Monthly Press Review July-August 2026

September 3rd, 2026

This monthly press review covers topics such as Eurafrican migration control, migration, social movements, and displacement in African countries, as well as news on the European border regime.

The selection of these articles is somewhat rough and contingent, biased towards our interest in popular uprisings and social and migration movements, as well as border politics and the militarisation of social relations.

The main sources are news outlets such as AJE, the Guardian and the New York Times, as well as newsletters from various other sources. As we have learned, particularly following the events in Gaza, it is important to supplement the European, and especially the German, news landscape with articles from abroad. If you would like to contribute articles from other sources, please let us know at contact[at]migration-control.info.

For a more distiguished way of doing press reviews, and more fokused on European developments, please Also see migreurop Press Review July 2026, and the ERCE Press Review.

We also recommend the SWP Web Monitore, especially Nahost/ Nordafrika, and Subsahara-Afrika.

US and More:

27.08.26 NYT: ICE Arrests Soar as People With No Criminal Record Are Increasingly Targeted:

Overall, immigration arrests rose to record highs with 43,000 ICE arrests in June and 49,000 in July. Two fatal shootings involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, in Texas and Maine, drew outrage but did not meaningfully slow the pace of arrests.
A majority of the immigrants arrested in July were people who were accused of violating civil immigration laws but who had not been charged with or convicted of a crime, an analysis of newly released federal data shows. The share with a past violent criminal conviction fell to less than 4 percent.
After his confirmation this spring, the secretary of homeland security, Markwayne Mullin, promised quieter but more effective enforcement. ICE now appears closer than ever to meeting a recent goal of 2,000 daily arrests.

13.08.26 SWP: Migration Routes in Focus. Route-based Approaches between Protection and Control:

Route-based approaches promise a paradigm shift in international refugee and migration policy. Rather than treating individual country contexts in isolation, they shift attention to developments along key migration corridors.
route-based approaches can improve protection along migration corridors, but they can also legitimise the outsourcing of migration control to countries of origin and transit. Whether route-based approaches amount to substantive change or merely repackage a logic of control will depend on how they are implemented.

12.08.26 IOM: Global Overview of Migration Routes (Jan-April 2026):

This edition of the Global Overview of Migration Routes provides an overview of the trends and characteristics of seven major migration routes between January and April 2026, bringing together data from IOM field operations and Regional Data Hubs (RDHs).

14.07.26 NYT: Armed Standoffs Over Migrants Erupt on India’s Longest Border:

India is driving out Bangladeshi immigrants it says are in the country illegally. Bangladesh is pushing back, leaving people stranded along the border amid increasing tensions between the countries.

All Africa

19.07.26 AR: Inside Erdogan’s Africa machine: The network expanding Turkiye’s influence across the continent:

From drone makers and airport builders to diplomats, powerbrokers and airline executives, meet the people and institutions driving Ankara’s African ambitions.
Much of that transformation bears the imprint of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Since taking power in 2003, he has turned Africa into a cornerstone of Turkish foreign policy, expanding Ankara’s diplomatic network, boosting trade and championing Turkish companies across defence, infrastructure, aviation, energy and mining.

07.07.26 AR: Schengen Area: The politics behind Europe’s visa lottery:

Why is a Senegalese applicant more likely to be refused a European visa than an Ivorian one? Our infographics reveal how the Schengen system dispenses trust unevenly, shaping who gets to travel and who is left behind. Wealth remains the first filter. The richer the country, the lower the refusal rate tends to be.
According to figures from the European Parliament, the majority of people deemed to be in an irregular situation in Europe entered legally with a visa before overstaying its validity – not by an irregular border crossing.

North Africa:

MMC: North Africa, Quarter 2, 2026:

These updates with key migration trends are based on a compilation of a wide range of secondary (data) sources, brought together within a regional framework and applying a mixed migration analytical lens.

Egypt

14.08.26 MEMO: 1,100 Sudanese return home from Egypt under voluntary repatriation program:

A total of 1,100 Sudanese nationals returned home from Egypt under a voluntary repatriation program, the state-run Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported.

06.07.26 Defence Post: Egypt Opens ‘Octagon’ to Centralize Military Command:

The project is part of Cairo’s broader plan to relocate key government institutions to the region while modernizing its defense infrastructure.
Officials described the facility as the country’s most advanced and the largest defense and administrative complex in the Middle East and Africa. It is equipped with a modern communications network and artificial intelligence systems that enable live data analysis, protected data exchange, and rapid decision-making across the Egyptian Armed Forces. In the future, the facility is expected to function as an integrated defense and administrative hub, combining command tasks, logistics, training facilities, and a national emergency and crisis management center.

Libya

25.08.26 TNH: Landmark ICC trial on Libya migrant abuses must lead to more scrutiny of EU complicity:

In late July, judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) unanimously voted to confirm charges against former Libyan security official Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri, paving the way for his case to move to trial.
The case – the first to reach trial since the ICC opened an investigation into international crimes committed in Libya 15 years ago – marks a major legal breakthrough, offering a long-awaited, if still partial, reckoning for survivors and Libyans more broadly with the system that enabled the abuses. Testimonies from migrant and refugee victims can help place before the court the wider system of migration containment, exploitation, and abuse across Libya.

21.08.26 AJE: Libya rivals test a new path towards unity, 15 years after Gadaffi downfall:

Institutions built for the transition have become part of rival states. Revolutionaries joined the security services, interim governments outlasted their deadlines, and blockades gave way to negotiations over revenue. Libya’s rivals have learned to bargain without a political settlement, and everyday Libyans, three wars in, have no appetite for a fourth. What has not been tested is whether this bargaining between rivals on economic issues can extend to power itself.
Last week, Haftar’s military intelligence chief, Fawzi al-Mansouri, was killed after a bomb attached to his car in Benghazi exploded. It now appears that intra-authority violence is emerging, just as fighting between the eastern and western authorities subsides.

Also see Reuters 30.08.26: Libya rivals agree roadmap for elections within 24 months at UN-led talks; AJE 20.08.26: Can US, Middle Eastern powers unite Libya 15 years after Gaddafi overthrow?; AR 16.07.26: US gamble on Libyan elite risks locking in chaos for oil: Envoy Massad Boulos is pushing a high-stakes power-sharing pact to stabilise the country, but analysts warn that bypassing democratic elections to secure energy assets is a dangerous game.

19.08.26 Tagesschau: Wie sich die EU von einem Milizenführer erpressen lässt:

Die EU plant eine engere Zusammenarbeit mit Ostlibyen, um die Fluchtroute nach Kreta zu schließen. Das zeigen vertrauliche Unterlagen, die Report Mainz und dem Spiegel vorliegen. Insbesondere geht es um die Zusammenarbeit mit der TBZ-Brigade, die von Saddam Haftar angeführt wird.
Die internen Unterlagen zeigen nun, wie sich die EU von den Haftars unter Druck setzen ließ - obwohl sie den Erpressungsversuch durchschaute. So zitiert das Auswärtige Amt Anfang Juli aus einem Treffen in Brüssel: "Haftars nutzten Migranten als Mittel zum Zweck und Geschäftsmodell. (…) Die EU habe Ostlibyen bisher nichts anbieten können, dies werde sich hoffentlich ändern." Gemeint ist offenkundig die geplante Zusammenarbeit.

See also Spiegel 19.08.26: Wie die EU vor libyschen Warlords buckelt

19.08.26 Birimi Jihed: Interceptions in Libya:

More than 470 people intercepted in little more than 24 hours,from the cases publicly reported alone.
And the deportation machine is moving just as fast.Yesterday, 174 Bangladeshi people were deported from Benghazi through Benina Airport.Another 160 people were deported from Al-Batnan,some through the Emsaed land border,others transferred to Ganfouda pending deportation. 334 people in deportation operations in one day.

