Israel: Court upholds policy of departure or detention for people seeking asylum. IDC member The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants has said that “the ruling will lead to the imprisonment of innocent people because of their justified fear to leave a place in which no one can guarantee their safety”. The Hotline was one of the key organisations who brought forward a group of migrants’ petition against the state’s policy of indefinite imprisonment for asylum seekers and refugees crossing into Israel.
Egypt: Fifteen Sudanese refugees shot dead on Egypt-Israel border, as they attempted to enter Israel .
Most of the people being smuggled through the Sinai are fleeing political violence in Eritrea, Sudan and Ethiopia, among other countries, making the perilous journey to seek asylum in Israel. Around 45,000 refugees and asylum seekers have sought safety in Israel since 2005, yet Israel rarely grants asylum and enforces policies of indefinite detention and ‘voluntary’ return. Many making the journey through the Sinai have been shot, sometimes fatally, by Egyptian security forces, while others have been tortured by Egyptian and Sudanese human traffickers, according to Human Rights Watch.
Syria: Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Syrian American Medical Society in New York City, host “Die-in” demonstration demanding the UN Security Council enforce their resolution to end attacks on health professionals in Syria. At least 679 medical workers have been killed in Syria since 2011.
Libya: Brilliant educational comic book tool aims to engage children in thinking about human rights, trafficking, and exploitation of foreign labourers.