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. 

European Union imposes additional sanctions for human rights abuses and arms embargo violations in Libya

The European Union (EU) has implemented sanctions on three entities that have violated the UN arms embargo in Libya. Additionally, two individuals have also been sanctioned, one individual for human rights abuses against migrants and refugees in the notorious human trafficking hub Bani Walid, and the other for supplying military equipment material to the country. The sanctions are the result of follow-up by the EU on Libya, which it states is part of its commitment to peace and security in the country. This article outlines some of the activities and statements of the EU in relation to Libya in the last month.