12.08.26 AJE: Drone attacks on energy infrastructure deepen Libya’s energy crisis:

[Video] Repeated drone strikes on oil and power infrastructure are deepening Libya’s energy crisis. Al Jazeera’s Malik Traina says attacks are threatening fuel supplies and worsening power cuts as rival groups compete for control of the strategically located city of Az Zawiya.

27.07.26 Mig-Control: Haftar's Libya as an EU Proxy:

European institutions continue to provide surveillance, equipment, training and political legitimacy to this system and then distance themselves from its consequences. It is Europe’s colonial border regime extending deep into the Mediterranean to prevent racialised people from reaching safety. The interception machine never stops because Europe continues to finance and legitimise it.

27.07.26 AJE: Protests erupt in Libya’s Tripoli as anger grows over power cuts:

Protesters in Libya’s capital, Tripoli, have shut down roads and public buildings across the city as a civil disobedience campaign, launched over prolonged power cuts and high electricity rates, spread to more districts.
Crowds blocked the coastal road in Janzour, west of Tripoli, on Sunday, and gathered outside the West Tripoli power station in protest at the hours-long outages.
The campaign was launched by the Souq Al-Jumaa Movement, which has opposed the Government of National Unity since May 2025.

06.07.26 Reuters: Pakistan mediating Libya unity push as rival camps seek deal, Pakistani sources say:

The proposal – which one Pakistani source cautioned was still being discussed in detail – would establish a transition period with Abdulhamid Dbeibah of the U.N.-recognised and western-based Libyan Government of National ‌Unity as ⁠prime minister and Saddam Haftar, deputy commander of the eastern-based Libyan National Army, as chairman of the Presidential Council.
The faction around Haftar's father, Khalifa Haftar, the commander-in-chief of the LNA, controls many of Libya's biggest oilfields and key infrastructure, and the proposed plan would hand him authority over the budget.

Morocco

24.08.26 taz: Die Wut von Marrokos Jugend:

Casablanca, Marokkos größte Stadt, boomt. Doch viele junge Leute sind frustriert. Manche fliehen deshalb wie zuletzt nach Ceuta.

20.08.26 Euronews: EU to boost funding for Morocco’s migration management after Ceuta crisis:

The EU is set to finalise a deal for a strategic and comprehensive partnership with Morocco by the end of the year, similar to the one the European Commission concluded with Egypt in 2024.
"Morocco already benefits from financial support for migration management. Between 2021-2024, we have already committed €222 million, and we foresee to provide an additional €190 million until the end of this budget cycle in 2027," a Commission spokesperson told Euronews.

20.08.26 Infomigrants: L'Espagne ouvre des centres d'accueil pour les migrants à Ceuta et organise le transfert de 500 mineures vers le continent:

Dès les premières lueurs du jour, jeudi 20 août, des dizaines de policiers étaient positionnés le long de la plage du Trampolín pour évacuer le camp qui a pris forme sur cette étendue de sable. C'est ici que des milliers de migrants - principalement des Subsahariens et des enfants non accompagnés qui ne peuvent être expulsés sommairement et qui sont restés après la vague d'arrivée de plus de 70 000 migrants fin juillet - survivaient dans des conditions difficiles.

See also AJE 19.08.26: Spain plans transfer of 500 migrant children from Ceuta to mainland, also on right-wing resistance against the plan; AJE 28.08.26: Spain asks EU for help to process 5,000 Ceuta migrants amid local unrest

19.08.26 France 24: ‘We won’t go back’: Young Moroccan migrants in Ceuta refuse to abandon their European dream:

FRANCE 24 spent an evening with unaccompanied minors who are sleeping rough in Ceuta but refusing to return home. Amid the fear, the cold and the long wait for help, these young Moroccan migrants shared their stories.

18.08.26 AR: Morocco-UAE: Behind the billions, a new Atlantic-to-Gulf axis:

Emirati investment committed to Morocco is reported to exceed $15bn. But the figure only tells part of the story. Behind this capital, an axis is taking shape linking the Gulf to the Atlantic, with Africa as its stage.

17.08.26 Mig-Control: Monthly Special: Ceuta 2026:

Ende Juli haben mehr als 70.000 Menschen die Grenze von Marokko zur spanischen Exklave Ceuta überwunden. In Ceuta stießen sie auf Zurückweisung und zugenagelte Geschäfte. Sie litten Durst und Hunger. Die allermeisten kehrten wenig später wieder nach Marokko zurück, aber mehr als 5000 Menschen befinden sich noch in Ceuta und fordern eine Lösung. Nach der jüngsten offiziellen Mitteilung Madrids wurden im Meer 83 Leichen geborgen. Nichtregierungsorganisationen schätzen die Zahl der Todesopfer auf weit über hundert.
Die folgende Sammlung von Artikeln und Kommentaren zu Ceuta 2026 fokusiert nicht auf die Niederungen der europäischen Politik und streift die Frage nach Schleppern und ausländischen Agenten nur am Rande. Interessant für uns sind vielmehr die Initiative und Agency der jungen Marokkaner:innen (und der wenigen nicht-marokkanischen Migrant:innen), die am 30./31. Juni ihre Chance gekommen sahen, die Grenzbefestigungen von Ceuta zu überwinden.

16.08.26 AP: Moroccan security forces arrest nearly 300 migrants trying to reach Spain’s Ceuta:
Hundreds of migrants trying to reach the Spanish exclave of Ceuta by land and sea were arrested by Moroccan security forces, Moroccan state television reported Sunday, as authorities tightened security along the border following calls for a new mass crossing.
Moroccan state broadcaster Medi 1 TV said 294 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were arrested Saturday while attempting to enter Ceuta. Authorities also arrested 61 Moroccans accused of facilitating the migration attempts, the broadcaster reported.

06.08.26 AR: Morocco-China: What is the real weight of Beijing in the Moroccan economy?:

According to Morocco’s ministry of industry and trade, more than 80 Chinese investment projects are currently under consideration across the Kingdom, while the new factories at Tangier Tech have already created nearly 3,800 industrial jobs.

27.07.26 Energynews: Morocco Launches Financing for $26 Billion African Gas Pipeline:

Financing for the largest infrastructure project in West Africa has begun. Morocco has opened talks with the US Export-Import Bank (US EXIM Bank) and the World Bank to finance the Atlantic African Gas Pipeline, valued at $26 billion.
The pipeline is set to run 6,800 kilometers and cross thirteen countries along the Atlantic coast.

16.07.26 Spiegel: Wie Marokko die digitale »Monsterwaffe« gegen unliebsame Kritiker einsetzte:

Mehrere Whistleblower berichten aus dem Inneren des marokkanischen Sicherheitsapparats detailliert und umfassend über das Ausmaß der staatlichen Überwachung im Land und über dessen Grenzen hinweg.

Tunisia

30.08.26 Mig-control: Water Shortages and Heat in Tunisia:

Tunisia is reaching a dangerous social breaking point.
Across the country, people are facing repeated electricity cuts, water shortages and extreme heat. Videos circulating today show long queues from early morning for bottled water, while in Ariana residents reportedly stopped a water-delivery truck as frustration boiled over.

See also AJE 31.08.26: Tunisia swelters as power cuts disrupt water supplies

22.08.26 AJE: Tunisia recovers 11 bodies after boat carrying migrants sinks, 3 missing:

The boat, believed to be headed towards Italy, set off on Thursday with 15 mostly young people on board.
All of the migrants were from the Ben Guerdane area in southeastern Tunisia, and dozens of young people gathered late on Saturday in the city near the Libyan border to demand that search operations be accelerated. Police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters.

