LAUNCH OF NEW STUDY
Conditions and risks of mixed migration in North East Africa.
Full report HERE
Audio file and Video file from Research Launch Presentation with Dr. Elisa Pascucci
Executive Summary in Arabic
A study by a research team from the University of Sussex for the Mixed Migration Hub (MHub) reveals four major human rights protection risks facing individuals on the move in this region, or at least circumstances which leave individuals more vulnerable to human rights violations and protection concerns. Read on for more details on these finding.
Serious human rights abuses of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers exist across this region but the lack of sufficiently detailed, regularly updated information about what is happening means that it does not receive the international attention that it deserves. A key finding of this research is that most people crossing borders in this region do not have the intention or the capacity to reach the Mediterranean. Yet increasingly regional migration systems are becoming inter-linked, so this broader regional migration system offers obvious potential for policy interventions to address the continued suffering of vulnerable migrants and may even help to address the Mediterranean tragedy. Looking beyond the Mediterranean is vital if the decision making of migrants and refugees is to be fully understood.
This report focuses on the conditions and risks of migration in Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. In particular, it focuses on the experiences of people who are on the move. The pattern of migration in this region is complex. No evidence was found to support the idea that large numbers of people are leaving their countries of origin with the intention of reaching Europe. The idea of crossing the Mediterranean to Europe often arose from disappointment at the conditions in neighbouring countries. Many migrants, refugees and asylum seekers target regional employment markets, such as Khartoum, or the closest options for protection, such as Cairo. There is substantial circular migration and intra-regional networks. Onward movement took place when these strategies failed to address protection needs or livelihood strategies and sometimes resulted in additional vulnerability to human rights abuses. Research in Europe (Malta and Italy) was focused on interviews with almost 100 migrants, asylum seekers and refugees about their experiences before reaching the Mediterranean, so it does not consider direct EU policy responses to the sea crossings. Individuals interviewed for the report recount details of crossings of 10 separate border points between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt, but also between Ethiopia and Sudan and Eritrea and Sudan and Libya. These crossing points vary very substantially in terms of the numbers of people crossing, the need for facilitators and the nature of the populations making the crossing.
Key Finding:
The lack of safe, regular migration opportunities drives migration underground, leading to risks of new human rights violations and abuses during the journey. Traditionally understood claims for international protection relate to circumstances in an individual’s country of origin. These new protection concerns arise outside of individuals’ countries of origin and are therefore unlikely by themselves to result in a successful asylum claim. Yet they require urgent humanitarian response. They may involve recognised refugees and asylum seekers but also those whose original migration was motivated reasons beyond those detailed in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. These motivations are typically mixed. Individuals often move to escape a combination of factors, including discrimination or human rights abuses, poverty or environmental degradation. Yet, regardless of motivation or status, individuals on the move are also at risk of human rights violations outside their country of origin. These circumstances of humanitarian protection appear to be growing across the region, but detailed information is lacking. Research identifies four major human rights and protection risks facing individuals on the move in this region, or at least circumstances which leave individuals more vulnerable to human rights violations and protection concerns.
First, onward movement of refugees, particularly Eritrean refugees, arises from a lack of protection but also creates further distinct protection risks.
Second, there is a risk that smuggling operations develop into trafficking once migration has begun. There is a clear legal distinction between smuggling and trafficking. Due to the common practice of individuals being passed from one group to another, in practice these processes may blur. Individuals may contact smugglers to facilitate their journey and find that they are then passed onto traffickers who, extort more money through ransom and mistreatment, sexual exploitation or forced labour. These exchanges are associated with border crossings. Individuals who have paid for their entire migration in advance or those who are suspected of being relatively in wealthy in their countries of origin are most at risk.
Third, it is extremely common for migrants to lack official documentary evidence of their identity and this can increase their vulnerability when in contact with state officials. This may involve legally sanctioned punitive measures such as detention or deportation, additional demands for bribery, or both.
Finally, there is a growing population of unaccompanied minors migrating internationally and they face increased risks compared to other groups, since they are seen as significantly more vulnerable.
Research for this report paid considerable attention to flows of information and finance. Social networks remain of central importance in influencing the direction of future migrations and in many cases, funding those migrations. It is clear that potential migrants try to make the most of as many different information sources as possible. Movement may be organised and/or funded by family members, particularly when they are already in wealthier countries. Alternatively, several people interviewed for this research reported that they had left without telling family members in their countries of origin for fear that they would try to prevent them.
