Monthly Press Review December 2023

January 8th, 2024 - written by: migration-control.info

OUT NOW: Our Monthly Press Review December 2023 covers topics such as Eurafrican migration control, migration, and displacement in African countries, and news on the European border regime.

In case there is a news item, report, or campaign you would like to flag in next month’s review please write us via contact@migration-control.info or on Twitter @MigControl.

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HOA Media Office

In this section we will in future publish relevant articles, and links, and also make available translations to Arabic in the form of PDFs. The media office will cooperate with Arkamani for the Sudan anthropological and archaeological translation series.

في هذا القسم سنقوم في المستقبل بنشر مقالات وروابط ذات صلة بالقرن الأفريقي كما ستكون بعض الترجمات إلى العربية متاحة على صيغة PDFs.

أيضا يسر القسم أن يعلن عن تعاونه مع دراسات أركماني الانثربولوجيا والاركيولوجيا السودانية.

Capitalism, War and Plunder in the Horn of Africa by Mark Duffield and Nicholas Stockton:
Mark Duffield and Nicholas Stockton write about the spectacular growth in livestock exports from the Horn of Africa to the urbanising Gulf states, and argue that neoliberalism has transformed the former reciprocity between ‘farmers’ and ‘herders’ into a relation of permanent war. Based on their article in ROAPE – freely available to read below – they argue that the crisis in the Horn is rooted in how the wealth of its peoples is being internationally plundered.

يمكنكم الإطلاع على الترجمة العربية لمقال الرأسمالية، الحرب والنهب في القرن الأفريقي من سلسلة ترجمات أركماني عبر هذا الرابط .

Follow Up: Gaza

Links up to November 17 to be found in our BLOG entry on the Gaza War.

27.12.23: AJE: Six killed in Israeli strike on refugee camp in occupied West Bank: “Violence across the West Bank has flared since Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip began on October 7. In that time, more than 300 people have been killed in raids there and more than 4,700 Palestinians have been arrested.”

26.12.23: NYT: As World’s Gaze Shifts to Gaza, Israel’s Psyche Remains Defined by Oct. 7 Attack: “Hamas’s brutal raid and taking of hostages has left Israelis deeply traumatized and is expected to reshape the country for years to come.”

All Africa

13.12.23: Guardian: World Bank warns record debt levels could put developing countries in crisis: “Every quarter that interest rates stay high results in more developing countries becoming distressed – and facing the difficult choice of servicing their public debts or investing in public health, education, and infrastructure. The situation warrants quick and coordinated action by debtor governments, private and official creditors, and multilateral financial institutions – more transparency, better debt sustainability tools, and swifter restructuring arrangements. The alternative is another lost decade.’’

North Africa

Egypt

14.12.23: AJE: Mourning and worrying about the future in rural Egypt: “Over the last year, inflation has spiked 72 percent on food products while the Egyptian pound has devalued three times. The latter has lost 50 percent of its value and is responsible for pushing many Egyptians into poverty.
Report from the village of Nazlet el-Sharif – population about 1,000 – which sits on the Nile in Bani Suef about two hours south of Cairo. Like other villages, Nazlet el-Sharif has been sending workers to Libya for decades, mostly in the construction and maintenance sectors. Now, many of them died in the floods of Derna.”

Egypt

10.12.23: Guardian: Sisi poised to win power again, but Egyptians’ minds are on Gaza: “There’s no chance of a fair election on Sunday, but Egypt president’s weakness on Gaza is showing in a country racked by poverty, corruption and inflation.”

Mediterranean

17.12.23: Alarmphone: Shipwreck off Libya: 61 people missing: “Though initially suggesting that they would send a patrol vessel, the Libyan authorities stated at 20:44h CET that they would not send out any rescue assets, due to the high waves. Alarm Phone is aware, however, that at least two assets of the so-called Libyan coastguard were out at sea during the day. They intercepted at least 3 boats and forced the people on the move back to Libya.

Other vessels of the civil fleet, who might have been able to rescue people to safety, had been ordered away from the deadly maritime zone, instructed to disembark rescued people in northern Italy. This Italian policy of forcing rescuers to disembark in faraway harbours, while knowing that people continue to escape from Libya, has knowingly widened the rescue gap at sea and proven, once more, lethal.”

Also see
16.12.23: NYT: At Least 61 Migrants Drown Off Libya, Agency Says.

