Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY
P. 11
WORLD NEWS A11
Saturday 30 December 2017
Africa’s returning migrants say they need assistance, hope
By HILARY UGURU, Nigerian returnees from Libya disembark from a plane upon arrival at the Murtala Muhammed (370 acres) of land and
Associated Press International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria. An emergency effort has begun to repatriate thousands of more than $326,000 for 150
WARRI, Nigeria (AP) — Ito- migrants stranded in camps across Libya, but now the returnees are posing a challenge. people who returned from
hen used to sell second- Libya a year ago and com-
hand clothes in Nigeria’s (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) pleted agribusiness train-
Edo state before she was ing.
lured at age 24 into a trip force with the backing of often weak economies, an 15,000 migrants. In Nigeria, Itohen said she would pre-
abroad. A woman told her the European Union, Afri- increasingly harsh climate. the project says it has cre- fer government assistance
and others they could be can Union and United Na- Governments across Africa ated 300 jobs. It is not clear so she can return to selling
nannies in France. Itohen tions aims to send 15,000 of are under pressure to give how many jobs have been clothes.
said she traveled through them home by February. their citizens a reason to created overall. An earlier returnee, Solo-
Niger and Libya with 150 Exhausted and regretful, stay. Local governments are mon Okodugha, is helping
others who hoped to make many migrants speak of The EU launched a 140 mil- launching their own efforts. others readjust. After being
it to Europe. At least 20 died dreams lost and trust bro- lion euro ($166 million) proj- Nigeria’s Edo state, the deported from Libya four
along the way from dehy- ken. ect last year with the Inter- source of about 80 percent years ago he became the
dration, hunger and illness. Now the returnees are national Organization for of the country’s migrants, is president of the nonprofit
“Many girls were raped in posing a challenge. Back Migration to assist migrants creating farming projects Initiative for Youth Aware-
the course of our journey, home, they face the same repatriating to some 14 to help returnees. Governor ness on Migration, Immi-
even in the camps where conditions that led them to countries. It has helped in Godwin Obaseki this month gration, Development and
the traffickers kept us” be- leave: high unemployment, the voluntary return of over approved 150 hectares 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. only find greener pastures
“I was lucky because I dis- in Europe or America, but
guised as a boy before we since my ill-fateful journey
left Nigeria.” years ago I have discov-
Two weeks ago, she disem- ered that I can still make it
barked from a plane and here,” he said.
came home. She is among Nigerians are inspired by
the thousands of West Afri- older generations who
can migrants being repatri- went to Europe legally in
ated by their governments the 1980s, he said. “Our
amid outrage over recent young girls and boys are
video footage in Libya too easily lured into the trip
showing a migrant slave by cartels.”
auction. Now governments, aid
As many as 700,000 mi- groups and others must
grants are stranded in doz- “join hands” to tackle what
ens of camps across Libya, comes next as thousands
and a new emergency task 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- the U.N. list.
BEIRUT (AP) — More than the eastern Ghouta sub- trition. a revolt against President “We could treat some of
400 patients on a U.N. list urbs of Damascus to hospi- In November, U.N. humani- the cases if we receive
waiting for evacuations tals just minutes away, un- tarian adviser Jan Egeland Bashar Assad’s rule, re- medicines and aid,” said
from a siege in Syria were derscoring the degree to said the list had reached Ibrahim Mahmoud of the
left behind on Friday as which authorities have ob- 494 names, and 12 pa- fused to allow any evacu- Unified Medical Bureau in
the Red Cross said it had structed basic relief work in tients had died waiting for Eastern Ghouta.
finished transferring just 29 the war-torn country. care. ations until this week. The Army of Islam, a promi-
people and their families The U.N. submitted a list of The U.N.’s children’s agen- nent rebel faction in east-
to Damascus for medical names to the government cy said more than 100 chil- Food stores and medical ern Ghouta, said it had
care. six months ago of patients dren require evacuation. agreed to release an
It took the International requiring evacuation from The government, which supplies have dried up un- equivalent number of cap-
Committee of the Red the government’s siege has besieged the eastern tives to the government in
Cross and the Syrian Arab of the suburbs of its own Ghouta suburbs with vary- der the blockade. exchange for securing the
Red Crescent three days to capital because they were ing degrees of severity medical evacuations.q
U.N. officials have blasted
the use of sieges against
civilians in Syria as “medi-
eval” and “barbaric.”
Amnesty International
called the tactic a crime
against humanity.
It is not clear if the 29 pa-
