migrants - The African Mirror

Oct

2023

Western group to ask UN body to investigate Sudan atrocities

THE Senegalese Navy said it had stopped two more boats carrying 262 would-be migrants late the previous night, taking the total to five boats intercepted and over 600 people rescued by a navy patrol boat since Thursday. Those rescued included 26 women and 13 minors, the navy said in a post on social media platform X, sharing photos of dozens of people on a patrol boat and others seated in rows on a quay. The successive rescues come during the busy summer season when thousands of migrants brave the hundreds of miles of ocean separating Africa from Europe each year in a…

Oct

2023

By LAURA GOTTESDIENER, TED HESSON, MICA ROSENBERG and DAINA BETH SOLOMON

Migrants are being raped at Mexico border as they await entry to US

WORLD

WHEN Carolina's captors arrived at dawn to pull her out of the stash house in the Mexican border city of Reynosa in late May, she thought they were going to force her to call her family in Venezuela again to beg them to pay $2,000 ransom. Instead, one of the men shoved her onto a broken-down bus parked outside and raped her, she told Reuters. "It's the saddest, most horrible thing that can happen to a person," Carolina said. A migrant advocate who assisted Carolina after the kidnapping, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity due to security concerns,…

Sep

2023

By AHMED ELUMAMI, ABDELHADI RAMADI and MAYA GEBEILY

Libya floods sweep away migrants, and their hopes

NEWS

THE small first-floor apartment in Derna became home away from home to Syrian migrant Ammar Kanaan after the risk of drowning kept him from attempting the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to Europe that has cost the lives of so many. After fleeing Syria two years ago to avoid military service, Kanaan had found a steady job in a pastry shop in the Libyan city and lived with two Sudanese roommates a few metres away from Derna's riverbed. But this month, the 19-year-old drowned with thousands of others when a flash flood washed away swathes of the city. Now, the plot where…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

Greece boat disaster: 12 Pakistanis among survivors

WORLD

TWELVE Pakistanis were among survivors from a boat packed with migrants that capsized off the coast of Greece this week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the government was unable so far to verify the number of Pakistanis who died, or their identities. People seeking missing relatives were urged to share with the ministry identity documents and DNA reports from authenticated laboratories, she said. The death toll in Wednesday's disaster could run to many hundreds as witness accounts suggested that between 400 and 750 people had packed the fishing boat that sank about 50 miles (80…

Jun

2023

By STAMOS PROUSALIS

Greece scours shipwreck site; hundreds feared drowned in boat’s hold

WORLD

RESCUERS scoured the seas off Greece following a shipwreck that killed at least 79 migrants, as hopes of survivors dwindled and fears grew that hundreds more, including children, may have drowned trapped inside the crowded vessel's hold. Reports suggested between 400 and 750 people had packed the fishing boat that capsized and sank early on Wednesday morning in deep waters about 50 miles (80 km) from the southern coastal town of Pylos. Greek authorities said 104 survivors had been brought ashore. As it began to flounder late on Tuesday night, people on the vessel's crowded outer deck repeatedly turned down…

Jun

2023

By TED HESSON and KRISTINA COOKE

Second flight arrives in Sacramento carrying migrants with Florida documents

WORLD

A flight carrying about 20 migrants landed in Sacramento, California, as state authorities investigated the role Florida had played in transporting them from Texas via New Mexico, according to the California attorney general's office and news reports. The migrants carried documents that indicated their transportation involved the state of Florida, the California attorney general's office said. More than a dozen migrants who arrived on Friday carried similar documentation, the office said. The administration of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican seeking his party's presidential nomination in 2024, last year orchestrated a flight carrying dozens of migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard, a…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Boat with 400 migrants adrift between Libya and Malta

NEWS

A vessel with around 400 people on board is adrift between Malta and Libya and is taking on water, support service Alarm Phone said on Sunday, amid a sharp rise of migrant boats crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa. Alarm Phone said on Twitter they had received a call from the boat, which departed from Tobruk, in Libya, last night and that they had informed authorities. But no rescue operation has been launched so far, they added. Alarm Phone said people on board were panicking, with several of them requiring medical attention. The vessel was out of fuel and its…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

British interior minister Braverman says Rwanda is safe for migrants

NEWS

BRITAIN'S interior minister Suella Braverman said she was convinced Rwanda was a safe country to resettle migrants who had arrived in Britain illegally but she declined to set any deadline for the first deportations to the country. The British government is hoping to send thousands of migrants more than 4,000 miles away to the East African country as part of a 120 million pound ($148 million) deal to deter asylum seekers crossing the English Channel from France in small boats. The plan was announced in April 2022, but the first deportation flight was blocked by an injunction from the European…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Britain to announce plan to house migrants on military bases within weeks, Sky News reports

WORLD

PLANS by the British government to move migrants out of hotels and into military bases or even disused ferries are expected to be announced within weeks, Sky News reported. Previous suggestions involving the use of holiday camps and student halls were less likely to be brought into action, the report said. The government has signalled it wants to end the use of hotels as asylum seeker accommodation. “We have always been upfront about the unprecedented pressure being placed on our asylum system, brought about by a significant increase in dangerous and illegal journeys into the country," a Home Office (interior…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

UK interior minister visits Rwanda to expand deportation plan

NEWS

PHILBERT GIRINEMA BRITISH interior minister Suella Braverman visited Rwanda to expand a deal under which the east African country will accept migrants who arrive in Britain without permission if British courts confirm that the proposals are legal. Britain's government wants to send thousands of migrants more than 4,000 miles away (6,400 km) to Rwanda as part of a 120 million pound ($146 million) deal agreed upon with Rwanda last year. No deportations have occurred while campaigners challenge the policy's legality in the courts. Many charities say the proposal is costly and impractical and will criminalise thousands of genuine refugees with few routes…