greece implicated in illegal pushback of refugees, Eritrea celebrates independence amid criticism

This week’s news highlights: Eritrean prisoners defenseless against COVID-19; Eritrea celebrates 29 years of independence amid criticism; Urban refugees face increased struggle for basic needs in East Africa; Ethiopian migrants not aware of risks moving to Saudi Arabia, says IOM; Renewed intercommunal violence South Sudan; Eritrean refugee dies in migrant detention centre in Libya; Hundreds of people intercepted by Libyan coastguard in matter of days; Mercenaries from all over the world keep pouring in Libya despite UN embargo; The story of a boat that left Libya for Europe but disappeared; Greece accused of illegal pushbacks; Malta rescues 140 migrants and refugees in Mediterranean Sea but holds them offshore; France planning to relocate 750 asylum seekers from Greece; Story of how Eritrean child refugee survived shipwreck; EPP launches migration group; Webinar on Sea Rescue; And Oxfam withdraws from 18 countries.