First Independent Mena Newspaper
A group of 159 illegal migrants has been voluntarily repatriated from Libya to Nigeria, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The migrants returned safely from Benghazi to Lagos under the IOM’s Voluntary Humanitarian Return and Reintegration (VHR) programme, which is supported by EU funding. The IOM expressed gratitude to its donors, including the […]
David Yambio, an Italy-based human rights activist and co-founder of Refugees in Libya, revealed on February 11 that his phone was targeted by spyware. Yambio’s organization works with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to collect evidence of abuse suffered by migrants in Libyan detention Centres. Yambio, who was once a detainee at the Mitiga prison […]
Recent arrests in Libya have brought global attention to the ongoing human rights abuses faced by refugees and migrants trying to escape conflict and trafficking. A video released on 6 January 2025, depicting the brutal treatment of 20-year-old Naima Jamal, an Ethiopian migrant, has sparked outrage and renewed calls for accountability. Jamal, who fled the […]
The humanitarian rescue ship Ocean Viking, operated by SOS Méditerranée, rescued 48 migrants on November 26 from a distressed boat off the Libyan coast. The majority of those saved were minors, a fact underscoring the vulnerability of the group. The rescue operation was initiated following a VHF radio alert from a NATO surveillance plane, which […]
Algerian social media is awash with videos showing migrants making the risky Mediterranean crossing to escape misery in their homeland, as the oil and gas-rich country becomes the new launchpad for migrants wishing to reach Europe. As the economic outlook worsens in Algeria, Spanish authorities reported a surge in arrivals from Algeria since 2021. Observers […]
Tunisia’s regime, under the rule of Kais Saied, has been indulging in a xenophobic discourse blaming migrants for the country’s economic woes, as more Tunisians engage in clashes with migrants in different cities. In recent days, the government has intensified its crackdown arresting and throwing thousands of migrants in inhumane conditions on the borders with […]
British authorities have detained an unspecified number of migrants in preparation to send them to Rwanda in the next nine to 11 weeks under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s flagship immigration policy, government officials said earlier this week. Days after British Parliament adopted the controversial law providing for deporting asylum seekers to the African country, Sunak’s […]
Tunisia has expelled hundreds of Sub-Saharan African migrants to a buffer zone in the border with Libya without due process, Human Rights Watch said. The group includes asylum seekers, women and children in addition to regular African migrants who were abandoned in the buffer zones following a campaign marked by violence, it said. The Tunisian […]
Nearly 5000 migrants, including young Moroccans, crossed from the northern coasts to the Spanish-occupied enclave of Ceuta, local media reported. One person died in the crossing and the rest, including some 1000 minors, are waiting to be sent back to Morocco under a readmission deal. Some swam while others crossed on feet. Videos […]
Thousands of Sub-Saharan migrants have been abused, tortured, stripped, robbed of their phones and savings by Algerian authorities before dumping them on desert border with Niger, according to the latest report released by international NGO “Médecins Sans Frontières”. Between the beginning of January and mid-April 2021, some 4,370 migrants have been expelled from Algeria to […]