21.08.26 AJE: Antigovernment protesters take to Tunisia’s streets for second month:

Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets of Tunisia’s capital to call for the ousting of President Kais Saied and the restoration of democracy. Protesters in Tunis said on Thursday that they reject “one-man rule” and “a slide towards dictatorship”, and urged the release of jailed opposition figures, activists and journalists.
Thursday’s protest follows a similar one on July 25, which was scheduled to coincide with the anniversary of President Saied’s 2021 dismissal of the government and suspension of parliament.

Find video here. See also AJE 02.09.26: Tunisia’s civil society faces growing pressure as crackdown widens; AJE 01.08.26: Beneath Tunisia’s silence, public anger simmers:

East Africa

Egypt/ Ethiopia

21.08.26 AJE: After GERD, can Egypt shape Ethiopia’s next Nile dams?:

Egypt’s response to Ethiopia’s new Nile dam plans is centred on diplomacy, international pressure and cooperation with Sudan, rather than trying to stop construction outright. However, the experience of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has exposed the limits of Cairo’s influence. The revival of three proposed Blue Nile hydropower projects – Karadobi, Mandaya and Beko Abo – will test whether Egypt can turn more than a decade of opposition into practical leverage over how Ethiopia develops the river.

Ethiopia

18.08.26 AR: Ethiopia accused of drone strike near Tigray capital:

Authorities in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region have accused the federal government of carrying out a drone strike near the regional capital Mekelle, raising fears that a confrontation gathering pace around the region’s borders is moving closer to its political centre.

Somalia

17.08.26 TNH: Gulf war fallout: Somali households pay the price of trade disruption:

Somalia imports around 90% of what it consumes. Much of that trade passes through logistical hubs in the United Arab Emirates and Oman before being transferred to smaller vessels bound for Somali ports, including Berbera, Bosaso, and Mogadishu.
An additional problem is looming in the countryside. Four failed rainy seasons in a row have wiped out assets and livelihoods, with more than half a million people displaced this year alone. Most are heading to the southern town of Baidoa or Mogadishu in the hope of finding work or aid – despite the severe cuts to humanitarian budgets.

03.07.26 Spiegel: USA blockieren offenbar Friedensmission in Somalia:

Donald Trump wettert seit Langem gegen die Regierung in Mogadischu. Nun streichen die USA ihre Unterstützung der Friedenstruppe in Somalia. Das könnte drastische Folgen für das Land haben.

Sudan

August 2026: CMI has published a very good series of Blog entries on Sudan

26.08.26 AJE: Is Sudan’s battlefield shaping the terms of its next political phase?:

Army gains, RSF defections and al-Burhan’s political push point to a possible shift in Sudan’s war.
Army advances are putting pressure on RSF supply lines; defections are raising questions about the force’s cohesion; and al-Burhan, who also heads the Transitional Sovereignty Council, is seeking to shape a political process from a position strengthened by developments on the battlefield.

14.08.26 NYT: One Sudanese City Is the Civil War’s Latest Battleground:

Taking El Obeid would allow the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to consolidate its hold on western Sudan, a significant strategic goal.

But also see 27.07.26 SWM: Sudanese Army Restores Khartoum–El Obeid Road Link: The Sudanese Armed Forces launched one of its largest offensives of the year on Saturday, capturing a series of towns and villages along the strategic Al-Sadarat Highway in North Kordofan. The road, also known as the Al-Ingaz Al-Gharbi Highway, links the capital Khartoum region with El Obeid through Jabra al-Sheikh and Bara.

08.08.26 ApuZ: Sudan:

6 Beiträge über Geschichte und Situation des Sudan. Die vier Beiträger „weißer“ Autoren sind informativ, wobei sie an der Dezemberrevolution nicht sonderlich interessiert sind. Die zwei Beiträger „schwarzer“ Frauen behandeln die Geschichte der sudanesischen Frauenbewegung und Literatur und Film.

02.08.26 AJE: Sudan army drone attack on Darfur kills 35, rights group says:

At least 35 people were killed, and several others wounded, when Sudanese army drones struck a traditional court in western Darfur, a rights group has said. The Emergency Lawyers group, which has documented abuses by both sides of the three-year civil war in Sudan, said the strike on Sunday hit a court in the village of Garra al-Zawaya in North Darfur state.

Also see AJE 28.07.26: Inside the secret battle to document RSF abuses in Sudan: Opposition is not welcome in RSF-held territory, but working quietly to document the abuses are secret monitoring teams working with Sudan’s National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), gathering evidence in the hope that it will eventually be used to get justice for civilian victims.

29.07.26 AJE: After fleeing Sudan’s war, refugees battle thirst in Chad’s camps:

After escaping war and atrocities, families now battle water shortages and fading hopes of returning home.
According to the United Nations, more than 938,000 Sudanese refugees have fled to neighbouring Chad since the war began in April 2023.
Most now live in overcrowded camps across the country’s arid east, where some refugees survive on less than half the minimum daily water supply recommended under United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) humanitarian standards.

21.07.26 Guardian: As Sudan’s war crosses borders and millions are made refugees, could Ethiopia’s plan solve ‘humanity’s migration issue’?:

With the 14 million people now displaced by the war in Sudan, Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country, has finally been dragged into the conflict. A vast clandestine RSF training camp has emerged at an Ethiopian military base on the outskirts of the western town of Asosa.
A short distance from the base – its entrance heavily guarded as the Guardian drove past in late June – along the B40 highway and down a rutted dirt track lies the refugee camp of Ura. Rows of neat tents house 14,500 Sudanese people who have fled the RSF.

The country’s government launched a pioneering project. The venture aims to transform Ethiopia’s more than 1.1 million refugees – one of the largest populations in Africa – into social and economic assets. Refugees will be given improved access to education, healthcare and work, allowing them to become integrated, taxpaying residents rather than having to rely on aid.

15.07.26 Spiegel: EU stoppt Goldhandel mit dem Sudan:

Der Kauf, die Einfuhr und die Verbringung von Gold aus dem Sudan sind in der EU nun verboten. Der Grund: Die Einnahmen aus dem Edelmetallhandel befeuern den brutalen Bürgerkrieg.

08.07.26 Reuters: UN probe says mass killings, rapes, abductions, starvation by Sudan force amount to genocide:

Sudan's RSF forces carried out mass killings, abductions ‌of women and girls, mass gang rapes and forced starvation in a city they besieged and captured last year, as part of an intentional policy amounting to genocide, a U.N. probe said on Wednesday.

08.07.26 TNH: Sudan’s aid crisis is also a crisis of accountability:

Sudan’s crisis shows that the international response system has failed, humanitarian, political, and diplomatic alike.

Sudan / Chad

27.08.26 AR: Inside Abéché, Chad’s second city, where Darfur is never far from hearts and minds:

[Panorama Report] Less than 200 kilometres from Darfur, Abéché, the capital of Chad’s Ouaddaï province, has become one of the main havens in the Sudanese crisis. Refugees, aid workers, traders and soldiers cross paths in a city where ties with its neighbour are as old as the tensions that come with them.

25.08.26 fides: War in Sudan spreads to neighboring countries: tensions with Chad and Ethiopia:

The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) have stepped up operations aimed at cutting the supply lines of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which run through several neighboring countries.
The most serious incident occurred on August 21, when the SAF, using aircraft and drones, pursued and bombed an RSF convoy that had entered approximately 100 kilometers into Chadian territory.
Sudanese air strikes targeted an RSF convoy south of the border triangle between Sudan, Libya and Chad. According to the Sudanese army, the convoy consisted of around 200 combat vehicles coming from the Kufra camps in Libya. Khartoum claims that a supply chain originates in the United Arab Emirates, passes through Benghazi and Tobruk, and crosses the Libyan-Chadian border before reaching Darfur in western Sudan.
Also info on Turkish drones, used by both, RSF and SAF alike.

