A report submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council Friday finds a lack of progress in the human rights situation in Eritrea.

Investigators said that dissenting voices are being violently and systematically crushed by the government.

U.N. special rapporteur Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker said those most at risk include political opponents, activists, journalists, religious leaders, and draft evaders. He said they are subjected to prolonged arbitrary detention in inhuman and degrading conditions, in some instances amounting to torture.

Babiker said thousands of Eritreans have been arbitrarily detained and held in prison since 1991, stripped of their legal rights.

“Some have died over the years,” Babiker said. “The whereabouts of others remain unknown. I urge this Council to extend the maximum possible pressure on the Eritrean authorities to release all prisoners of conscience. A comprehensive reform of the justice sector is also urgently needed to re-establish the foundations of the rule of law.”

The U.N. investigator says the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia is worsening the already dire situation of forced conscription in Eritrea. Babiker said the government justifies its indefinite extension of the national service as necessary to defend the country against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.

The rebel group from Ethiopia’s Tigray region, which borders Eritrea, has been at war with the Ethiopian government since November 2020.

Babiker said the national service program is akin to forced labor and is one of the key sources of human rights violations in the country.

“Conditions for conscripts are extremely harsh, and sexual harassment, severe punishments and inhuman or degrading treatment are common, Babiker said. “The program also has severe impacts on the rights to education and to the decent work of thousands of Eritreans, as well as on their families who cannot survive on the meager pay received by conscripts.”

Babiker said the conditions continue to push thousands of young Eritreans to flee their country every year. He calls on the government to engage in a constructive dialogue to improve human rights in the country.

Ambassador Gerahtu Tesfamicael in Eritrea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said his country has been the target of politically motivated resolutions and mandates of the U.N. Human Rights Council for years.

He said this latest report presents unsubstantiated allegations of violations and ignores the positive developments made in areas of social justice and human rights. While his government faces human rights challenges, the ambassador said there is no systematic human rights crisis in the country.
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Some 2,000 Nigerians who fled Ukraine after the Russian invasion last week are on their way back to Nigeria. Nigerian authorities say 8,000 Nigerians were in Ukraine when Russia attacked, most of them students.

A flight from Romania carrying the first batch of 415 evacuees arrived at the private wing of the Abuja International Airport around 7 am Friday. 

The evacuees filed out of the aircraft into a waiting room, where they met with officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), foreign affairs ministry and the health ministry.

Orunor Otobrise, a final-year student of medicine who was studying in Ukraine, was just three months short of graduation.

“We didn’t expect the situation to escalate, it was a surprise, we went to sleep and we woke up with the sound of bombs and realized that certain cities had been missiled (hit with missiles),” Otobrise said.

At the airport, the evacuees were tested for COVID-19 and given $100 cash to pay for transportation to their homes.

Nigerian authorities say hundreds more were expected to arrive later in the day.

They say they are looking to evacuate around 8,000 Nigerians many of whom fled Ukraine for Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. The majority are young people who were studying at Ukrainian universities. 

Gabriel Tanimu Aduda, a permanent secretary at the ministry of foreign affairs, is optimistic about bringing them home.

“Everything is in place and we’re trusting God that this evacuation will continue safely. So we’re expecting that at the end of today, we’ll have brought in close to a thousand again,” Aduda said.

Olu Dominic, also a final year student who was in the group that arrived Friday morning, says he hopes to be able to continue his education.

“We’re hoping that things are a little bit settled in Ukraine so we can maybe complete our studies online.”

Aduda said he was worried about some 300 students trapped in Sumy, a city in northeastern Ukraine that was hit by severe Russian bombing.

“So many [foreign] nationals are help up in Sumy. Nigeria alone, we have 366 students in Sumy so the moment that [a] safe corridor is created, our mission… will be to receive them and being them back home,” Aduda said.

The United Nations says more than a million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began. 

For now, many of the evacuees are happy to be back home but worry about the friends and lives they left behind.
…

The U.N. children’s agency says it is procuring nearly seven million doses of polio vaccine to inoculate children in Malawi. The action follows a confirmed polio case last month in Malawi’s capital, the first reported in Africa in five years and the first in Malawi in decades.  

Malawi had last reported a polio case in 1992. The country was declared polio-free in 2005 — 15 years before the African continent as a whole was declared polio-free.  

But health experts said the polio strain which paralyzed a three-year-old child last month is similar to one in Pakistan, and noted that the child was not fully vaccinated against polio. 

UNICEF said the planned mass immunization will target the unvaccinated as well as children previously vaccinated, so all can have full protection from the polio virus.  

Rudolf Schwenk, UNICEF’s representative in Malawi, said preparations are under way for the first round of vaccinations, expected to start March 21. 

“We are installing new vaccine refrigerators, repairing vaccine refrigerators already in use or available at district level, and distributing vaccine carriers and cold boxes,” he said. 

George Jobe, executive director for the Malawi Heath Equity Network, said the emphasis should be on convincing mothers to have trust in vaccines, which has eroded because of misconceptions associated with COVID-19 vaccines.   

“There is need for more awareness raising by government of Malawi, different partners including UNICEF itself, and when doing that awareness raising, it should be made clear that vaccines for children have been there, earlier that the COVID-19 vaccine, and these are routine in Malawi,” Jobe said. 

Schwenk said the training of health workers and community leaders is already under way. 

Malawi provides a polio vaccine that targets polio virus type 1 and type 3, following the eradication of polio virus type 2 many years back. 

UNICEF said the oral polio vaccine to be administered is for wild poliovirus type 1.

The U.N. agency said the 6.9 million doses will cover the first two rounds of the mass immunization campaign in March and April. It says more vaccine is expected to cover all four rounds of the polio immunization campaign, expected to end in June.   

