The ECOWAS Directorate of Private Sector has convened experts and stakeholders from both the private and government sectors of the tourism industry for a five-day meeting in Abuja, Nigeria. The focus of the meeting is on the monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for ECOTOUR 19-29 and the ECOWAS Tourism Accommodation Regulator, aiming to optimize resource utilization and enhance operational efficiency.

At the technical meeting, participants will draft the operational texts for these mechanisms, establish the structure and modalities for their operation, and develop the monitoring and evaluation processes. Additionally, the meeting will support private sector participants in finalizing the creation of a regional confederation and prepare for the upcoming ECOWAS 1st Scientific Forum on Intra-Regional Tourism.

Mr. Folorunsho Coker, the Director General of the National Tourism Agency of Nigeria, called for the localization of policies taking into consideration the ethnic, cultural and religious diversity of the region, which are very crucial to the successful growth of regional tourism and solidify West African cultural heritage.

“This is the season for collaboration, not competition, for joint marketing campaigns rather than individual ones. From our hotels to our airlines to our regional tourism assets, we must work together,” he said. “It is through this spirit of collaboration that we will grow pan-African tourism.”

Mr. Coker also urged both state and non-state actors work together to harmonize tourism regulations to provide guidelines for all activities in the sector. He emphasized the importance of introducing technology in tourism and training operators to compete globally. “We must embrace technology, or it will leave us behind,” he said.

Mr. Anthony Luka Elumelu, Acting Director of Private Sector, speaking on behalf of Madame Massandjé Toure-Liste, the Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, stated that the meeting drew inspiration from the ECOTOUR 19-29 action plan. This plan, adopted by the Authority of Heads of State and Government, was designed to serve as a roadmap for promoting responsible tourism.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a generous contribution of £3 million (USD 3.7 million) from the United Kingdom to the El Niño response appeal in Malawi. This critical support promptly addresses the urgent and escalating El Nino drought-induced humanitarian needs.

The United Kingdom’s contribution will profoundly impact the lives of Malawi’s vulnerable people. It will enable the World Food Programme (WFP) to procure and distribute 3,100 metric tons of food to 280,000 affected people for two months, provide food assistance through cash-based transfers to 38,000 individuals, and strengthen the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) capacity.

“El Niño conditions in Malawi severely impact millions of households. Without urgent support, vulnerable people affected by multiple shocks will go hungry,” says Paul Turnbull, WFP Country Director and Representative in Malawi. “The support from the United Kingdom is timely. This will enable WFP to procure maize early within the region. Based on previous years, we anticipate escalating maize prices and increasing demand throughout the Southern Africa region in the coming months,” he adds.

Early regional procurement of maize will be essential for Malawi this year. Insufficient rains, prolonged dry spells, and floods in some districts have dramatically declined national maize crop production.

“The UK is confident that by funding WFP’s early procurement of maize while prices are lowest during the harvest, we will maximize the value of our contribution and be able to reach more vulnerable households,” says Fiona Ritchie, British High Commissioner to Malawi. “As Malawi grapples with this crisis, it is crucial that we provide immediate relief and strengthen Malawi’s capacity to respond to future emergencies. The UK stands with Malawi in its time of need and encourages others to do the same.”

The impact of El Niño exacerbates existing food insecurity, with the Government of Malawi estimating that approximately 9 million people will be affected. Preliminary figures indicate early onset of the lean season around mid-year instead of October, with up to 40 per cent of the population facing acute food insecurity by the end of 2024.

“DoDMA, on behalf of the Malawi Government, is always very thankful to the United Kingdom for timely assistance,” says Charles Kalemba, Commissioner for Disaster Management Affairs. “This is greatly appreciated, and we look forward to utilising these resources to reach those who are food insecure due to the El Niño phenomenon.”

WFP’s El Niño response aims to provide food assistance to 2.1 million of the worst-hit people through in-kind assistance and cash-based transfers. With early commitments such as this, WFP can maximise the effectiveness of the El Niño response by procuring commodities early and pre-positioning assistance in the districts before seasonal rains.

These interventions are aligned with the Government of Malawi’s National El Niño Induced Prolonged Dry Spells and Floods Response Appeal, which aims to address acute food security as well as requirements for agriculture, nutrition, education, water, sanitation and hygiene, health, shelter, protection, and transport and logistics.

During the response, WFP also aims to provide moderate acute malnutrition treatment to 88,000 children, emergency school meals to 440,000 children, and logistics services to the Government of Malawi.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Food Programme (WFP).

Over the past two weeks, the Tunisian government has launched an unprecedented repressive clampdown against migrants, refugees, and human rights defenders working to protect their rights, as well as journalists, said Amnesty International today. This comes less than two weeks after a high-level coordination meeting with the Italian Ministry of Interior about migration management.

