As EU leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss migration, experts denounced current EU migration policy as ineffective in tackling human trafficking and undermining migrant and refugee rights. A public hearing took place in the European Parliament today on the impact of EU external action in the Horn of Africa and addressing the criminalisation of refugees and impunity of human trafficking.
In this week’s news highlights: The Eritrean-Ethiopian relations today; Eritrean traffickers traffic their own people; Report on Eritrea’s mining sector; Refugees are questioned after UNHCR corruption was exposed; South Sudan government accuses rebels of blocking aid; Amnesty International calls for disbanding Ethiopian police unit; EU’s follow up on UN Libya sanctions; EU Funding for migration and border management to be tripled; Documentary shows consequences of EU border management; UN says at least 2.500.000 migrants smuggled in 2016; UN Chief ashamed of EU’s refugee policy; Joint Statement on Combating Human Trafficking; MEP Verhofstadt threatens the EU; and Italian vessel with 937 migrants docks in Sicily.
The six men – four Libyans and two Eritreans – exploited Sub-Saharan Africans seeking to cross the Mediterranean across Libya. The sanctions, which went into immediate effect on Thursday 7 June, will freeze their bank accounts and ban them from international travel. These imposed sanctions follow the publication of the book “Human Trafficking and Trauma in the Digital Era. The Ongoing Tragedy of the Trade in Refugees from Eritrea.” (eds. Mirjam van Reisen & Munyaradzi Mawere, Langaa. 2017) which presented the conclusion that Eritrean refugees are trafficked by networks that are led by fellow Eritreans.