Author: RACHAEL ADEEGBE

Mauritanian security forces have been accused of committing widespread human rights violations against migrants and asylum seekers from West and Central Africa, according to a new report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW). The 142-page report, “They Accused Me of Trying to Go to Europe: Migration Control Abuses and EU Externalization in Mauritania,” documents cases of torture, rape, arbitrary detention, extortion, and collective expulsions carried out by the police, coast guard, gendarmerie, navy, and army between 2020 and early 2025. Victims described being beaten with sticks and whips, deprived of food and water, and dumped in remote border areas…

Germany has been transformed in the ten years since Angela Merkel opened the country’s borders to more than one million asylum seekers in 2015. Streets such as Berlin’s Sonnenallee, filled with Middle Eastern shops and cafes, showcase the cultural change, with many migrants from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq now calling Germany home. For some, this influx represents successful integration and a more diverse society. For others, it remains a symbol of failed policies and mounting tensions that have reshaped the nation’s politics. Merkel’s famous declaration, “We can do this,” became a rallying cry for compassion but also a phrase of…

Spanish authorities, working closely with Europol, have dismantled a sophisticated criminal network responsible for smuggling undocumented migrants from Algeria to Spain and then moving them onwards to other European Union countries. The large-scale operation, led by Spain’s Guardia Civil in collaboration with international law enforcement agencies, resulted in 14 arrests and eight additional suspects placed under investigation across the provinces of Almería, Murcia, Seville, and Alicante. According to Europol, the network was highly structured and operated like a professional business. Migrants were transported across the Mediterranean on overcrowded dinghies equipped with high-powered engines, each paying up to €7,000 for the…

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has declared that judges or bureaucrats will not stop her government in pushing forward tough policies against irregular migration. Judges or bureaucrats will not stop her government Speaking on Wednesday, August 27, at the annual Meeting of Comunione e Liberazione in Rimini, Meloni said her administration was determined to enforce Italian law, guarantee public safety, and fight human traffickers. “I want to say clearly that any attempt to prevent us from managing illegal immigration will be rejected. No judge, politician, or bureaucrat can stop us from protecting Italian citizens and saving human lives,” she stated…

Uganda is under criticism after agreeing to a deal with the United States to host migrants who are denied asylum in America. The government described the deal as a temporary arrangement with the U.S., where deported migrants who fear returning to their home countries may be sent to Uganda. Uganda’s foreign minister explained that the agreement comes with conditions. Migrants with criminal records and unaccompanied minors will not be accepted. Also, Uganda prefers that only people from African countries should be transferred under this arrangement. Critics argue that the deal benefits the United States more than Uganda. Ugandan journalist and…

A U.S. federal judge has again stopped the Trump administration from deporting Kilmar Abrego, a migrant whose case has become a symbol of America’s immigration battles. Abrego, originally from El Salvador, was ordered to stay in the United States at least until October while the court reviews his petition. The ruling came from U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland during a Wednesday hearing. She extended an earlier order that blocked the government from sending Abrego out of the continental U.S. for now. The judge also required that Abrego, who is being held in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention…

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Mauritania’s security forces of committing serious human rights violations against migrants from West and Central Africa between 2020 and early 2025. According to HRW’s new report released on Wednesday, migrants suffered widespread abuses during border checks and migration control operations. The allegations include torture, rape, racist insults, arbitrary arrests, extortion, and theft. Victims included men, women, and children, as well as asylum seekers fleeing conflict and poverty. The rights group said its findings were based on 223 interviews with migrants and asylum seekers in Mauritania, Mali, Senegal, and EU institutions in Brussels. Testimonies described…

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has advised Nigerian youths to be careful of migrant smugglers and traffickers who use tricks to lure victims into dangerous irregular migration. Speaking in Abuja during the screening of an infomercial on migrant smuggling organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), NIS Chief Superintendent Kazeem Otitoloju explained that smugglers always find new routes and methods whenever one pathway is blocked. He noted that since young people make up about 60 percent of Nigeria’s population, they have become the main target of smugglers. “Youths are the targets now, and we know information…

Reform UK has backtracked on suggestions that unaccompanied migrant children could be deported under its proposed mass removal scheme, following backlash and accusations of a policy U-turn. On Tuesday, Zia Yusuf, a senior figure in the party and architect of the migration plan, hinted that unaccompanied minors could be included in the “latter half” of the five-year deportation programme. But leader Nigel Farage has since insisted this is not part of Reform’s current plans for its first term in office. The party says its deportation scheme would target around 650,000 adults living illegally in the UK, as well as new…

Spanish authorities have dismantled a major criminal group that was smuggling migrants from Algeria to Spain and other European Union countries. The operation, carried out by the Guardia Civil with support from Europol, revealed a large-scale network led by a Moroccan national and made up of Algerian and Moroccan members based in Spain. The group used huge financial and logistical resources to run their smuggling business. Investigators found that they misused legal businesses, including maritime trading companies, to buy boats and equipment. They also relied on hawaladars to secretly move criminal funds. Between 17 and 19 June, Spanish police carried…