Tunisian authorities have since 3 May arrested, summoned and investigated the heads, former staff or members of at least 12 organizations over unclear accusations including “financial crimes” for providing aid to migrants, including a Tunisian organization that works in partnership with the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, on supporting asylum seekers through the refugee status determination process in the country. They have also arrested at least two journalists and referred them to trial for their independent reporting and comments in the media.

In parallel, security forces have escalated their collective unlawful deportations of refugees and migrants, as well as multiple forced evictions and have arrested and convicted landlords for renting apartments to migrants without permits.

“Tunisia’s authorities have stepped up their malicious crackdown against civil society organizations working on migrants and refugee rights using misleading claims about their work and harassing and prosecuting NGO workers, lawyers and journalists. A smear campaign online and in the media, supported by the Tunisian President himself, has put refugees and migrants in the country at risk. It also undermines the work of civil society groups and sends a chilling message to all critical voices,” said Heba Morayef, Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa for Amnesty International.

“Tunisia’s authorities must immediately end this vicious campaign and halt all reprisals against NGO workers providing essential support, including shelter, to migrants and refugees. The European Union should be urgently reviewing its cooperation agreements with Tunisia to ensure that it is not complicit in human rights violations against migrants and refugees nor in the clampdown on media, lawyers, migrants and activists.” Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa

The targets of the government crackdown, include the non-governmental organization Tunisian Council for Refugees (CTR) which recently advertised a tender for hotels to submit proposals for a program to shelter asylum seekers and refugees. Tunisian authorities arrested both the head and deputy head of CTR and prosecutors ordered their pretrial detention pending investigation in relation to charges of “forming a criminal alliance with the intention of helping a person to enter Tunisian territory without travel documents.” The Tunis General Prosecutor announced that an official investigation has been launched against “a group of associations and organizations” who are “abusing their mandate to provide financial support to ‘illegal immigrants.’”

On 8 May Tunisian police also arrested human rights defender Saadia Mosbah, head of Mnemty, a Tunisian anti-racist organization that provides support to refugees and migrants, and detained her pending investigation relating to “financial crimes” in connection with the organization’s funding. Police searched the organization’s Tunis offices as well as Mosbah’s home and questioned her and two Mnemty staff members about the organization’s funding, activities and partners.

Vicious clampdown on migrants and refugees

The latest crackdown comes in parallel with President Kais Saied’s inflammatory remarks during a National Security Council meeting on 6 May in which he particularly attacked civil society organizations, describing them as “traitors”, “[foreign] agents” and “rabid trumpets driven by foreign wages”, because of their receipt of foreign funding and their “insulting” of the state. He said that criticism of the state constituted treason. His address came shortly following a Rome meeting on migration on 2 May 2024 between the interior ministers of Algeria, Italy, Libya and Tunisia.

On at least six occasions between July 2023 and April 2024, the Tunisian president publicly accused civil society organizations of meddling in Tunisia’s internal affairs and financing corruption, specifically referring to their receipt of foreign funding as grounds to discredit their work.

On Friday 3 May, before dawn, Tunisian security forces evicted hundreds of migrants and refugees, including children, pregnant women and asylum seekers registered with the UNHCR, who were camping in a public park near the Tunis offices of the IOM and UNHCR. During the eviction, according to Amnesty International’s documentation, security forces used teargas and tasers against them, including against children. They kicked, punched and hit them with batons.  In his address to the security council on 6 May the president also indicated that Tunisian security forces forcibly returned 400 people to the Libyan border, in an apparent collective unlawful deportation.

On 4 May, security forces forcibly evicted 15 migrants who had lived in a youth complex in Marsa, a northern Tunis suburb, since 2017. The group, who fled Libya in 2011, had previously been evicted from a UN refugee camp in Ben Gardene, southern Tunisia, after it closed in 2013. UNHCR had denied their asylum requests. The 15 men are being detained on charges of remaining in the country illegally. They appeared before the public prosecutor without a translator or a lawyer.

“Tunisia’s authorities are carrying out arbitrary collective unlawful deportations without due process or individual protection assessments in flagrant violation of international law. They must immediately halt these expulsions and ensure the rights of all refugees and migrants, including children, are protected at all times,” said Heba Morayef.

Between 8 and 10 May, authorities arrested two people and sentenced another individual to eight months in prison for housing undocumented people.

On 11 May, authorities arrested lawyer and media personality Sonia Dahmani, under Decree law 54, over comments she made on TV questioning claims by authorities that migrants are coming to Tunisia with the intention to settle in the country. On 13 May, a Tunis investigative judge ordered her pre-trial detention.

Authorities also arrested two journalists on Saturday 11 May, according to their lawyers, they were questioned about their work and different critical comments they had made in the media. On 15 May, a Tunis investigative judge charged the two journalists and ordered their pre-trial detention under Decree law 54 ‘s Article 24 which provides for imprisonment of five years and a fine of 50,000 dinars (16,000 USD), “for whoever publishes content with the aim of violating the rights of others, harming public security or national defense, spreading terror among the population, or inciting hate speech”. They will stand trial on 22 May. On 13 May, three legal representatives of three different private media (radio and TV) were summoned for questioning about their reporting.

