Lighthouse Reports | Abandoned in the desert, thanks to European funds
Here is a short article published in issue no. 198 of asile.ch (June 2024)
An investigation by the Lighthouse Reports consortium of journalists, with major international media outlets (including The Washington Post, Der Spiegel, El Pais, and Le Monde), has revealed massive forced expulsions of migrants in North Africa, funded by European money.
The Desert Dumps investigation documents the use of racial profiling and excessive force targeting almost exclusively Black people. «Refugees, migrant workers, and even residents are apprehended based on their skin color, loaded onto buses, and driven to the middle of nowhere, often in barren, desert areas. There, they are left without assistance, water, or food. Others are taken to border areas where we have heard they are sold by authorities to human traffickers and gangs who torture them in exchange for ransom.»
This system of massive displacements and abuses would have been known to Brussels for years, but also made possible thanks to money, equipment, intelligence, and security forces provided by the EU and European countries, explains Lighthouse Report.
Lighthouse Reports
It can be found on their website: Lighthouse Report, «Desert Dumps» (May 21, 2024)
Sophie Malka | asile.ch