See also Reuters 15.07.26: The US army veteran and the mystery Boeings flying Sudan’s war routes; AJE 28.08.26: Chad accuses Sudan of air strike near shared border that killed 12: A Chadian security source said it “targeted a fuel market where the RSF [Rapid Support Forces] refuel.

West Africa and Sahel

MMC: West Africa, Quarter 2, 2026:

The QMMUs offer an update on new trends and dynamics related to mixed migration and relevant policy developments in the region. These updates are based on a compilation of a wide range of secondary (data) sources, brought together within a regional framework and applying a mixed migration analytical lens. Similar QMMUs are available for all MMC regions.

25.08.26 adf: Russia Targets Coastal West Africa as It Loses Ground in Sahel:

A string of devastating attacks by Sahelian terror groups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have shown Russian mercenaries’ inability to provide security. Now, Russia appears to be pivoting to an alternate strategy.
A 1,400-page data leak obtained by pan-African media outlet The Continent and shared with several international newsrooms detailed a Russian influence network that referred to itself as “The Company.” The documents revealed how Russian agents have planted hundreds of articles in West African media outlets as part of its ongoing “Project Afrika,” wherein the network identifies, recruits and co-opts journalists, activists and nongovernmental organization members.

22.07.26 ACLED: Extraction under fire: How mining reshapes conflict in the central Sahel:

[Report] Mining sites are attractive revenue sources for armed actors in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. However, ACLED’s analysis of mining-related violence reveals that the competition around them goes much deeper.
Rather than focusing only on incidents at extraction sites, the analysis examines conflict in and around mining areas. It identifies conflict events within defined proximity thresholds surrounding mining sites and concession areas.

Benin

14.07.26 AR: How Benin is coping with an unprecedented influx of Sahel refugees:

Having fled Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria, tens of thousands of forcibly displaced people have arrived in northern Benin. The latest official figures from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) confirm that as of 31 January, nearly 60,000 forcibly displaced people had been recorded in Benin. The overwhelming majority are in Atacora and Alibori, the two northern departments bordering Burkina Faso and Niger

Burkina Faso

15.08.26 rfi: Burkina Faso: les journalistes désormais contraints de suivre une formation militaire:

Plus de 40 journalistes burkinabè de médias publics et privés viennent de suivre une formation militaire présentée par la junte au pouvoir comme une « immersion patriotique » qui aura désormais lieu chaque année.

14.08.26 AR: ‘Africa Corps Airline’: How Russia transports weapons and troops to the Sahel:

A report by the American NGO Center for Advanced Defense Studies sheds light on the air logistics of Africa Corps. Seven airlines, including Russian and African state-owned operators, supply bases in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Burkina Faso occupies a central position in this air network.

25.07.26 Sahel Intell.: Burkina Faso : Plus de 1,3 million de déplacés ont regagné leurs localités d’origine:

Les autorités ont, par ailleurs, insisté sur l’importance d’accélérer les travaux de réhabilitation des habitations dans les localités concernées. Elles estiment que cette mesure est essentielle pour pérenniser le retour volontaire des populations et favoriser leur réinstallation dans des conditions durables.

But see also TNH 06.07.26: Burkina Faso’s army accused of preventing civilians from leaving jihadist-besieged towns: More than a dozen civilians and aid workers told The New Humanitarian that, in some places soldiers are also preventing people from leaving, hoping to maintain an appearance that their fight against the rebels is succeeding.

22.07.26 AJE: Why Traore has opened a new front with Burkina Faso’s Muslim community:

Once backed by influential Muslim scholars, Burkina Faso’s military leader is now facing a growing rift over arrests, new legislation and his campaign against what he describes as religious extremism.
Traore also announced plans to recall Burkinabe students studying Islamic law in Arab countries, claiming that more than 800,000 were pursuing religious education abroad without acquiring practical professional skills.
Alongside the domestic tensions, Traore recently received Israel’s new ambassador to Burkina Faso, Simon Seroussi, in Ouagadougou to present his credentials. It comes as Israeli security agencies expand cooperation with members of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), the bloc formed by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, whose governments have expressed interest in Israeli security technology.

July 2026 RSF: Inside Burkina Faso’s BIR-C: the cyber militia targeting journalists via disinformation and online harassment:

An online militia linked to Burkina Faso’s ruling junta is carrying out coordinated attacks against journalists and others who criticise the military dictatorship, combining pro-regime propaganda and disinformation with cyber harassment.

11.07.26 Businessinsider: Burkina Faso's administration asserts 100% state control over the new $68 million gold mine:

The Captain Ibrahim Traoré-led government of Burkina Faso has officially awarded an industrial mining permit to its state-owned mining company, SOPAMIB, for the development of the Bouboulou gold project. Before this state takeover, the Bouboulou concession was subject to typical private-led exploration frameworks common under former administrations.

Chad

17.07.26 L’Observateur: Le Tchad ouvre ses frontières aux ressortissants africains à partir de 2027:

Le Tchad franchit une nouvelle étape en faveur de l'intégration africaine. Le président Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno a annoncé, à N'Djaména, la suppression de l'obligation de visa pour l'ensemble des ressortissants africains à compter du 1er janvier 2027.
Avec cette réforme, le Tchad rejoint le cercle des pays africains ayant déjà supprimé les visas pour les citoyens du continent, parmi lesquels figurent le Bénin, le Togo, le Rwanda, le Ghana, la Gambie et les Seychelles.

Ghana

15.07.26 AR: Ghana’s grand plan for a new Green City will not wash away Accra’s planning failures:

President Mahama’s response to devastating floods is a sprawling new administrative capital. But urban planners warn that shifting ministries will not cure the systemic problems choking the historic metropolis.

Ivory Coast / Mali

01.09.26 L’Observateur: Côte d’Ivoire - Mali : la frontière se précise:

La Côte d’Ivoire et le Mali franchissent une nouvelle étape dans la délimitation de leur frontière commune. Les deux pays ont adopté le tracé définitif de la frontière et validé l’avant-projet de traité de délimitation, selon un communiqué du gouvernement ivoirien publié mercredi 26 août.

Liberia

20.08.26 Guardian: US deports 20 people to Liberia, the first of 1,200 migrants under Trump deal:

The Liberia-US agreement is one of the largest third-country deportation arrangements pursued by the administration since Trump returned to office last year.
The US has agreed to extend visitor visas for Liberians from 12 to 36 months and pledged $124m in assistance as part of the arrangement.
A new report by Refugees International and Human Rights First say the Trump administration has reached deals with at least 35 countries and has sent roughly 23,000 people to 26 of them as of early August, and makes the Liberia agreement the largest single arrangement so far.

03.08.26 AR: Liberia cocaine case exposes major node in Africa’s drug networks:

Liberia President Joseph Boakai has fired senior airport, police and intelligence officials as the country’s biggest-ever cocaine investigation widens from foreign traffickers to alleged state complicity, adding to concerns the continent’s Atlantic coast is becoming an increasingly important corridor for cocaine bound for Europe.

01.08.26 AJE: Liberia’s kush crisis: The hidden trade behind a generation at risk:

On the streets of Liberia’s capital, the signs of the kush crisis are increasingly hard to miss. Young people gather in neighbourhoods where families say addiction has pulled children away from school, their homes and their communities. Kush, a cheap and highly addictive synthetic street drug, has spread across parts of West Africa and become one of Liberia’s most urgent public concerns.