In the meantime, experts from the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are working to detect any other potential cases in Malawi and neighboring countries. 

 
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Tanzanian prosecutors have dropped terrorism charges against opposition leader Freeman Mbowe and three others who were released Friday after being held for eight months. Tanzanian police arrested the four last year in the port city of Mwanza where Mbowe was to address a meeting to discuss constitutional reforms.

Supporters of Mbowe’s Chadema party and others who were following the case cheered and sang solidarity songs outside the High Court’s Division of Corruption and Economic Sabotage.

Mbowe and his colleagues were set to appear in court Friday, after a court decision two weeks ago that the four defendants had to face terrorism charges. 

Peter Kibatala, head of Mbowe’s defense team, said he was happy to see his client released. 

“We are very proud that we have not let them down. I believe even relatives, neighbors, and friends of the accused, including Freeman Mbowe, have seen that there is no one we have let down…. We have left our strength and everything at the court,” Kibatala said. 

Rights activists welcomed Mbowe’s release but said more needs to be done to address human rights issues in the country, such as laws that allow suspects to be jailed before investigations into their alleged crimes are completed. 

Anna Henga, executive director for the NGO Legal and Human Rights Center, said often people are being put behind bars with little to no evidence against them.

“When I was given the reports, I was, like, there is no case here because there was no strong evidence to put him on trial with terrorism charges,” Henga said. 

U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania Donald Wright welcomed the news on Twitter, saying it is a welcome opportunity for Tanzania to turn the page and focus on the future. 

Political analysts like Abdulkarim Atiki say the Mbowe’s release reflects positively on President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government.  But Atiki said it is time for Tanzania to avoid the improper jailing of people for months on end. 

He said, if someone is to be charged, then the government and investigators should be satisfied there is truth in the accusations directed to someone. But, he added, if someone is kept behind bars, how can you revise the image? How are you going to return his rights which have been denied?

Party supporters like Deogratius Mahinyila say the decision to release Mbowe is the right one, but highlights the injustice Mbowe faced. 

“We see that this decision has been delayed but also in a legal sense, it makes us as a nation see that we need a new constitution,” Mahinyila. 

Chadema party officials weren’t immediately available for comment, and Mbowe did not speak to reporters after his release. 
…

Nigerian authorities say security forces have killed more than 200 armed gangs, known locally as bandits, in four days of gun battles in central Niger state. Nigeria has been struggling to contain growing violence by armed groups known for mass kidnappings for ransom.

The Niger state commissioner for local affairs and internal security, Emmanuel Umar, made the announcement during a press briefing in Minna, the state capital, Wednesday.

Umar said the bandits were killed in gunfire exchanges with agents at various locations between Sunday and Wednesday and that operatives recovered scores of motorcycles and cattle. The commanders of the gangs were also killed.

Additionally, he said two officers were killed by the bandits and that injured personnel were receiving treatment.

During a televised interview with a Lagos-based television station, he said authorities were increasing the security presence on highways in the state.

“We’ve now increased our visibility on the road if you ask those who have traveled on that road today. You’ll see patrol teams,” Umar said. “I was on that road yesterday. This morning, I was on that road to ensure increased visibility of security men on that road.”

Authorities attributed the victory to a joint task force operation including local militias and community heads.

Nigeria has seen a rise in mass abductions and killings by bandits since late 2020. Thousands have been killed in violence, and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes.

Early this year, Nigeria’s armed forces said they killed 537 ”armed bandits and other criminal elements.”

Monday Bala Kuryas is Niger state commissioner of police.

“We’re collaborating with the communities to give us vital information or intelligence to their (bandits) movements so that we can nip it in the bud earlier on,” Kuryas said. “We’re also collaborating with our neighboring states like Zamfara, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kebbi.”

Late last year, Nigeria labeled bandits as terrorist groups, allowing for stricter measures under the country’s laws.
…

South Africa chose to abstain Wednesday when the United Nations General Assembly voted on a resolution calling on its BRICS partner, Russia, to withdraw its military forces from Ukraine.  South Africa’s U.N. ambassador defended the move, but some South Africans were unhappy with the decision.

South Africa was one of 17 African nations that abstained.

In a statement, South Africa’s U.N. Ambassador Mathu Joyini objected to the phrasing of the resolution, saying it “does not create an environment conducive for diplomacy, dialogue and mediation.”

Political science professor Bheki Mngomezulu said South Africa is also influenced by its historical ties to the former Soviet Union.  

“There are a number of South Africans, most of whom are now in government, who trained both in Russia and Ukraine. So, they do have relations with Ukraine. And the majority of the people are of the view that the liberation struggle was supported solely by Russia in terms of these two countries, but the reality of the matter is all the countries that were part of the USSR participated in terms of assisting the liberation struggle not only in South Africa but in Africa in general,” Mngomezulu said.

The main opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance, released a statement condemning the country’s stance. The party’s shadow minister for international relations Darren Bergman said the party is shocked that South Africa could abstain from such a vote.

“This was an opportune time for South Africa to take a stand and to assert itself on the international stage,” Bergman said.

He said considering how hard South Africans fought to end the racially oppressive system of apartheid and get the right to vote, and how the international community helped them win their fight, they should’ve repaid the favor.

“An abstention or voting for Russia is pretty much the same language. It’s a vote against Ukraine. It’s a vote against peace, and it’s a condonation of the violence that’s currently taking place in Ukraine,” Bergman said.

Other South Africans added their voices to the chorus of disappointment, including analyst Mngomezulu.

“Of course, it doesn’t paint the country in a positive light, more especially because part of South Africa’s foreign policy agenda is to respect human rights, and in this case it’s clear that the human rights of the Ukrainians [have] been affected,” Mngomezulu.

Ronnie Gotkin, who was out for an afternoon stroll in the summer sunshine, said he was outraged.

