Chazel has been in Cyprus for three months. The 24-year-old Congolese asylum seeker is waiting with anguish to be deported. Authorities accuse him of taking part in a riot that broke out in the Pournara camp in October. This is his story.
His story leads from Goma to Florence: from a dire situation in the Congo, the eastern part of which is one of the most dangerous in the world, to the cradle of the Italian Renaissance -- and his own -- in Florence.
The Republic of Cyprus is battling with a migrant influx which is overwhelming the small EU country's resources. Now, a dubious higher education scheme in the north of the island has been found to be among the factors responsible for the trend. Human traffickers meanwhile are lining their pockets with the money of desperate foreigners.
UNHCR has reiterated a call for a ban on forced returns, including of asylum seekers who have had their claims rejected, to the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The call comes amid attacks on civilians and an escalation of armed conflict after a resumption of fighting.
Albert Kalenda Kabongo is originally from Congo. He now lives in Sicily and works as a cultural mediator for the Sicilian region. He has also just been chosen as one of a handful of migrant entrepreneurs who will be backed by the region to start their own business.
The Danish government has announced that it will take 200 refugees from Rwanda under a resettlement quota scheme. But the door remains firmly closed to asylum seekers.
The African Center for Strategic Studies reports that conflicts continue to drive record levels of population displacement in Africa. The continent's 36 million forcibly displaced persons represent 44% of the global total.
With the first convoy of 88 refugees, the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR on July 19 resumed the voluntary repatriation of Congolese refugees from Angola to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after departures were halted in 2020.
UNHCR has said that two million refugees will be in need of resettlement next year. That's 36% more than the number of those in 2022, the UN agency said.
Having been pushed back by the Spanish authorities to Morocco, Serge decided to try the 'Atlantic route' to Europe. But once at sea, the boat lost its motor, and Serge thought he was going to die.
More children are displaced from their homes worldwide than at any time since WWII, UNICEF has said. The agency has urged governments to boost efforts to protect and support all child refugees and migrants.
Two years ago Franck* was living in difficult conditions in a migrant camp on the Greek island of Samos. Now, he and his family have been offered a home in a welcome center in France and they have a future to look forward to at last.