News Highlights: Closure of migrant reception centre, Refugees released from Tajoura detention centre, Letter on the special rapporteur mandate

In this week’s news highlights: Matteo Salvini shuts one of the largest migrant reception centre in Sicily; Sea Watch 3 captain Carola Rackete sues Matteo Salvini for defamation; Madrid plans to tax Open Arms NGO with fines for rescuing migrants; Sea Eye NGO boat allows to disembark 65 migrants in Malta; EU Commissioner Dimitri Avramopoulos urges the EU to reform migrants’ arrival process; Sudanese citizens slowly access internet on mobile phone after one-month-shutdown; No progress detected one year after peace deal between Eritrea and Ethiopia; Organizations call for support of the mandate renewal of the Special Rapporteur on Eritrea; Eritrea: Former Sawa students of Eritrean military high school describe practices of Eritrean authorities; Refugees detained in Libyan detention centre share horrific experiences of the military strike; UN arrays emergency assistance for refugees in Tajoura; Migrants in Tajoura centre start hunger strike to be evacuated.

Refoulement: France returns an Eritrean woman to Eritrea

The prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales (South-West of France) deported an Eritrean national to her country of origin on 6 June 2019. According to RFI Africa, the French prefecture arrested the young woman on 8 May at the Spanish border with a “counterfeit” residence permit. The French newspaper Le Figaro explains that the young Eritrean woman filed an asylum application with the administrative court and appealed to the jurisdiction, unsuccessfully, after being placed in a detention centre in Toulouse by the French authorities. It is the first return from France to Eritrea and can be considered refoulement, due to the fact that the woman is likely to face persecution and human rights abuses in Eritrea.

News Highlights: EU election results, Refugee evacuations needed amid threats of violence in Libya, Italy accused of ignoring boat in distress

In this week’s news highlights: Haftar promises no peace government lays down arms; UNHCR calls for humanitarian corridors for evacuation; WHO reports on Libya deaths; HRW accuses Egypt of war crimes; Italian navy accused of ignoring boat in distress; Libya NGOs call upon EU to review its migration policy; Impact of EU elections on migration policy; Clashes on Greek island over overcrowded camps; 48-hour strike in Sudan; Eritreans demand freedom on independence day; EU increases IOM’s funding by 18 million for activity in the Horn.