Special Events - Intimate in-person events with business & political VIPs. Audience Relations, CBC P.O. Athletics. Tunisian authorities have abused Black African foreigners, fueled racist and xenophobic attitudes, and forcibly returned people fleeing by boat who risk serious harm in Tunisia, said Lauren Seibert, refugee and migrant rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. Outside of those expelled, eleven people interviewed experienced abuses by the police in Tunis, Sfax, Ariana, and a town near the Algerian border, including at least eight cases of violence. On July 10, Tunisian authorities finally relocated more than 600 people from the Libya border to International Organization for Migration (IOM) shelters and other facilities in Ben Guerdane, Medenine, and Tataouine, according to UN representatives and an Ivorian man among those taken to Medenine, who provided his location. The book Refugee by Alan Gratz is about three refugees. Human Rights Watch also interviewed four representatives from civil society groups in Tunisia the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), Lawyers Without Borders (ASF), EuroMed Rights, and Alarm Phone, a rescue hotline network as well as a volunteer who assisted refugees in Tunis; Elizia Volkmann, a Tunis-based journalist; and Monica Marks, a university professor and Tunisia expert. I even saw an [officer] hitting one of the women They took my phone.. Mahmoud was fortunate in that both his parents are teachers. Josef , Isabel , and Mahmoud. Photo: Kulsoom Rizvi/IRC. There is a need for RLIs to be included in relevant fora and for relationships to be strengthened between RLIs and other stakeholders. A 2021 official estimate said that 21,000 foreigners from non-Maghreb African countries were in Tunisia, whose population is 12 million. Graveyards containing the remains of at least 20 migrants and refugees who were victims of torture have reportedly been found. The Tunisian government should investigate all reported abuses against migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees by authorities or civilians; ensure accountability, including through appropriate legal action; and implement reforms and oversight systems within the police, national guard (including coast guard), and military to ensure respect for human rights, end racial discrimination or violence, and refrain from adding to racial hatred or discrimination against Black Africans. A Sierra Leonean asylum seeker, who had camped outside IOM and UNHCR since his eviction from his apartment in February, was among those arrested. Documented abuses include beatings, use of excessive force, some cases of torture, arbitrary arrests and detention, collective expulsions, dangerous actions at sea, forced evictions, and theft of money and belongings. Zainab Salem, 50, expressed deep discontent over the lack of health services, adding that there are no health clinics in the village. Rania al-Madhoun, a Palestinian journalist and activist living in Egypt, talked to Al-Monitor about the status of Palestinian refugees and concerns about the return [to Palestine]. They said Well free you, but you need to leave the country.. I had no desire to stay in the dark, even if theres war around me.. If you were invisible, bad people couldn't hurt you, that was true. Surrounded by leaders of the Palestinian Authority and presidential guard, he had difficulty speaking continuously due to the thick crowd and extreme heat, but managed to convey messages of the staunch stand of the camp, which he hailed as "an icon of struggle, steadfastness and challenge." and visit the web page at http://www.standup4humanrights.org. On the possibility of returning to the Palestinian territories, Madhoun said that "the return" for the third generation [of Palestinians] who were born and raised in Egypt has become more like an unachievable dream, especially given that many have been raised in Egypt and about 13,000 Palestinian refugees were born to Egyptian mothers. By performing her poem at COP, Emi hopes to bring the often-marginalized voices of refugees into the discussions. Subscribe, Digital Content Officer, International Rescue Committee. Finally, there is Mahmoud, the main character in this book report. Yet on July 16, the European Union (EU) announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tunisia on a new strategic partnership and a funding package of up to1 billionfor the country, including 105 million for border management, search and rescue, anti-smuggling and return. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte highlighted that the partnership would include focus on bolstering efforts to stop irregular migration. The MoU, which must be approved formally by EU member states, failed to include serious guarantees that Tunisian authorities would prevent violations of the rights of migrants and asylum seekers, and that EU financial or material support would not reach entities responsible for human rights violations. A 24-year-old man from Cameroon said the coast guard rescued him and others after their boat overturned near Sfax in April 2023. Palestinian Refugees in Egypt Palestinian refugees in Egypt still face many challenges and discrimination, writes Mahmoud Omar. Both Rico and Sandy point out that Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Canada over the past year and a half did not facelengthy processing delays, but were given immediate access to services including the ability to work. Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances. He said, You are Black, you dont have the right to be here He didnt ask for my papers, just targeted me because of my skin color. At the police station, Two police officers punched and hit me. At least nine people interviewed had been arbitrarily arrested and detained in Tunis, Ariana, and Sfax, where police profiled them based on their skin color. They were in two groups, totaling fifteen people, including seven women two pregnant and one child. That was how you avoided the bullies." Alan Gratz, Refugee 26 likes Like "And that was the real truth of it, wasn't it? Though international human rights standards discourage the criminalization of irregular migration, Tunisian laws dating from 1968 and 2004 criminalize the irregular entry, stay, and exit of foreigners, as well as organizing or assisting illegal entry or exit. Following President Saieds speech, scores of refugees, asylum seekers, and others rendered homeless due to evictions, or otherwise in fear for their safety, camped in front of the UNHCR and IOM offices in Lac 1, Tunis. Good and bad things happened either way. In 2009, approximate statistics showed that the number of Palestinians in the diaspora was nearly 6 million people; 5 million in Arab countries, and the remaining million in Europe, Canada and the Americas. The authorities drove an estimated 600-700 people south to the Libya border near the town of Ben Guerdane, according to five interviewees expelled there. He traveled to Tunis in February 2023 to purchase car parts. Emi Mahmoud was just 12 when she did her first science project on climate change. Meet Aram Mahmoud: The rising refugee badminton star aiming at Tokyo Olympics. There was a Main Street in the camp, a wide lane where refugees had set up little shops, selling phone cards, camp stoves, and clothes and things people had brought with them but no longer wanted or needed. 