Mali

26.08.26 France 24: Au Sahel, l'Algérie et le Mali veulent "tourner la page des tensions":

La visite du Premier ministre malien Abdoulaye Maïga en Algérie, le 24 août, signe le rétablissement du dialogue entre l'Algérie et le Mali après des mois de crise diplomatique. Mais leurs divergences risquent de réapparaître lorsque sera abordée la question du Nord-Mali, selon Bassem Laredj, analyste et spécialiste de l’Afrique du Nord et du Sahel. Entretien.

20.08.26 HRW: Mali : L’« Africa Corps », contrôlé par la Russie, a massacré des villageois:

Les combattants ont tué 9 civils et incendié des maisons incendiées dans un village tenu par un groupe armé islamiste

11.08.26 taz: Ein Wüstenkrieg ohne Ende:

Malis Militärregierung wollte mit russischer Hilfe das Land befrieden. Jetzt sind Tuareg-Rebellen und bewaffnete Islamisten wieder in der Offensive.

Niger

29.08.26 Reuters: Mutinous soldiers attack airport, presidency in Niger capital, sources say:

Sustained gunfire and explosions rang out early Saturday across several areas of Niger's capital, including the airport and near the presidency, in what four sources described as an attack by ‌mutinous soldiers.
The early morning assault lasted for hours, involving soldiers from the ⁠localities of Ouallam, Tera and Dosso in the southwest, according to a Niger security source and Yvan Guichaoua, senior researcher at the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies. Troops in this area have sustained heavy casualties in battles with the regional Islamic State affiliate.

Also see AN 30.08.26: Dozens of soldiers arrested in Niger after attempted mutiny; 30.08.26 Business Insider: Niger fights off latest coup plot with support from Russia, Algeria, and Sahel bloc allies; taz 30.08.26: Die radioaktiven Fässer auf der „Base 101“: Die umkämpfte Luftwaffenbasis am Flughafen von Nigers Hauptstadt Niamey ist nicht nur militärisch wichtig. Es lagern dort 1.000 Tonnen Urankonzentrat; Jeune Afrique 17.08.24: Niger : le MPLJ, mouvement pro-Bazoum, intensifie ses attaques contre la junte

24.08.26 Africa Businessinsider: 2 years after taking control from foreign operators, Niger grants major uranium permits to national companies:

Niger has granted two major uranium mining permits to national companies, two years after the military-led government began taking key uranium assets back from foreign operators and placing them under state and national control.

11.07.26 Niamey: Région d’Agadez : une crise énergétique multidimensionnelle paralyse le nord du Niger:

Depuis des semaines, les villes d’Agadez, Tchirozérine et Arlit subissent une quadruple pénurie : eau potable, électricité, gaz domestique et carburant.

07.07.26 AN: At least 16 arrested as Niger expands anti-LGBTQ measures:

The arrests come weeks after a new law imposed lengthy prison terms and heavy fines, placing Niger among a growing number of West African states tightening restrictions on sexual minorities.

02.07.26 Infomigrants: Niger: Nearly 15,000 migrants pushed back from Algeria so far in 2026:

Over 14,600 people have been deported from Algeria to Niger since the beginning of the year, according to the migrant charity Alarm Phone Sahara. This brings the total number of people returned from Algeria since the beginning of 2024 to well over 82,000. The situation in the perilous border region remain dire, with assistance growing scarce.

Nigeria

22.08.26 AJE: Nigeria and the Sahel: A growing security divide:

A widening diplomatic rift is complicating efforts to confront a shared cross-border security threat.

Also see The Conversation 12.08.26: Nigeria’s border closure failed to stop smuggling. Here’s why: Nigeria presents a rich case to explain how border closures work in unstructured, corruption-prone and vulnerable economies; RFI 03.07.26: Le Nigeria veut renforcer sa coopération avec le Niger et le Bénin

17.08.26 AR: Can Nigeria’s herder settlement plan end the long deadly conflict?:

The Nigerian government is planning to establish grazing reserves and ranching settlements across all states and the Federal Capital Territory, in a renewed effort to end open grazing, which has been blamed for years of deadly clashes between farmers and nomadic pastoralists.

24.07.26 BBC: Nigeria's president approves largest military expansion in recent times:

Bola Tinubu has greenlit the recruitment of 28,000 extra soldiers and the creation of four new army divisions, which will take the total number up to 12. Nigeria's government is under intense pressure to curb the violence perpetrated by a variety of armed groups.

Senegal

28.08.26 Infomigrants: Sénégal : l'Union européenne construit deux centres pour les exilés interceptés ou secourus dans l'Atlantique:

Deux centres pour personnes migrantes au Sénégal, dont l'ouverture est prévue pour l'un en 2026, pour l'autre en 2027, sont financés par l'Union européenne. L'objectif affiché est de garantir le bon déroulement des procédures administratives post-interceptions et post-sauvetages, avec la protection des publics les plus vulnérables. Mais des risques de transformation à des fins de détention, dans le cadre des enquêtes sur les passeurs, existent.

10.08.26 africanews: 71 men arrested in Senegal for 'unnatural acts' as crackdown intensifies:

Months after passing a law upping the penalties for homosexual relations, Senegal is intensifying its crackdown on same-sex relations.

13.07.26 FA: Senegal Is on the Brink:

[Long Read] After an estimated $7 billion to $13 billion in unreported debt incurred between 2019 and 2023, which Senegal’s presidency and finance ministry had hidden it from the National Assembly, the IMF, and the World Bank, the IMF would have had full electronic access to the government’s fiscal and financial data, enabling it to closely monitor financial activity, under a new program with IMF.
Senegal is left with two ugly options: borrow more on worse terms to service its debt or restructure under a new IMF program.

Togo

13.07.26 AR: A trench, bases and Turkish ‘trainers’: Togo’s secret strategy against jihadists:

[Long Read] For several years now, Togo has quietly been building up a plan to fight jihadist groups from the Sahel. Behind this strategy, clues point towards Turkiye. An investigation.

Sub Saharan Africa

Cameroon:

20.07.26 AR: Cameroon: How gold worth billions escapes to Dubai:

Barely 5% of Cameroon’s gold production is thought to pass through legal channels. Yet the rest still leaves the country, much of it through its international airports.

DRC

23.08.26 France 24: DR Congo, AFC/M23 group agree on roadmap for peace negotiations after Swiss talks:

Mediators representing the Rwanda-backed AFC/M23 armed group and the Democratic Republic of Congo in a joint statement published Sunday said they have agreed on a roadmap for peace talks. The two sides signed a US-brokered peace agreement late last year in the Qatari capital Doha, but fighting has continued.

17.08.26 Reuters: Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo becomes deadliest in country's history:

The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 2,325 people, government data showed on Sunday, surpassing the toll from the 2018-2020 outbreak to become the deadliest in the country's history.
Congo's public health institute said in its latest report that confirmed cases had risen to 4,945, including 101 new ‌cases detected in the previous 24 hours.

28.07.26 Reuters: Thousands protest in eastern Congo over any presidential third term:

Thousands of people rallied in the eastern Congolese cities of Goma and Bukavu on Tuesday to protest against proposed constitutional changes that could ‌pave the way for President Felix Tshisekedi to run for a third term.

07.07.26 AR: US-backed Lobito Corridor project set for construction as AFC secures $753m:

The deal, following the signing of key financing agreements in late 2025, will fund the rehabilitation, upgrade, and long-term operation of the 1,300-kilometre brownfield rail corridor linking the Port of Lobito in Angola to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) border.

