Five EU member states agree on new temporary relocation scheme to share responsibility of migrants and refugees rescued at Sea

On September 23, the interior ministers of Germany, France, Italy, Finland and Malta agreed on a temporary and voluntary scheme to divide migrants that arrive or are saved from the Mediterranean Sea among the five countries, outside of an EU framework. The proposal aims at relieving Italy and Malta from the high number of migrants and refugees that are arriving at their ports and moves away from the actions of the previous Italian government led by Matteo Salvini, who forbade several rescue boats to dock in Italy. The five countries hope that the scheme may set up an EU-wide relocation scheme that can increase the efficiency of resettling those rescued at sea.

News Highlights: Letter criticises EU migration policy ahead of EU Summit, Italy’s anti-rescue decree adopted, Eritrea targets Catholic health facilities

In this week’s news highlights: Letter – EU migration policy contributes to human rights abuses; Italy adopts anti-rescue decree; Refugee accused of being trafficker faces 14 years in jail; Eritrean refugees from Switzerland on streets of Belgium; Sudan’s TMC seen as responsible for abuses – protests continue; Eritrea and Sudan agreement to reopen shared border; Eritrean Catholic health facilities shut down; Eritrean campaign urges transition; EU accused of fostering slave-like conditions through its project in Eritrea; UN Secretary-General calls enforcement of Libyan arms embargo; and Libyan Government of National Accord proposes steps towards peace.

News Highlights: Amnesty: US should address human rights in Eritrea, Dublin Regulation challenged, Italian law to expel people from centres

In this week’s news highlights: A call to US Secretary of State to address human rights in Eritrea; UN condemns mass rapes in South Sudan; Proposals for Ethiopia’s new law on hate speech; US embassy reopens in Somalia; IFAD President urges to invest in the youth in Africa; Presidents of Egypt and Sudan to cooperate on security; Dead end in Libya leads refugees to Morocco; New Italian law expels migrants from reception centres; Tribunal ruling states that UK cannot send vulnerable migrants to Italy without assurance; Commissioner Avramopoulos suggests asylum procedure will voluntarily fall to EU Member States; and the need to put emphasis on agriculture in the Post-Cotonou agreement.