West Africa Approves World’s First Action Plan to End Statelessness
Officials from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), along with the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR), have adopted the world’s first action plan to eradicate statelessness.
Stateless people do not have citizenship in any country and often do not have access to work, education or healthcare.
The ECOWAS plan aims to eradicate statelessness in the region by 2024, a commitment made by the bloc in January 2015. The plan includes reforming legislation around statelessness, improving the use of data and guaranteeing freedom of movement around the region and access to proof of nationality through identity papers.
“There is a unique political will to eradicate stateless in West Africa. Countries are looking to protect stateless people and reform legislation so no one is excluded from obtaining nationality,” UNHCR senior regional protection officer Emmanuelle Mitte told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
ICC to Investigate Human Trafficking in Libya
The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor is examining whether to open a formal investigation into crimes against thousands of vulnerable migrants and refugees in Libya, Al Jazeera reported.
The International Organization for Migration said that criminal gangs have imprisoned 20,000 migrants and refugees in irregular detention centers in Libya. The organization has collected testimonies from migrants describing modern-day slave markets in Libya, where they are traded for between $200 and $500 and later held for ransom, as well as face forced labor and sexual exploitation.
ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said that her office was collecting and analyzing information “related to serious and widespread crimes allegedly committed against migrants attempting to transit through Libya.”
“I take this opportunity before the council to declare that my office is carefully examining the feasibility of opening an investigation into migrant-related crimes in Libya should the court’s jurisdictional requirements be met,” she added.
Myanmar to Relocate All Displaced Rohingya to ‘Model Villages’
Displaced Rohingya living in camps in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State will be resettled in “model villages” within five years, government minister Dr. Win Myat Aye told the Myanmar Times on Sunday.
The government has already begun relocating people from three camps in the Kyaukphyu, Rambre and Pauktaw municipalities to newly constructed “model villages” in the area.
“We will gradually close the rest of the camps … We have relocated camps to places that are easily accessible to amenities by first discussing with the residents and concerned organizations,” Dr. Win Myat Aye added.
Rohingya refugees who fled the country during a recent military operation by security forces in response to attacks against border police will also be resettled in these new villages upon return to Myanmar.
UNHCR has previously warned that forced resettlement in these “camp-like” villages could hinder stabilization and “create further tensions.”
Recommended Reads
- The Washington Post: Italian Forces Ignored a Sinking Ship Full of Syrian Refugees and Let More Than 250 Drown, Says Leaked Audio
- KPBS: Asylum 101: Different Pathways Asylum-Seekers, Refugees Take to Reach the U.S.
- NPR: When Elmo and Big Bird Talk to Refugees
- Mic: Conflict in South Sudan Has Led to the Biggest Refugee Crisis You Don’t Know About
- AlterNet: Bernie Sanders: The Entire World Has Failed Its Moral Obligations to Refugees