Tunisia

15.12.23: InfoMigrants: Migrants in Tunisia transferred to Libyan prisons: “Tunisian police have sent over 1,500 sub-Saharans to Libya since September, according to accounts passed on to InfoMigrants. Deportations of this kind began shortly after hundreds of migrants began arriving in Lampedusa from Tunisia. Around 10,000 people landed on the Italian island during the week of September 11. The number of migrants deported from Tunisia to Libya may be much higher, with collective expulsions often carried out in the shadows.”

Tunisia

27.12.23: Le Monde Afrique: En Tunisie, les migrants subsahariens désormais sous la menace de réseaux de kidnappeurs (In Tunisia, sub-Saharan migrants now under threat from kidnapper networks): “Le Monde Afrique was able to collect several corroborating testimonies from relatives of victims, information on their location as well as documents proving several money transfers for their release.”

Tunisia

28.12.23: taz: Sieg durch Desinteresse (Victory through disinterest): “Tunisia's local elections saw a turnout of just 11 per cent. The authoritarian President Kais Saied is now likely to go through with his reorganisation of the former model democracy.”

Tunisia

03.12.23: AJE: Near Sfax, refugees scramble after violent clashes with Tunisia police: “As police and the national guard scour nearby Al Amra for a missing gun and ammunition, refugees are displaced again.”

Also see

01.12.23: AJE: ‘I wake up in pain’: Refugees struggle in Tunisian winter.

Tunisia

12/23: New ICMPD Training Center: “The training centre, which revolves around the drivers of #professionalisation and #modernisation, supported by ICMPD in the Mediterranean #MCPMed, is established as part of the third phase of the Integrated Border Management project Tunisia - Phase III (IBM Tunisia III) funded by the Republic of Austria, the Kingdom of Denmark and the Kingdom of the Netherlands and implemented by the ICMPD for the benefit of the three agencies responsible for border management in Tunisia.”

Central and Sub Saharan Africa

DR Congo

20.12.23: taz: Milizen in der DR Kongo (Militias in the DR Congo): “Heavily armed militiamen are on the front line near Goma. They have received old uniforms, weapons and ammunition from the army command. The militia spokesman confirms this: His fighters are setting up roadblocks to collect money. They levy taxes on every sack of potatoes, every goat and every passer-by, much to the chagrin of the farmers and traders. These militias are not only on the front line against the Tutsi-led M23, but Wazalendo groups are springing up like mushrooms all over the country. In the poor neighborhoods of the cities, youth gangs now call themselves Wazalendo, which used to be called something completely different.”

Also see

17.12.23: NYT: The Overlooked Crisis in Congo: ‘We Live in War’: “Six million have died, and more than six million are displaced after decades of fighting and the ensuing humanitarian crisis in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, drawing in neighbors, mercenaries and militias. An upcoming election is inflaming tempers.”

Chad

26.12.23: AJE: New constitution, old playbook: Chad’s Deby continues power play in Sahel: “Since his ascension to power in April 2021, the Chadian leader has been accused of perpetuating himself in power. His critics say the referendum confirms this.”

Chad

20.12.23: BNN: Planned March Exposes Discontent Over French Military Presence: “The demonstration is more than just a physical show of resistance. It is a symbol of the broader sentiment among sections of the Chadian population who view the presence of foreign military forces as an infringement on their sovereignty. This opposition is not unique to Chad. It extends to Niger, where the relationship between France and the local population has deteriorated significantly following a coup in July.”

East Africa

Sudan

29.12.23: AJE: ‘No way to leave’: Sudan paramilitary traps civilians in breadbasket state: “About 300,000 people fled – many for a second time – to regions under army control when the the paramilitary attacked Gezira, but many are now denied passage through RSF checkpoints. ‘It’s clear the RSF is trying to set up some kind of governance model, but we are also hearing real-life accounts … of people feeling desperation, anxiety and stress.’”

Also see

18.12.23: Guardian: RSF paramilitary seizes control of Wad Madani, Sudan’s second city.

Sudan

24.12.23: Guardian ‘Why are they forgetting about us?’: Sudan watches allies turn from war to aid Ukraine and Gaza: “Info on Diaspora Aid Coordination in UK. Seven million people have fled their homes due to the fighting that began in April, according to the United Nations, and the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, a Wisconsin-based crisis-mapping group, estimates 12,190 people have been killed. Even this is likely an undercount since many of the areas where fighting is happening are inaccessible to independent observers. Earlier this month, the World Food Programme warned war-wracked areas could face “catastrophic hunger” by next May unless more food assistance gets in.”

