Dubai, United Arab Emirates | AFP | At least 56 people have drowned over the past 24 hours, and dozens remain missing, after human traffickers forced 300 African migrants off two Yemen-bound boats and into the sea. Survivors — all Ethiopian and Somali migrants — managed to make their way to …
Read More »Coldplay release song to support migrants
New York, United States | AFP | English rockers Coldplay have released a new song written with ambient legend Brian Eno, with proceeds to support migrants who make the dangerous journey to Europe across the Mediterranean. “Aliens,” released late Thursday alongside an animated video, is the latest single from Coldplay’s upcoming …
Read More »Boy travels from Morocco to Spain under bus
Madrid, Spain | AFP | A boy travelled at least 230 kilometres from Morocco to Spain hanging underneath a bus, officials said Monday, in another example of desperate measures taken by migrants to get to Europe. Emergency services in the southern Spanish city of Seville tweeted a video of the …
Read More »UPDATE: Record 65.6 million people displaced worldwide
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Devastating conflicts, violence and persecution in Syria, South Sudan and elsewhere left a record 65.6 million people uprooted from their homes by the end of 2016, the UN said Monday. That number marks a jump of just 300,000 from the end of 2015, but is …
Read More »LIBYA-BOUND: 44 migrants, including babies, die of ‘thirst’ in Niger desert
Niamey, Niger | AFP | At least 44 Libya-bound migrants, including women and babies, died of thirst after their vehicle broke down in the scorching Sahara desert of northern Niger, local officials said Thursday. “The number of migrants who died in the desert is 44 for now,” said Rhissa Feltou, …
Read More »OXFAM: Growing African repression causing migrant exodus
Durban, South Africa | AFP | African countries are becoming increasingly repressive and causing more people to leave their homes, British charity Oxfam said this week, as Germany warned of the destabilising effect migration is having on the continent. Political freedom and the problem of Africa’s brain-drain were among the …
Read More »Tunisia, Germany strike new immigration deal
Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a new agreement with Tunisia on tackling illegal migration during a visit Friday, following tensions over the case of the Tunisian suspect in the Berlin market attack. Merkel, on a two-day trip to North Africa that also included a …
Read More »South African police fire rubber bullets at anti-immigrant march
Pretoria, South Africa | AFP | South African police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to break up clashes between local protesters and immigrants in Pretoria on Friday at a march against foreigners. Shops and homes owned by migrants have been looted and torched over the last two …
Read More »Syrian refugee, hounded over Merkel selfie, sues Facebook
Wuerzburg, Germany | AFP | A Syrian refugee whose selfie with German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been repeatedly manipulated to link him to violent jihad, took Facebook to court on Monday for spreading defamatory fake news. Anas Modamani, 19, says the US social media giant has failed to take down …
Read More »Keep out! Ten of world’s top walls from Berlin to West Bank
Paris, France | AFP | When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 there were 16 major walls protecting borders around the world. In 2016 that number had grown to 66, according to researcher Elisabeth Vallet of the University of Quebec. As US President Donald Trump took the first step …
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