“I think it’s pretty appalling. It’s not taking a moral stance. I understand that in the real world there are politics and allies, but sometimes morality should trump out,” Gotkin said.

In all, 141 nations voted in favor of the resolution, five nations, including Russia, voted no, and 35 abstained.

Eritrea was the only African nation to vote with Russia.
…

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) marked its 50-year anniversary Thursday at its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Activists have criticized the organization as being slow to address global threats to the environment, such as pollution and climate change. But at the U.N.’s Environment Assembly this week over 100 nations pledged to negotiate a binding treaty to reduce plastic pollution.

UNEP’s chief, Inger Andersen, said Thursday the agency has contributed to saving the planet from harm and destruction.

“We saved millions of lives and protected nature,” she said. “We showed environmental multilateralism does deliver. That is a lesson that should inspire us today. Friends, there are other major achievements, the launch of the scientific body, the IPCC, the phase-out of lead and petrol and just yesterday, the resolution starting the pathway to a global plastic pollution deal to end plastic pollution for good.”

The resolution calls for two years of negotiations toward a comprehensive, international treaty on how to handle the growing problem of plastic waste.

The UNEP was formed in Stockholm in 1972 and has been a key player in safeguarding the world’s plant species, wildlife, and climate.

The organization says its mandate is to bring the world together in tackling environmental threats.

Addressing leaders, delegates and environmental activists at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, praised its work.

“Progressively, over the last 50 years, UNEP has led the world to understand the centrality of the environment in human existence to appreciate the increased threats to the environment and also the existential threat that exists to our planet. They have also helped us galvanize collective global action to protect our environment,” he said.

Wanjira Mathai, the vice-president and regional director at the World Resources Institute, said enforcing agreed-upon environment policies and laws has been a challenge.

“I think enforcement is usually our biggest challenge because we make commitments but we don’t always follow through with enforcement. That’s the biggest opportunity for us, is to see them through,” he said.

Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi says implementing environmental laws and the agreement requires greater funding.

“Botswana continues to walk in the path provided by multilateral environmental agreements that she is a party to. However, with limited resources fulfilling these commitments continues to remain a challenge but we stand committed as Botswana, do not doubt it,” he said.

Andersen said her organization needs the support of all countries to achieve and deliver a stable climate and rich nature that benefits all.
…

Anglophone separatists in Cameroon have claimed responsibility for an attack Wednesday that killed seven people, including a senior official and a mayor. Cameroon’s military says the officials were on a tour to raise support against the rebels when a homemade bomb hit their car.

The government said the explosive device hit the officials’ car in Bekora village in the Ekondo Titi district of Cameroon’s English-speaking South-West region. The government says six officials, including Timothee Aboloa, highest government official in Ekondo Titi, Nanji Kenneth, mayor of Ekondo Titi and Ebeku William, the Ekondo Titi president of Cameroon’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party, died on the spot.

Cameroon’s military said after the device exploded, separatist fighters hiding in a nearby bush started shooting.

Bernard Okalia Bilai is the governor of the South-West region. Bilai said several government troops sustained injuries, and a military official died while being rushed to a local hospital by the military. Bilai spoke during a press conference broadcast by local media including Cameroon state broadcaster CRTV.

“All the six occupants of the car died. The other forces of law and order [military] who were in the pickup following the [officials’] car was wounded. One young officer, a lieutenant, was wounded, and he too passed away. So, in that attack we have lost seven persons,” he said.

Bilai said the officials were on a meet-the-people tour of Ekondo Titi. He said during the tour, the officials were expected to educate civilians on braving separatists and relaunch economic activities in their towns and villages. Bilai said the officials were also asking civilians to report suspected fighters hiding in their towns and villages.

Cameroon’s military on Thursday said troops were deployed to Ekondo Titi shortly after the explosion. The military said the troops will track and arrest or kill the fighters should government troops face any resistance from the rebels.

Capo Daniel is the deputy defense chief of staff for the Ambazonia Defense Forces, said to be the largest separatist group in Cameroon.

Capo said separatists regret that one fighter has been missing since Wednesday’s attack. He said no fighter was wounded and none were killed by government troops in the Ekondo Titi attack, as reported by Cameroon military. Capo spoke to VOA via a messaging app.

“This operation is part of our liberation operations to end the Cameroon occupation and rule of Ambazonia territory. The divisional officer is in charge of coordinating Cameroon’s military operations and Cameroon’s occupation of Ambazonia territory. We will continue to battle and resist Cameroon rule of Ambazonia until the last Cameroon military is booted out of our territory,” he said.

Cameroon separatists have been fighting since 2017 to carve out an independent English-speaking state in the majority French-speaking Cameroon. The separatists say their state will be called Ambazonia.

Fighters have vowed to attack any worker sent by the central government in Yaounde to the English-speaking western regions. The separatists say they will continue attacking government offices and staff until the central government withdraws its troops from the troubled Anglophone regions.

The United Nations says the conflict has left more than 3,500 people dead and 750,000 displaced.
…

The United Nations Environment Assembly, meeting in Nairobi, has adopted a resolution detailing what to do about plastic pollution. It calls for two years of negotiations toward a comprehensive, international treaty on the full life cycle of plastics.

Delegates from 175 countries endorsed an agreement Wednesday that addresses plastic waste.

The United Nations says 400 million tons of plastic is produced every year, and that figure is set to double by 2040.

Rwanda is one of the countries that banned plastic in its territory and is pushing for a plastic-free world.

Rwanda’s environment minister, Jeanne Mujawamariya, said her country would benefit a great deal from global regulation of the use of plastics.

“If adopted, the creation of a legally binding instrument would be greatly significant for countries like Rwanda, where we have made good progress,” she said. “Systematic global change is needed if we are to clean up the current mess, develop sustainable alternatives and make them affordable.”

