In the Tenere desert in south central Sahara, days can go by without a single vehicle passing on the road. In March this year, the gear box on a truck carrying 25 migrants heading for Libya broke down. When help arrived three days later, the migrants were hungry, thirsty, and traumatized. Had it not been for their rescuers, Alarm Phone Sahara, they might well have perished.
Tens of thousands of people have set out from West and Central Africa in recent years in the hope of reaching Europe. Not all have completed the dangerous journey – opting instead to retrace their steps and return to their families. But going home brings new risks – including being seen by the community as ‘a failure’.
More than 200 migrants have reportedly arrived on Italian shores over the weekend. The number of arrivals in Italy is on the rise once more.
The "Ocean Viking" rescue ship has pulled 36 people from an overcrowded wooden boat in the Mediterranean Sea. Maltese authorities had requested the charity chip to save the shipwrecked migrants.
Europol said 29 people have been arrested in France and Spain, accused of being part of a criminal ring involved in trafficking migrants, including minors.
Refugees and migrants in Algeria are facing difficult times. Amid the country's ongoing political transformation, authorities choose to deal with sub-Saharan migrants in the country by deporting them to Niger – into the middle of the desert.
The conflict over Western Sahara has smoldered for more than 40 years. Morocco's offer of autonomy for the region is now on the negotiating table, but that's not enough for many of the Saharawis exiled in Algeria.
More and more rejected asylum-seekers are being sent back to Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria, according to a new report. The German government wants to designate the countries as "safe" in order to accelerate the process.
Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, has voted in favor of declaring four additional countries "safe countries of origin." However, the Bundesrat, the upper house, still has to ratify the decision. The addition of Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Georgia to list of safe nations is not without controversy.
The UN refugee agency Thursday voiced concern for the safety of 100 Arab citizens who went missing after seeking shelter in Algeria and others stranded at the border with Niger. The organization appeals for access to assess the protection needs of the refugees.
Arbitrary arrests and expulsions of migrants have risen to a historic high in Algeria, Amnesty International says. The human rights organization has called on Algerian authorities to comply with international conventions.
The UN agency, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said that nearly 111,000 migrants reached Europe by sea in 2018. The Mediterranean is the deadliest route for migrants traveling to Europe with 2,160 victims registered so far this year, the IOM said.