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The 10 best articles on refugees and migration 43/2018

November 13, 2018 - Open Migration

In the same week when the Italian Senate approved an even tougher version of the Salvini bill on security and immigration, more than 40,000 people marched in Rome to protest racism and the government’s asylum policies. As Palermo hosted a conference on Libya, news from the migrant detention camps in the country are still extremely troubling.

Syrian refugees in Lebanon still reluctant to go home

November 14, 2018 - Laura Cappon

8,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their home country since the beginning of the year. The return exodus was brought about by an agreement between Syria and Lebanon, where more than 1 million Syrians live. For President Assad, returning refugees are a political weapon to bolster his international credibility. However, the very presence of the dictator, as well as the lack of homes and jobs and the risk of being incarcerated, still keeps away many who would be otherwise happy to return. Laura Cappon spoke with some of them for us.

The 10 best articles on refugees and migration 32/2018

August 28, 2018 - Open Migration

Only the intervention of the Italian bishops could end the unprecedented standoff over the Coast Guard ship Diciotti, held for a week outside the port of Catania with 150 migrants on board. Meanwhile, Malta rescued 100 people and we learned that escorting the Aquarius to Spain cost more than 200,000 in EU funds. Also: a surge in sea arrivals to Spain, the critical situation on the Balkan route, debates over migrants in Sweden in the lead-up to the general election

In the hands of the Libyan Coast Guard: pushbacks by proxy

June 28, 2018 - Laura Clarke

In the first five months of the year, over 42 per cent of migrants who departed from Libya for Italy and survived the journey were returned to Libyan shores. This compares to approximately 11 per cent in the same period in 2017. The increase is to be seen in the context of the "pushback by proxy" strategy adopted by Italy through the activities of the Libyan coast guard.

Mered’s trial: new evidence on the case of mistaken identity

June 8, 2018 - Lorenzo Bagnoli

Medhanie Tesfamariam Berhe remains in jail, accused of being the human smuggler named Mered, who is held responsible for the Lampedusa shipwreck tragedy of October 3, 2013. However, in the meantime Mered has reportedly been seen in Uganda, his child’s DNA exculpates the man in prison, and other testimonies keep hinting at a case of mistaken identity, which in turn means a failure for Operation Sophia.

The new European border between Niger and Libya

May 11, 2018 - Giacomo Zandonini

March 2017 was coming to a close when Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti gathered a number of local leaders from Fezzan, in the southwestern region of Libya, to negotiate a peace agreement in Rome. His goal was to end hostilities between the Toubou, Tuareg, and Awlad Suleiman tribes, and to regain control over the border with Niger, the main entry point for migrants. One year later the invisible line dividing the two countries is still the focus of European attention, but the agreement seems bound to fail and Niger has stopped evacuating migrants from Libya. This is the third and last episode of Giacomo Zandonini’s reportage from Niger.

Dunkirk, Calais and Macron’s tough migration policy

March 29, 2018 - Emanuela Barbiroglio

Although the infamous Jungle was dismantled, migrants keep arriving. About one thousand people still live between Dunkirk and Calais, partly in emergency accommodations. At the end of winter they will all find themselves shelterless, while Macron tries to force them to leave the country by imposing new – and very controversial – legal barriers.

EU-Turkey deal: the burden on refugees in Greece

April 11, 2018 - Marianna Karakoulaki

The statistic success of the EU-Turkey deal in lowering the influx of migrants to Greece also has another face, a far-reaching “crisis of solidarity”: desperate conditions for people blocked in camps on the Egean islands; what has been described as “a mental health emergency”; and the opening or reopening of more dangerous routes. Marianna Karakoulaki, who knows the island camps well and has travelled the Balkan route, takes stock for us from Greece of two years of EU-Turkey deal.

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