The debate surrounding plastic pollution has been on the U.N. agenda since 2012.

Recycling has remained one of the effective ways of reducing plastics. The Environmental Investigation Agency, an environmental nonprofit organization, said the existing method of managing plastic is not sustainable.

Less than 10% of plastic that has been produced is being recycled, 76% is discarded into landfills, and experts warn its production will triple by 2050.

Amina Mohammed, the United Nations deputy secretary-general, told the meeting attendees not to fear a future without plastic.

“While we have learned to recycle plastic, we need a far more robust approach to tackle this enormous problem and ensure systemic change through strong action upstream and downstream,” Mohammed said. “We must be ambitious and move faster to win this battle. This is going to require genuine collaborations and partnerships with a shared vision.

The fight against plastic pollution aims to reduce plastic going into the oceans by 80% by the end of the year 2040 and create 700,000 jobs by that time.

Jane Patton, the plastic and petrochemicals campaign manager at the Center for International Environmental Law, told VOA the agreement will mandate that companies producing plastics manage the waste being emitted.

“The resolution specifically calls for a legally binding instrument, which is good, as we have seen the companies that are producing this plastic waste and putting it into the environment, they don’t follow through commitments unless they are legally bound to do that,” she said. “And so, we are excited to see that the treaty will have both a mandatory and voluntary commitments by government, and that will affect companies to address this problem.”

The head of the U.N. Environment Program, Inger Andersen, said adopting the plastic treaty is the most important international environmental agreement since the 2016 Paris climate accord took effect. 
…

A number of Africans fleeing the war in Ukraine say they have had trouble getting out of the country and have even experienced occasional acts of aggression. VOA spoke to Liberian medical student Augustine Akoi Kollie, who shared his experience at the Ukraine-Romania border. Betty Ayoub has the story, narrated by Carol Guensburg.
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Women’s rights groups protested in Nigeria’s capital Wednesday to demand greater representation of women in the country’s parliaments. Lawmakers on Tuesday approved a bill that would set aside 20 percent of seats for women, but protesters say one-fifth is not enough.  

Some 200 women barricaded the entrance of the Nigerian National Assembly, holding up posters and banners and singing songs. The protesters, including market women, civil servants and various professionals, prevented lawmakers from entering their offices Wednesday.  

Protesters say they were not satisfied with Tuesday’s vote to increase women’s share of parliament seats at both the state and national levels to 20 percent — nearly triple the current rate of seven percent. They want 35 percent of seats to be allocated to women.  

“We need new ideas, new minds and diverse views, which is why we are pushing for women,” said Cynthia Mbamalu, an organizer of Wednesday’s protest. “If we have women in government, there will be an assessment of policies and laws from both male and female lens and we are looking at issues that affect women, children and young people from a diverse perspective. We cannot expect development or things to change if decisions are made by the same kind of people.” 

Hansatu Adegbite, who heads the Women in Business Initiative, also took part in the protest. 

“Women have to arise, enough is enough,” she said. “I am appealing to every single woman in any sector, arise and let us take over this nation. It is about all of us and we are here to take over this nation once and for all.” 

Nigeria’s lawmakers began an exercise this week to review the country’s national constitution of 1999. 

Women’s representation in Nigeria’s parliament, at around 4%, is among the lowest in the world. Activists say patriarchy and cultural biases are some factors influencing women’s low participation in government. 

Lawmakers responded to the protesters after hours of demonstrations. 

Deputy chief whip Sabi Abdullahi promised the protesters that their demands will be reviewed.  

“The conversation we’re having now is a good step and I want us to look at it as work in progress and as we talk, we understand the issues, I’m sure we can get somewhere,” Abdullahi said. 

Africa has seen an increase in the number of women in parliament, but a European research group, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, says African countries are unlikely to reach the U.N. goal of gender parity in politics by 2030. 

Nigerian protesters said African countries like Senegal, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Botswana are getting more women involved in key economic and political positions. 

 
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Burkina Faso’s six-year conflict with terrorist groups has spread to the southwest of the country and is beginning to spill into neighboring countries. The conflict is also sparking accusations of human rights abuses.

Binta Sangare, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, says armed men entered her house one night in November, shouting and shining flashlights on her.

She says they kidnapped her husband and disappeared into the night.

She says, just after the men left, she heard gunshots and that seven people were killed that night. Local people found the bodies of six and the last one a few days later. Her husband’s body was among them and later buried.

She says the men who took her husband away were Burkinabe security forces. At her husband’s funeral, they came again and detained people from the Fulani ethnic group, she says.

“They came to kidnap and kill without cause or investigation. That makes us scared every day,” she told VOA.

Burkina Faso has been battling armed groups linked to Islamic State and al-Qaida for six years.

In the last year, the conflict has spread south. Reports of extrajudicial killings by Burkinabe forces — known as the FDS — have increased.

Rights groups say there is a common misconception that Fulanis are behind many of the terror attacks and say Fulanis make up the majority of victims of pro-government forces.

VOA spoke with seven witnesses in the southwest municipality of Djigoue, who said relatives were abducted or killed by security forces in November. Some alleged that government-backed civilian militia groups, or VDP’s, have been involved in the deaths and disappearances.

One witness, whose identity has also been protected, said the Dozos, a militia group, shot and killed his nephew. He says terror attacks have increased and security forces are relying on the Dozos to maintain security.

He says the FDS are staying in their bases and letting the Dozos go out into the bush… “At first the FDS were accompanied by the Dozos, and they were interrogating all ethnic groups. But, since things are in [the Dozos’] hands, they are only interested in the Fulani,” he added.

One Burkinabe human rights group — The Collective Against Impunity and the Stigmatization of Communities — says 17 people were murdered in Djigoue in November.

In a VOA interview, the group’s founder called on leaders to act.

