Rights groups slam migrant arrests in South Africa
Human rights activists have slammed South African authorities for netting at least 1 000 suspected illegal migrants in crackdown called Operation Cleansweep. The organisation Lawyers for Human Rights won a court application yesterday (Monday) delaying the deportation of about 400 of the people detained. The raids follow last months xenophobic attacks in Durban and Johannesburg […]
Migrant source countries aim at people smugglers
There’s been a new turn in efforts to stop African migrants making too often lethal attempts to cross the Mediterranean Sea en route to Europe. Countries where these desperate people are coming from and where they embark on their perilous journey are hitting at the people smugglers carrying them. Libya’s internationally recognised government’s warned countries […]
Rival army units fight for control of Bujumbura
Rival army units are having at each other in the Burundian capital Bujumbura after a general announced that President Pierre Nkurnziza, who’s out of the country, has been sacked. State radio insists the attempted coup has failed. However it’s surrounded by army units trying to get in. Bujumbura prison has been broken open and protestors […]
Nkurunziza’s been sacked, says general
Crowds have poured onto the streets in the Burundian capital Bujumbura after an army general went on radio to announce President Pierre Nkurunziza has been sacked. South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation says it’s too early to describe the actions as a coup. President Pierre Nkurunziza’s in Tanzania for a regional summit to […]
Military coup playing out in Bujumbura
A full-on military coup appears to be playing out in Burundi. The military says President Pierre Nkurunziza, who’s attending a regional summit in Tanzania on the crisis in his counry, has been sacked and parliament’s suspended. Ends intro President Pierre Nkunrunziza’s delegation to the summit in Dar es Salaam have abandoned the negoiting table and […]
East African leaders condemn coup in Burundi
East African Community leaders have slammed what they call a coup in Burundi. The heads of state gathered in Tanzania to discuss the crisis in Burundi are calling for the earliest restoration of democracy in the tiny Great Lakes country. Confusion reigns in Bujumbura where an army general Godefroid Niyombare says he’s sacked President […]
Burundi presidential spokesman insists Nkurunziza’s still in charge
Hours after a major general announced the ouster of the Burundi President, Pierre Nkurunziza’s spokesman insists the executive is still in full control of the country. Outside military tanks and armoured vehicles are on the streets with thousands celebrating that they say is the fall of the government. Burundian presidential spokesman Willy Nyamitwe says President […]