The ways in which states in the region manage migration and refugee movements is typically driven primarily by security interests. Plausible reports circulate of state officials’ involvement in both smuggling and trafficking. Yet government regulation of migration is necessary to protect citizens and ensure proper treatment of migration groups. Spaces beyond government control, such as Southern Libya are the scenes of the greatest abuse of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. The rule of law is the essential precondition to any attempt to start to resolve the abuses of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers that often occur with impunity.
Migration across the region is, by definition, international and so a coordinated international response is required to help ensure migrants’ rights are protected. Although there are obvious European interests in supporting and financing such coordination, regional civil society actors reported significant mistrust of EU involvement in migration management and argued that regional concerns should always take priority. The paucity of data on intra-regional migration makes any long term planning particularly challenging.
Detained Youth: The fate of young migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in Libya today.
Full report HERE
Executive Summary ENGLISH and ARABIC
A study by Asmita Naik for the Mixed Migration Hub (MHub) reveals a consistent pattern of young migrants, refugees and asylum seekers held in arbitrary detention in squalid, cramped conditions for months at a time without any form of due process.
The study explores the experiences of detention of young migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in Libya between November 2012 and November 2014.
The study paints a damning picture of the immigration detention of young migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees in Libya today, revealing a consistent pattern of arbitrary detention; of people held for months at a time without any form of due process in squalid, cramped conditions. Detention occurs in facilities across the country, many of which are reported to be under the control of the governing authorities or militia forces. Serious rights violations, including allegations of violence and brutality, are said to be commonplace, including in some of Libya’s most well known detention centres.
This study suggests that the absence of a humane and orderly framework for handling migration flows in Libya is a contributing factor to the ever increasing numbers of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees willing to risk their lives in the Mediterranean to reach the safety of Europe.
As the first study of its kind to assess the particular plight of detained refugee, asylum-seeking and migrant children and youth in Libya’s immigration detention centres, it provides timely information about the current situation in the country. The right to liberty and freedom from arbitrary detention is among the most fundamental of rights belonging to all human beings, and its consistent denial, especially to vulnerable minors and young people, is a matter of the gravest concern.
Fieldwork was conducted between November 2014 and February 2015 in four countries including Italy, Malta, France and UK, drawing on in-depth interviews with 45 former detainees (85 per cent of whom were unaccompanied children or young people).
Key Findings
Drivers of migration: Those from North-East African countries primarily cited political reasons, violence and conflict as main drivers for their movement and their intent to seek international protection. In contrast, those from West Africa primarily reported family tensions and inter-personal difficulties as the reason for leaving their countries of origin. Minors say they travelled alone rather than with family members because they faced imminent threats and harassment; because their families couldn’t afford to send more than one person; or because as orphans, they had to fend for themselves.
Journey to Libya: Family members often provided financial support for the journey. Migrants, asylum seekers and refugees often faced new demands for cash as well as violence from smugglers and tribes en route. Women faced the danger of sexual violence. Smugglers who sought to extort more money held many on arrival in Libya. Once free, they found day-to-day life hazardous given the ever-present threat of violence and extortion from Libyan civilian gangs.
Circumstances of detention: The reason for arrest was usually stated to be ‘illegal’ entry or lack of papers, and was typically accompanied by violence. None were informed of their rights or had access to a lawyer. They were only allowed to call families and friends to ask for money to be released. They were not able to apply for asylum and none were offered support to return home. Most migrants and refugees stayed in detention for a number of months.
Conditions in detention: Conditions were frequently described as deplorable. While men and women were usually kept separately, unaccompanied boys were often detained with unknown adult males. Beatings and violence were commonplace and sexual violence by guards an on-going risk for female detainees. Food was usually inadequate. Sanitation conditions were deplorable. Most reported sleeping in crowded cells without bedding or mattresses. Outdoor access was restricted except in situations where detainees were taken out to do unpaid work for detention centre staff or outside employers. Medical treatment was usually lacking.
Life after detention: Interviewees were able to leave detention either by paying hefty bribes, by escaping or simply by being let go at the will of the guards. Sometimes locals came and secured the release of detainees in exchange for unpaid labour. Migrants and refugees remained vulnerable to re-detention after release. Once in Europe, their fate varies. Those who have an unresolved immigration status face an uncertain and difficult future. Children and young people are at risk of being exploited by organised criminal gangs operating in Europe. Those in receipt of some form of protected status were found to be getting on with their lives, acquiring an education, language skills and work, in an effort to make a new future for themselves. Some ex-detainees continue to bear the physical and psychological scars of their arduous experiences.
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