He urges them to suspend the operations of the VDPs and the armed civilians, adding that the group strongly hopes leaders take into account the international respect of human rights and the sacredness of human life.

Human Rights Watch says the FDS — which took power from a democratically elected government in January — has carried out many extrajudicial killings since the conflict began.

“To the best of my knowledge, no one, no security force members have been held accountable for these very serious allegations of abuses in counter terrorism operations.”

The FDS did not respond to a request for comment.
…

Burkina Faso’s six-year conflict with terrorist groups has spread to the southwest of the country and is beginning to spill into neighboring countries. The conflict is also sparking accusations of human rights abuses, as Henry Wilkins reports from southwest Burkina Faso.
…

African workers and students seeking to flee Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion are complaining of being blocked from buses, trains and border crossing points while priority is given to Ukrainian citizens.

A VOA reporter in western Ukraine says that priority is being given to Ukrainians but that he has not seen evidence Africans are being treated differently from other foreigners.

Nevertheless, some Africans — among the hundreds of thousands of people desperately trying to leave Ukraine — are alleging racial discrimination, prompting denials from Ukrainian authorities and concern from the United States and international bodies.

Augustine Akoi Kollie, a Liberian national studying medicine in the western Ukraine’s city of Ternopil, said he witnessed the disparities while waiting overnight Saturday to cross the border near Suceava, Romania.

People stood shivering in long lines, clutching luggage and children, and “if a Ukrainian comes, you have to shift and make way for the Ukrainians to go to the front,” Kollie told VOA. Although authorities called for women and children to be processed first, African women were left behind, he said.

“It was racial discrimination,” he said, “because if you say you are taking women and children, you have foreign students there who are females. So why are you not taking them?”

Kollie also saw aggressive behavior, which one of his traveling companions captured on video while they waited at the border. The video clip, shared with VOA, shows a nighttime scene of several uniformed men shoving what Kollie called “foreign students,” who were sitting on the ground and barely visible behind a parked vehicle. The men fired several shots into the air.

His account dovetails with reports by other news media.

A 24-year-old Nigerian doctor told The New York Times she was stranded for over two days at the Ukraine-Poland border crossing at the Polish town of Medyka, with guards holding back foreigners while allowing Ukrainians to pass through.

“They were beating up people with sticks,” the doctor, Chineye Mbagwu, told The Times. “They would slap them, beat them and push them to the end of the queue. It was awful.”

The hashtag #AfricansinUkraine has been trending on Twitter, showing video clips of Black people appearing to be denied boarding on a train or pulled from seating. VOA has not been able to authenticate the videos independently.

A VOA correspondent reporting from Ukraine said authorities there have prioritized Ukrainians for outbound buses and trains, making it harder for foreigners — including him, a white European national — to leave.

Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, tweeted Tuesday: “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has affected Ukrainians and non-citizens in many devastating ways. Africans seeking evacuation are our friends and need to have equal opportunities to return to their home countries safely. Ukraine’s government spares no effort to solve the problem.”

Disturbing reports

The African Union released a statement Monday saying its top officials — current chair Macky Sall, president of Senegal, and Moussa Faki Mahamat, African Union Commission chairperson — were “particularly disturbed by reports that African citizens on the Ukrainian side of the border are being refused the right to cross the border to safety.”

“Reports that Africans are singled out for unacceptable dissimilar treatment would be shockingly racist and in breach (of) international law,” the statement continued.

The International Committee of the Red Cross could not confirm such reports, “but they are disturbing,” the agency said in an email to VOA Tuesday. “Safe passage and the ability to seek safe haven is a right for everyone affected by conflict. The ICRC (is) working and responding to everyone affected by the fighting.”

The U.S. State Department has denounced any attempts at racial bias.

“We are aware of these media reports,” a department spokesperson said Monday. “Any act of racial discrimination, particularly in a crisis, is inexcusable.”

The spokesperson said the department was “engaging closely with U.N. agencies on the ground to ensure that every single person crossing into neighboring countries is received equally and with the protection assistance their circumstances require.”

Meanwhile, the AU has commended efforts by its member states and embassies in neighboring countries to receive African citizens and their families trying to leave Ukraine.

Nigeria’s ambassador to Romania, Safiya Ahmad Nuhu, told VOA’s Hausa Service that more than 600 Nigerians have arrived in Bucharest “and there are many more on buses that are coming from the various entry points.”

“The Romanian authorities have been very helpful in terms of coordination, preparation and assistance,” she added. “It’s not even just the government but even individuals, organizations, universities, private individuals — they’ve all been so helpful in providing assistance.”

Kollie, the Liberian student, said once he and his two companions crossed into Romania, they were given blankets, plenty of food and transportation to the town of Timisoara, where they’re sharing a hotel room. He said new arrivals were told they would get help with food and lodging for 30 days.

‘Exponential’ increase expected

The United Nations anticipates that, with a sustained Russian assault, refugees will continue to pour over Ukraine’s borders.

“I have rarely seen such an incredibly fast-rising exodus of people,” with numbers “rising exponentially hour after hour since Thursday,” said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, addressing the U.N. Security Council on Monday. “… We are currently planning for up to 4 million refugees in the coming days and weeks. Such a rapid increase would be a huge burden for receiving states.”

Already, the outward surge represents the largest displacement in Europe since the Balkan wars in the early 1990s, Grandi said. Then, more than 2 million people fled their homes, the U.N. refugee agency estimated at the time.

Grandi noted that amid the current crisis, more than 280,000 people have sought relief in Poland; in Hungary, 94,000; in Moldova, nearly 40,000; in Romania, 34,000; in Slovakia, 30,000 — plus tens of thousands elsewhere in Europe. Grandi said “a sizeable number” also have relocated to the Russian Federation.

