A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Myanmar to Peru
Continue reading...Category Archives: Migration
‘Parents risk children’s lives – the alternative is worse’: on board a migrant rescue ship
More than 700 people have died in the Mediterranean this year. But Sea-Eye, a German charity, is fighting hard to save lives
Amani clutches her son, Mohammed, as she is pulled from an unstable wooden boat in the Mediterranean. “Please help. My baby is soaked in water and freezing,” says the 23-year-old Syrian refugee.
It’s shortly before 2am, last Monday and about 80 miles (130km) from the Libyan coast a group of maritime emergency responders from the Sea-Eye 4 are on patrol.
Continue reading...More than 140 refugees in Australian detention set to be resettled in Canada under sponsorship scheme
Sixty-six people who’ve spent up to seven years in detention on PNG and Nauru and 78 onshore, plus their family members, passed initial approval
Almost 150 refugees held within Australia’s offshore processing system in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, or in onshore detention, are in the last stages of approval for resettlement in Canada.
The non-profit migrant and refugee settlement service Mosaic, based in Vancouver, said it had successfully submitted applications on behalf of 66 people in PNG and Nauru, a further 78 in onshore detention, and 98 family members in third countries.
Continue reading...Spanish aid volunteer abused online for hugging Senegalese migrant
Luna Reyes targeted by far-right supporters after footage of gesture goes viral
The image captured the raw humanity of the moment: a Red Cross volunteer tenderly consoling a Senegalese man moments after he stepped foot in Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta.
Hours after the footage went viral, however, Luna Reyes set her social media accounts to private after she was targeted by a torrent of abuse from supporters of Spain’s far-right Vox party and others incensed by the unprecedented arrival of 8,000 migrants in Ceuta.
Continue reading...Ceuta influx highlights fragility of EU’s approach to migration
Arrival of thousands of migrants in Spanish enclave is just latest example of issue that affects whole of ‘Fortress Europe’
On the outskirts of the Spanish city of Ceuta, a warehouse has been hastily transformed into a makeshift shelter for young people, their actions watched over by hired security. Days after joining an unprecedented influx of 8,000 migrants into Spain, the fate of these minors who arrived alone has become a thorny issue, stretching far beyond the north African enclave.
“It’s important to understand that we’re seeing children that are much younger than the usual – children of seven, eight, nine years old,” Spain’s minister for social rights, Ione Belarra told broadcaster RTVE on Wednesday. “Many of them didn’t understand the consequences of crossing the border and we’re finding that many of them want to return home.”
Continue reading...Migrant boy swims to beach in Spain’s Ceuta with plastic bottles to stay afloat – video
A boy using plastic bottles tied to himself and his clothes to keep afloat has arrived at Spain's north African territory of Ceuta after swimming across the Spain-Morocco border. The child was spotted in the water by soldiers on El Tarajal beach before he attempted to climb the wall into the city. The migration attempt comes as an estimated 8,000 people - including 2,000 minors - made it to the Spanish territory in recent days before the majority were sent back. Spain has accused Morocco of disrespect for the European Union and willingness to risk the lives of children and babies in a diplomatic row between the countries
Continue reading...Climate disasters ‘caused more internal displacement than war’ in 2020
Refugee organisation says 30m new displacements last year were due to floods, storms or wildfires
Intense storms and flooding triggered three times more displacements than violent conflicts did last year, as the number of people internally displaced worldwide hit the highest level on record.
There were at least 55 million internally displaced people (IDPs) by the end of last year, according to figures published by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC).
Continue reading...Spain accuses Morocco of ‘show of disrespect’ for EU in migrant row
Madrid says lives of children are being deliberately put at risk in diplomatic dispute
The humanitarian crisis unleashed by the unprecedented influx of 8,000 migrants into Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta has laid bare Morocco’s disrespect for the European Union and willingness to risk the lives of children and babies in the diplomatic row, Spanish authorities have said.
After thousands of people, including an estimated 2,000 minors, crossed into Spain in 36 hours earlier this week, arrivals into Ceuta had all but halted on Wednesday as Morocco tightened control of the border. The diplomatic tensions between Madrid and Rabat, however, continued unabated.
Continue reading...‘We went to the dark side’: horror film shows reality of Mexico’s migrant trail
Mystical realism conveys real-life stories of brutal cartel violence in Fernanda Valadez’s chilling directorial debut
Two teenage boys wave goodbye to their mothers across a field in rural Mexico, leaving home in search of the American dream. The opening moments of the Mexican film-maker Fernanda Valadez’s Identifying Features, available to stream from this week, reflects scenes played out every day across Mexico and Central America, as men, women and children journey north in search of safety and job opportunities.
Valadez, 39, starts her directorial debut film in her home state of Guanajuato – a picturesque, once tranquil state in the centre of the country. In recent years Guanajuato has fallen victim to the evolving geography and relentless nature of Mexico’s humanitarian crisis; it is now one of the most dangerous places in the country for those who live there and for people travelling through on the migrant trail.
Continue reading...Spanish PM vows to ‘restore order’ after 8,000 migrants reach Ceuta
Record arrivals deepen diplomatic standoff with Morocco, which recalls ambassador for consultation
Spain’s prime minister arrived in the north African enclave of Ceuta vowing to “restore order” after an unprecedented 8,000 migrants crossed into the territory over 36 hours, deepening the tense diplomatic standoff between Madrid and Rabat.
After a day of veiled recriminations, Morocco on Tuesday recalled its ambassador from Spain for consultation. Relations with Spain need a moment of “contemplation”, a diplomatic source told Reuters.