02.07.26 FA: Why Trump’s Congo Deal Is Falling Apart:

[Long Read] The Trump administration’s approach to Congo has offered a test case for its new Africa strategy—a transactional one that prioritizes dealmaking, trades political support for natural resource deals, and threatens foreign governments with sanctions or the withholding of U.S. foreign assistance.
But its handling of Congo is also a demonstration of the limits of Trump’s transactional method.

Kenya

14.07.26 AR: Kenya: Can concrete succeed where pulpit might be failing in Ruto’s reelection bid?:

As Kenya approaches the 2027 general election, President William Ruto is pivoting away from the faith-based populism that brought him to power. In its place is a multibillion-shilling drive to build roads, ports, affordable housing and other flagship projects, especially in hostile opposition strongholds.

See also AR 16.07.26: Kenya: Ruto’s cash handouts fuel 2027 vote-buying fears; AR 15.07.26 AR: Kenya’s shadow army: How cheap thugs became a political necessity: With crucial elections looming, desperate and unemployed youth in Nairobi are being hired for pennies to crush political dissent

Mozambique

26.08.26 AJE: Why northern Mozambique’s surging violence is worsening displacement crisis:

More than 100,000 people displaced last year alone, adding to the 1.3 million people already forced to flee from their homes.

South Africa

AR 17.08.26: Migrant attacks top talks at SADC summit in South Africa:

Attacks on migrants were never on the agenda for this year’s Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Durban, but it loomed large in discussions and a protest outside the meeting venue.
On 11 August, South Africa’s Home Affairs Department said it wanted to recoup the nearly R300m ($18.5m) it had cost to repatriate around 83,000 foreign nationals fleeing the violence, a large number of whom were in the country undocumented.

Zambia

17.08.26 AR: Zambian president headed for victory as opposition arrests cloud vote:

Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema edged closer to securing a second term Monday as results came in from last week’s vote, marred by opposition arrests and a much-criticised suspension of vote counting.

Zimbabwe

27.08.26 AR: Zimbabwe’s gold push: Can formalisation curb smuggling and damage?:

Zimbabwe wants to capture more of its booming artisanal gold sector, curb smuggling and reduce environmental damage. But the plans risk facing resistance from the miners who do not want to incur higher operating costs.

19.08.26 AR: Zimbabwe: Mnangagwa puts ally Tagwirei into pole position for succession:

Zimbabwe presidential aspirant Kudakwashe Tagwirei’s appointment to the Senate by President Emmerson Mnangagwa has placed the powerful businessman at the centre of Zimbabwe’s unfolding succession battle.

West Asia

07.08.26 NYT: Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan Sign Joint Defense Pact:

Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a new pact on Friday committing to collective defense against attacks on any of the three nations, Saudi Arabia said, in an agreement that could reshape the strategic layout of the Middle East. But in a region of volatile rivalries, it was unclear how it would work in practice.

Afghanistan

15.08.26 Giardian: Five years into Taliban rule, Afghanistan plunges into a state of collapse – visualised:

The stark figures show that since the hardliners seized power in 2021, women have been erased from public life, poverty is forcing hopeless families to marry off their daughters and healthcare is on the brink of failure.

Also see ecre 13.08.26: Germany: The Talibans’s Closest Co-operation Partner in the EU

Iran

28.07.26 AJE: Six months on, Iran is still standing, but survival is becoming more costly:

Six months on, Iran’s leadership still measures the war by the standard it set at the outset: The system has not fallen, and everything else it considers recoverable. By that measure, survival remains a form of victory. But the pressure now falls on the household and the market, where it is harder to answer with the language of resistance. The divide between a president urging an end to the war and a security establishment determined to outlast it is no longer concealed.

See also Reuters 17.08.26: Battered by war, Iran’s rulers wary of more economic pain and unrest if US tightens pressure: While ‌Iran's leaders after holding out in nearly six months of conflict and effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global oil supply route, they face mounting pressure at home that could result in nationwide unrest, according to three Iranian officials; NYT 24.07.26: ‘We’re Trapped in Hell’: Iranians Say Life Is Put On Hold by Months of War

Iraq

23.07.26 Guardian: Iraq’s impossible predicament: Why the country is trapped between Iran and the US:

[Long Read] What is clear is that consequences of the war in Iran, which escalated dramatically this week after the collapse of the ceasefire, have been profound in Iraq – exposing the weakness of a state that is perilously divided between the war’s two main antagonists.

Palestine

29.08.26 AJE: Board of Peace’s Mladenov warns Gaza could be ‘gone for good’:

Top envoy for the US-led Board of Peace says Gaza is at risk of being ‘gone for good’ without reconstruction, Israeli withdrawal and demilitarisation in the territory. Nikolay Mladenov tells Al Jazeera worsening conditions for Palestinians could fuel another security crisis.

26.08.26 AJE: Israel extends campaign against UNRWA to advance West Bank annexation:

Analysts say Israel’s raid on UNRWA facility in Qalandiya aims to erase refugee rights, construct 9,000 settlement units and hasten the annexation of the West Bank.

12.08.26 Guardian: Israel deliberately starting wildfires in southern Lebanon, firefighters say:

Emergency services, residents and environmental groups say military dropping flares to destroy forests and crops

31.07.26 Reuters: Israeli military cracks down on West Bank village as settlers march in:

Israeli forces shot and wounded at least one Palestinian, ‌arrested at least three, and closed entrances to the village of Tal in the occupied West Bank on Friday as more than 100 Israeli settlers marched towards the village, residents said.

See also medico 30.07.26: Subsidized Impunity: Under the guise of the war on Gaza, settler violence and confiscation of Palestinian land have dramatically expanded, both in terms of geographic scope but also in intensit; AJE 27.07.26: Israeli forces storm multiple West Bank towns, settler violence worsens

21.07.26 Tagesspiegel: Droht eine neue Grenze?: Israel errichtet offenbar kilometerlange Erdbarriere im Gazastreifen: Auf einer Länge von mehr als 23 Kilometern hat das israelische Militär laut der Nachrichtenagentur AP im Gazastreifen einen Erdwall errichtet. Bewohner befürchten, dass die Barriere zu einer neuen Grenze werden könnte.

06.07.26 Guardian: Israeli command system identified 850,000 targets in Gaza and Lebanon wars, says supplier:

Elbit Systems supplied Tzayad digital army programme to map people, vehicles and other objects in real time

Syria

25.08.26 AJE: Kurdish-led SDF announces dissolution after merging with Syria’s military:

The leader of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which spearheaded the fight against ISIL (ISIS) in Syria, has announced the group’s dissolution as part of an integration plan agreed upon with President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government.

Yemen

08.07.26 MERIP: Yemen After the Saudi-Emirati Split:

[Long Read] Saudi Arabia seems to have succeeded in tightening its grip on areas outside Houthi control with the silent approval of the latter, even as it sidelines the Emiratis. Together, these changes are redrawing Yemen's political landscape along with the alliances that have sustained the war.

Mediterranean and Atlantic

27.08.26 Infomigrants: Mauritanie : 161 migrants, partis de Gambie, secourus dans l'Atlantique:

Les gardes-côtes mauritaniens ont annoncé jeudi avoir secouru deux jours plus tôt 161 migrants, dont 17 enfants, après une panne de moteur au large de la Mauritanie. Ces derniers mois, les sauvetages se sont multipliés près des côtes mauritaniennes, alors que les départs de Gambie vers les Canaries se sont intensifiés.
Pour la plupart originaires du Sénégal, de Gambie, de Guinée et du Mali, des centaines de migrants ont été secourus ces derniers mois au large de la Mauritanie, tandis que des centaines d'autres sont morts ou portés disparus dans des naufrages.
Selon l’ONG espagnole Caminando Fronteras, plus de 600 personnes ont péri dans l'Atlantique sur les cinq premiers mois de 2026. En 2025, l'organisation comptait 1 906 décès ou disparus sur cette route maritime.

