HRW: Jordan Deporting Syrian Refugees
Jordan has deported hundreds of refugees to Syria without giving them a reason or opportunity to challenge their deportation, Human Rights Watch said.
“Jordan has collectively expelled groups of refugees, denied people suspected of security violations due process and ignored the real threats deportees face upon return to Syria,” said Human Rights Watch’s refugee rights director Bill Frelick.
Around 400 registered refugees were deported each month in the first five months of 2017. A further 300 refugees returned voluntarily and 500 others went back under unclear circumstances each month, according to a report by the human rights group.
The report said Jordan was deporting fewer families en masse as the year went on, but in practice once the head of a household has been deported the rest of the family will join “voluntarily.”
Spike in Migrant Boats From Tunisia
Tunisia intercepted around 700 people taking boats to Europe in September, a significant increase on the 170 stopped a month earlier.
Data released last week showed the spike in boats carrying Tunisians and migrants from African nations.
Tunisia’s navy rescued 98 people whose boat took on water off the southeast coast on September 30. The army said it arrested another 43 people who had taken to sea in four boats from Zarzis.
It’s unclear exactly what’s behind the surge in boats from Tunisia, migration expert Matt Herbert wrote on Twitter, but noted that worsening conditions in Libya and tighter Tunisian border security may be propelling Maghrebis to sail from Tunisia and Algeria.
Bangladesh Talks to Myanmar Over Return of Refugees
Bangladesh has begun talks with Myanmar over the flight of more than half a million Rohingya refugees across the Bangladeshi border in recent weeks.
Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina has called for “safe zones” inside Myanmar to which Rohingya refugees can return.
The talks in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka will focus on the return of refugees, while also addressing ways to end the violence and a proposal for a United Nations fact-finding mission to Rakhine state, Reuters reported.
Bangladesh, which already hosted 300,000 Rohingya refugees before the latest campaign of violence that began in late August, has insisted they cannot stay in the country. Myanmar does not accept the citizenship of most Rohingya, leaving them stateless.
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