Tens of thousands of people migrate from Eastern Africa to Yemen each year – even though the country has been devastated by a civil war, and smugglers frequently blackmail and torture migrants. Most migrants are hoping to make it to Saudi Arabia, and find work there. Let’s take a closer look at this highly dangerous migrant route.
According to the latest UN figures, Turkey's offensive against Kurdish militia in northern Syria has already resulted in at least 176,000 people being displaced, about half of whom are children. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in the past week alone, more than 60,000 people in the region had fled their homes.
In one week, a total of 493 migrants from sub-Saharan, Arab and Asian countries were collected by Libya's controversial coast guard. They are now in four detention centers in and around Tripoli that are known for overcrowded, inhumane and insecure conditions.
Pope Francis called for "eradicating borders that divide and create opposition" and reflected on the message of "peace with no borders." His message was part of this year's "Prayer for Peace" meeting., which was attended by top-level delegates in Madrid in recent days.
UNHCR is calling on the international community to not abandon displaced people in Libya, who it says are "suffering immensely."
At the height of the Darfur war — considered the world's worst conflict in 2004 — a nurse from the US treated a baby with a leg injury. 15 years later, she was reunited with him on board a migrant rescue ship in the Mediterranean.
It is estimated that about 6,000 people are currently locked up in 24 detention centers across Libya. Now the Libyan authorities are pondering their release following the airstrike on the Tajoura detention center.
Migrants are being allowed to leave the Tajoura detention center in the Libyan capital Tripoli, about two weeks after it was hit by an air strike which killed at least 53 people and injured 130 others. The UNHCR Libya is trying to register and provide assistance to many who have left but what will happen to them next?
The UN Migration Agency (IOM), following the migrant killing at the Tajoura detention center in Libya, said 3,000 migrants and refugees are still arbitrarily detained in and around Tripoli.
Migrants remained locked in and were later shot at by guards as a bomb blast hit the Tripoli detention center where they were being held on Wednesday morning. Survivors of the deadly airstrike, which has provoked an international outcry, are pleading for help from the UN.
The UN Security Council did not issue a statement condemning the bombing in Libya after the US reportedly did not endorse it. Washington earlier criticized the attack as 'abhorrent', but did not call for a ceasefire.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has expressed interest in a proposal for a humanitarian corridor from Libya, the Comunità di Sant'Egidio said Thursday.