| Detained refugees moved to safety as heavy shelling hits Libyan capital. On Tuesday UNHCR moved another 150 refugees from the Abu Selim detention centre in the south of Tripoli to the agency’s Gathering and Departure Facility in central Tripoli. Efforts to relocate more refugees had to be abandoned as fighting drew close to the area. Al Jazeera reports that Abu Selim district came under heavy shelling on Tuesday night, killing at least four people. The World Health Organization said yesterday that at least 174 people have been killed since eastern military forces began their advance on the capital on 4 April. UNHCR estimates that after yesterday’s relocation, the second since the fighting began, more than 2,700 refugees and migrants remain detained and trapped in areas where clashes are ongoing. Members of the UN Security Council are reportedly negotiating a resolution that would demand an immediate ceasefire in Tripoli, where some 24,400 people have been displaced in 10 days, according to the UN. | |
| US attorney general’s ruling expands indefinite detention for some asylum-seekers. US Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday struck down a decision that had allowed asylum-seekers to ask for a bond and to be released on bail while their cases were decided in immigration courts. The decision applies to asylum-seekers who cross the US border between official entry points and are placed in “expedited removal” proceedings. The ruling, which is due to go into effect in 90 days, will mean that those deemed to have a “credible fear” of persecution in their home countries will no longer be eligible for bond and will have to wait in detention until their cases are adjudicated. The decision doesn’t affect asylum-seeking families or unaccompanied minors, who can’t be held for longer than 20 days. Reuters reports that the impact of the decision will depend in large part on the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to expand its detention capacity. The department has the discretion to grant “parole” to people not eligible for bond and frequently does so due to insufficient detention space. | | |
| Hundreds of African asylum-seekers stranded in Mexico. The Washington Post reports that while the vast majority of migrants and asylum-seekers passing through Mexico on their way to the United States are from Central America, many are from African countries such as Cameroon, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Hundreds are now camped out in Tapachula, near Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala, waiting for Mexican immigration officials to issue transit visas. The process of issuing the temporary permits has become slower as the government has struggled to keep up with the thousands of Central Americans hoping to pass through the country or claim asylum. Several described fleeing conflict and political violence in their home countries and journeying on foot and by bus across South America to reach Mexico. | | |
| Germany approves tougher rules for deporting failed asylum-seekers. The German cabinet today approved a bill aimed at making it easier to deport people whose asylum applications have been rejected. The “orderly return law”, proposed by Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, will double the number of detention spaces for people designated for deportation and cancel benefits for asylum-seekers already registered in other EU countries. A German refugee rights group, PRO ASYL, warned that the law would harm integration efforts and deprive refugees of their rights. | | |
| 14 killed in clashes at displacement camp in Sudan's Darfur. Fourteen people were killed during fighting that erupted on Saturday at a camp for internally displaced people in Sudan’s Darfur region, according to a report by Sudan’s official news agency, SUNA. No details were given about what triggered the violence, but South Darfur’s acting governor, General Hashim Khalid, was quoted by SUNA as saying that the camp contained many weapons and rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army. The Kalma camp, where the deaths took place, hosts an estimated 100,000 internally displaced Sudanese and has been a flashpoint for security incidents. | | |
| After almost dying at sea, refugees in Sicily learn to love the water. Al Jazeera reports on a programme in the Sicilian town of Messina aimed at teaching young refugees, who arrived in Italy as unaccompanied minors, how to dive, carry out sea rescues and give first aid. The “Friendly Sea ” course is carried out in the sea rather than a swimming pool to help participants overcome their often traumatic experiences of crossing the Mediterranean. The instructors believe that teaching the refugees alongside Italian kids also helps them to integrate into the local community. | | |
| Karox was only 15 when he fled Iraq and began a terrifying journey to Europe that would last two years. Now he lives in a shelter in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, and has a job at a local shawarma restaurant where his employer is a former refugee himself. | | |
Aid agencies have received 1,400 requests from civilians in Tripoli asking to be evacuated from areas of the Libyan capital affected by conflict. Due to the fighting, only 60 per cent of requests could be addressed.
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