World in Focus: Sputnik’s Daily Current Affairs Program | 29/12/16

On this special retrospective edition of World in Focus we focus our attention on the plight of refugees and asylum seekers around the globe, looking back at key events from twenty sixteen.

In August, Australia's controversial ‘stop the boats’ policy came under fire after leaked incident reports detailed severe levels of abuse against those held in the detention center on the pacific island of Nauru. We'll be taking a look at the aftermath of the leaked incident reports, with the Australian government promising to close the Manus Island detention center and striking a deal with the US to relocate refugees held in the controversial centre.

On the other side of the world, 2016 marked the deadliest year for refugees in the Mediterranean. Despite an overall fall in the number of refugees making the extremely dangerous journey across the Mediterranean in search of refuge, the death toll reached the highest recorded, with the likelihood of dying spiralling to one in eighty eight.

And as the flow of refugees continued into the EU, tensions peaked between Eastern and Western member states over the relocation of asylum seekers — with Italy warning it would withhold development funding to Poland and Hungary unless they start taking their fair share. But can the EU reach a “common agreement,” or will the humanitarian crisis the EU faces have to become worse, before member states begin equally sharing the load?

You can find previous editions of World in Focus here.

Tune in to Radio Sputnik five days a week for Sputnik’s daily current affairs program, broadcasting live from Edinburgh Scotland, with Jack Foster and Carolyn Scott.