The Christian Science Monitor

For migrants abused in Libya, Europe extends a thin lifeline

Lucas Guffanti of the French refugee resettlement agency OFPRA interviews an Eritrean migrant for final approval to relocate to France on Oct. 3, 2018, in Niamey, Niger. To stem illegal migration, the EU is spending $270 million on an "Emergency Trust Fund" in Niger, part of a security-development package that has seen the number of migrants heading north drop from 334,000 in 2016 to fewer than 50,000 in 2018.

Critics say it is just a hypocritical exercise to salve Europe’s conscience. But for Alessandra Morelli, the local head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), an unusual international effort to rescue refugees from Libya and give them new homes “brings people back to life.”

Mohammed (not his real name), a lanky, corkscrew-haired young man, is one of them.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Christian Science Monitor

The Christian Science Monitor16 min read
Samuel Paty Was Murdered, And Teaching In France Has Never Been The Same
It was a Friday afternoon in October 2020, and Coralie, a junior high school French teacher at Collège du Bois d’Aulne, had just gone for a walk in the nearby woods with her dog to clear her mind before the two-week school vacation. It had been a str
The Christian Science Monitor5 min readAmerican Government
Trump May Lose Immunity Case – But In A Way That Gives Him A Big Win
In the last case to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court this term, the justices once again heard from former President Donald Trump, this time to consider a question that strikes at a foundational principle of American democracy. Just how excepti
The Christian Science Monitor3 min readWorld
‘Out Of Captivity.’ When Will Passover’s Promise Reach Gaza Hostages?
At sundown Monday evening, as hundreds of Israelis sat down to the Jewish Passover ceremony, the Seder, in Hostages Square in downtown Tel Aviv, a digital clock loomed over them. One hundred ninety-eight days, 11 hours, nine minutes, and three second

Related Books & Audiobooks