An investigative report by German magazine Stern alleges that UNHCR staff in Uganda and Kenya are engaged in fraud. The report said refugees were paying about $2,500 (2,250 euros) each to get resettled to western countries, with the corruption also including fake medical certificates to ease entry.
Norway says it will take 600 asylum seekers recently evacuated to Rwanda from Libyan detention centers. The Norwegian immigration minister told media that his country wants to stop the sometimes deadly smuggling of migrants across the Mediterranean Sea.
The UN has described rising numbers of people fleeing their homes, saying more must be done to "shoulder this responsibility." German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Germany will welcome more refugees in the future.
In Libya, traffickers allegedly make migrants pay for a place in a closed detention center. They claim this is a fast-track method for the migrants to be evacuated and resettled in Europe. This information is false, but several hundred people have already fallen victim to the scam.
Vincent Cochetel, the UNHCR Special Envoy for the Central Mediterranean, called on European states in Brussels on Wednesday, December 4 to offer more resettlement places for refugees in Libya. So far, only Italy has offered a firm commitment.
A group of migrants staying at a gathering and departure facility (GDF) in the Libyan capital Tripoli have been accusing the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, which administers the camp alongside the UN-backed Libyan government, of "starving them out" in order to relieve pressure on the over-crowded and over-burdened facilities. A charge the UNHCR denies.
In the latest resettlement of Syrian refugees from Lebanon, through the Humanitarian Corridors project, 113 people arrived in Rome on Wednesday by plane. Thus far, the civil society project has helped bring 1,800 people to Italy.
African migrants and refugees relocated to Rwanda are relieved to have escaped the hellish conditions in Libyan camps. But they will not give up on their original goal to reach Europe and are starting to feel restless.
African migrants and refugees relocated to Rwanda are relieved to have escaped the hellish conditions in Libyan camps. But they will not give up on their original goal to reach Europe and are starting to feel restless.
A new document by the German government highlights strengths and weaknesses in ongoing EU efforts to evacuate migrants and refugees stranded in Libya. It focused in particular on recent initiatives to move migrants to Rwanda and Niger.
The first batch of migrants who were evacuated from Libya are now waiting at a transit center in Rwanda to find out about their refugee status. Regardless of the decision, many of these traumatized people see Rwanda as a transit country, not their new home.
154 Somali refugees were sent to Germany from Ethiopia last week. The resettlement was made possible through a program run by the German and Ethiopian governments, the UN migration agency, and the UN refugee agency.