News highlights: Arrests in Eritrea, Fortress Europe, RSF Act in Sudan

In this week’s news highlights, we would like to update you on the latest events concerning recent developments related to the Horn of Africa, outcomes of the debate on migration with the new Maltese presidency in the European parliament and EU’s migration strategy.

Ambassadors of EU member states question COI report on Eritrea: Is the critique legitimate?

On Friday, the 6 January 2017, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (F.A.Z.) released an article titled “Not everything is that bad in Eritrea, is it?” (orig.: Alles gar nicht so schlimm in Eritrea?) in which European diplomats raise doubts about the credibility of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry (COI) report 2016 concerning the human rights situation in Eritrea.

Ill-informed politics: what scientists understand and what politicians do

Politicians and the media alike speak about the “refugee crises”, “the high influx of migrants” as well as the need to stop this “inflow” and to find ways to combat migration by tackling the “root causes”. The current narrative in politics within the Union undeniably has a negative character and the message seems to be clear: migration is a threat. It is a problem that has to be solved.