• Home
• News
• News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Origin

Published: 1 Jul 2016

Global

• Concern that EU migration agreement with Sudan risks further emboldening authorities, after students are brutally beaten by the National Intelligence and Security Service
• Murder count of environmental activists rises, with nearly 40 percent of victims from indigenous groups

Africa

• Refugees that drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea are found on Libyan beaches, whilst people smugglers continue to exploit political chaos and lawlessness along routes from sub-Saharan Africa
• Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa cross Mediterranean Sea having suffered exploitation and abuse in Libya
• UNHCR publishes country of origin statistics for refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan and Chad

Burundi

• People in Burundi turn to social media for news, as threats and harassment drive a third of all Burundi’s journalists into exile
• Political violence in Burundi following President Nkurinziza’s third term re-election creates refugee crisis in the region and receives little media attention

Eritrea

• Eritrean migrants in Sudan are arrested and deported amid reports of EU incentives to stem migration towards Europe
• UK Upper Tribunal decision published for Eritrean family living in Sudan
• United States Commission on International Religious Freedom publishes report on the repression of religious freedom in Eritrea
• Report finds that systematic censorship enables ongoing crimes against humanity in Eritrea

Ethiopia

State security forces kill more than 400 people since widespread protests began in November 2015 

Kenya

Kenyan court upholds the use of anal examinations to determine a suspect’s sexuality, with judge finding no violation of human dignity, right to privacy, or right to freedom

Libya

• Arrivals of migrants in Italy soar as Amnesty International accuses the Libyan coast guard of widespread abuses
• EU migration cooperation arrangements risk fuelling horrific abuse of refugees and migrants in Libya

Niger

34 refugees, including 20 children, die in Sahara desert trying to cross into Algeria after being abandoned by people smugglers

Nigeria

• UN advises federal government against returning internally displaced persons to parts of north-east Nigeria after Boko Haram insurgency leads to loss of thousands of lives and the displacement of over 2.7 million people in the region
• Nigerian government signs tripartite agreement with Cameroon and UNHCR for the return of 80,000 Nigerian refugees in Cameroon displaced by Boko Haram violence
• Refugees displaced by Boko Haram insurgency start their own businesses in camps for internally displaced persons

Rwanda

Confidential documents from the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda evidence the role of Tutsi civilians in killing Hutus

Somalia

• Kenyan government agrees to uphold tripartite agreement that paves way for voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees in Kenya’s Dadaab camp
• 37 Somali refugees arrive in Slovakia from Eritrea for eventual resettlement in US

Sudan

• In-depth report examines forgotten conflict in Sudan’s Blue Nile region
• Sudanese refugees continue to escape violence in South Kordofan, five years after the start of the war
• UN and South Sudan government seek to close camp in Yida that was built by Sudanese refugees
• 20,000 returnees from Chad are in need of support in North Darfur
• Civil society organisations write open letter to member states of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, calling for urgent action to address the ongoing security and humanitarian crisis in Sudan

Uganda

Update on political rights and civil liberties in Uganda published  

Western Sahara

• Leader of the Polisario Front, Mohamed Abdelaziz, dies in Western Sahara, prompting questions regarding the future of the disputed territory
• UN Security Council publishes latest resolution recalling and reaffirming all previous resolutions on Western Sahara

Americas

El Salvador

Unaccompanied minors are among the tens of thousands of Salvadorans deported from Mexico back to El Salvador, where gang violence has claimed the lives of 7,500 young people since mid-2014

Honduras

Following the murder of renowned indigenous activist, Berta Caceres, a new report highlights militarisation and human rights abuses in Honduras

Venezuela

Caribbean territories and Colombia are warned of high influx of Venezuelan refugees if food shortages continue

Asia

India

India-Bangladesh border in Assam to be completely sealed by June 2017

Banglades

Over 3,000 people arrested in Bangladesh as part of efforts to end a series of minority killings

Pakistan

Pakistan’s 2004 Criminal Law (Amendment) Act remains poorly enforced, as the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reports that 1096 women were killed on the pretext of “honour” in 2015

Tibet

Exile arrivals of Tibetans in India plummet from 3,320 in 2005 to just six so far this year, raising concerns about China’s increased border control

Asia-Pacific

Myanmar

Myanmar’s internally displaced Rohingya people suffer squalid conditions in corruptly run camps, and are subject to severe restrictions on movement and access to services

Middle East

Report published on foreign terrorist organisation, Jundullah, operating primarily in parts of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Displaced Afghan refugees had been “forgotten” by the international community before they began arriving in Europe, says UN High Commissioner for Refugees, praising Iran’s refugee services following a decree allowing all Afghan children into schools

Bahrain

• Bahraini human rights activist and founder of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights is rearrested, a week after another prominent activist fled to Denmark due to threats of imprisonment
• Sunni-ruled Bahrain revokes citizenship of prominent Shia cleric

Kuwait

Twitter trolling campaigns reporting “atheist” and pro-LGBT users to local authorities put young Kuwaiti women in danger

Syria

Covert medical networks spread knowledge to workers in Aleppo after the Syrian government has assassinated, bombed and tortured to death almost 700 medical personnel in the last five years

Programmes: 
Regions: 
Type: