Experts around the globe are calling for a joint effort to tackle the world's leading cause of suffering and disability - mental health disorders. Nearly 450 million people have mental health disorders and more than three-quarters live in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), eight in every 10 of those living in developing nations receive no treatment at all.

Insurgents said they shelled the main city in Sudan's oil-producing South Kordofan state near the border with South Sudan on Wednesday 10 October, the second time that week. Sudan's army has been battling SPLM-North insurgents in the state since June last year, shortly before South Sudan seceded from Sudan, but the South Kordofan capital Kadugli has been mostly isolated from the fighting.

The revolution last year brought a dramatic increase in the number of migrants heading for Italian shores after the Tunisia's security forces reduced their patrols. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) recorded 27,000 Tunisians arrivals on Lampedusa out of a total of 60,000 - including those fleeing the Libyan war and migrants from other countries. A crackdown by Italian authorities has meant that this year, many less have successfully made the journey to the island with about 3,300 migrants from all nationalities arriving between January and June.

The Ethiopian government has announced the release of 68 Eritrean war prisoners captured earlier this year during a cross border attack. The prisoners were captured in March 2012, after Ethiopian troops launched two rounds of military assaults inside Eritrean territory.

The battle between Libya and the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the right to try Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the late Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has intensified. The ICC wants Gaddafi in The Hague but Libyans want him tried in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

International Internet giant Google is urging East African countries to reduce the costs of Internet services in the region to promote more local content being available for users. Google’s Field Access Director Kai Wulff said in Uganda that the region 'receives unlimited capacity and yet a very small portion of it is being used'. He said that this is because rates are too high and called on governments and telecom operators in the region to lower Internet prices in an effort to boost penetration, usage and create wealth.

Kenyans have staged a protest in the capital Nairobi against a vote paving the way for members of parliament to be paid $110,000 send-off bonus, with money expected from tax increases. Demonstrators marched after parliament dismissed the majority of wage demands of striking public sector workers, including doctors and teachers - yet it approved the lucrative pay off which will cost the country $24.7m.

The South African Democratic Teachers Union has given Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga seven days to act on the Limpopo textbooks report. The union said a thorough investigation was necessary into those named in the presidential task team report on the Limpopo textbook crisis. 'Sadtu calls for the investigation to take place as a matter of urgency and no stone to be left unturned because we don't want to see a repeat of [the] Limpopo saga in 2013,' said general secretary Mugwena Maluleke.

The panel writing Egypt's new constitution has released an unfinished draft of the document, calling for a public debate on the charter in the face of mounting criticism. The parliament-selected panel is dominated by Islamists. It has come under criticism from liberals and secularists who accuse the panel of seeking to place limits in the new constitution on religious freedoms and women's rights.

Kenya's President Mwaki Kibaki late Tuesday shattered MPs' dream to award themselves a controversial bonus of more than $110,000 each as a send off when he declined to sanction the deal stating the country’s economy was unable to shoulder the extra financial burden. The Head of State refused to assent to the Finance Bill 2012, saying that the country could not afford the colossal perks that the MPs had awarded themselves in form of a severance package totalling $25m.

Most Kenyans favour the International Criminal Court (ICC) trials but in an ironic twist, would vote for candidates facing crimes against humanity charges at the same court. This is according to an opinion poll by Gallup whose results were published by The Economist, an authoritative world affairs magazine. The survey also revealed that Kenyans voters would also vote for the candidate who would save the four from the trials during the March 2013 General Election.

Despite ongoing concerns from Egypt and Sudan over Ethiopia’s ambitious Renaissance Dam project along the Blue Nile River, the Nile Tripartite Committee is in the country to study the impacts the dam will have along the country’s Nile River. The International Panel of Experts (IPoE), consists of six experts from Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan, and another four international experts. The experts committee, so far in its study has hinted that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will have no negative impact to down stream countries; Egypt and Sudan. However, its final findings and recommendations on the impacts of the controversial project will be submitted to the governments of the three countries in less than 9 months.

