News Highlights: urgency resolution Eritrea, EU ‘reducing migration’, violence in South Sudan

In this week’s news highlights, the European Parliament is about to vote on an urgency resolution about Eritrea, mainly the cases of Patriarch Abune Antonios and journalist Dawit Isaak; the European Commission released new proposals for ‘reducing migration pressures’ in the Central Mediterranean Route; U.S. carried out a drone strike in Somalia aimed at Al-Shabaab; the African Union will send a delegation to Eritrea to discuss the dispute with Djibouti; Amnesty International warns of brutal atrocities in South Sudan; and UNHCR released a new report on mixed migration in Libya.

News Highlights: Eritrea-Djibouti tensions, global displacement, counter-terrorism in Sahel

In this week’s news highlights, the UN Refugee Agency published its annual report on global displacement, showing a continuing upward trend in the numbers of displacement; the tensions over migration between European Union member states continue; counter-terrorism force in Sahel region approved by UN Security Council; tensions between Djibouti and Eritrea rise, and fears grow that tensions between Arab allies may cause conflict in the Horn of Africa; and International organisations have not learned their lessons from previous engagements with the Eritrean regime.

Afar fishermen attacked by UAE helicopter in Eritrea’s Dankalia region

On Sunday 7 May 2017, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) helicopter reportedly attacked an Afar fishing boat, killing one person instantly while injuring nine others. According to the Eritrean Afar State in Exile (EASE), a second person succumbed to his injuries last weekend, bringing the total death count to two. The eight remaining victims are reportedly being treated at Duhtum Hospital in Assab.