News Highlights: UNHCR concern over ‘scattered’ refugees in Tigray, 1000 refugees returned to Libya, EU visa restrictions proposed over returns

In this week’s news highlights: UNHCR confirms destruction of refugee camps in Ethiopia; Reports of forced displacement of Tigrayans in western Tigray region by Amhara troops; Report of meeting between Eritrean and Ethiopian senior officials and foreign experts in Tigray; Kenya aims to close two refugee camps housing Somali refugees; Joint EU-IOM plan for returning migrants from Libya to Horn of Africa and other countries; IOM appeals for $99 million for migrants stranded in Yemen; Around 1000 migrants intercepted and forced to return to Libya; Spanish NGO rescues more than 200 migrants and refugees at sea; IOM report on high number of deaths at sea; EU to consider visa restrictions for 13 African and Middle East countries; EU Commissioner calls on Greece to investigate allegations of illegal pushbacks; Drones used for surveillance on migrants and refugees at EU external borders; Angela Merkel approves the EU-Turkey deal on migration; and IOM analysis on benefits of migration on communities.

News Highlights: Ethiopia states Eritrea will withdraw troops, Ethiopia acknowledges atrocities committed in Tigray, Eritrea to be sanctioned by EU  

In this week’s news highlights: Ethiopia states Eritrean troops will withdraw; Ethiopian Prime Minister confirms the presence of Eritrean troops in Tigray; Health facilities in Tigray incapable of providing for IDPs; Ethiopian Head of State meets with US representative, Senator Coons, to discuss Tigray; Somali leaders should adopt electoral model, say international partners; New Libyan government introduced to UNSC, while numbers of refugees in detention continue to grow; 60 people feared dead, others rescued off the coast of Libya; EU to sanction four entities and eleven countries, including Eritrea; EU ministers discuss EU-Turkey relations; ‘MED 5’ states ask fellow EU members for more cooperation on migration; Prosecutors recommend  Italian Prime Minister to be tried on charges of migrant kidnapping; French Coast Guard intercepts two vessels; UN launches knowledge-sharing platform on migration.

News Highlights: Violations in Tigray may lead to further sanctions, EU migration policies endanger lives,  Trafficking victims freed in Libya

In this week’s news highlights: War in Tigray regional seemingly pre-planned; Updates about human traffickers at Addis Ababa court; Displaced Tigrayans and Eritreans forcibly relocated; Christian prisoners released in Eritrea amidst Eritrean involvement in Tigray war; IDPs in Somalia relocated by IOM; UNHCR says it should have full access to Tigray as long as it alerts authorities; Migrants drowned off Djibouti coast on the way to Yemen; A fire in a migrant detention facility claims lives; 120 refugees held by human traffickers freed in Bani Walid; Migrants and refugees dead after two shipwrecks off the coast of Tunisia; EU and UK float further sanctions to Ethiopia over human rights violations; ActionAid investigates Italian and European migration responses; Migrant dead after stepping on a mine along the Bosnian border; UK anti-migrant rhetoric prevents undocumented migrants from getting vaccines; EU migration policies endanger lives; Surge of anti-migration rhetoric worries academics; and COVID-19 socio-economic pressures impact refugee women especially.