Category Archives: News

by | 16 Sep 2009 · 20:00

EC Spokesperson Says Turks Did Not Warn Frontex Helicopter (News)

EU Commission spokesperson Amadeu Altafaj Tardio responded to Greek media reports earlier in the week that Turkey had interfered with or warned a Frontex helicopter operating on a patrol from Greek territory during Frontex’s ongoing Operation Poseidon 2009.

The statement said that the Frontex helicopter had  “never violated Turkish airspace” and that it “had never received threats from Turkish authorities.”  The statement said the Turkish radar controller “had tried to establish contact with the [Frontex] helicopter pilot and had been unable to do so due to the use of different radar frequencies.”

The spokesperson “added that the EU is still continuing negotiations with Turkey over a joint framework in operational cooperation in border management and that it had informed Turkish officials about operation Poseidon 2009.”

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by | 16 Sep 2009 · 19:48

68 Migrants Arrive in Malta (News)

68 migrants from Eritrea were brought to Malta by an Armed Forces of Malta patrol boat after their boat lost power near Malta.

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Photo: Mark Tabone/AFM Maritime Squadron

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by | 16 Sep 2009 · 19:35

Swiss End Financial Support for UN Refugee Programme in Libya (News)

The Swiss Foreign Ministry confirmed that it has discontinued its financial support for a UNHCR programme in Libya which provides assistance to migrants in Libya.

Switzerland had contributed SFr 520,000 between 2007 and 2009 to the programme.

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by | 16 Sep 2009 · 19:17

6 Unaccompanied Children Rescued at Sea by Spain (News)

The Spanish Civil Guard rescued six boys, five of whom were between the ages of 10 and 12 and the sixth claimed to be 16.  They were found south of the Isla de Tarifa.  The boys were traveling alone in a small boat that was attempting to reach Spain.   They are thought to be North African.

According to the EFE news service “boats carrying only children have become more common in recent years because minors reaching Spain are taken to special holding centers and not sent home.”

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by | 15 Sep 2009 · 20:18

EC Commissioner Barrot: Forced Returns Inconsistent With EU Law (News)

At the end of a debate on immigration at the European Parliament, EC Commissioner for Freedom, Justice and Security, Jacques Barrot, said it was necessary to respect the “principle of no forced returns established by the EU legislation with regard to people crossing the outer borders of the EU.”  “[R]eturns [should not be ] carried out to countries where people risk being subjected to degrading and inhuman treatment.”

Barrot said the Commission was still reviewing the Italian government’s response to the request for clarification of  the Italian migrant push-back policy.

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by | 15 Sep 2009 · 19:29

UNHCR Reports 65 Dead or Missing in Gulf of Aden (News)

The UNHCR reports that at least 16 migrants are dead and 49 others missing and presumed dead in the Gulf of Aden in three separate incidents over the past two days.

The UNHCR estimates that 860 boats carrying 43,586 migrants have crossed the Gulf of Aden from Somalia to Yemen so far this year.  UNHCR estimates that at least 273 migrants have drowned.

In one of the incidents a Belgian warship on an EU anti-piracy patrol rescued 38 migrants from a sinking boat.  The Belgian ship disembarked the survivors at the Yemeni port of Mulkalla.

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by | 15 Sep 2009 · 19:25

New Gulf of Aden Crossing Route (News)

The Yemen Observer reports that many Somali refugees are beginning to cross the Gulf of Aden from Djibouti to the Dhubab coast of Yemen on the Red Sea rather than crossing from Bossaso in northern Somalia to the southern coasts of Yemen.  The route is much shorter than the route from Bossaso.

“Some newly arrived Somali refugees from Djibouti said they pay US$ 200 per each passenger to be paid to smugglers to smuggle them to Djibouti and then pay US$ 50 to smugglers in Djibouti to bring them to Yemen compared to US$ 50 being paid to smugglers in Bossaso to bring them to Yemen.”

