News Highlights: Race against time in Libya, Ethiopia’s Sidama people vote for autonomy, Libya returns are refoulement, says EU Commissioner

In this week’s news highlights: The situation in Libya is “a race against time”; Children in Libya are vulnerable and lack protection; IOM wants a different approach in Libya; Overturned boat causes deaths in the Mediterranean Sea; Commissioner for Human Rights addresses human rights violations in the Mediterranean Sea; MSF urges the EU to act on conditions in refugee camps; Greece meets criticism after plans of closing camps; UNDP argues for more evidence-based migration policies; Sidama people in Ethiopia vote in favour of self-governing rights; Prime Minister of Sudan visits Eritrea; US retrieves Ambassador in South Sudan in light of the country failing to form government; and Video allegedly shows military arresting people in Eritrea.

News highlights: Leaked EU document admits severity of conditions in Libya, Security forces in Sudan accused of crimes against humanity, Greece to close largest refugee camps

In this week’s news highlights: Security forces in Sudan accused of committing crimes against humanity in HRW report; Lifting the UN sanctions did not change economic situation in Eritrea; Referendum in Ethiopia on self-governing of ethnic minority group stirs unrest; UNHCR needs more funding to help refugees in Ethiopia; Leaked EU document admits worsening conditions and inability to monitor returns to Libya despite renewal of Libya deal; Greece closes largest refugee camps; Greece and Croatia accused of shooting at migrants and refugees at the border; Greece criminalizes rescue actions; Criticism on European border control; NGO rescue actions not a ‘pull factor’ for migrants and refugees to cross the Mediterranean Sea, says report; International community must protect people in Libya; Detainees in Libyan detention centres condemn EU policy; and Documentary on rescue action at the Mediterranean Sea.

‘The Walls of Europe’

On Saturday November 9, Europe celebrated the 30-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall that marked the end of a separated Europe from two different, controlling ideologies. However, 30 years later Europe is building walls again, only this time to keep refugees and migrants from entering Europe. A report recently published by the Dutch organisation Stop Wapenhandel argues that “Europe is divided not so much by ideology as by perceived fear of refugees and migrants, some of the world’s most vulnerable people”. The report finds that Europe is spending a lot of money and technology on protecting its borders in a time where new migration policies permeate interior policies in Europe.