Category Archives: News

by | 30 Dec 2009 · 14:56

España: La llegada de inmigrantes ilegales se ha reducido a la mitad

Conferencia de prensa del Presidente del Gobierno, José Luis Zapatero, después de la reunión del Consejo de Ministros:

“ *** En el campo de la seguridad colectiva debería, como antes referí, hacer una referencia a la política de inmigración ilegal, que en alguna de mis comparecencias de esta naturaleza ha sido tema central, también para expresar nuestra satisfacción porque la llegada de inmigrantes ilegales durante 2009 se ha reducido a la mitad en relación con 2008: hemos pasado de catorce mil a siete mil. Se está ganando el combate a la inmigración ilegal después de haber sufrido, como saben, especialmente en 2006 y 2007, años extraordinariamente difíciles. Y se está haciendo gracias a un despliegue amplísimo de política de cooperación con los países de origen, la mayoría de ellos países africanos, y con un refuerzo de todos los medios personales y materiales en la lucha contra la inmigración ilegal. No vamos a bajar la guardia, sabemos que puede haber momento de repunte; pero, afortunadamente, un tema de gran calado y de gran preocupación está en una dirección muy adecuada. *** “

Click here for transcript of Press Conference.

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by | 30 Dec 2009 · 14:20

Puntland Authorities Detain Migrants

The Somaliweyn Website reported that Puntland authorities have arrested over 100 intending migrants:

“‘The exact number of the people whom we have arrested is 110, and they are from different nations in Africa, but the leading numbers of the people are from our immediate neighbour Ethiopia, the entire of these people were intending to cross the wide waters between Yemen and Puntland state, and just before they have accomplished their dreams they were apprehended by our security personnel’ said Musse Ahmed Abdurahman the police commissioner of Puntland state speaking to Somaliweyn Website via the wire. The Police commissioner has also added that lately the number of the persons intending to illegally cross the water between Yemen and Puntland has been rapidly mounting….”

IRIN reported: “‘We have begun to force would-be migrants back to their homes for their own safety. I would rather have them back in their homelands than dying at sea,’ said Muse Ghelle Yusuf, governor of Puntland’s Bari region. He said thousands of Ethiopians and Somalis are currently in Bosasso, the commercial capital of Puntland, intending to cross into Yemen.
‘Our estimate is that as of today [29 December 2009] there are 4,000-5,000 migrants in and around Bosasso,’ Yusuf said, noting that 1,000-1,700 have been arriving in the area daily.”

Click here, here, and here for articles.

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by | 30 Dec 2009 · 11:46

Le Maroc: Un cul-de- sac pour les migrants en quête d’une vie meilleure en Europe

Un article de La Libre (Belgique) sur les migrants subsahariens au Maroc:

“En contrepartie de son investissement pour bloquer les mouvements de populations subsahariennes, [le Maroc]  a obtenu des aides européennes non négligeables, soit 654 millions d’euros entre 2007 et 2010. Les organisations marocaines de défense des droits de l’homme s’en indignent, lui reprochant d’être ‘le gendarme ou l’arme de régulation de l’Europe’. Les responsables marocains préfèrent, quant à eux, garder le silence sur un dossier bien trop encombrant….”

“Les chiffres officiels font état de 10000 à 15000 migrants bloqués au Maroc, principalement originaires du Mali, du Sénégal, de Gambie, du Congo ou du Libéria. Difficile de donner un chiffre exact pour une population mobile qui évolue dans le cadre d’un système parallèle….”

“La politique restrictive et répressive de ‘bouclage’ des frontières, menée par les pays de l’Union européenne, a eu comme résultat prévisible d’enfermer à l’intérieur même du Maroc les candidats à l’émigration. Ils se retrouvent contraints de rester pour des périodes relativement longues dans une Afrique du Nord qui les dénigre, attendant qu’une occasion de traverser se présente….”

Click here for article.

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by | 27 Dec 2009 · 14:46

France24 Video Podcast: “Yemen, the new Eldorado?”

Video Report by France24 reporters Cyril VANIER and Karim HAKKI.

“We’re standing on a beach in southern Yemen, early one November morning. On the opposite side of the Gulf of Aden lies the Horn of Africa, one of the most troubled regions on earth, racked by civil war and poverty. Those who can pay for their way out, make their way to Yemen. Seventy dollars buys them a spot on the next boat out. Many are beaten on the way, sometimes women are raped, and all too often – passengers drown. Those who reach Yemen will have to start a new life from scratch. The sea is calm this morning, it is high season for illegal boats crossing into Yemen. Last night, we heard a motor boat travelling parallel to the beach. There was no light, no noise on board except for the engine: probably a smuggler using the cover of night to carry his human cargo….”