See also AJE 22.07.26: More than 140 dead, missing on refugee boat stranded off Mauritania: UN says a boat carrying refugees and migrants from Africa drifted for 25 days before arriving at a port with dead and living on board.

22.08.26 ABR: From the Aegean to Crete: Why Are Refugee Routes to Greece Changing?:

Nearly 12,000 people have reached Greece from Libya so far this year, compared with around 5,000 who have arrived on the eastern Aegean islands from Turkey. A route that barely registered in Greece’s arrival statistics only three years ago has developed into the country’s largest individual maritime arrival route.
More than 3,000 were Sudanese. Hundreds came from South Sudan and Eritrea. Others came from Bangladesh, Egypt and elsewhere. For many, reaching Libya came only after an extraordinarily long and difficult journey. Crossing the Mediterranean was simply the next stage.
Tobruk and surrounding areas have developed into important departure points for boats heading north across the Mediterranean. Hellenic Coast Guard data show that 99.4% of those arriving there during 2025 had departed from the Libyan coast, most from eastern Libya.

12.08.26 IOM: Migration Routes Grow Dangerous Even as Irregular Arrivals Fall in 2026, New IOM Data Show:

Migrant deaths more than doubled along the Central Mediterranean Route and tripled along the Eastern Mediterranean Route in the first four months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, even as the number of people arriving in Europe fell sharply, according to new data released today by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

09.08.26 Alarm Phone: New measures against migration and new routes by people on the move:

Central Mediterranean Analysis, 1 January to 30 June 2026: Over the past six months, we have witnessed time and again that boats of people on the move and those of the civil rescue fleet were attacked by Libyan forces and militias. We have also witnessed repeated pushbacks (by proxy) of boats from within the Maltese Search and Rescue zone, something that the documentation of the Malta Migration Archive has also confirmed. Moreover, interceptions by the so-called Libyan Coastguard on the route from Eastern Libya towards Crete increased during the last months after pressure and financial support by the EU.

28.07.26 FRA: Search and rescue operations in the Central Mediterranean and fundamental rights - June 2026 update:

This paper provides an overview of criminal investigations and other legal proceedings initiated by European Union Member States against civil society organisations deploying search and rescue vessels and aircraft in the Mediterranean and/or against crew members. The latest update covers the period from 2018 up until 30 June 2026.

Europe

Balkans

31.08.26 Bordermonitoring: Pastrogor: Violence, Detention, Protest and Legal Repression at Bulgaria’s Borders:

[Long Read] Pastrogor, situated close to Bulgaria’s border with Turkey, has long been part of the country’s migration and reception infrastructure. Funded with European Union’s money and opened in 2012 as a, so called, transit center, its role changed significantly by the end of 2025. On 19 December 2025, the State Agency for Refugees (SAR) handed its closed reception ward in Busmantsi detention center centre back to the Migration Director
The development at Pastrogor should also be viewed within the wider transformation of the European asylum system. The increased use of closed facilities is particularly significant in the context of the implementation of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum.

09.07.26 LMD: Pufferzone und Rohstofflieferant: Wozu die EU den Westbalkan benutzt:

[Long Read] Der Exodus aus dem Westbalkan, der wachsende Zorn in Serbien, aber auch die sich ständig verschärfende Krise in Bosnien-Herzegowina zeigen, dass ein Pakt der EU mit den Westbalkanstaaten unhaltbar ist. Unterm Strich bleibt für die Region nur die undankbare Rolle als Rohstofflieferant und Pufferzone, die die Außengrenzen der Union gegen Migration schützen soll.

Germany

26.08.26 taz: Land ohne Läden als Warnung gegen die AfD:

Beim „Migrantischen Streik“ bleiben laut Veranstalter etwa 160 Läden in Magdeburg geschlossen. So soll auf die Gefahr durch die AfD aufmerksam gemacht werden.

Juli / Augist 2026 dis:orient: Dossier zu Migration zwischen Deutschland und Syrien

18.08.26 Spiegel: Dobrindt will Grenzkontrollen erneut verlängern:

Die Grenzen des Schengenraums bleiben offenbar länger geschlossen als geplant. Der Bundesinnenminister hat eine Verlängerung der Kontrollen bis März 2027 angemeldet – zum vierten Mal seit 2024.

See also Spiegel 28.08.26: Viele Geflüchtete kommen weiter ohne Registrierung bis nach Deutschland: Vom 12. Juni bis zum 11. August, also in den ersten beiden Monaten mit Geas, zählte die Bundespolizei 7314 unerlaubte Einreisen nach Deutschland und entsprechende Versuche. Einen Treffer in der Eurodac-Datei spuckte der Computer aber nur 112-mal aus, eine Quote von 1,5 Prozent.; 02.07.26: Verwaltungsgericht München erklärt Grenzkontrollen für rechtswidrig

23.07.26 taz: Ausweitung von Abschiebungen nach Afghanistan absehbar:

Die Bundesregierung will auch Afghanen ohne Vorstrafen abschieben. Mit Taliban-Vertretern zu kooperieren ist für die deutschen Behörden inzwischen normal.

01.07.26 Netzpolitik: „Da sollten die Alarmglocken schrillen“:

Das Innenministerium will Behörden erlauben, automatisierte Systeme mit Daten aus Asyl- und Aufenthaltsverfahren zu trainieren. Dabei geht es nicht nur um das BAMF oder Ausländerbehörden, sondern auch um die Polizei. Wir veröffentlichen den Gesetzentwurf.

Greece

01.09.26 Novinite: New Riot at Greek Migrant Camp Near Bulgaria:

Greek authorities have tightened police controls along the Serres-Promahon road following renewed tensions at a migrant camp near the Bulgarian border, where more than 100 migrants reportedly attempted to break out for the second time in a week.
The group mainly consists of migrants from Egypt and Bangladesh. Under Greece's new migration legislation, they are not permitted to leave the camp because their claims for asylum are not considered eligible. The authorities are preparing to return them to their countries of origin.

19.08.26 Alteconomia: A Creta è stata creata una realtà soffocante per chi chiede asilo. Anticipando il nuovo Patto:

A report from the Greek island, a testing ground for Europe’s brutal policies against people on the move: despite the arrivals, the authorities have failed to put in place any reception facilities, denying essential provisions such as beds, showers, toilet facilities and clean clothes.

24.07.26 ecre: AIDA Country Report on Greece – Update on 2025:

The updated AIDA Country Report on Greece provides a detailed overview on legislative and practice-related developments in asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum applicants and content of international protection in 2025.

22.07.26 TNH: On Lesvos, the architecture of migration deterrence laid bare:

More than anything, what returning to Lesvos revealed was the architecture of deterrence that Greece and the EU have constructed since 2015, its deadly consequences, and how both have been normalised and are increasingly being made invisible.

18.07.26 AP: Evros: Instead of Help, Violence Arrives:

In the past months, Alarm Phone received many calls from the Evros/Meriç region by people on the move being stranded in Greek territory. Most of these cases ended with heavy violence, robbery and illegal pushbacks by Greek authorities. Frontex, UNHCR and others are silent bystanders.

03.07.26 Infomigrants: La Grèce instaure une prime pour les avocats encourageant les migrants au "retour volontaire":

Les avocats pourront toucher une prime de 250 euros si leur client opte pour un "retour volontaire" dans son pays d'origine. Cette mesure s'inscrit dans une réforme plus vaste de l'aide juridique aux demandeurs d'asile.

