Reduced Inequalities

Photo: Most of Eritrea’s population are disenfranchised due to forced conscriptions and a life below the poverty line. Source: face2faceafrica.com

Exodus of Eritreans in Post-Peace Era Continues

By Kristina Melicherová

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Hope for change in Eritrea after the July 2018 Ethiopia-Eritrea peace agreement has faded. Nearly a year after Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced his country would accept the Algiers Agreement of 2000 and make peace with Eritrea, the flow of refugees fleeing the repressive regime continues unabated.

A senior official from Ethiopia’s refugee agency recently confirmed that the situation in the border area between Ethiopia and Eritrea has not changed since the official closing of all border crossings for vehicles in April 2019. He confirmed that the number of refugees from Eritrea to Ethiopia continues to increase, with as many as 250 people being processed every day.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 09 May 2019

ACP-UNCTAD Workshop Targets at Ensuring Inclusiveness and Equality

By Ronald Joshua

GENEVA (IDN) – Well ahead of the High-Level Political Forum in July 2019 under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) with the focus on "empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality", the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Secretariat and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held an all-day workshop at the Palais des Nations, Geneva on May 2, 2019.

: Ronald Joshua; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 08 May 2019

Photo: Geneva Centre debates 'Migration and Human Solidarity'. Credit: Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue.

Experts Slate 'Fortress Europe' and Push-Back Policies

By Ronald Joshua

GENEVA (IDN) – Experts with first-hand experience in the migrant and refugee crisis have underlined problems during their work on the ground, in coordinating rescue operations and aid distribution, or documenting and raising awareness of the situation caused by the current massive displacement of people worldwide turning into a politicized crisis of solidarity, with closed border policies and the rise of xenophobic, populist trends.

: Ronald Joshua; SUSTAINABILITY; Reduced Inequalities; 27 April 2019

Photo: Three young children wait to be evacuated from Libya to Niger, at UNHCR’s Gathering and Departure Facility in Tripoli. © UNHCR/Mohamed Alalem

Fighting in Tripoli Throws Refugees Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire

By Klara Smits

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Multiple independent sources report that at least three people were killed and around 20 injured in an attack on the Qasr bin Ghashir detention centre in southern Tripoli. The attack seemed specifically aimed at the refugees and migrants in the centre, according to witnesses who say that the rebel militia fighters of General Khalifa Haftar were behind the attack.

Reports say that after a brief lull, the fighting around Libya’s capital Tripoli has intensified in the past week. In the southern districts of Tripoli, forces loyal to the UN-recognised Tripoli-based government clashed with the forces of General Khalifa Haftar.

: Klara Smits; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 26 April 2019

Radio Connects a Kyrgyz Community with the World

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SUUSAMYR, Kyrgyzstan (IDN) – Travelling on the new Silk Roads recently upgraded by the Chinese, one drives up through stunning mountains that are still covered by snow even as summer approaches. The road from Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek climbs up to a peak of about 4.000 meters before descending over 1500 meters to a picturesque valley to reach one of the remotest communities in the country, the village of Suusamyr home to about 1,300 traditionally nomadic people.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; CENTRAL ASIA; 15 April 2019

Sustainable Wildlife Management Program Launches Newsletter

By ACP Press

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – Recent studies have shown that overhunting for wild meat is threatening hundreds of wildlife species with extinction, with the result that many indigenous peoples and rural communities are deprived of food and income.

An initiative of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, the Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme, established to tackle these challenges, has published their first newsletter to bring attention to these issues.

: UN Bureau; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 05 April 2019

Photo: Canterbury Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Time to Address Socioeconomic Issues in Terrorism Reporting

Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) – The reporting of the attack in New Zealand on March 15, 2019 where a White terrorist of Christian background mowed down over 50 Muslims praying at a mosque in Christchurch has obviously focused on religion and migrants.

In a statement released following the Christchurch massacre, Australian senator Fraser Anning from Queensland blamed the New Zealand immigration program which “allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate” who promote a “violent ideology” as the cause of the attack. He was condemned widely in Australia for spreading such hate speech, but his diatribes distracted attention from the socio-economic issues that have fuelled the attack.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 21 March 2019

Photo: Nigerian refugees. Credit: CameroonConcordNews

Cameroon and Nigeria Uproot Thousands from Safe Haven

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – An estimated 30,000 refugees have been uprooted by officials in Cameroon and Nigeria this month and sent to known hotbeds of insurgents including Boko Haram on the Nigerian side of the border.

Humanitarian groups including Action against Hunger are questioning the wisdom of forcing refugees to move to the city of Rann in Borno state, the epicentre of the decade-long insurgency that has killed more than 27,000.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 08 March 2019

Photo: A crane removes a section of the Wall near Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on 21 December 1989. Source: Wikimedia

Why Walls Make Little Sense

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – It’s time overdue that the misleading myths on immigration are thrown into the trashcan. They are causing untold damage. The fact is that President Donald Trump’s own government research shows that Mexican migration has dropped sharply in recent years.

In Britain, the Brexit debate which began with a whipped up crisis about immigration has now moved to a level where it’s tearing the country apart. In France and Belgium immigrants are falsely blamed for Islamic terrorism. In Sweden and Denmark the myth-makers have pushed traditionally left of centre electorates rightwards.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 19 February 2019

Photo: Open-pit mine Montepuez, considered the world’s most lucrative ruby operation. Source: Gemfields

African Villagers Tortured For ‘Blood Rubies’ Worn by Stars

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – A British mining company has agreed to pay over $7 million to settle claims including allegations of torture and murder at ruby mines in the northeast of Mozambique. The brilliant red stones, worth millions, have been worn by international actresses Mila Kunas, Bel Powley, and Sophie Cookson, among others.

The company, Gemfields, chose to pay community members living near its Montepuez ruby mine on a “no admission of liability” basis that settles a claim of human rights abuses over a decade brought against it by local villagers.