African migrants - The African Mirror

Feb

28

2024

bird TenX: 10 African countries with highest diaspora remittance inflows

AFRICA’S growing diaspora community is increasingly becoming an important pillar for the growth and stability of local economies as the never-ending search for "greener pastures" sees Africans in the diaspora sending home almost double the amount that flows to Africa as foreign aid. Employment and education are among the biggest factors pushing Africans abroad, be that within Africa's borders, or "overseas". Many of those who leave Africa's shores end up being successful and send money home to sustain relatives or to build homes and even businesses. Over the years, remittances sent back to the continent have increased significantly in recent…

Jan

25

2024

By DAVIDE LEMMI, MARCO VALENZA, OUMAR SALL and MARCO SIMONELLI

Rather than looking for scapegoats, Morocco is cashing in on South-South migration

NEWS

WHILE the rest of the Maghreb is often in the spotlight over its aggressive approach to African migrants and asylum seekers, Morocco has officially chosen a more tolerant path and is reaping political and economic benefits from that more liberal attitude. Khady Hair, a beauty salon in a neat neighbourhood on the outskirts of the southern city of Agadir, welcomes clients of all nationalities and hair types. Its Senegalese owner, 38-year-old Khady Wade Baldé, has worked hard to build a chain of three salons that employ a dozen workers from Morocco, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire. “At the beginning, it wasn’t easy,”…

Sep

29

2023

By LIZBETH DIAZ and JACKIE BOTTS

African migrants bound for US use Nicaragua to bypass Darien perils

NEWS

AFRICAN migrants and asylum seekers heading to the United States are flying into Nicaragua to bypass the Darien Gap, a dangerous jungle isthmus connecting Panama and Colombia, according to migrants interviewed by Reuters and exclusive U.N. data. A dozen migrants recently arrived in the Mexican northern border city of Tijuana and the southern city of Oaxaca said they had flown into the Central American country, where many African nationalities can obtain a low-cost visa. The migrants hailed from Mali, Angola, Guinea and Senegal, and almost all said they knew about the dangers of Darien, which can only be traversed on…

Jul

08

2023

By TAREK AMARA

Rights group urges Tunisia to halt collective expulsions of African migrants

NEWS

TUNISIA should halt collective expulsions of sub-Saharan African migrants and urgently enable access to humanitarian services for those the government sent to a dangerous area of the Tunisia-Libya border, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. Tunisia has removed hundreds of the migrants to a desolate area along the border, a Tunisian rights group and a lawmaker said on Wednesday, with witnesses reporting dozens more put on outbound trains following days of violence. Disturbances between migrants and residents went on for a week in the port of Sfax, and one Tunisian was killed. Residents complained of disorderly behaviour by migrants and migrants complained of racist…

Mar

28

2023

By The African Mirror

At least 29 African migrants die when two boats sink off Tunisia

NEWS

AT least 29 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa died when their two boats sank off the coast of Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to Italy, the Tunisian coast guard said. Separately, in the last four days, five migrant boats have sunk off the coast of the southern city of Sfax, leaving 67 missing and nine dead, after a significant increase in boats heading towards Italy. Tunisia has taken over from Libya as a main departure point for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East in the hope of a better life in Europe. Houssem Jebabli, a…

Mar

25

2023

By The African Mirror

African migrants say racism in Tunisia persists

NEWS

WEEKS after a violent crackdown on migrants in Tunisia that triggered a perilous rush to leave by smuggler boats for Italy, many African nationals are still homeless and jobless and some say they still face racist attacks. Outside the United Nations refugee agency in Tunis, dozens of African migrants stood protesting this week in the temporary camp where they have lived, including with children, since authorities urged landlords to force them from their homes. "We need evacuation. Tunisia is not safe. No one has a future here when you have this colour. It is a crime to have this colour," said Josephus…

Mar

25

2023

By The African Mirror

African migrants stuck in Tunisia say racism persists after crackdown

NEWS

WEEKS after a violent crackdown on migrants in Tunisia that triggered a perilous rush to leave by smuggler boats for Italy, many African nationals are still homeless and jobless and some say they still face racist attacks. Outside the United Nations refugee agency in Tunis, dozens of African migrants stood protesting this week in the temporary camp where they have lived, including with children, since authorities urged landlords to force them from their homes. "We need evacuation. Tunisia is not safe. No one has a future here when you have this colour. It is a crime to have this colour," said Josephus…

Mar

02

2023

By The African Mirror

African migrants suffer under crackdown in Tunisia

NEWS

ANGUS MCDOWALL SINCE Tunisia's president announced a crackdown on illegal immigration last week using language the African Union denounced as racialised, Malian construction worker Mohamed Kony has been evicted from his apartment and sacked from his job. Unemployed, homeless and without legal residency, he now fears he will face the fate of several of his friends who have been attacked on the street. "I am confused and worried," said Kony, 32, who has lived in Tunis for five years and appeared well-liked in his neighbourhood, where Tunisian residents said they enjoyed his cheerful demeanour and often employed him for small…

Apr

11

2022

By The African Mirror

13 dead, 10 missing after two migrant boats sink

NEWS

AT least 13 African migrants died when their boats sank off Tunisia, judicial official Mourad Turki told Reuters. Another 10 migrants were missing off the coast of Sfax and 19 were rescued, the official added. Among the bodies recovered were four women and four children, Turki said. In recent months, dozens of people have drowned off the Tunisian coast, with an increase in the frequency of attempted crossings to Europe from Tunisia and Libya towards Italy. Hundreds of thousands of people have made the perilous Mediterranean crossing in recent years, many of them fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and…

Mar

02

2022

By The African Mirror

At least nine migrants drown off Tunisia in shipwreck

NEWS

AT least nine African migrants drowned in a shipwreck off Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to Italy, while another nine were rescued by the navy, the defence ministry said. In recent months, several people have drowned off the Tunisian coast, with an increase in the frequency of attempted crossings to Europe from Tunisia and Libya towards Italy. "Navy units backed by the Coast Guard recovered the bodies of nine migrants from different African countries and rescued nine other migrants, after their boat sank 18 km ... off Chebba, Mahdia governorate," the ministry said. It added that the…