International political analysis

Turkey's increasing engagement in Africa

Rory O'Keeffe

Nov 12, 20172 min read

Turkey's increasing engagement in Africa

Turkey’s increased presence in Africa, using its Somalian military base (its first in the continent), which opened in September, is...

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Turkish coastguard fires on refugees in international waters

Rory O'Keeffe

Nov 12, 20172 min read

Turkish coastguard fires on refugees in international waters

Seawatch, Refugee Rescue and Lighthouse Relief have called for the UNHCR to investigate an incident in which the Turkish coastguard...

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Greece, EU, 'breaking international law' with policy of detaining refugees

Rory O'Keeffe

Nov 11, 20173 min read

Greece, EU, 'breaking international law' with policy of detaining refugees

Three October cases decided in refugees’ favour by the Administrative Court in Mytelline have cast doubt over the legality of Greek...

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Arab states order citizens to leave Lebanon, as evidence mounts PM's resignation was a Saudi-led

Rory O'Keeffe

Nov 10, 20172 min read

Arab states order citizens to leave Lebanon, as evidence mounts PM's resignation was a Saudi-led

Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait have all told their citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible, and not to travel there unless it is...

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Refugees forced to Europe by Libyan chaos, slavery

Rory O'Keeffe

Nov 10, 20172 min read

Refugees forced to Europe by Libyan chaos, slavery

Refugees in Italy note that they had no real intention of coming to Europe, until they experienced the chaos in Libya, and realised they...

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Greek politicians (wrongly) blame Turkey for refugee arrivals

Rory O'Keeffe

Nov 9, 20174 min read

Greek politicians (wrongly) blame Turkey for refugee arrivals

Lesvos’ leading politicians, including its Mayor Spiros Galinos, have warned the Greek government that it must take actions to reverse...

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Libya's coastguard: an EU-funded sea militia?

Rory O'Keeffe

Nov 8, 20171 min read

Libya's coastguard: an EU-funded sea militia?

Aid organisation Sea Watch, which operates to rescue refugees on the Mediterranean, has criticised the Libyan coastguard for endangering...

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Yiannis Mouzalas: misleading the world on refugee numbers

Rory O'Keeffe

Nov 2, 20174 min read

Yiannis Mouzalas: misleading the world on refugee numbers

Greece’s Migration Policy Minister Yiannis Mouzalas admits Greece is finding the refugee situation ‘more difficult to manage’ as numbers...

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Rory O'Keeffe

Oct 30, 20174 min read

Sahel force; an exercise in folly

The UN meets today to discuss the formation of a five-nation, 5,000 soldier armed force to operate across the Sahel and into Libya. The...

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Syria 'safe zones' - why they are unlikely to work

Rory O'Keeffe

Oct 29, 20172 min read

Syria 'safe zones' - why they are unlikely to work

Crux, a Catholic news site, has become the latest commentator to call for the creation of ‘safe zones’ in Syria, which Syrian people...

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Economic 'recovery' - how Greece's voters may be blaming and backing the wrong parties

Rory O'Keeffe

Oct 27, 20173 min read

Economic 'recovery' - how Greece's voters may be blaming and backing the wrong parties

Despite increased discussion regarding a Greek economic ‘recovery’, it will take an extremely long time before the state bounces back...

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Assad 'used gas against Syrian civilians' - UN

Rory O'Keeffe

Oct 27, 20171 min read

Assad 'used gas against Syrian civilians' - UN

The United Nations’ Joint Investigative Mechanism reports that Bashar al Assad launched sarin gas projectiles at Khan Sheikun, a...

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Europe's far-Right harming refugees across the world

Rory O'Keeffe

Oct 26, 20171 min read

Europe's far-Right harming refugees across the world

India's Major General Harsha Kakar argues that Europe ‘has realised its mistake’ in allowing refugees to live in safety and security,...

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Cardinal claims 'states have right' to deny people access

Rory O'Keeffe

Oct 25, 20172 min read

Cardinal claims 'states have right' to deny people access

Cardinal Robert Sarah, a right-wing and traditionalist prelate of the Guinean Roman Catholic Church, claims that ‘every nation has the...

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UN, Amnesty, call for Europe and US to do more to help refugees

Rory O'Keeffe

Oct 24, 20173 min read

UN, Amnesty, call for Europe and US to do more to help refugees

The UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has visited Washington DC to request the US does more to ‘show leadership’ on...

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Greece to nominate Mouzalas as HRC, despite astonishing failures on refugees

Rory O'Keeffe

Oct 23, 20172 min read

Greece to nominate Mouzalas as HRC, despite astonishing failures on refugees

The Greek government says it is nominating Migration Minister Yiannis Mouzalas as an EU Human Rights Commissioner. It says it believes...

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Rory O'Keeffe

Oct 22, 20175 min read

Syria: the future

IS appears to have suffered further set-backs in Syria, with the announcement by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF – a US-backed...

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Tsipras calls for five EU responses to refugees, but all have already been promised, and not carried

Rory O'Keeffe

Oct 21, 20173 min read

Tsipras calls for five EU responses to refugees, but all have already been promised, and not carried

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has presented the EU leaders' summit (Brussels; 19-21 October) with five measures the EU should...

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Rory O'Keeffe

Oct 20, 20172 min read

Fake news? Turkey, Somalia and Reuters

A brief note in two parts, as an illustration of how the media works. Yesterday, Daily Sabah, reported that Turkey had responded to...

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Rory O'Keeffe

Oct 19, 20174 min read

Turkey and the EU: a deal in danger

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on a state visit to Poland asks the EU to state clearly whether it wants Turkey to be a member of...

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