Reactions to the European Commission’s proposal to upgrade Frontex

The European Commission’s plan to upgrade Frontex from a European agency with 1 500 employees into a complimentary European border and coast guard with 10 000 armed guards by 2020 has caused mixed reactions in the European Union. Under the proposal, €12.6 bn would be allocated to Frontex between 2019 and 2027, with the agency supporting national border patrols as well as coast guards and operating at the command of national authorities.

News Highlights: Joint Sudan-Ethiopia border force, Italy refuses to let 177 migrants disembark, 1 in 31 die on Mediterranean Sea

In this week’s news highlights: highlights of the past month; Sudan and Ethiopia agree on joint border force; Eritrean President plans new visit to Ethiopia; Eritrea-Ethiopia peace faces tough negotiation points; Amnesty International Op-Ed states that Eritrean demobilization plan is urgently needed; UN Special Envoy comments on South Sudan peace effort; Italy refuses to let migrants disembark and threatens to return them to Libya; UNHCR and Amnesty sound alarm over deaths at sea; and ARCI report calls attention to dangers of border externalization.

News highlights: Refugees fear UNHCR investigation, EU elaborates on ‘disembarkation centres’, 18-month national service limit may arrive

In this week’s news highlights: news highlights on summer break; Indefinite national service for new Eritrean recruits may be limited, but diaspora remains cautious; Refugees fear lack of protection in UNHCR investigation in Sudan; Eritrean refugees in Sudan are losing faith in UNHCR; Report on Ethiopian man wrongfully deported from UK; New South Sudan peace deal met with scepticism; Somalia to prosecute in case of 10-year-old dying from FGM; European Commission elaborates on ‘controlled centres’ and ‘disembarkation centres’; European Commission defends development-migration fund link; MSF warns EU to stop return of migrants to Libya.