Dozens Die of Thirst in Sahara
Survivors said at least 44 people died of thirst after their truck broke down while they were crossing the Sahara desert in northern Niger.
The dead include several women, three babies and two other children, and were mainly from Nigeria and Ghana, according to six people who managed to survive by trekking to a remote village.
The Sahara desert is one of the deadliest stretches of the African migrant trail north. The journey from Niger’s Agadez to the Libyan border takes two to three days in scorching temperatures. Survivors say some smugglers provide little water and few toilet stops and often beat or sexually abuse migrants.
Owing to the remote location, it is unclear how many have died along the way, but some experts estimate more people have perished in the desert than in the Mediterranean Sea, which has already claimed more than 1,500 lives this year.
Germany Suspends Group Deportations to Afghanistan
Berlin will halt the deportation of groups of rejected Afghan asylum seekers after an explosion in the Afghanistan capital, Kabul, near the German embassy.
The bombing on May 31 left at least 90 people dead, including a security guard at the embassy, and 450 injured. The blast badly damaged the building.
Germany suspended a prearranged deportation flight the same day. Chancellor Angela Merkel later said that Berlin will halt deportations except “voluntary repatriations and deportations of violent extremists and criminals in individual cases,” until reassessing the situation in July.
Germany began sending groups of Afghans back home last December; 92 people were deported between December and March, Agence France-Presse reported. Human rights groups cautioned that it was not safe to return people to Afghanistan.
HRW: E.U. Pressure to Find Fewer Refugees ‘Vulnerable’
The European Union is pressing authorities and aid groups to identify fewer asylum seekers on the Greek islands as “vulnerable,” which qualifies them to be transferred to mainland Greece, according to Human Rights Watch.
People working with UNHCR, IOM, the Greek Asylum Service and NGOs told HRW they had received multiple communiques asking them to restrict the number of people classified as vulnerable.
Vulnerable people, including those with disabilities and survivors of torture or sexual violence, are eligible for special protection, such as exemption from accelerated asylum procedures and transfer to mainland Greece, where they will have better access to services.
The E.U. and Greek government want to keep more asylum seekers on the islands to avoid providing so-called “incentives” for more people to make the crossing from Turkey.
Recommended Reads
- ANSA: Shifting Media Coverage of NGO Rescue Operations
- Norwegian Refugee Council: African Countries Top List of Neglected Crises
- Agence France-Presse: Cricket Now Booming in Germany, Thanks to Refugees
- CARE: ‘Refuge: Transforming a Broken Refugee System’ – But Into What?
- RMMS: Before the Desert: Conditions and Risks on Mixed Migration Routes through West Africa