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WORLD NEWS Saturday 30 december 2017

Africa’s returning migrants say they need assistance, hope

By HILARY UGURU, (370 acres) of land and
Associated Press more than $326,000 for 150
WARRI, Nigeria (AP) — Ito- people who returned from
hen used to sell second- Libya a year ago and com-
hand clothes in Nigeria’s pleted agribusiness train-
Edo state before she was ing.
lured at age 24 into a trip Itohen said she would pre-
abroad. A woman told her fer government assistance
and others they could be so she can return to selling
nannies in France. Itohen clothes.
said she traveled through An earlier returnee, Solo-
Niger and Libya with 150 mon Okodugha, is helping
others who hoped to make others readjust. After being
it to Europe. At least 20 died deported from Libya four
along the way from dehy- years ago he became the
dration, hunger and illness. president of the nonprofit
“Many girls were raped in Initiative for Youth Aware-
the course of our journey, ness on Migration, Immi-
even in the camps where gration, Development and
the traffickers kept us” be- Reintegration and runs a
fore being handed over cassava farm in Edo state.
to Libya militiamen, she “Nigerians usually have the
said, giving only her partial orientation that you can
name for fear of retaliation. Nigerian returnees from Libya disembark from a plane upon arrival at the Murtala Muhammed only find greener pastures
“I was lucky because I dis- International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria. An emergency effort has begun to repatriate thousands of in Europe or America, but
guised as a boy before we migrants stranded in camps across Libya, but now the returnees are posing a challenge. since my ill-fateful journey
left Nigeria.” (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) years ago I have discov-
Two weeks ago, she disem- force with the backing of often weak economies, an 15,000 migrants. In Nigeria, ered that I can still make it
barked from a plane and the European Union, Afri- increasingly harsh climate. the project says it has cre- here,” he said.
came home. She is among can Union and United Na- Governments across Africa ated 300 jobs. It is not clear Nigerians are inspired by
the thousands of West Afri- tions aims to send 15,000 of are under pressure to give how many jobs have been older generations who
can migrants being repatri- them home by February. their citizens a reason to created overall. went to Europe legally in
ated by their governments Exhausted and regretful, stay. Local governments are the 1980s, he said. “Our
amid outrage over recent many migrants speak of The EU launched a 140 mil- launching their own efforts. young girls and boys are
video footage in Libya dreams lost and trust bro- lion euro ($166 million) proj- Nigeria’s Edo state, the too easily lured into the trip
showing a migrant slave ken. ect last year with the Inter- source of about 80 percent by cartels.”
auction. Now the returnees are national Organization for of the country’s migrants, is Now governments, aid
As many as 700,000 mi- posing a challenge. Back Migration to assist migrants creating farming projects groups and others must
grants are stranded in doz- home, they face the same repatriating to some 14 to help returnees. Governor “join hands” to tackle what
ens of camps across Libya, conditions that led them to countries. It has helped in Godwin Obaseki this month comes next as thousands
and a new emergency task leave: high unemployment, the voluntary return of over approved 150 hectares return, Okodugha said.q

Syria: Hundreds left behind in evacuations near Damascus

By PHILIP ISSA evacuate the patients and suffering from war wounds, since 2013 in response to tients evacuated were on
Associated Press their family members from kidney failure, and malnu- a revolt against President the U.N. list.
BEIRUT (AP) — More than the eastern Ghouta sub- trition. Bashar Assad’s rule, re- “We could treat some of
400 patients on a U.N. list urbs of Damascus to hospi- In November, U.N. humani- fused to allow any evacu- the cases if we receive
waiting for evacuations tals just minutes away, un- tarian adviser Jan Egeland ations until this week. medicines and aid,” said
from a siege in Syria were derscoring the degree to said the list had reached Food stores and medical Ibrahim Mahmoud of the
left behind on Friday as which authorities have ob- 494 names, and 12 pa- supplies have dried up un- Unified Medical Bureau in
the Red Cross said it had structed basic relief work in tients had died waiting for der the blockade. Eastern Ghouta.
finished transferring just 29 the war-torn country. care. U.N. officials have blasted The Army of Islam, a promi-
people and their families The U.N. submitted a list of The U.N.’s children’s agen- the use of sieges against nent rebel faction in east-
to Damascus for medical names to the government cy said more than 100 chil- civilians in Syria as “medi- ern Ghouta, said it had
care. six months ago of patients dren require evacuation. eval” and “barbaric.” agreed to release an
It took the International requiring evacuation from The government, which Amnesty International equivalent number of cap-
Committee of the Red the government’s siege has besieged the eastern called the tactic a crime tives to the government in
Cross and the Syrian Arab of the suburbs of its own Ghouta suburbs with vary- against humanity. exchange for securing the
Red Crescent three days to capital because they were ing degrees of severity It is not clear if the 29 pa- medical evacuations.q