28 Feb 2017 - NPWJ News Digest on FGM & women's rights

Refugee children abuse rampant in Libya: UNICEF
by Al Jazeera, 28 Feb 2017

Refugee children and women are routinely suffering sexual violence, exploitation, abuse and detention along the Central Mediterranean migration route, UNICEF warned in a new report. In the report, titled "A Deadly Journey for Children", which was released on Tuesday, the UN children's agency said a total of 25,846 children - most of them unaccompanied - crossed from North Africa to Italy using the Mediterranean route in 2016.  For the report, UNICEF researchers interviewed a total of 122 refugees - 82 women and 40 children - who tried to complete the perilous journey. Three quarters of the refugee children interviewed said they had experienced violence, harassment or aggression at the hands of adults at some point over the course of their journey Approximately one third indicated they had been abused in Libya. A large majority of these children did not answer when asked who had abused them. A few children said they had been abused by people who appeared to be in uniform or associated with military and other armed forces, and several others said that strangers had victimised them. Also, nearly half of the 122 women and children interviewed reported sexual abuse during migration - often multiple times and in multiple locations. Women and children were often arrested at the Libyan border where they experienced abuse, extortion and gender-based violence. Sexual violence was widespread and systemic at crossings and checkpoints.

The Dark Reality For Women Migrants In Morocco
by The Huffington Post, 23 Feb 2017

Born and raised in Lagos, 16-year-old Juliet Bamawo left her home and her family a year ago to travel thousands of miles from Nigeria to Morocco, propelled by the dream of studying at a European university and one day becoming a nurse. But soon after she arrived, reality set in. Instead of living in an apartment in Europe and learning about nursing, Bamawo is living in a makeshift camp beside Fez’s newly refurbished train station, in a tent made from plastic and scraps of material. There is no running water, and the tents are surrounded by garbage. “I came here to travel to Europe, but there is no money,” she says. “I am now trying to get money, I am looking for help. It is difficult to live here. If there was a job and I was paid, I would work.” Bamawo is among 15 Nigerian women living in the camp of around 300 residents from 10 sub-Saharan countries. Many were drawn by Morocco’s recently relaxed immigration policy, which tolerates camps like the one in Fez. But that’s as far as the welcome goes: Once migrants arrive, usually planning to continue on to Europe, they are given no support and essentially left to fend for themselves. The lack of provisions leaves migrants unable to find work, abandoned in squalid, crime-ridden camps, and unable to move on to their final destination. And for women migrants who come to Morocco without an accompanying man, that usually means arriving to a life of poverty, exploitation and abuse. The North African country of 35 million people has historically been a magnet for migrants. Many arrive with an “obsession to cross Gibraltar at any cost,” says Mohamed Khachani, president of the Moroccan Association for Studies and Research on Migration. But in response to the ongoing refugee crisis, many European countries have strengthened their borders, leaving large numbers of migrants stuck in Morocco. “There used to be evictions of clandestine migrants from Morocco. Nowadays it is not common to deport anymore,” says Khachani.