The US ambassador for war crimes, Stephen Rapp, said a lack of resources impedes the tracing of millions of dollars allegedly stolen by former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who was recently sentenced to 50 years for war crimes in neighbouring Sierra Leone. Rapp told the Associated Press that the special court does not have the funds to trace Taylor's assets but some investigations will be done by the UN sanctions committee.

Julius Malema and friends - and a number of state employees - now face prosecution, disciplinary action, and their property being seized. During the release of the 'On the Point of Tenders' report, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela stopped short of actually declaring that corruption had been at the root of a highly irregular tender worth around R50-million, originally being awarded to a company from which Malema had benefitted – but only because the Hawks are currently investigating exactly that.

A senior UN official who just returned from Mali says radical Islamists who now control about two-thirds of the country are targeting women - demanding that they cover their heads, restricting their ability to work, and compiling a list of women who are pregnant or have children but are not married which has raised fears of punishment. Ivan Simonovic, the assistant secretary-general for human rights, said the Islamists have imposed an extremist form of Islamic law known as Shariah in northern Mali.

Madagascar is bracing for billion dollar revenue with its flagship Amabatovy mining project set to start exports of nickel and cobalt whose extraction is expected to last 30 years. The project will invest about $5.5 billion, the majority of which is funded by a consortium of 12 banks under the supervision of the World Bank.

The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has revealed that Hepatitis E has caused the death of 22 people in South Sudan, mainly in camps of internally-displaced persons and refugees. Hepatitis E is a viral disease that attacks the liver and is usually caused by lack of hygiene and by consuming contaminated water.

Cameroonians are burning increasing amounts of charcoal for cooking and heating as the country’s electricity and gas supplies fail to keep pace with demand, raising concerns among environmentalists about growing deforestation and carbon emissions in the country. At local markets in Yaounde, the country’s capital, sales of charcoal are booming. The trade is especially attractive to young people who are jumping at a rare employment opportunity, and even older traders are now changing their wares.

The October edition of the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid newsletter, a monthly electronic publication that provides news, reflection, and learning on the provision of refugee legal, is available. Visit to access the edition.

The latest issue includes:

- Country of Origin and legal news
- Deportation and third country removal news
- Announcements
- Reader response: Rwandans in Zambia subject the the Cessation Clause
- Open letter to ExCom: The threat of invoking the Cessation Clause in particular reference to Rwanda
- Petition presented to the Djibouti delegation attending the UN meeting in New York, concerning Eritreans detained in Djibouti
- Israel Defense Forces (IDF) human rights violations against asylum seekers on the Israeli-Egyptian border
- Afghan refugees in Pakistan
- European Court issues freedom of religion judgment
- Unlawful detention and refoulement of asylum seekers in South Africa
- China’s new exit-entry law
- Croatia to join EU, drawing attention to refugee treatment
- The Refugee Consortium of Kenya: code of conduct
- Zimbabwe’s resettlement rumours
- The right to asylum of unaccompanied minors in the European Union
- Sources of persecution seldom spoken about: witchcraft accusations and asylum
- Serbia: a worrying situation outside the centre for asylum seekers in Bogovada
- Hong Kong refugee NGO calls for ‘march for protection’ in response to zero percent recognition rate for torture survivors
- Deportations of failed Ugandan asylum seekers
- Announcing the European database of asylum law
- As Syria stalemate continues, UN Security Council ponders options for protection of refugees and civilians
- Analysis: Was Hungary the first EU country of arrival? Legal responsibility before human rights: a short story on Dublin
- Argentina introduces state-run refugee status determination (RSD) system.

A Nigerian university has been closed because of violent protests about the lynching of four students accused of stealing laptops and mobile phones. A horrific video of the killings near Nigeria's oil capital was posted on the YouTube video-sharing website. Students say the four were mistaken for thieves in the village of Aluu.