News Highlights: UN staff expelled from Ethiopia, Alleged trafficker ‘Bija’ to head coast guard, Another death at Polish border
1 Oct 2021

News Highlights: UN staff expelled from Ethiopia, Alleged trafficker ‘Bija’ to head coast guard, Another death at Polish border

by | posted in: Africa, Algeria, Asylum Seekers, Belarus, Coast guards, COVID-19, Detention, Doctors without Borders, Eritrea, Ethiopia, European Union, France, Germany, Greece, Horn of Africa region, Human Rights abuses, IOM, Italy, Kenya, Libya, Malnutrition, Médecins Sans Frontières, Mediterranean Sea, Migration, NGOs, Poland, Refugee Camps, Trauma, Tunisia, Unaccompanied Minors, UNOCHA | 0

In this week news highlights: Ethiopia declares seven UN staff persona non grata, including head of UNOCHA; Aid trucks stuck in Tigray; Malnutrition rates amongst pregnant and lactating women ‘unprecedented’, says UNOCHA; US reviewing whether genocide was committed in Tigray; Report on disinformation around Tigray war; EU answers questions on its policy towards Tigray; WFP cuts food assistance to thousands of refugees in Kenya; Bija – sanctioned over trafficking allegations – to head western Libyan coast guard; Libya accused of arbitrary detention of migrants; Over 800 migrants and refugees land in Italy; France will cut visas for Mashreq countries; Fifth migrant found dead at Poland-Belarusian border; Poland accused of illegal pushback; and New IOM toolbox for migrant centres management.

News Highlights: Refugees returned to Libya are vanishing, Starvation deaths reported in Tigray, Deaths at Polish borders
24 Sep 2021

News Highlights: Refugees returned to Libya are vanishing, Starvation deaths reported in Tigray, Deaths at Polish borders

by | posted in: Africa, Asylum Seekers, Eritrea, Ethiopia, European Union, Greece, Horn of Africa region, Human Rights abuses, Human Trafficking, Libya, Malnutrition, Malta, Médecins Sans Frontières, Mediterranean Sea, Migration, NGOs, Protest, Refugee Camps, Refugees in the EU, Sexual abuse, South Sudan, Starvation, Sudan, Torture, Trafficking, Trauma, United Nations | 0

In this week’s news highlights: Starvation reported in 20 Tigrayan districts; OCHA says it suspended food delivery due to shortages; Fighting in Amhara and Afar complicates humanitarian assistance; GCR2P warns about rising hate speech in Ethiopia; Reports of Eritrean troops relocating to Amhara; Turkish and Iranian weapons appearing in conflict; Twenty years since the crackdown on independent press and opposition in Eritrea; First Djibouti National Strategy for Migration launched; Heavy rains displace thousands in Sudan and South Sudan; Thousands of Europe-bound migrants and refugees disappearing in Libya; Poland increases border control after four found dead at Belarus border; Almost 190 people rescued in the Mediterranean; Fire breaks out in Greek refugee camp few days before transfer to “prison-like” Samos camp; Rights agencies call for independent monitoring at Greece borders; NGOs accuse Spain of asylum seekers pushback to Morocco; COVID-19 underfunding alarmingly affects refugees in poorest host countries.

“A powerful tool of mass surveillance”: NGOs warn that proposed Eurodac reforms will fundamentally undermine the rights of migrants and refugees
22 Sep 2021

“A powerful tool of mass surveillance”: NGOs warn that proposed Eurodac reforms will fundamentally undermine the rights of migrants and refugees

by | posted in: Asylum Seekers, Belgium, Eurodac, European Commission, European Parliament, European Union, Human Rights abuses, Migration, NGOs | 0

33 NGOs, including EEPA, addressed an open letter to the Members of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) of the European Parliament, expressing concern regarding the amended proposal to revise the Eurodac Regulation. Eurodac is a database that records fingerprints of asylum seekers entering the European Union (EU). The amendment, formulated by the European Commission and published in September 2020, extends the database to include more biometric data, including of minors. The NGOs warn about the risk of erosion of the fundamental rights of migrants and asylum seekers that could result from this extension.