Italy

26.08.26 Spiegel: Warum sich Italien in der Migrationspolitik wieder mit Deutschland anlegt:

Kaum ist der neue EU-Migrationspakt in Kraft, stellen sich Italiens rechte Regierungschefin Meloni und ihr Vize Salvini gegen die Rücknahme von Asylsuchenden. Grund dafür ist der Aufstieg eines noch rechteren Politikers.

20.08.26 AI: Italy: Extraterritorial Migration Detention and Human Rights Obligations: The Agreement with Albania:

The briefing examines the impact of the Italy/Albania Agreement on migration on the human rights of the people it affected since its entry into force in January 2024. It also documents the challenges faced by lawyers, courts, monitoring mechanisms and civil society in exercising their role for the people affected.

July 2026 AIDA Country Report on Italy:

The updated AIDA Country Report on Italy provides a detailed overview of legislative and practice-related developments in asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum applicants and content of international protection in 2025. It is accompanied by an annex providing an overview of temporary protection.

05.08.26 Guardian: Hundreds camp in Rome heatwave as Meloni government cracks down on squats:

Hundreds of people have spent a week sleeping in tents in the Rome heat amid a standoff between Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government and local politicians over the future of Italy’s most high-profile centre for housing and social assistance.

Lettland

11.08.26 taz: Lettland startet Operation Werwolf:

Mit Drohnen will Riga illegale Migranten an der Grenze zu Belarus abwehren. Erstmals wurde dort auch ein unterirdischer Tunnel entdeckt. „Ab heute ist der organisierten Migration ein Ende gesetzt“, kündigte Ministerpräsident Andris Kulbergs am Dienstag mit markigen Worten in Riga an. Die Operation „Werwolf“ soll den Schutz der lettischen Außengrenzen gewährleisten.

Spain

Ceuta: See Morocco

07.08.26: Reuters: Spain to establish border controls on travellers from Italy amid migration dispute:

Spain said the measures would apply while Italy applied its own measures which it said were motivated by the mass migration rush by 72,000 people on Spain's African enclave of Ceuta on July 30.

04.08.26 Spiegel: Offenbar mehr als ein Dutzend Migranten vor Mallorca gestorben:

Die spanischen Behörden haben zwei Menschen gerettet, die aus Nordafrika mit einem Boot die Balearen erreichen wollten. Die Überlebenden berichten, sie seien 15 Tage auf See getrieben, 17 Menschen seien gestorben.
Dieses Jahr erreichten nach Angaben des Innenministeriums in Madrid bereits etwa 4000 Migranten die Balearen auf dem Seeweg.

24.08.26 Guardian: French police accused of rising use of violence to stop Channel crossings:

Utopia 56, which works on beaches from where migrants attempt Channel crossings, says so far this year 2,720 people have reported being victims of French police violence, compared with 1,954 over the same period last year, when crossings overall were much higher.
The organisation says that due to increased enforcement activity on French beaches, for which the UK provides funding, crossings have become more dangerous and disorganised, putting more lives at risk. So far this year at least 21 people have died trying to cross the Channel to reach the UK.
Crossings have decreased by more than 40% so far this year compared with the same period last year and the numbers crossing in July were the lowest recorded for the month since 2020.

21.08.26 Guardian: Home Office could be blocked from deporting trafficking victims to Albania:

Albanians have been the most common nationality forcibly removed from the UK in the last five years, with 2,247 deported in the 12 months to the end of March, accounting for a quarter of enforced returns, according to UK government figures.
Data disclosed in the court case shows that while Albanian females were previously major victims of trafficking, in their case into the UK sex industry, they have been overtaken by males – mainly boys and young men – who are trafficked into the drugs trade, either to distribute illegal drugs or to work as “gardeners” in cannabis farms.

European Union

31.08.26 migreurop: EU-Turkey agreement: Ten years later, what consequences?:

[Long Read] In this article, Turkish sociologist Didem Danış shows that European externalisation has had the lasting effect of strengthening Turkey’s migration control regime.

28.08.26 SWP: Return Hubs in European Migration Policy:

[Long Read] Return hubs offer governments a visible way to demonstrate enforcement at a moment when the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum depends on credible implementation. But political salience should not be mistaken for operational effectiveness. European precedents and recent US experience suggest that transfers to remote third countries are likely to remain marginal, expensive and dependent on tenuous bargains.

See also Spiegel 21.08.26: Deutschland und vier EU-Staaten verhandeln über Abschiebezentren in Ruanda: Nach Informationen des SPIEGEL und des ARD-Magazins »Report Mainz« wird kommende Woche eine Delegation europäischer Regierungen nach Ruanda reisen, um über sogenannte Return Hubs in dem afrikanischen Land zu beraten. Die Reise geht auf eine Gruppe von Staaten zurück, die sich selbst auch »die Umsetzer« nennen. Neben Deutschland gehören ihr Österreich, Dänemark, Griechenland und die Niederlande an; Infomigrants 07.08.26: Rome et Kigali discutent d'une possible externalisation au Rwanda des procédures d'asile déposées en Italie: Le 4 août dernier lors une réunion d’urgence des ministres de l’Intérieur de l’UE en visioconférence pour évoquer la crise migratoire de Ceuta, Rome avait effectivement appelé Bruxelles à financer des centres migratoires externalisés, situés hors de l’espace Schengen, où seraient délocalisées les procédures d’asile et de retours de migrants. S'inspirant d'un accord de ce type déjà passé par l’Italie avec l'Albanie, la proposition envisageait d'en conclure d'autres avec plusieurs pays africains dont l’Ouganda, le Ghana et le Rwanda; 14.07.26 taz: Abschiebeknäste im Nirgendwo: Die größte offene Frage aber ist, welche Länder sich überhaupt für einen Return Hub hergeben. Denn außer dem auf Menschen aus Italien beschränkten Pilotprojekt in Albanien gibt es bislang nur Medienberichte, welche Staaten die EU im Blick haben soll: Ägypten, Armenien, Äthiopien, Ghana, Libyen, Mauretanien, Montenegro, Ruanda, Senegal, Tunesien, Uganda und Usbekistan werden genannt.

20.08.26 Mediendienst: Irreguläre Grenzübertritte aus Belarus:

Polen: 2026 gab es bislang nur 335 versuchte Grenzübertritte von Belarus nach Polen (Stand 2. August). Im gesamten Jahr 2025 waren es rund 29.700.
- Lettland: Der lettische Grenzschutz zählte für 2026 bisher 9.609 irreguläre Grenzübertritte. 2025 waren es 12.046 (Stand 11. August).
- Litauen: 2026 gab es bis August 1.105 versuchte Grenzübertritte aus Belarus nach Litauen, im gesamten Jahr 2025 waren es 1.652 (Stand 10. August).
2026 wurden bisher (Stand 12. August 2026) 110 Grenzübertritte aus Polen mit Belarus-Bezug von der Bundespolizei festgestellt

18.08.24 Spiegel: Wie die EU vor libyschen Warlords buckelt:

Europa fürchtet steigende Flüchtlingszahlen auf Kreta – und baut die Zusammenarbeit mit der Haftar-Familie aus, wie Recherchen des SPIEGEL und von »Report Mainz« zeigen.
In Mittelpunkt des Berichts steht die Einheit »Tareq Bin Zeyad«, kurz TBZ. Die ostlibysche Miliz ist berüchtigt. Menschenrechtsorganisationen werfen ihr Kriegsverbrechen und Gräueltaten vor. Sie untersteht Saddam Haftar, dem mächtigsten Sohn aus der Haftar. Familie.

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