24.12.23: Sudan’s civilians pick up arms, as RSF gains and army stumbles: “The Sudanese army and allied groups are relying on young men with little or no military training to fight as foot soldiers against the RSF. Over the past week, recruitment has picked up across River Nile State since the RSF captured Wad Madani, Sudan’s second-largest city.”

West Africa

Burkina Faso

28.12.23: NYT: Criticize This African Country’s Army and You Might Be Drafted: “The military junta in Burkina Faso has been forcibly conscripting critics, say

human rights organizations.”

Burkina Faso

12.12.23: RFI: Burkina Faso: une trentaine de personnes massacrées par des hommes en tenue militaire à l'ouest du pays (Burkina Faso: around thirty people massacred by men in military uniform in the west of the country): “In the commune of Fô, in western Burkina Faso, some 95 km from Bobo-Dioulasso, around thirty people were massacred late on Friday morning 8 December by men in military uniform. On the day of the weekly market in Dougounani, the assailants first executed a woman before attacking other people.”

Also see

05.12.23: TNH: In Burkina Faso's blockaded towns, war crimes and mutual aid;

28.11.23: New Humanitarian: Burkina’s Faso jihadist conflict worsens as military junta pursues ‘total war’.

Mali

05.12.23: taz: In Mali ist nicht alles schlecht (Not Everything is Bad in Mali): “In the West, the shortcomings of Assimi Goïta's military government are emphasised above all. On the ground in the capital, people emphasise successes above all - even though living conditions are becoming increasingly difficult.”

Mauretania

14.12.23: CRIDEM: La Mauritanie demande l’augmentation de son quota des visas auprès de l’union européenne (Mauritania requests an increase in its visa quota from the European Union): “Mauritania has asked the European Union to increase its visa quotas and to exempt its diplomatic and working passports from visas in all European Union countries. This request was made last Monday at a high-level meeting in Brussels with a delegation from the European Union, Spain, France and Germany to examine the issues of illegal immigration and the growing influx of migrants to Mauritania.”

Nigeria

26.12.23: Tagesschau: Viele Tote bei Angriffen in Nigeria (Many dead in attacks in Nigeria): “According to local authorities, more than 100 people were killed in attacks by armed perpetrators on several villages in the Nigerian state of Plateau over the weekend. ‘The attacks were well coordinated. No fewer than 20 different communities were attacked by the bandits’.”

Nigeria

07.12.23: Reuters: The Abortion Assault: “Nigerian military ran secret mass abortion programme in war against Boko Haram. Central to the abortion programme is a notion widely held within the military and among some civilians in the northeast: that the children of insurgents are predestined, by the blood in their veins, to one day take up arms against the Nigerian government and society. Four soldiers and one guard said they were told by superiors that the programme was needed to destroy insurgent fighters before they could be born.”

Sahel

06.12.23: FP: Sahel Military Governments Seek Confederation: “Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger’s foreign ministers on Friday recommended that the countries form a confederation following a two-day meeting in Mali’s capital, Bamako. The meeting aimed to flesh out the details of the new Alliance of Sahel States, created in September, which commits each country to come to the others’ aid in defense against external

Aggression.”

Also see

06.12.23: AJE: Chad, Mauritania pave way for dissolution of G5 Sahel alliance;

30.11.23: Jungle World: Die Sahel-Staaten Mali, Burkina Faso und Niger verkünden große Wirtschaftspläne (The Sahel states of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger announce major economic plans).

Sahel

30.11.23: taz: Alleingelassen im Sahel (Left Alone in the Sahel): “Der UN withdrawal from Mali and sanctions against Niger complicate the work of international aid organisations.”

West Asia

Syria

29.12.23: AJE: ‘The revolution will continue’: Syrian protesters vow ahead of 2024: “It was the 130th such demonstration since they began taking place on a daily basis in August. This time, there was a particularly festive feel in anticipation of the New Year in the air.

Worsening living conditions and lack of public services have sparked protests in regime-held areas over the past few years of the civil war, but they have not been this sustained and populous before. This time, the slogans shouted are more reminiscent of 2011 when protests were met with brutal repression by the security forces.”

Syria

07.12.23: TNH: What the war in Gaza means for Syria: “Looking at the longer-term horizon, Syria’s already terrible humanitarian crisis seems certain to get worse, and the war in Gaza will only accelerate that decline.”

