Kampala, Uganda | AGENCIES | Rwanda and Uganda have rejected claims of signing a controversial deal to take in African migrants from Israel. Recently, Israel approved a plan to force asylum seekers to choose between indefinite detention in an Israeli prison, or deportation to a third country in Africa. The migrants …
Read More »Do not fear the other, pope says on World Migrant Day
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis called Sunday for hospitality towards migrants, calling it a “sin” to give in to fear of the other as he marked the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. “It is not easy… to put oneself in the shoes of people so …
Read More »To live or die in Israel
African migrants in face a tough choice as mass deportation looms Kampala, Uganda | AGENCIES | In the next three months, Israel intends to force thousands of African asylum seekers out of the country. Their choice: An airline ticket and temporary financial assistance, or prison. Tania Krämer reports from Tel Aviv. …
Read More »Morocco repatriates its last migrants from Libya
Rabat, Morocco | AFP | Morocco on Saturday said it has started the third and final operation to repatriate its nationals stranded in Libya, a stepping stone to illegal migration to Europe. The ministry of expatriates and migration said the operation was launched on Friday and aimed at bringing home …
Read More »48 Malians drown in single day trying to reach Europe: government
Bamako, Mali | AFP | Flags flew at half-mast in Mali on Thursday as the government announced 48 of its citizens drowned in the Mediterranean on a single day over the weekend, all trying to reach Europe. The west African nation accounted for the fifth largest contingent of arrivals to …
Read More »Spain transfers migrants from jail after suicide
Madrid, Spain | AFP | Spanish authorities said Wednesday they had transferred migrants being controversially accommodated at a jail just two weeks after an Algerian man was found hanging in his cell in an apparent suicide contested by his brother. The lawyer for the victim’s family said some of the migrants …
Read More »Scores of migrants missing in Mediterranean: Libyan Navy
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Between 90 and 100 migrants were missing after their makeshift boat sank in the Mediterranean off the coast of Libya, the country’s navy said late Tuesday. The inflatable boat was carrying more than 100 people when it went down, according to navy spokesman Ayoub Kacem, who …
Read More »Italy to send troops to Niger to stem migrant flow: PM
Rome, Italy | AFP | Italy will be sending 470 soldiers to Niger to help the west African nation stem the flow of Europe-bound migrants, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday. Agadez, the main city in central Niger, has become a revolving door for economic migrants seeking to reach Europe via …
Read More »‘10,000 refugees’ to be relocated from Libya to EU in 2018
Rome, Italy | AFP | Up to 10,000 people stranded in refugee camps and detention centres in Libya could be relocated to Europe in 2018, the Italian government said on Sunday. The initiative would be part of an attempt by EU countries to address the deteriorating conditions in Libya, where …
Read More »Refugees directly flown from Libya to Italy in ‘historic’ first
Rome, Italy | AFP | A group of 162 “vulnerable” refugees were flown directly from Libya to Italy on Friday for the first time, a day hailed as “historic” by Interior Minister Marco Minniti. “For the first time a humanitarian corridor has been opened from Libya to Europe. It’s a start,” …
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