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Executive Summary for March 27th

We review the latest refugee-related issues, including Egypt’s jailing of 56 people over a deadly migrant shipwreck, East African leaders holding a summit on Somali refugees and a European watchdog warning that Hungary’s new migrant law could result in child abuse.

Published on March 27, 2017 Read time Approx. 2 minutes

Egypt Jails 56 People Over Migrant Shipwreck

An Egyptian court sentenced 56 people to jail terms of between two and 13 years for their role in a migrant shipwreck that left around 200 people dead last year, Egypt’s Al Ahram newspaper reported.

The charges included manslaughter, negligence, endangering lives, receiving money from the victims, hiding suspects from authorities, using a vessel without a license and not using adequate rescue equipment. One woman was acquitted in the case.

The boat capsized on September 21 after departing from the Egyptian port city of Rosetta headed toward Italy. Rescuers saved 169 passengers but at least 202 people died, including Egyptian, Sudanese, Eritrean and Somali migrants and refugees.

In October, Egypt passed a law imposing jail terms and fines for migrant smuggling.

IGAD Pledges Work, Voluntary Returns for Somali Refugees

East African leaders at a special regional summit on Somali displacement pledged to gradually allow Somali refugees to work.

The regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), said it would integrate Somali refugees into national planning efforts and promised to find alternatives to settling refugees in camps.

Leaders at the IGAD summit in Nairobi also vowed to facilitate voluntary and safe return of refugees to Somalia. Kenya has been accused by human rights groups of pressuring Somali refugees to return.

Refugee experts welcomed the outcomes of the summit, but cautioned that it remained to be seen how and when these pledges would be put into practice. “It must be backed up by concrete action,” said Amnesty International’s Victor Nyamori.

More than 2 million Somalis have been displaced by conflict and drought in their country in recent decades. Around 900,000 are hosted by East African countries,

A recent drought in the region has raised the risk of famine in the country and a new wave of Somali refugees.

European Watchdog: Hungary’s Migrant Law Exposes Children to Abuse

The Council of Europe warned Hungary that its new law detaining all asylum seekers in border camps, including minors, would put children at risk of sexual abuse.

Under legislation passed earlier this month, unaccompanied children over 14 years old face the same mandatory detention as adults.

“Instead of having access to a guardian and being able to benefit from the child protection system, these children will be considered as adult asylum applicants, and placed in transit zones increasing the risk of becoming a victim of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse,” Claude Janizzi, the chairperson of the Council of Europe’s Lanzarote Committee on the rights of children wrote in a letter to Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban.

“I therefore respectfully call upon you to ensure that child protection measures benefit all children without exception (including adolescents below 18 years of age),” Janizzi wrote, requesting Hungary provide details on the protection of lone children within one month.

The Council of Europe’s monitoring bodies are often referred to in legal cases before the European Court of Human Rights, which recently ruled against Hungary’s detention of two migrants in 2015 and currently has several cases pending against Hungary’s refugee policy.

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