refugees - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

Liberia’s civil war refugees left destitute after decades-old Ghana camp demolished

SITTING on a tattered mattress amongst the rubble of his former home, Wendell Elijah Mallobe is one of 15,000 Liberian refugees left destitute after authorities in Ghana demolished the camp where he has lived for more than 30 years. "I don't know anybody in Liberia. Nobody. They burnt the village I was living in," said 55-year-old Mallobe, who arrived in the camp in 1990, after fleeing Liberia's civil war. "My bed, television, clothes - everything I have worked for is gone." More than 200,000 people were killed and thousands more were mutilated and raped in brutal civil wars in Liberia…

Nov

2023

By The African Mirror

UK’s failed asylum deportation plan puts Rwanda’s human rights and refugee struggles in the spotlight

HUMAN RIGHTS

THE UK Supreme Court ruled on 15 November 2023 that sending asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful. The plan would have seen tens of thousands of asylum seekers sent from the UK to Rwanda, which would then process and host such refugees indefinitely. EVAN EASTON-CALABRIA, Senior Researcher at the Feinstein International Center, Tufts University, and Research Associate at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford Along with countless refugee and human rights groups – including the United Nations – I raised red flags about the plan and welcomed the decision to halt it. My research and work over more than…

Nov

2023

By The African Mirror

UK’s Rwanda migrant resettlement plan ruled unlawful: Reactions

NEWS

THE Supreme Court ruled that the British government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful as it could not be considered a safe third country, a major blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's pledge to stop people arriving in small boats. Below are some officials' reactions: PRIME MINISTER RISHI SUNAK "This was not the outcome we wanted, but we have spent the last few months planning for all eventualities and we remain completely committed to stopping the boats." The court "has confirmed that the principle of sending illegal migrants to a safe third country for processing is lawful. This confirms…

Oct

2023

By AHMED MOHAMED HASSAN

Egypt discusses Gaza aid, rejects corridors for civilians, say sources

NEWS

EGYPT has discussed plans with the United States and others to provide humanitarian aid through its border with Gaza Strip but rejects any move to set up safe corridors for refugees fleeing the enclave, Egyptian security sources said. Gaza, a tiny coastal strip of land wedged between Israel in the north and east and Egypt to the southwest, is home to some 2.3 million people who have been living under a blockade since Palestinian Islamist group Hamas took control there in 2007. Egypt has long restricted the flow of Gazans on to its territory, even during the fiercest conflicts. Cairo,…

May

2023

By The African Mirror

Malawi rounds up 920 refugees to return them to overcrowded camp

NEWS

AUTHORITIES in Malawi have rounded up 920 refugees who had settled in different communities to move them back to a camp in a district bordering the capital Lilongwe, home affairs ministry spokesperson Patrick Botha said. The operation, which started on May 17, followed a government ultimatum that called for all refugees to return to the Dzaleka refugee camp by April 15, or face enforced relocation. The government has accused refugees of leaving the overcrowded camp without following proper procedures. The round-up operation started in Lilongwe and has been extended to other districts. Botha could not say when the operation, which…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

South Sudan receives about 10,000 refugees fleeing Sudan fighting

NEWS

AROUND 10,000 refugees have entered South Sudan from Sudan in recent days fleeing fighting between the army and paramilitary forces, officials in South Sudan's Renk County said. About 6,500 crossed the border on Saturday and another 3,000 on Sunday, and more were arriving on Monday, county commissioner Kak Padiet told Reuters. The army commander in Renk, Dau Aturjong, said three-quarters of the arrivals are South Sudanese while the rest are Sudanese, Eritrean, Kenyan, Ugandan and Somali. Sudan hosts 800,000 South Sudanese refugees who have fled long-running conflicts there. South Sudan gained its independence from its northern neighbour in 2011. "It…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Blinken announces $150 mln in new aid for Sahel

NEWS

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $150 million in new humanitarian assistance for Africa's Sahel region, saying it would provide life-saving support to refugees and others impacted by conflict and food insecurity. Making the announcement during a visit to Niger, Blinken said the aid would address needs in Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Mauritania. The package also included funding to support Sahelian refugees in Libya and Niger, he said. Thomson Reuters Foundation

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s COVID relief measures mostly excluded refugees: a neglect of duty

COVID-19

THE early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa saw the government impose a lockdown in a bid to save lives. It introduced several interventions to cushion the impact of the crisis caused by the shutdown of economic activities on citizens. Among the measures were food aid as well as unemployment and debt relief. Refugees and asylum seekers expected similar protection. Their expectations flowed from the fact that the South African government has a responsibility to protect them according to the Refugees Act 130 of 1998. Author CALLIXTE KAVURO, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Public Law, Stellenbosch University The act…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

Russian invasion: Five ways tech is being used to help Ukraine

WORLD

UMBERTO BACCHI FROM offering refugees their spare rooms to donating cryptocurrency, people around the world have been using technology to channel help to Ukrainians since Russia launched its military assault last week. Some tech companies like Google and Microsoft have taken steps targeting Russian state media or helped start fundraising campaigns following Thursday's invasion, which the U.N. refugee agency said had forced more than half a million people to flee Ukraine. Here are five ways people and companies are using tech to help Ukrainians: 1) SPARE ROOMS AND FREE DOCTORS Home rental company Airbnb said on Monday its non-profit arm Airbnb.org would offer free, temporary housing for…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Eritrean refugees protest in camps

NEWS

DAWIT ENDESHAW and AYENAT MERSIE HUNDREDS of Eritrean refugees protested in the Ethiopian capital on Thursday, calling on the United Nations refugee agency to relocate friends and family who they say are trapped in two refugee camps by fighting in the Tigray region. Clashes between armed groups have escalated in and around the camps - Mai Aini and Adi Harush - and two refugees have been killed this month, the UNHCR said this week. The agency said it lost access to the camps on July 14. The United States said on Tuesday it was deeply concerned about the fate of…