Situation in Ethiopia (per 9 April) Ethiopian police arrested Yetbarek Dawit in Shire, Tigray region, accused of running a multi-million-dollar human trafficking network since 2018, along with nine alleged accomplices, following a cross-border investigation. The network allegedly operated five detention warehouses in Libya where victims were tortured and forced to call their relatives to pay […]
Situation Report: Sexual violence used as “weapon of war” in Sudan
Situation in Sudan (per 01 April) At least 3,396 survivors of sexual violence, out of which 97% are women and girls, have been registered at the health facilities run by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in North and South Darfur between January 2024 and November 2025. MSF warned the figure represents only a fraction of actual […]
Situation Report: Floods and landslides in Ethiopia
Situation in Sudan (per 12 March) The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out a drone attack on a secondary school and a healthcare centre in Shukeiri, White Nile province, killing at least 17 people and wounding at least 10 others. Most of the victims were schoolgirls. At least 52 civilians, including children, have been killed […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: RSF seizes key roads in South Kordofan
Situation in Sudan (per 5 March) The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized control of key sections of the Dilling–Kadugli and Dilling–Habila roads, South Kordofan, after several days of fighting with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), cutting humanitarian and military supply routes to the towns of Dilling and Kadugli. At least five civilians were killed and […]
Situation Report: RSF targeting people with disabilities
Situation in Sudan (per 26 February) The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeted and killed people with disabilities during and after its October 2025 takeover of El Fasher in North Darfur, reported Human Rights Watch (HRW), documenting executions, torture, and extortion that it said may constitute war crime and crimes against humanity. The RSF carried out […]
Situation Report: PM Abiy acknowledges Eritrean troop atrocities
Situation in Ethiopia (per 5 February ) Ethiopian Airlines resumed the flights to and from Tigray on Tuesday, following the suspension of flights due to conflict in western Tigray a week ago. Key private-sector bondholders of Ethiopia’s $1 billion international bond have protested after the Official Creditors Committee, led by China and France, blocked a […]
Violent Eritrean smuggler Walid gets maximum sentence of 20 years in Dutch court
On 27 January 2026, the Dutch court in Zwolle delivered a significant verdict in the case against a suspect known as Walid, or Tewelde Goitom, convicting him on nearly all charges related to widespread human rights abuses against refugees in Libya. The court, in a comprehensive ruling totaling around 100 pages, sentenced Walid to the […]
Situation Report Special: Cruel Eritrean smuggler Walid gets the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison
Walid hearing verdict (per 27 January 2026) The judges in the Dutch court in Zwolle found the suspect in the ‘Walid’ case guilty of almost all charges and sentenced him to the maximum of 20 years in prison. The full verdict comprises around 100 pages. The judge presented the main points of the verdict during […]
How the EU’s Initiated Crackdown on Human Smuggling Will Impact Migration Systems for the Better or the Worse.
BRUSSELS. Belgium | 21 January 2026 (IDN) — “We Europeans, decide who comes to Europe and crosses our borders, and under what circumstances, and not the smugglers and traffickers” was the message in European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen’s speech, kicking off the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling conference on 10 December in […]
Why World War II Analogies Are Reappearing in Debates Over ICE on America’s Streets
By Piet Gotlieb* This article was originally published on https://phdforsociety.com/world-war-ii-analogies-ice/ TILBURG, The Netherlands | 20 January 2026 (IDN) — On January 7, 2026, Renée Good was shot and killed by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The killing of the 37-year-old mother and author tugs at the heartstrings of the American and global […]