News Highlights: UN: Up to 20.000 missing from Tigray refugee camps, Many refugees returned to Libya, Kent barracks housing scrutinised in UK

In this week’s news highlights: UN states 20.000 refugees in Tigray are missing and needs are high, after UN visit to Tigray refugee camp; People face starvation and epidemics in Tigray; South Sudanese refugees start returning, but conditions not yet safe; Libyan coast guards return more than 493 migrants and refugees to detention centres; Libyan Interim Prime Minister to be chosen; UK Home Affairs accused of giving in to public pressure in case of inadequate housing in Kent; Frontex stops activities in Hungary; MEPs blocked at Croatian borders with Bosnia; UNHCR considers the EU borders as dangerous for migrants and refugees; IOM estimates the need of USD 3$ billions for refugees support in 2021.

For frequent updates about the situation in the Horn, please see the EEPA Horn situation reports.

News Highlights: Border tensions between Ethiopia and Sudan rise, Refugees in dire conditions after snowstorm, Report on Central Mediterrenean Route

In this week’s news highlights: Tensions rise amid border dispute between Ethiopia and Sudan; Ethiopian federal army reports it apprehended TPLF leaders; GERD dam talks come to a halt again; Concerns continue over humanitarian situation in Tigray; New rescue missions in the Mediterranean as other boats remain confined; Over 11,000 migrants and refugees rescued at sea and returned to Libya in 2020; Tunisia’s democracy challenged by “nostalgia of the past”; Sweden will not pursue case against Eritrea over Dawit Isaak; Blizzard in Bosnia and Herzegovina leaves migrants and refugees in dire conditions; Commissioner for Human Rights publishes observations on maltreatment of migrants and refugees in Croatia; Over 150 migrants attempted to cross the English Channel; 7,000 asylum applications in the Netherlands remain to be processed despite 2020 deadline; A fight in an overcrowded Cyprus camp led to more than 24 injures among migrants and refugees; Human Rights Watch’s annual human rights report published; New Humanitarian reports on seven years of shipwrecks on the Central Mediterranean Route.
For frequent updates about the situation in the Horn, please see the EEPA Horn situation reports.

European Parliament adopts urgency resolution on Ethiopia, calls for peace and dialogue

On Thursday 26 November, members of the European Parliament held a plenary debate on the current situation in Ethiopia and the conflict in the Horn of Africa region. The speakers called for de-escalation and a resumption of the dialogue for peace between the Ethiopian federal government and representatives of the Tigray region. The discussion followed a draft Joint Motion for a Resolution on 25 November 2020, supported by several parliamentarians from different political parties. The motion was adopted by the European Parliament. European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic announced plans to visit Sudan to speak to refugees.