Although Eritrea long hosted a small population of Somali refugees (roughly 2,000 as of early 2019), in mid-2019 the government closed its only refugee camp, Umkulu, spurring most of the refugees to flee across the border into neighbouring Ethiopia. By the end of 2019, UNHCR reported that there were only 650 refugees remaining in the […]
Human Rights
Cameroon: Covid-19 and Detention
A critical humanitarian concern in Cameroon is its growing population of internally displaced people (IDPs), which according to UNHCR has increased substantially in recent months because of violence in northern parts of the country. As of mid-2020 there were nearly one million IDPs in the country, in addition to the more than 400,000 refugees. But […]
Fiji: Covid-19 and Detention
There is little available information about the treatment of migrants or asylum seekers in immigration enforcement procedures in Fiji. Throughout the pandemic, hundreds of people have been arrested and charged for breaching laws and regulations on self-isolation, quarantine, or movement restrictions. Prisons have continued to operate throughout the pandemic, and the Red Cross has assisted […]
Ghana: Covid-19 and Detention
As of mid-2020, Ghana was hosting more than 12,000 registered refugees and some 400,000 migrants. The online African peace research platform Kujenga Amani reported that Ghana was “slow to recognise the scale of risks posed by restrictive measures such as a partial lockdown, stay at home and border closure, to vulnerable groups in society.” As […]
Malta: Covid-19 and Detention
Having closed its ports to migrants in April, purportedly as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic (see 13 April update on this platform), Malta has continued to refuse permission for migrants rescued in the Mediterranean to disembark in the country. Since 5 August, 27 migrants rescued in the Maltese search-and-rescue area have been stranded on […]
Burundi: Covid-19 and Detention
The humanitarian challenges facing Burundi as it struggles to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic stem from the large number of nationals who fled the country seeking refuge in nearby countries and are now returning. According to UNHCR, as of June 2020, there were 334,000 Burundian refugees worldwide, including some 165,000 in Tanzania, 72,000 in Rwanda, […]
Djibouti: Covid-19 and Detention
Djibouti is a source and transit country for migration, to and from the Arabian Peninsula. The GDP has reported in the past that authorities regularly rounded up and arrested undocumented migrants, who were then detained in poor conditions. In the context of the pandemic, the closure of the Ethiopian border caused the blockage of migrants, […]
Chad: Covid-19 and Detention
Chad’s geographic location–as Libya’s southern neighbour and located at a crossroads between east and west Africa–has resulted in a “a complex humanitarian crisis,” according to IOM, and one which is further impacted by the country’s severe economic problems. As of mid-2020, there were an estimated 133,000 internally displaced persons and 475,000 refugees and asylum seekers. […]
Grenada: Covid-19 and Detention
With 24 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in total since the beginning of the pandemic, Grenada was on full lock-down for a week in April. The country now allows entry on the island from other low-risk and medium-risk countries. Travelers coming from these countries are required to present a certified copy of a negative COVID-19 test. […]
Ethiopia: Covid-19 and Detention
Following Human Rights Watch’s report highlighting the dire conditions that Ethiopian migrants have been held in in Saudi Arabia during the pandemic (see our 21 August update on Saudi Arabia on this platform), the Telegraph has revealed that the Ethiopian government has attempted to silence those stuck inside Saudi detention facilities. A leaked document submitted […]
