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Executive Summary for March 8th

We review the latest issues related to refugees, including deadly clashes between people smugglers in Libya, Hungary’s new law mandating the detention of all asylum seekers and a wave of displacement from northern Myanmar into China.

Published on March 8, 2017 Read time Approx. 2 minutes

Migrants Killed in Libyan Smuggler Clashes

At least 22 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in violent clashes between rival people-smuggling gangs in Libya, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

IOM spokesman Joel Millman said the dead are believed to be migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, Reuters reported.

Fighting has intensified between rival Libyan factions in recent days following a battle for Libyan oil fields along the coast last week, the Guardian reported.

The number of people trying to take boats from Libya to Europe continues to climb, as the Mediterranean death toll hits a new record.

Most of the migrants and refugees passing through Libya are from sub-Saharan Africa. But Millman said 62 Syrians recently made the voyage to Italy, which could indicate Syrian refugees trying to reach Europe are shifting from the blocked Turkey–Greece route to traveling via North Africa.

Hungary to Lock Up All Asylum Seekers in Border Camps

The Hungarian Parliament approved new legislation that requires all asylum seekers, including children, to be detained while their asylum claims are processed, Politico reported.

Hungary will close down refugee reception centers and move asylum seekers to camps made out of shipping containers on the Serbian border. The mandatory detention applies even to families with children and to unaccompanied minors over 14 years old.

The U.N. refugee agency said it was “deeply concerned” by the new legislation, which it said “violates Hungary’s obligations under international and E.U. laws, and will have a terrible physical and psychological impact on women, children and men who have already greatly suffered.”

The new rules also allow Hungarian police to push back migrants on the Serbian border if they cannot prove their right to enter the country.

Medical charity Medecins sans Frontieres said Hungarian border guards routinely abuse migrants at the border. MSF Belgium director Christopher Stokes said the abuse includes beatings, releasing tear gas at close range and forcing migrants to remove clothes and go back barefoot, the Associated Press reported.

Thousands Flee to China Amid Myanmar Fighting

Thousands of people fled over the border from Myanmar to China seeking refuge from renewed fighting between rebels and the Myanmar military, Reuters reported.

The Chinese Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), part of the Northern Alliance coalition of rebel groups, staged an attack in the town of Laukkai on March 6.

A Chinese official told the news agency thousands had crossed into China amid the fighting. China has called for an immediate cease-fire between the military and the rebel group.

“There are so many people here and the traffic is chaotic,” a hotel staff member in a Chinese border town told Reuters. “There are thousands of refugees here and they look frightened. Some of them brought suitcases with them, while some only brought some light clothes.”

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