The European Commission — the European Union’s executive arm — earlier this week had discussed asking member nations to grant temporary asylum for Ukrainians for up to three years, The New York Times and Reuters reported. Residents of Ukraine, which on Monday applied for EU membership, can currently stay for up to 90 days and travel visa-free within the bloc’s countries.

Asked by VOA about EU policy and provisions for Ukrainian and other refugees, the European Commission said in an email Tuesday that it would “soon propose (to) activate the Temporary Protection Directive to offer quick and effective assistance to people fleeing the war in Ukraine. The Commission stands ready to support its member states providing a safe haven for people fleeing Ukraine and is working on an overall contingency plan to respond to Russian aggression, which includes the protection of Ukrainian people. … We are considering all courses of action to help member states process arrivals quickly and effectively. Until we present our proposal, we are unable to go into further detail.”

As for reported mistreatment of people of color, the commission said: “All people in need, regardless of their nationality, ethnicity, or their skin color, who are fleeing violence in Ukraine should be granted access to the EU.”

Contributors to this report include VOA’s Eastern Europe Chief Myroslava Gongadze, Grace Alheri Abdu of the Hausa Service, Ignatius Annor of the English to Africa Service, and Betty Ayoub and Carol Guensburg of the Africa Division.
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Authorities in Tanzania’s semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar are helping at least 900 Ukrainian tourists who were left stranded after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Zanzibar’s President Hussein Mwinyi on Monday said they were helping about 900 Ukrainians who were there on vacation when Russia invaded their country last week.

Authorities said the Ukrainians are not able to safely return home but cannot stay on the Tanzanian island as local media reported they are running out of money.

In comments sent to the press, Mwinyi said they have initiated talks with hotel owners on how they can help these people. He said they will help the Ukrainians until their government is ready to come to their assistance.

Authorities said they are communicating with Ukraine’s embassy in neighboring Kenya to try to evacuate the tourists to Ukraine’s neighbor, Poland.

Officials with the Ukrainian Embassy in Kenya said, “Zanzibar is a pretty popular tourism destination for Ukrainian nationals, so it was clear that there would be an issue. We contacted the tour operators who sent the tourists to Zanzibar. … We realize that we have about 1,000 people — we got in touch with Zanzibar to see the possible measures and possible ways how the Tanzanian government can cooperate with the Zanzibars to protect our nationals.”

Poland’s foreign minister on Tuesday said they have accepted 400,000 Ukrainians who have fled for safety since Russia’s invasion.

The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said more than 660,000 Ukrainians fled the invasion in the last six days to neighboring countries.

The East African nation reported on Tuesday that Ukraine’s Ambassador to Kenya was scheduled to meet the stranded tourists and Zanzibar officials.

Zanzibar’s beaches and historic Stone Town attract about half a million tourists each year and account for 30% of the semi-autonomous island’s output.

Zanzibar’s tourism ministry says the country received more than 2,300 Ukrainian tourists and more than 18,000 Russian tourists in 2020.

Some in the industry fear Russia’s war against Ukraine could have a negative impact on tourism.

Theresia Cosmas is a tourism officer at Tanzania’s College of African Wildlife Management.

Cosmas said the fighting already affects Zanzibar since foreign income will drop as Zanzibar receives many tourists from various corners of the world, including from those two countries.

Tanzania last week ordered its few hundred citizens living in Ukraine to leave the country.

The U.N. said more than 136 civilians in Ukraine have been killed since Russia’s military invaded and began striking Ukrainian military and civilian areas.
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 Zimbabwe has launched an emergency road repair program after a public outcry over the country’s high death toll on its roads, among the deadliest in Africa. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare.
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Libyan lawmakers confirmed a new transitional government Tuesday, a move that is likely to lead to parallel administrations and fuel mounting tensions in a country that has been mired in conflict for the past decade.

Prime Minister-designate Fathi Bashagha submitted his Cabinet to the east-based House of Representatives, where 92 of 101 lawmakers in attendance approved it in a vote broadcast live from the city of Tobruk.  

The new government includes three deputy prime ministers, 29 ministers and six ministers of state. There are only two women in the Cabinet, overseeing the Ministry of Culture and Arts and holding the position of State Minister for Women Affairs.

Bashagha appointed Ahmeid Houma, the second deputy speaker of the parliament, to lead the Ministry of Defense, and Brig. Essam Abu Zreiba, from the western city of Zawiya, as interior minister. Former ambassador to the European Union, Hafez Qadour, was named foreign minister.

The appointment of Bashagha last month, a powerful former interior minister from the western city of Misrata, is part of a roadmap that also involves constitutional amendments and sets the date for elections within 14 months.

The move deepened divisions among Libyan factions and raised fears that fighting could return after more than a year and a half of relative calm.

Bashagha has formed an alliance with powerful east-based commander Khalifa Hifter, who welcomed Bashagha’s appointment as prime minister earlier this month. That alliance has caused concerns among anti-Hifter factions in western Libya and their main foreign backer, Turkey.

“Now the question is whether this contrived alliance will be enough for Bashagha and his ministers to impose themselves in Tripoli and rule,” said Jalel Harchaoui, a researcher specializing in Libya. “It is not clear at all that Turkey and, importantly, Misrata’s main forces will let that happen right away.”

Embattled Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who like Bashagha hails from Misrata, remained defiant Tuesday against replacing his government. In a statement, Dbeibah’s government called Tuesday’s confirmation a “new farce” and accused the parliament’s leadership of “messing with the security and stability of Libyans.”  

Dbeibah has repeatedly said his government will hand over power only to an elected government. He has proposed a four-point plan to hold a simultaneous parliamentary vote and referendum on constitutional amendments late in June. That would be followed by a presidential election after the new parliament crafts a permanent constitution. He did not offer a time frame for the presidential election.