Continue reading...More than 3,000 migrants reach Spain’s north African enclave Ceuta in a day
Unprecedented influx comes amid tensions with Morocco over Western Sahara independence leader hospitalisation in Spain
More than 3,000 migrants, a third of them presumed to be minors, crossed into Spain’s northern African enclave of Ceuta on Monday, in an unprecedented influx that left Spanish officials scrambling to bolster police presence in the tiny territory.
Ceuta, along with nearby Melilla, has long been a magnet for African migrants hoping to cross into Europe, despite being heavily protected and fortified with a double fence. The mass crossing into Ceuta comes amid heightened tensions between Madrid and Rabat over Spain’s decision to allow a Western Sahara independence leader to be treated for Covid-19 in Spain.
Continue reading...Iranian asylum seeker cleared of Channel smuggling charges
Man who took turn steering boat ‘because he didn’t want to die’ freed, with case opening way for others to appeal their sentences
An asylum seeker jailed on smuggling charges for helping to steer a boat filled with migrants from France to England has had his conviction overturned at a retrial after spending 17 months in jail.
Lawyers and campaigners say the verdict could lead to other migrants currently in jail on smuggling charges being freed, allowing the Home Office policy of prosecuting asylum seekers who play a role in piloting boats across the Channel to be challenged more widely.
Continue reading...EU states cooperating informally to deny refugees asylum rights – report
Beatings, thefts and dog attacks are just some of the border police practices migrants say they face when pushed back from Europe’s frontiers
Informal cooperation between states has prevented thousands of women, men and children from seeking protection in Europe this year, according to a report released by nine human rights organisations.
The Protecting Rights at Borders (Prab) initiative has recorded 2,162 cases of “pushbacks” at different borders in Italy, Greece, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Hungary carried out on the basis of bilateral agreements between countries, which resulted in them circumventing their responsibilities and pushing unwanted groups back outside the EU.
Continue reading...More than 2,000 migrants arrive on Italian island in 24 hours
Hundreds of asylum seekers forced to sleep outside as Lampedusa reception centre reaches capacity
More than 2,000 people have arrived on Lampedusa in 24 hours as people smugglers took advantage of calm seas to launch at least 20 boats, pushing the reception centre on the tiny Italian island to its limit.
Hundreds of asylum seekers, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, Pakistan and Syria, were forced to sleep on the dock after the centre rapidly surpassed its capacity. Hundreds more were being transferred to an unused passenger ferry offshore for quarantine until they can be tested for Covid-19. Another commercial passenger ship was being dispatched to Lampedusa to take on more.
Continue reading...Libyan coastguard boat that shot Italian fisher was provided by Rome
Italian government supplied vessel to help Tripoli control flow of migrants in Mediterranean
An Italian fisher wounded when his trawler was machined-gunned by the Libyan coastguard was fired on from a boat supplied by Italy’s government to help Tripoli control the flow of migrants.
Libyan authorities, who say the coastguard vessel fired warning shots into the air, said three Italian fishing vessels had entered Libyan territorial waters without authorisation before the incident on Thursday, the latest episode in a territorial dispute involving crews from the Sicilian port of Mazara del Vallo who fish for red prawns off the Libyan coast.
Continue reading...Revealed: 46m displaced people excluded from Covid jab programmes
WHO review finds many national vaccination plans exclude asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and IDPs
Tens of millions of asylum seekers, migrants, refugees and internally displaced people around the world have been excluded from national Covid-19 vaccination programmes, according to World Health Organization research seen by the Guardian.
The gaps mean that a scattered group numbering at least 46 million people, about the size of the population of Spain, may struggle to get vaccinated even if a global shortage of doses eases.
Continue reading...‘A scene out of the middle ages’: Dead refugee found surrounded by rats at Greek camp
Chios case highlights deplorable conditions on islands despite EU allocating millions of euros to improve facilities, aid workers say
At a desolate refugee camp on the Greek island of Chios earlier this week, a young man died alone in a tent. By the time the guards arrived on the scene, about 12 hours after the Somali refugee’s death, the body was surrounded by rodents.
Asylum seekers who had initially alerted staff spoke in horror at seeing rats and mice swarming about.
Continue reading...Revealed: 2,000 refugee deaths linked to illegal EU pushbacks
A Guardian analysis finds EU countries used brutal tactics to stop nearly 40,000 asylum seekers crossing borders
EU member states have used illegal operations to push back at least 40,000 asylum seekers from Europe’s borders during the pandemic, methods being linked to the death of more than 2,000 people, the Guardian can reveal.
In one of the biggest mass expulsions in decades, European countries, supported by EU’s border agency Frontex, has systematically pushed back refugees, including children fleeing from wars, in their thousands, using illegal tactics ranging from assault to brutality during detention or transportation.
Continue reading...More than 100 lone children rescued trying to cross Mediterranean
Unicef warns many child refugees and migrants picked up off the coast of Libya will be sent to ‘appalling’ detention centres
Fears are rising over the numbers of lone children risking their lives to reach Europe after 114 were pulled from the Mediterranean Sea in one day this week.
The unaccompanied minors were among 125 children rescued off the Libyan coast on Tuesday by the authorities, aid agencies said.
Continue reading...UK accused of stranding vulnerable refugees after Brexit
Exclusive: Torture survivors and lone children stuck in Greece and Italy after Home Office ‘deliberately’ ends cooperation on family reunions
The Home Office has been accused of failing to reunite vulnerable refugees who have the right to join family in the UK under EU law, leaving lone children and torture survivors stranded.
The government faced widespread criticism when it announced that family reunion law would no longer apply after the UK left the EU, and it promised that cases under way on that date would be allowed to proceed.
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