A journalist threatened with death flees his homeland, only to find that nearby countries and regions don't want him or have their own problems. His story is not uncommon. Many of Somalia's 600,000 displaced people have left the country; but few are finding host nations willing to lay down a welcome mat. And in a region where free media are rare, his press pass hasn't exactly opened doors for him either.

Hundreds of Liberian women living in Ghana have suspended a five-week sit-in protest against their repatriation. The women ended their demonstration at Buduburam refugee camp in Central Province after Liberia's envoy visited.

African migrants continue to attempt to cross the dangerous Sinai desert in an attempt to enter Israel as witnessed by the arrest of 13 Africans on Sunday by Egyptian police who said they were trying to sneak into Israel. Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers have repeatedly said they see Israel as a place for a better life. The 13 Africans arrested on Sunday "were from Eritrea, Sudan, Ghana and the Ivory Coast," an official told AHN Media Corporation. According to the official, they were arrested near the Rafah border crossing with Gaza.

We would like to extend a warm thank you to Grace Kwinjeh, a Zimbabwean journalist based in South Africa whose active assistance made this issue possible.

On 31 March 2008 at 1500 GMT these questions will be addressed in a 7-country videoconference hosted by the World Health Organization, Realizing Rights and the Global Health Workforce Alliance. Immediately following the videoconference will be a 3 week global dialogue to discuss the above questions as well as other issues associated with health workforce migration. To join in this discussion please register below.

If West African governments are serious about reducing migration from their countries they must invest in improving living conditions and reducing inequality, according to sociologists, economists and other experts meeting in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, this week.

The Chadian government has continued to detain an unknown number of people without charges since rebels invaded the capital N’djamena for two days in early February, despite lifting a state of emergency on 15 March. "Detainees should be released immediately or charged with a crime and accorded all their rights, including immediate access to a lawyer and a hearing before an impartial judge to determine the lawfulness of their detention,” Human Rights Watch (HRW)’s Africa Director Georgette Gagnon said in a statement issued on 20 March.

The international community has been urged to pile pressures on the Ghanaian government and the UNHCR to protect the human rights of refugees in Ghana. The followed the arrest, detention and alleged mistreatment of protesting Liberian refugees in Buduburam refugee camp on Monday.

Chad has lifted a state of emergency and night curfew imposed across the oil-rich central African nation after a failed bid by opposition forces to seize the capital, Ndjamena, in February. A government statement said on Sunday: "A curfew, which was put imposed in special circumstances, was lifted today throughout Chadian territory."

Church leader Wycliffe Masibo describes seeing an elderly member of his flock whipped to death during a Kenyan army search for militiamen in his remote mountain village. Having made all the men lie on the floor, soldiers kicked and hit them, demanding they tell them where guns were kept and suspects were hiding, he and others from Chongoywo village on the slopes of Mount Elgon told a visiting reporter.

There is little awareness on the problem of trafficking in persons, mainly women and children, in Angola, and no laws for cracking down on the growing phenomenon. Paulino Cunha da Silva, head of cooperation and exchange in the Angolan Interior Ministry, admitted at a workshop held in Luanda Tuesday and Wednesday that the country lacks laws to fight trafficking in human beings.

Over the years, many Somali refugees in South Africa have achieved substantial independence and self-sufficiency without the assistance of the UN refugee agency. These skilled traders have relied on cultural and religious ties and networks, business savvy, determination and single-mindedness to establish businesses and ensure their communities function on clearly formulated lines.

Ethnic violence forced thousands of Mauritanians out of their homes and into Senegal two decades ago, but the two countries and the UN are working together to bring them back home. After leaving camps across the Senegal River from their homeland last week, the second group of repatriates received a warm welcome in Rosso.

Madagascar has become the latest country to ratify the Rome Statute that sets up the International Criminal Court (ICC), the independent, permanent court that tries people accused of the most serious crimes, such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Zambezi, Púngoè, Búzi and Licungo River basins in central Mozambique registered heavy rains during the past 48 hours, including 185mm in Beira City. River levels rose slightly but remain below alert levels. The rains are a reminder that the rainy season is not over yet and officials are warning populations that live and work near the central region rivers to move themselves and their belongings to higher ground.

A meningitis epidemic has killed 519 people out of 5,046 cases reported in Burkina Faso since the start of January, new health ministry figures said Thursday. Ousmane Badolo, a ministry epidemiologist told AFP "we've gone over the 500- dead mark". Dr Badolo said that of 16 affected districts in Burkina Faso, the outbreak had reached epidemic levels in eight. The last official figures issued on March 9 reported 441 deaths out of 4,061 cases.

Most of the roughly 50,000 people in the Amboko and Dosseye refugee camps near Goré, in the tropical forest of southern Chad, have fled across the border from neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR), but efforts to prevent and treat HIV among the camp residents are still in their infancy.

The risk of renewed violence in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta is increasing because militants are frustrated by a lack of concrete results from peace talks, a key negotiator said on Wednesday. Kingsley Kuku, a senior member of a government peace committee who also has close links with militants, said the government still had an opportunity to avert violence but it had to start delivering on promises of development for the delta.

Zimbabwe's police chief says his force will not allow British and American "puppets" to take power in Zimbabwe, sending an ominous signal to opposition leaders ahead of March 29 polls, reports said on Friday. Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri told officers at Police General Headquarters in Harare he was sending "a warning" to "puppets", echoing President Robert Mugabe's label for his opponents.

Charles Taylor celebrated his rise to power in Liberia with a ceremony involving a human sacrifice, burying a pregnant woman alive in sand, one of his former military commanders has testified. The admission came during a trial at The Hague where the former president is accused of war crimes.