“Tunisian authorities must urgently reverse this significant backsliding on human rights. They must cease this judicial harassment and release all those detained solely for the exercise of their freedom of expression and freedom of association. People should have the freedom to express themselves without fear of reprisal,” said Heba Morayef.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.

Rwandan immigration authorities denied entry to Clémentine de Montjoye, a senior researcher in the Africa division at Human Rights Watch, upon arrival at Kigali International Airport, on May 13, 2024, Human Rights Watch said today. 

De Montjoye traveled to Rwanda for meetings with officials from foreign embassies but was told upon arrival that she was “not welcome in Rwanda” for undisclosed “immigration reasons,” and Kenya Airways was instructed to ensure her removal from the country.

“Rwanda touts itself as an open and welcoming destination, but the treatment reserved for those who may investigate abuse exposes the government’s deep-seated hostility to human rights monitoring and independent scrutiny of any kind,” said Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch. “The Rwandan authorities can demonstrate that their projected openness is not just a façade and allow de Montjoye to return to Rwanda and carry out her work without obstruction or interference.”

De Montjoye, a Franco-British national, informed the government of her travel plans and sent meeting requests to the Justice Ministry, Human Rights Watch’s interlocutor in the Rwandan government, on April 29 and May 7, who did not respond. Human Rights Watch also contacted the National Commission for Human Rights’ chairperson, who replied that she was out of the country. The chairperson did not respond to a proposal to have a meeting once she returns to Kigali.

Human Rights Watch had informed Rwandan authorities when de Montjoye traveled to Rwanda with the same entry documents in June 2022 and August 2023, and she did not face any problems entering the country.

When de Montjoye arrived on the morning of May 13, immigration authorities took her passport. She was told to board a flight back to Nairobi, Kenya, the same evening, where she was given her passport and a document stating she had been denied entry for “immigration reasons.”

The denial of entry reflects the authorities’ intensifying assault on human rights, months ahead of the country’s 2024 general elections, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch has conducted research on the human rights situation in Rwanda for over 30 years, since before the 1994 genocide. De Montjoye is the fourth Human Rights Watch researcher to be blocked from entering Rwanda, with previous staff facing similar treatment in 2008, 2010, and 2018. In January 2018, after a Human Rights Watch researcher was denied entry to the country, a Rwandan consultant working with Human Rights Watch was detained and arbitrarily held for 6 days, the first 12 hours of which were incommunicado.

De Montjoye’s denied entry follows the publication of a comprehensive October 2023 report documenting Rwanda’s systematic targeting of critics and dissidents beyond its borders.

During a parliamentary session to discuss the report, a Rwandan Patriotic Front member, John Ruku-Rwabyoma, accused Human Rights Watch of “never step[ping] foot in Rwanda” to carry out research. Speaking directly to Human Rights Watch, he suggested: “Just dare come here, you don’t need a visa … you can get visas at the airport … Then you will find the true Rwanda you’re trying to tarnish the image of.”

Rwandan authorities have long sought to block independent scrutiny and criticism, including by denying entry to a number of international journalists, maligning Rwandan rights advocates and journalists, and subjecting them to abusive prosecutions. Several Rwandan journalists, critics, and activists have been killed or have been reported missing in suspicious circumstances.

Rwanda’s rights record has garnered significant international attention in recent months. Its army has played an increasingly active role in the armed conflict in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, where it provides logistical and operational support to the abusive M23 armed group.

Despite the country’s dire human rights record, the United Kingdom is continuing with its plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, where, in defiance of the facts, it claims independent monitoring and oversight of people’s conditions will be possible. De Montjoye’s denied entry raises renewed questions about the UK government’s persistence in its intention to send asylum seekers to a country that so openly blocks scrutiny and is itself responsible for turning away human rights investigators, Human Rights Watch said.

Thirty years after the 1994 genocide, the Rwandan government has made great strides in rebuilding its infrastructure, developing its economy, and delivering public services. It should recognize the valuable role civil society can play and allow free access to those monitoring the country’s human rights record.

Human Rights Watch remains committed to engage with the Rwandan authorities and requests access for its staff to meet with government officials and carry out the same work it conducts in over 90 countries across the world.

“Rwanda’s decision shows why the international community needs to reboot its approach to Rwanda’s deteriorating human rights record,” Hassan said. “A government that blocks a leading human rights organization’s staff is not likely to stop its repression of human rights without greater international pressure. This is about more than forcing Human Rights Watch out of Rwanda, it is a brazen attempt to muzzle reporting on Rwanda’s compliance with its international human rights obligations.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).