News Highlights: Brussels Conference demands refugee protection, VP of Pan-African Parliament denounces slavery, UN migration deal causes trouble in EU

In this week’s News Highlights: Eritrean diaspora conference in Brussels demands protection of refugees; African leaders demand end to modern-day slavery; another testimony sheds doubt on prosecution in human trafficking trial; AU Commission Chairperson criticizes refusal to sign UN migration pact; HRW alleges human rights abuses at Greek-Turkish border; Eritrean president sidelines his own cabinet: article; state of emergency after protests in Sudanese city; Eritrea among top five journalist-jailing countries; Ethiopia starts withdrawing troops from Eritrean border: report; Eritrean Professor accuses Eritrea president of undermining Eritrean sovereignty; and Amnesty International criticizes MENA countries for violating migrants’ rights.

News Highlights: Eritreans sent back and mistreated in Libya, Resettlement issues Sudan, UNODC meeting on trafficking

In this week’s news highlights: Refugees publish shocking videos, then are violently forced to disembark in Libya; EU push to manage migration in Morocco could come at cost of human rights; reactions to lifting of Eritrea sanctions; US congressmen push for human rights reform in Eritrea; rising number of refugees to Ethiopia; UNHCR resettlement activities remain suspended in Sudan; Eritrean victims of human trafficking freed in Sudan; Ethiopian rebels return from Eritrea; Italian prosecutor orders seizure of Aquarius and NGO asset freezes; UNODC meeting in Vienna on human trafficking; Hungary grants asylum to fugitive ex-PM of Macedonia; and NGOs warn against rising humanitarian cost of immigration barriers.

Eritrean refugees violently forced to disembark in unsafe port in Libya

Aljazeera reports that Libyan security forces raided a ship, using rubber bullets and tear gas to force the refugees to disembark in the Libyan city Misrata. A commander of the Libyan coast guard said that some migrants were wounded during the operation, but were better “in good condition” after being brought to the hospital. Reportedly, two underaged Eritreans were among those seriously injured. The group had refused to leave the ship as they feared abuse and being sold to people smugglers.