migrants Archives - The African Mirror Test

Jun

29

2022

Fifty migrants dead in sweltering Texas truck, more hospitalized

WORLD

JASON BUCH, EVAN GARCIA and TED HESSON THE death toll from a human trafficking incident in which migrants suffered under extreme Texas heat inside a truck rose to 50, U.S. and Mexican officials said on Tuesday, in one of the most fatal incidents of human smuggling along the U.S.-Mexico border in recent history. The migrants died inside a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas, where temperatures swelled to a high of 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39.4 degrees Celsius). Local authorities responded on Monday afternoon to a remote area in the city's southern outskirts and found the truck parked next to railroad tracks.…

Jun

27

2022

By The African Mirror

Hostel in Rwanda for UK asylum seekers prepares to take children

NEWS

ANDREW MACASKILL THE hostel in Rwanda where Britain plans to send migrants under its controversial asylum-seeker deportation policy is preparing to house children, its manager said, with the prospect of youngsters being sent there with their parents. Under an agreement struck in April, Britain will send tens of thousands of migrants who arrive on its shores illegally more than 4,000 miles (6,4000 km) to the East African country. The Hope Hostel, where the asylum seekers will stay for about nine months after they arrive, is currently building a mini football pitch and a basketball court. Elisee Kalyango, the manager of…

Jun

26

2022

By AHMED ELJECHTIMI and GRAHAM KEELEY

Dozens of migrants piled together at Melilla border fence, video shows

NEWS

DOZENS of migrants were pictured lying by a Moroccan border fence, some bleeding and many apparently lifeless, in a video showing the aftermath of an attempted mass crossing into a Spanish enclave on Friday in which at least 18 died. Moroccan authorities said the disaster occurred after migrants attempted to breach a fence into the Melilla enclave, with some dying in a crush after what authorities called a stampede, and others falling as they climbed. The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) local head Omar Naji said its members and sympathisers had shot the footage, which showed large numbers of…

Apr

22

2022

By The African Mirror

Now Denmark wants to send migrants to Rwanda

NEWS

DENMARK is in talks with Rwanda about setting up a new procedure for transferring asylum seekers to the East African nation, mirroring a similar move by Britain announced last week. A deal with Rwanda would make Denmark the first European Union member to effectively bypass the bloc's fragmented migration and asylum system. "Our dialogue with the Rwandan government includes a mechanism for the transfer of asylum seekers," Immigration Minister Mattias Tesfaye told Reuters on Wednesday. The deal would aim to "ensure a more dignified approach than the criminal network of human traffickers that characterises migration across the Mediterranean today," he…

Apr

16

2022

By The African Mirror

Britain to send migrants to Rwanda

NEWS

ALISTAIR SMOUT and CLEMENT UWIRINGIYIMANA BRITAIN could send tens of thousands of asylum seekers to the East African country of Rwanda, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, aiming to break people-smuggling networks and stem the flow of migrants across the Channel. Concerns over immigration were a big factor in the 2016 Brexit vote, and Johnson has been under pressure to deliver on his promise to "take back control" of Britain's borders. But his plan drew swift criticism from opponents of his Conservative Party and from charities. "We must ensure that the only route to asylum in the UK is a safe…

Oct

20

2021

By The African Mirror

Dutch put Eritrean trafficker on most wanted list

NEWS

DUTCH prosecutors have put Eritrean trafficker Kidane Zekarias Habtemariam on their most wanted list and want to try him for crimes related to his alleged people-smuggling ring. Kidane was sentenced to life in prison by a court in Ethiopia in absentia in June for starving and torturing African refugees and migrants headed for Europe in warehouses in Libya. The Dutch public prosecutor's office said an investigation revealed that Kidane's organisation "abuses, extorts, kidnaps and rapes Eritreans" who want to reach the Netherlands. The refugees and migrants are mistreated in camps in Libya while relatives living in the Netherlands are blackmailed,…

Nov

06

2020

By The African Mirror

Study sheds light on how South Africa can best tackle prejudice against migrants

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

STEVEN GORDON, Senior research specialist, Human Sciences Research Council XENOPHOBIA is a serious problem in South Africa. Cross-border migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in the country face harassment and discrimination. Hundreds of incidents of anti-immigrant hate crime have been reported in the past decade alone. To address this, the government launched the National Action Plan to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in March 2019. The plan recognises that without quality data the government will struggle to design effective policies to change public attitudes towards foreigners. Targeted communication campaigns can be very effective in expanding tolerance between groups…

Nov

25

2021

By The African Mirror

COVID travel restrictions have created new borders for migrants who want to visit home

COVID-19

IN the early days of the pandemic, many countries closed their borders to stop the spread of COVID-19. International travel has continued to be limited with changing caveats, including “essential” travel only, restrictions on travellers from particular countries and vaccination “passports”. Authors MARIA TERESA FERAZZOLI, Research Associate, Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield JULIE WALSH, Lecturer in Sociology, University of Sheffield While a necessary public health measure, these restrictions have been especially disruptive to migrant families. For these families, travel is a necessary part of fulfilling familial obligations and maintaining a sense of “familyhood” and belonging across borders. These…

Sep

02

2021

By The African Mirror

Libya safe house offered haven for migrants

NEWS

HALIMA William crossed the desert from Nigeria to Libya hoping to reach Europe for a better life but was forced into prostitution until she was able to escape and find refuge in a rare safe house. The story of William, 23, and her husband Mark, 27, who also faced detention and abuse, show the risks facing ever-growing numbers of migrants seeking what they hope will be safety and prosperity in the West. Though they were reunited by chance at the safe house in the town of Bani Walid, where they have been able to find a semblance of security for…

Jul

18

2020

By The African Mirror

Yemen starts forced transfers of Ethiopian migrants, IOM says

COVID-19

TENS of thousands of migrants, mostly Ethiopians, are stranded in Yemen and at least 14,500 have been rounded up and forcibly transferred internally amid fears migrants contribute to the spread of COVID-19, the U.N. migration agency said on Tuesday. Thousands of Saudi-bound Ethiopian workers cross Yemen each month but restrictions aimed at curbing the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the war-ravaged country have cut arrivals. But among those already there, thousands have been bussed or trucked to cities like Aden and Marib where they are now stuck, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. "It's a very dire situation when…