Click here for link to podcast.

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by | 26 Dec 2009 · 21:13

African migrants and their desperate ploy for a better life – Times Online

From The Sunday Times Magazine, 22 November 2009:

“Meet the survivors, bereaved families from Gambia and Senegal, and a man who smuggles the people — at a colossal price.”

“… The routes [African migrants] take are many and varied. From west Africa, migrants trek through the pitiless Sahara to Libya, from there to brave the Mediterranean — or, more perilous yet, strike out for the Canary Islands in fragile canoes known as ‘pirogues’.  If they then cross to the Spanish mainland they will probably do so in tiny, open Spanish fishing boats. An estimated one in every eight migrants who try to travel across the ocean to Europe don’t make it, their bodies carried out into the cold Atlantic. Those who perish are identified only by chance, their skeletons dredged from the sea by Italian and Spanish trawlers, or their bodies washed on to beaches used by holidaymakers…”

Full article:  African migrants and their desperate ploy for a better life – Times Online.

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by | 23 Dec 2009 · 20:58

Frontex and Other EU Agencies to Coordinate Maritime Surveillance

According to identical news releases issued by Frontex and the Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA), Frontex, the CFCA, and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) have entered into an agreement “with a view to cooperate, in accordance with their respective mandates, in the field of maritime surveillance that will be mutually beneficial for the three agencies.”

The press release goes on to state:

“The Cooperation Agreement will allow for the exchange of information and of expertise as well as of for the exploration of joint use of assets as relevant, optimising the functioning of the European Union as a whole regarding Maritime Surveillance. The cooperation will result in an improvement of the control of external maritime borders of the EU (competence of Frontex), an increase in the maritime safety (competence of EMSA) and an enhancement of the coordination of fisheries control and inspection activities by the Member States (competence of CFCA).

“The main activities comprised in the agreement are the following:

• Exchange of information and data on matters of common interest
• Explore synergies in the use of the maritime surveillance and information systems
• Explore the possibilities of joint use of assets
• Investigate potential cooperation in the field of maritime surveillance directed to the protection of external maritime borders and fisheries control
• Expand mutual collaboration between the Agencies in areas such as coordination of inspections, research and development, training, etc.

”Contacts:

  • • EMSA: Pete Thomas, Senior Communication Officer
    Peter.THOMAS@emsa.europa.eu, Tel. +351 21 1209 281
  • • Frontex: Izabella Cooper, Spokesperson,
    izabella.cooper@frontex.europa.eu , Tel. +48 22 544 95 35
  • • CFCA: Patricia Sánchez Abeal, Communication Officer
    patricia.sanchezabeal@cfca.europa.eu , Tel. +34 986 12 06 17”

Click here and here for links to the press releases.

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by | 23 Dec 2009 · 20:46

Exposition: Boat people, bateaux de l’exil, Musée de Bretagne, Rennes

‘Boat people, bateaux de l’exil,’ l’exposition au Musée de Bretagne, Rennes, France, 3/12/09 – 2/5/10.

“La migration de populations par la mer, par bateaux, entre une terre qui est quittée et un pays encore inconnu est un phénomène particulièrement fréquent dans l’Histoire des hommes. Aujourd’hui encore, ces flux migratoires sont extrêmement d’actualité sur plusieurs points du globe. Ils sont massifs comme jamais.”

Click here for more information.

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by | 20 Dec 2009 · 21:19

Australia’s Christmas Island Migrant Detention Centre at Full Capacity

Australia’s off-shore detention centre on Christmas Island is at capacity.  Authorities have expanded the centre’s capacity by erecting tents.

So far this year Australian authorities have intercepted 55 boats carrying approximately 2700 people. 1447 people are detained on the island.  The use of tents has reportedly expanded detention capacity to 1560.

The migrant flow is expected to slow in January with the onset of the typhoon season in the waters north of Australia.

Click here and here for articles.

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by | 19 Dec 2009 · 21:24

Migrant Arrivals in Malta Lowest in 5 Years

Di-ve.com reports that migrant arrivals in Malta in 2009 were the lowest since 2004.