Dbeibah was appointed through a U.N.-led process in February 2021 on the condition that he shepherd the country until elections. The effort to replace him stems from Libya’s failure to hold its first presidential election during his watch.

The presidential vote was planned for December 24, but it was postponed over disputes between rival factions on laws governing the elections and controversial presidential hopefuls. Lawmakers have argued that the mandate of Dbeibah’s government ended on December 24.

The vote’s delay was a major blow to international efforts to end a decade of chaos in the oil-rich Mediterranean nation.

Libya has been unable to hold elections since its disputed legislative vote in 2014, which caused the country to split for years between rival administrations, each backed by armed militias and foreign governments.

The oil-rich North African nation has been wrecked by conflict since a NATO-backed uprising toppled then killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
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Ghana has welcomed home a first group of evacuated students who were studying in Ukraine when Russia invaded.  Ghana’s foreign ministry says more than 500 other Ghanaian students have fled Ukraine and can come home if they wish.

The first batch of 17 students arrived Tuesday in the capital, Accra, on two flights. 

Looking very calm, the students were welcomed by a government delegation led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong. 

Nana Boakye Agyemang, a first-year medical student who has been studying in Ukraine for the past five years, spoke briefly to reporters at the airport. 

“This is quite unfortunate that we have to come home. Siblings should be calm, friends should be calm. The government is doing its possible best to make sure that we all come back home. For the meantime, we want to say thank you and we appreciate whatever has been done for us,” Agyemang said. 

Priscilla Adjai, another student, told VOA she decided to return to Ghana because she feared for her life.   

“We decided to move because they said the targeted areas were eastern Ukraine but we were in western Ukraine. We were not supposed to be targeted but two hours from me cities were bombed, so I became afraid because it’s narrowing down to where I am. So I talked to my parents and they said, ‘Yes, go ahead,’” Adjai said.

The deputy foreign minister told the media the government is working around the clock to evacuate Ghanaians who want to return home.   

“We thank the Almighty God that he’s seen you through and brought you home. In the next couple of hours you’ll reconcile and re-engage with your families. The government is determined to continue to make sure that your colleagues who are still in transit to be evacuated will be eventually evacuated,” Ampratwum-Sarpong said.

The students were later reunited with their parents, who were in a separate meeting with government officials. 

More than 500 Ghanian students who were in Ukraine when Russia invaded have made their way to Poland and Romania. Officials say those desiring to come back to Ghana will be flown home. 
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As Nigeria prepares to go to the polls next year, youth groups are urging young people to run for office to unseat older generations who have largely run the country for decades. Youth-led mass protests in 2020 against police brutality and bad governance have sparked fresh interest, but Nigerian youth find there are many challenges to entering politics. Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja. Camera – Emeka Gibson.
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About 20 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo were killed in a fresh attack by the suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group, monitors said Monday. 

“At least 20 civilians were killed in #Kikura village (#Beni territory, North #Kivu) on Sunday night. The #ADF are suspected,” the U.S.-based Kivu Security Tracker (KST) said on Twitter. 

Ricardo Rupande, head of a local association of grassroots groups, gave the same toll and urged the armed forces to take action against the rebels. 

David Moaze, a lawyer and coordinator for a DRC rights group called ADDHO, said two women and a girl around age 9 were among the dead. 

The ADF — which Islamic State describes as its local affiliate — has been blamed for thousands of deaths in eastern DRC, as well as a spate of recent bomb attacks in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. 

Last May, the DRC government imposed a “state of siege” in North Kivu and neighboring Ituri in a bid to crush armed groups that plague the two provinces. 

Under it, senior civilian positions in the provinces have been taken over by army or police officers.  

Despite the crackdown, and cross-border support from Ugandan forces that began in late November, the ADF’s attacks have continued. 

Kikura, where the latest bloodshed took place, lies around 15 kilometers from a Ugandan army base in eastern DRC at Mukakati. 

The DRC army and U.N. peacekeeping mission MONUSCO, in the DRC, are also present in the area. 

Rupande said the armed forces “have given the enemy time to organize.” 

The ADF was historically a Ugandan rebel coalition whose biggest group comprised of Muslims opposed to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. 

But it established itself in eastern DRC in 1995, becoming the deadliest of scores of outlawed forces in the troubled region. 

Islamic State presents the ADF as its regional branch — the Islamic State Central Africa Province, or ISCAP.  

In March 2020, the United States placed the ADF on its list of “terrorist groups” affiliated with IS jihadists.  
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the sanctions that followed, has pushed the price of oil to over $100 per barrel, the highest level in eight years. But, it’s also opened an opportunity for African oil producers like Nigeria, Angola, Libya, and Algeria to cash in with more crude oil exports.

Crude oil prices hit $105 per barrel last week, their highest mark since 2014, and up by 47% since December, amid fears that supplies from Russia may be impacted by its war with Ukraine.

Russia accounts for about 10 percent of the world’s crude oil output, making it the third-biggest producer globally, behind the United States and Saudi Arabia.

But experts say the Ukraine invasion and the sanctions slapped on Russia by Europe and the United States could significantly reduce demand for Russian products and increase the demand for Africa’s.

Isaac Botti is a public finance expert in Abuja.

“For Africa it’s a gain, it’s an opportunity,” Botti said. “It presents that window of opportunity for African countries to see how they can increase their production capacity and meet the need of global demands of crude oil.”

Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer of oil at about 1.9 million barrels per day, followed by Libya, Angola and Algeria.

That positions those countries to reap windfall profits from rising oil prices. But economic analyst Paul Enyim notes that Nigeria will have to pay on the other end for finished products like gasoline.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to hit on our economy,” Enyim said. “We may think that we’ll gain but remember we don’t refine our crude oil.”

All of Nigeria’s refineries were shut down in 2020 because of money and maintenance issues and have yet to reopen. The country now depends entirely on imports to meet its fuel needs.

