More than 1,000 illegal immigrants escaping political turmoil in north Africa arrived on the southern Italian island Lampedusa in the Mediterraneanrecently. So far, none of the illegal immigrants were believed to have left from Libya, but Italian officials fear an exodus from its former colony if the situation worsens. The new arrivals on Lampedusa come on top of a previous wave of refugees who flooded the island five days ago, when around 350 migrants from Tunisia arrived by boat overnight.

The latest newsletter from African Peoples Advocacy (APA) contains articles on the plight of migrants in Libya, the situation in Cote d'Ivoire, the Ugandan elections and further information about events and activities.

The promotion, protection and realisation of human rights still do not regularly factor into the behaviour of Commonwealth members of the UN Human Rights Council, both domestically and at the Council, says a new report from the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative called 'Easier said than done'. The findings of the report said there was an alarming lack of adherence by Commonwealth countries to the domestic human rights commitments.