“Sources close to Frontex … believe that a number of factors helped …  Frontex’s Nautilus patrols, the strengthening of border controls in the Central Mediterranean and tighter inland measures in member states certainly discouraged movement of migrants. … The agreement between Italy and Libya for migrants to be returned to Libya also had an impact but …there are also agreements in place with Algeria and Tunisia, while Libya also reached an agreement with Niger, which is another popular transit country for migrants heading towards Europe. There has been a shift towards the eastern Mediterranean, with Turkey and the Aegean islands seeing numbers increase, the sources said.”

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Boats 21 12 53 48 57 68 84 17
Migrants 1686 502 1388 1822 1780 1702 2775 1475

Click here for full article.

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by | 18 Dec 2009 · 23:02

UNHCR Estimates 74,000 Africans Crossed Gulf of Aden to Yemen in 2009

The UNHCR released its most recent estimates of the numbers of Africans who have crossed the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea to Yemen in 2009.  UNHCR believes over 74,000 people made the crossing which is estimated to be a 50% increase over last year.

Ethiopians (42,000) now make up the largest group of migrants making the crossing.  In previous years Somalis were the largest group.

“According to the latest UNHCR statistics, at least 309 people drowned or did not survive the trip this year. In 2008, some 590 people died during the crossing. Many more people went missing and are presumed dead. The mixed migration route through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea is presently the busiest and the deadliest one in the world.”

“While virtually all arriving Somalis approach the two, strategically positioned reception centres in Mayfaa and Ahwar, where they receive protection and assistance, only some 9,000 Ethiopians went to these venues this year. Most press on towards the Persian Gulf states in search of job opportunities.”

Click here for UNHCR press release.

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by | 16 Dec 2009 · 20:23

Frontex to Expand Operations in Aegean Sea in 2010

Frontex’s director, Ilkka Laitinen, met with Greek Citizens’ Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis and reportedly said that Frontex enforcement operations in the eastern Aegean Sea will be further expanded in 2010.

Minister Chrysochoidis stated that 75% of the arrests for illegal entry from the EU’s sea borders in 2009 year took place in the Aegean.

Director Laitinen said that “[Frontex Operation] Poseidon continues to be our most important operation” and that Frontex’s largest border monitoring operation will take place in the eastern Aegean in 2010.

Click here for article.

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by | 14 Dec 2009 · 21:07

Italian Court Upholds Prison Sentence for Deaths of 283 Migrants in 1996 (News)

The Italian Court of Cassation (La Quinta sezione penale della Cassazione) on 9 December upheld a 30 year prison sentence for a Lebanese ship captain found responsible for the deaths of 283 migrants on 26 December 1996 when two smuggling ships collided between Malta and Sicily.  Most of the migrants were from Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka.  The captain is still at large.

Click here and here (Italian) for articles.

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by | 14 Dec 2009 · 11:25

Stockholm Programme’s Web Site

The Swedish Presidency of the EU maintains a web site containing links to documents and information pertaining to the Stockholm Programme.

It is unclear whether this web site will be maintained after the Swedish Presidency concludes, but for the moment the site is avaialble here.

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by | 13 Dec 2009 · 21:36

Libya Interdicts Migrants in Maltese Waters for First Time (News)

On 23 November a Libyan patrol boat intercepted approximately 80 Eritrean and Somali migrants in Maltese waters near Sicily.  The migrants were returned directly to Libya and reportedly taken to a Libyan detention centre.  This may have been the first time that Libyan authorities intercepted migrants in Maltese waters.

The UNHCR expressed concern over the incident.  “’This practice of getting the Libyan authorities to come directly [into non-Libyan waters] reduces even further the guarantees given to migrants arriving in Europe,’ said [UNHCR spokesperson Laura] Boldrini.”

Click here and here for articles.

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by | 14 Oct 2009 · 21:13

France: Frontex Nautilus IV Operation is a Failure (News)

French Immigration Minister Eric Besson has characterized Frontex’s ongoing Nautilus IV operation which is based in Malta as “a complete failure.”  He said the legal uncertainty regarding member state responsibility for intercepted boats hampered the operation and caused some member states to withdraw from the operation.

Italy, for example, has refused to contribute assets to the Nautilus IV operation due to a dispute over where intercepted migrants should be taken.  Italy of course is unilaterally returning migrants who it intercepts directly to Libya without offering the intercepted migrants an opportunity to make asylum or other claims for protection.

Click here and here for articles.

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