Europe

France

08.12.23: taz: Migrations-Sonderstatus für Algerien bleibt (Special migration status for Algeria remains): “As established since 1968, Algerians will continue to be able to immigrate to France more easily. A proposed change by the Conservatives was rejected.”

Germany / Georgia

20.12.23: taz: Asylabkommen mit Georgien (Asylum agreement with Georgia): “The deal: Georgia takes back compatriots who are required to leave the country and in return receives easier access to the labour market.”

05.12.23: Tagesschau: Großbritannien schließt Asylvertrag mit Ruanda (Great Britain concludes asylum agreement with Rwanda): “The UK wants to seal itself off from migrants with significantly tougher barriers for foreign skilled workers and a new asylum pact for deportations to Rwanda. The agreement stipulates that asylum seekers who enter the UK irregularly will be sent to the East African country. In return, Rwanda has received an initial payment of around 163 million euros (140 million pounds) and the promise that further money will be provided for the accommodation and care of the deportees.”

European Union

20.11.23: European Commission: Commission provides over EUR 250 million of additional funding to reinforce border security and migration management: “Under the Border Management and Visa Instrument (BMVI) call, the Commission will subsidise EUR 141 million worth of electronic surveillance systems at external land borders. With this funding, optical fiber and software to improve the exchange and processing of data between border posts and command centres will be installed in Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Lithuania, and Hungary. Furthermore, electronic surveillance equipment will be set up at border posts in Bulgaria, Latvia and Lithuania, and the deployment of mobile detection equipment will follow in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Greece.”

20.12.23: Guardian: EU reaches asylum deal that rights groups say will create ‘cruel system’: “EU negotiators have reached agreement on rules aimed at spreading the cost and responsibility for hosting asylum seekers across the bloc, limiting the number of people coming in and making it easier to deport those whose claims fail.

After all-night talks, representatives from national governments, the European parliament and European Commission “reached a deal on the core political elements” of the pact on asylum and migration, the EU’s Spanish presidency said on Wednesday.

The controversial accord paves the way for a definitive agreement scheduled to be reached before European parliament elections in June and follows years of failed attempts to overhaul the bloc’s outdated asylum rules.”

Also see

23.12.23: taz: Christian Jakob: Asylrecht in der Europäischen Union: Alle roten Linien überschritten (Asylum law in the European Union: all red lines crossed): Timeline since 2008;

21.12.23: medico: Bernd Kasparek: Das Ende des Schutzes (On the reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS));

taz 21.12.23: Neues EU-Asylrecht: Schnell einsperren, dann abschieben (New EU asylum law: lock up quickly, then deport);

12/23: Mediendienst Integration: Reform des Gemeinsamen Europäischen Asylsystems.

EU Commission

14.12.23: Statewatch: Expansive new police powers hidden behind EU’s migrant smuggling proposals: “At the end of November, the European Commission announced two new laws to fight migrant smuggling. One seeks to make the legal framework more punitive. The other aims ‘to reinforce Europol’s role in the fight against migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings,’ but would in fact expand Europol’s powers in relation to all crimes for which it has competence, and let the agency conduct ‘non-coercive investigative measures’ during joint operations with national police forces. Its staff are currently prohibited from conducting any kind of investigative measure.”

Reports and Long Reads

12/23: BVMN: Decoding Balkandac: Navigating the EU's Biometric Blueprint: “This report [...] investigates the development of interoperable biometric databases, akin to Eurodac, in the Western Balkans, referred to as the “Balkandac” system. It highlights a lack of transparency in current regional data-sharing systems and underscores the significant role of EU institutions in their creation.”

12/23: MSF: “You’re going to die here” – Abuse in Abu Salim and Ain Zara detention centres: “Over the course of 2023, until MSF ended its medical activities in Tripoli, MSF teams witnessed and documented living conditions and abuses inside

Abu Salim and Ain Zara detention centres, where thousands of people, including women and children, continue to be arbitrarily detained.” The findings are contained in this report.

12/23: World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT): The Torture Roads – The Cycle of Abuse against People on the Move in Africa: “The report combines stories of violence and extortion by officials at borders, of human trafficking, forced prostitution and rape at the hands of criminal gangs, with comprehensive analysis of relevant legal frameworks. It also highlights how migration agreements signed by the European Union (EU) and some of its member States with a number of African countries have contributed to an increase in the exposure of migrants to this litany of abuse.”