For weeks, Nigeria has been battling to increase its national fuel supply after authorities recalled millions of liters of tainted imported petrol from circulation, causing a major shortage in West Africa’s most populous nation.

In contrast, Algeria, which does have refineries, said this week that it would supply Europe with petroleum products if necessary.

Botti said it’s a good example for other African nations.

“We need to develop our capacity to produce locally, we need to look at various trade agreements that are existing,” Botti said.

As Russia’s war on Ukraine persists, experts say the shifting focus on Africa could be both a blessing and a burden.
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In the last few years, villages along Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria have formed militias to ward off Boko Haram militants and inform authorities about suspicious activities. These so-called vigilance committees were exclusively male until last year when a number of women joined. Anne Nzouankeu reports from Mora, Cameroon.
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A South African activist group is suing the government to reveal details of its contracts with COVID-19 vaccine makers. The Health Justice Initiative says transparency is needed to ensure fair pricing and prevent corruption.

How much did South Africa pay for each unit of its COVID-19 vaccines and on what terms?

Those are some of the questions posed by health activists in a lawsuit filed last week against the country’s health department.

Fatima Hassan is the founder and director of the Health Justice Initiative.

“What we are arguing in our papers in the context of South Africa is that in a pandemic, when we had a state of disaster like we’ve had… there needs to be heightened checks and balances, we need to, you know, be able to hold the different decision makers to account,” she said.

She says freedom of information requests filed for the documents have gone unanswered.

Hassan says it’s not just a matter of what South Africa paid for vaccines, but also where the country falls in the context of the world’s response to the pandemic.

She wants to know if any stipulations were made that left some countries paying more or waiting longer for vaccines.

“What are the implications then for over agreements and contracts as almost, you know, every single country in the world has signed and put money on the table. Some people have had, you know, governments have had to borrow money. There’s also been a situation of, we believe, of like a case of double standards, where some countries are allowed to totally control the supplies,” she said.

South Africa’s health department spokesman Foster Mohale confirmed to VOA that its legal team is reviewing the court filing and will respond through legal channels.

Mohale said several contracts between the government and COVID-19 service providers have been released publicly. But, he added, contracts that include nondisclosure agreements cannot be released.

Legal experts say the necessity of nondisclosure agreements during the pandemic is hard to justify.

Geo Quinto is the director of the African Procurement Law Unit at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University.

“We know that there’s been nondisclosure agreements signed around the world dealing with the supply contracts — we don’t know why… There might be trade secrets contained in some of these contracts that would be detrimental to the business of the supplier, and that could justify the demand that those be kept confidential, but none of those reasons would justify a blanket confidentiality on contracts,” he said.

The Health Justice Initiative says nondisclosure of contracts leaves countries at risk of over-paying.

Fatima Suleman is a professor in the Discipline of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of KwaZulu Natal.

“There’s the ability for pharmaceutical companies to obscure information and then, you know, start at a much higher price than they need to rather than actually working with governments to ensure maximum access… Pharmaceutical companies are getting stock to those that can pay the highest, they’re obscuring prices, they’re making large profits for their shareholders and themselves. And it’s not a public health imperative anymore for these companies, it’s an investment opportunity,” she said.

South Africa has faced numerous scandals related to spending for its COVID-19 response.

The country’s special investigation unit implicated a former health minister for allegedly laundering money through fraudulent contracts.

The Health Justice Initiative is now waiting for the government’s response to the lawsuit.
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the sanctions that followed, has pushed the price of oil to over $100 per barrel, the highest level in eight years. But, it’s also opened an opportunity for African oil producers like Nigeria, Angola, Libya, and Algeria to cash in with more crude oil exports. But a lack of refineries in Africa means crude oil exporters will also have to pay more for imported fuels.

The Brent crude oil prices hit $105 per barrel last week, it’s highest mark since 2014 and up by 47% since December, amid fears that supplies from Russia may be impacted by crisis.

Russia accounts for a significant amount of the world’s total crude oil output between 25-30% making it the second highest producer globally.

But experts say the crisis and sanctions slammed on Russia by Europe and America could significantly impact demand for Russian products and tip the odds in Africa’s favor.

“For Africa it’s a gain, it’s an opportunity, it presents that window of opportunity for African countries to see how they can increase their production capacity and meet the need of global demands of crude oil,” says Isaac Botti, a public finance expert.

However, Africa’s production combined accounts for less than a tenth of total global output. Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer of oil followed by Libya. Other notable producers are Algeria and Angola.

Experts predict oil prices will rise further but worry Nigeria could be facing a backlash.

“At the end of the day it’s going to hit on our economy. We may think that we’ll gain but remember we don’t refine out crude oil,” said economic analyst Paul Enyim.

Nigerian refineries have been shut down for about one year. The country depends on imports to meet it’s energy needs. Experts say prices paid for imported will also increase.

Authorities are also grappling with huge subsidies to keep pump price of oil products within affordable limits.

Last week Nigeria’s minister of state for Petroleum said authorities were not comfortable with the surge in prices of crude oil.

But this week, Algerian state-owned oil and gas giant said it would supply Europe if Russian exports dwindled as a result of the crisis.

Botti says it’s a good example for other African nations.

“We need to develop our capacity to produce locally, we need to look at various trade agreements that are existing,” he said.

For years African oil producers including Nigeria have been struggling to meet required daily output levels.

Experts however worry African producers may struggle to fit into the big market with increasing global demands for crude oil.

For weeks, Nigeria has been battling to normalize fuel supply in the country after authorities recalled millions of liters of adulterated petrol from circulation causing a major shortage in West Africa’s most populous nation.

As the crises between Russia and Ukraine lingers, experts say the shifting focus on Africa could be both a blessing and a burden.
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