A day after agreeing a deal on resettling African asylum seekers with the UNHCR rather than forcibly deporting them, Israel announced the deal was off.
Eritreans protest outside the Rwandan embassy in Israel in late January.
Jim Hollander/EPA
Eritreans in Israel aren’t all fleeing persecution, but many have risked everything for a better life in Israel. Now they’re at risk of being ‘sold’ back to Africa.
Eritrean asylum seekers protest against deportation in Israel, in January 2017.
Abir Sultan/EPA
To improve, African countries need to find a balance between political and economic matters. This is where leadership becomes particularly important. But this is currently lacking on the continent.
Since 1991 Somaliland has declared itself independent from Somalia.
Reuters
Separation is intended to deal with problems and provide an acceptable alternative, but history shows it may not be the solution.
A man from disputed Badme poses in front of a tank abandoned during the 1998-2000 Ethiopia-Eritrea war. The risk of a fresh war is remote.
Reuters/Ed Harris
Will the latest Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict spiral into a large-scale military confrontation? The odds are highly unlikely: neither side believes it would gain from such an eventuality.
An Eritrean refugee at ‘The Jungle’ camp in the port of Calais. Thousands of Eritreans flee repression at home to seek a better life elsewhere.
EPA/Stephanie Lecocq
Eritrea achieved independence 25 years ago amid high expectations for its future. Today, the country’s youth make up a large portion of the refugees risking their lives for a better future in Europe.
Ethiopians reading newspapers in the capital Addis Ababa. The country’s media is among the most repressed on the continent.
Reuters/Tiksa Negeri
Press freedom has changed little in the past decade. If the African Union is to commit to the principles of democracy, it needs to do more to uphold freedom of expression and protects its journalists.
King Mswati III of Swaziland. His word is law, above all other laws in the tiny kingdom.
Reuters/Carlo Allegri
In the words of US President Obama: Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions. In this light, the South African president’s acceptance of a court ruling against him is a good thing.
The Nairobi-Thika highway is being built by China Wuyi, Sinohydro and Shengeli Engineering Construction, and is funded by Kenya, China and the African Development Bank.
Reuters/Thomas Mukoya
China offers an alternative to traditional donors and investors in low- and middle-income countries. Adding to its appeal is its focus on infrastructure projects.
Mickael, from Eritrea, sits close to a security fence on the main access route to the ferry harbour terminal in Calais, France.
Reuters/Pascal Rossignol
The European obsession with labeling people either economic migrants or refugees hampers understanding of the problems they face. Adding the role remittances play to the debate would help.