29.12.23: Guardian: Hein de Haas: Everything politicians tell you about immigration is wrong. This is how it actually works: “Escaping poverty, violence and the climate crisis are factors, but the main driver is rich societies demanding cheap labour.”

21.12.23: FluchtforschungBlog: Maurice Stierl: Migration Magnets, Migration Myths: The Pull Factor Mirage: “In the scholarly community, push/pull models of migration have become – by and large – replaced by models seeking to reflect the complexity of migration. And yet, in public debates on migration, pull factors are ever-present.”

20.12.23: The Conversation: Migrant work is European agroindustry’s biggest source of wealth and shame: “Generally speaking, migrants work in the countryside, and do the hardest, most dangerous, or lowest paid tasks that the local population refuses to carry out.

This begs the question of what drives workers to accepts these jobs. Social research on the ground has revealed various motivations. Among them are wages that, although low, are often higher than those in a migrant worker’s place of origin. Agriculture is also rife with informal work, meaning it is often the only available source of employment for migrants without work permits.

In addition, certain structural disadvantages make it difficult for workers to protest and demand improvements.”

14.12.23: ECFR: Road to nowhere: Why Europe’s border externalisation is a dead end: “European migration policy frames migration as a security threat and focuses on externalising European borders to southern Mediterranean states, especially since the migration crisis of 2015.

This approach colours the EU’s and member states’ relations with their southern neighborhood. It also impedes their pursuit of strategic interests in the region and diminishes the EU’s reputation as a values-based power.

Border externalisation has failed to prevent a new surge in irregular migration on the central Mediterranean route since 2020. In fact, European externalisation policies likely contributed to this new crisis.

Europeans need to stop handing control of their borders to warlords and autocrats in Libya and Tunisia. Instead, they should focus on measures that tie the short-term imperative to appear in control of migration to longer-term initiatives that lessen the need for people to migrate in the first place.”

11.12.23: Lighthouse Report: Frontex and the pirate ship: “The EU’s border agency Frontex and the Maltese government are systematically sharing coordinates of refugee boats trying to escape Libya with a vessel operated by a militia linked to Russia, human trafficking, war crimes and smuggling.”

Also see

11.12.23: AJE: European powers allow shadowy Libyan group to return refugees.

12/23: Terre des Hommes: Vor Mauern und hinter Gittern: “Geflüchtete Kinder und Jugendliche sind an den EU-Außengrenzen in Ungarn, Griechenland, Bulgarien und Polen schwerwiegenden Kinderrechtsverletzungen ausgesetzt. Wie der vorliegende, von terre des hommes Deutschland in Kooperation mit fünf Partnerorganisationen der europäischen Zivilgesellschaft verfasste Bericht dokumentiert, sind sowohl rechtswidrige Zurückschiebung als auch Migrationshaft bei Kindern und Jugendlichen in den untersuchten Mitgliedstaaten der EU weit verbreitete und systematisch angewandte Praxis.”

11/23: Clingendael: Despite military progress, it’s not going well in Northern Benin: “The Government of Benin has shown a remarkably strong commitment to stopping the spread of violent extremism. It has invested in its military and its relations with the population and has largely been able to stand its ground against Violent Extremist Organizations (VEOs). Yet, from July 2022 onwards levels of violence in the region have increased by more than four times compared to the year before. And worse, they continue to show an upward trend.”

02.12.23: Bulgaria Bordermonitoring: Almost 100 refugees died on their way through Bulgaria within the last two years: According to a research by the ARD studio in Vienna in cooperation with Lighthouse Reports, Der Spiegel, RFE/RL, Solomon and inews – which was published in the beginning of December 2023 – at least 93 people died on their way through Bulgaria in the last two years alone.

Campaigns

Coalition for the El Hiblu 3: A Grave Injustice: Attorney General Files Bill of Indictment against the El Hiblu 3: The Attorney General of Malta has issued a Bill of Indictment against Abdalla, Amara, and Kader, also known as the El Hiblu 3. They have been wrongly charged with a long list of serious crimes which could carry life imprisonment. We are aggrieved and angry that the Attorney General has ignored the testimonies heard during the compilation of evidence over the last four and a half years, which demonstrate the indisputable innocence of the El Hiblu 3.

Events

Tuesday, 16.01.24: Sudan. Revolution and War

20:00 (8 pm) Mehringhof, Gneisenaustr. 2a, Berlin

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