2023 Al-Monitor, LLC. Mahmoud is one of a half-million school-aged Syrian children living in Lebanon. We are troubled by the Libyan authorities delay in responding to concerns about trafficking in migrants and refugees and other serious human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture and sexual violence, the experts said. Join over 50,000 readers who access our journalists dedicated newsletters, covering the top political, security, business and tech issues across the region each week.Delivered straight to your inbox. Black African migrants and asylum seekers walk in the desert near the Tunisia-Algeria border between July 5 and 7, 2023 after collective expulsion or forcible transfer there from Sfax, Tunisia, by Tunisian security forces. I want to do my part and make people feel better.. Collective Expulsion to Libya and Algeria Borders. Some of those returned may also have been victims of trafficking and are at serious risk of being re-trafficked.. The challenge was great but I have used badminton as a tool to make friends. "We've streamlined a lot of the process," said the government official, who spoke on condition they not be identified by name. "We are urging the federal government to immediately dispatch dedicated resources on the ground to help refugees and asylum seekers complete paperwork and process their applications so that people arriving can begin to find good work in weeks rather than the years it can currently take.". Given the documented abuses by security forces and xenophobic attacks against migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in Tunisia, in addition to Tunisias lack of a national asylum law, it appears that Tunisia does not meet EU law criteria for a safe third country. While at sea, he said, he also saw a migrant boat whose passengers included children overturned by waves caused by a coast guard boat. Fayiq Abu-Awkal, 27, a refugee residing in the eastern area of Ayn Shams, spoke about the gradual withdrawal over the years of support received by refugees from different sources, until they were obliged to rely completely on themselves. what happened to mahmoud in refugee; what does mahmoud want to control in refugee As for the role of the Palestinian embassy in Cairo, she said that the embassy "only provides services in limited cases relating to fee reduction in government departments." #Standup4humanrights Rohingya refugee Rahima Khatun and her family share a meal. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Ontario Premier Doug Ford are joining the call to expedite work permits. Egypt is an exception since there are no Palestinian refugee camps there. Sandy says the bulk of asylum seekers who come to her agency say they want to find a job as soon as possible. In the graphic memoir he coauthored, When Stars Are Scattered, Mohamed shares what their. How many days has it been that Josef's father had not come out of his cabin before the professor weiler funeral. Migrants and refugees, including victims of trafficking, were reportedly taken by suspected traffickers from the border with Sudan to locations in Tazirbu, where they were detained and subjected to serious human rights violations, including torture, forced starvation and sexual violence. A border officer stamps the passport of a Palestinian passenger on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing over to Gaza at Rafah city, some 350 km (217 miles) northeast of Cairo, Aug. 10, 2012. They said officers did not check their papers before arresting them, and in most cases neither conducted individual legal status assessments nor allowed them to challenge their arrest. 11. Please send an email to pro.support@al-monitor.com and we'll onboard your team. We also offer team plans. They expressed concern to Libya about the situation of 120 migrants and refugees allegedly released by the Libyan Directorate for Combating Illegal Migration (DCIM) from a warehouse in Tazirbu in February 2023. The Syrian refugee, who is based in the Netherlands, cherished the opportunity to play against some of the best badminton players in the world. I want to study biology and become a doctor, says Mahmoud. According to the nongovernmental group FTDES, between January and May 2023, Tunisian authorities arrested over 3,500 migrants for irregular stay and intercepted over 23,000 people attempting irregular departures from Tunisia. To date, the IRC has reached more than 4,300 Syrian refugee children across the Bekka and Akkar. For five interviewees, the dates and manner of entry were unknown. A Sudanese refugee also told Human Rights Watch he was beaten and given electric shocks by police at the Lac 1 post before his transfer to Mornaguia prison. Overall, Mahmoud's challenges in "Refugee" encompass physical dangers, emotional turmoil, cultural adaptation, and the prejudice he encounters as a refugee. Over the past several months, Mahmoud, who is based in New Haven, Conn., has been creating poetry about the pandemic and protesting for racial justice while working toward launching her new. Press releases The stories are set in different times and places and are told from the perspective of the refugee children. They said they were transported from Sfax in buses, forced to walk in the desert without adequate food or water, and pushed back by both Algerian and Tunisian security forces. They also provided videos of their groups walking in the desert. Memos - premium analytical writing: actionable insights on markets and geopolitics. Join our movement today. Naziha Mahmoud, McMaster University, Canada Abstract: Aim of workBackground: Language barrier and access to mental health services in refugee and immigrants. Penalties include prison and fines. Shortest wait still 3-4 months: advocate. Josef Landau is a twelve-year-old boy living in Berlin. They taught him for several months until yet another bomb hit their home. GENEVA (21 July 2023) - UN experts* expressed serious concern about the situation of migrants and refugees in Libya who were allegedly held captive and tortured, subsequently released by Libyan authorities and transferred to unknown places of detention, where they are reportedly at risk of further serious human rights violations, including acts tantamount to enforced disappearance. The report finds that: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Concerns in relation to human trafficking in Libya were previously raised by the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya in its report to the Human Rights Council in March 2023. Today, [Palestinian] refugees in Egypt are distributed among the capital and the northern part of the republic. They say if the federal government can speed up the process, asylum seekers would be better able to support themselves and their families and potentially lessen the demand for shelterspaces that saw dozens ofrefugee claimants sleeping on the street in Toronto in recent weeks.