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.

Reactions to the European Commission’s proposal to upgrade Frontex

The European Commission’s plan to upgrade Frontex from a European agency with 1 500 employees into a complimentary European border and coast guard with 10 000 armed guards by 2020 has caused mixed reactions in the European Union. Under the proposal, €12.6 bn would be allocated to Frontex between 2019 and 2027, with the agency supporting national border patrols as well as coast guards and operating at the command of national authorities.

Number of migrants decreases, but death toll rises in the Mediterranean Sea

According to the International Organization on Migration, over 290.000 arrivals have been counted in 2016, as opposed to over 350.000 during the same period in 2015. However, despite the declining number of arrivals, deaths on the route to Europe have gone up. 3,168 people are dead or missing as of 31 August 2016, compared to around 2800 that were recorded in 2015 around this time.