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by | 14 Sep 2009 · 20:03

Italian Push-Back Policy Criticized by UN Human Rights Commissioner (News)

UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay criticized the Italian policy of forcibly turning migrants back to Libya without screening in her speech to the opening session of the UN Human Rights Council.  Italian government officials questioned the validity of Pillay’s criticism.

Pillay said ”In a tragic repetition last month, the deaths of migrants at sea, as well as the hardship of those who are left stranded near the shores of Libya, Malta, and Italy, once again drew attention to the plight of migrants and refugees. In many cases, authorities reject these migrants and leave them to face hardship and peril, if not death, as though they were turning away ships laden with dangerous waste”.

The push-back policy has had drastic results: “Last week, Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said the policy had resulted in a 90% drop in migrant arrivals since it was launched in May ‘’From May 1 to August 31 2008 more than 15,000 migrants who set out from Libya landed in Italy. During the same period this year, we had 1,400 people, a 90% drop,’ Maroni said.”    “[S]ince May more than 1,000 people intercepted in international waters have been sent back to Libya.”

”A spokesperson for EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot … said the Italian government had provided a written response to the European Commission’s requests for further information about its push-back policy. ‘For now, the Commission’s offices are analyzing the content,’ said spokesperson Michele Cercone.”

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by | 14 Sep 2009 · 19:43

Puntland Police Take Actions Against Human Traffickers (News)

Garowe Online, a Somali news agency, reports that police authorities in Puntland, a self-declared autonomous region of Somalia, are attempting to take action to prevent human traffickers from transporting migrants across the Gulf of Aden.

“The two locations, Marero and Shimbirale, have been notorious hotspots where human traffickers have conducted their illegal business of transporting migrants across the Gulf of Aden to the shores of Yemen.”

“In recent weeks, Puntland’s commercial port city of Bossaso, which is located along the Gulf of Aden, has been teeming with Somali and foreign migrants, mostly from neighboring Ethiopia. It is suspected that most of these people are preparing to voluntarily pay to take the dangerous journey across the Gulf of Aden.”

“Puntland security sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Garowe Online that the order to establish police checkpoints came from the office of President Abdirahman Mohamed ‘Farole.’”

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by | 13 Sep 2009 · 20:03

54 Migrants Arrested on Costa Rica’s Caribbean Coast (News)

Costa Rican authorities detained 54 migrants from Africa and Nepal after their boat was discovered off the Caribbean coast near Limón.  39 of the migrants were African and the others from Nepal.  They were attempting to reach the USA.

The circumstances under which the migrants came to be on the boat are unclear.  One migrant reportedly said he had boarded a boat in South Africa for the journey.  It may be that the migrants were transferred from a larger vessel to a smaller one as they neared Central America.

”With the 54 immigrants found Saturday, the undocumented Africans detained in Costa Rica to date in 2009 number 95, since in previous months 41 were caught arriving from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Guinea.”

”Costa Rican authorities believe that Africans are transported by people-trafficking rings that charge each one up to $7,000 to take them to the United States, but instead leave them abandoned to their fate in the Caribbean.”

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by | 13 Sep 2009 · 19:33

Barroso Promises to Create EC Human Rights Position if Given 2nd Term (News)

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has promised liberal members of the European parliament that he will “create a separate portfolio for fundamental rights and civil liberties” if he is given a second term as EC President.

“Currently the Commission has a justice, freedom and security commissioner, but critics have long argued that it is too broad to give enough attention to data protection issues as well as the pressing problem of immigration and the rights of migrants in member states – an issue that has come to the fore recently after Italy’s controversial handling of Roma and immigrants from Africa.”

The European Parliament’s vote on Barroso’s second term is scheduled for 16 September.

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by | 12 Sep 2009 · 22:20

Gulf of Aden Pirates Also Act As Human Smugglers (News)

Hundreds of Somalis and Ethiopians have reached Yemen since the beginning of September and according to the UNHCR many thousands of additional Somalis are waiting in northern Somalia to make the journey.

Somali pirates are also responsible for smuggling refugees and migrants from Somalia to Yemen.  They reportedly charge approximately US$100 per person.

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by | 11 Sep 2009 · 20:42

EC Commissioner: New Policies Needed for Mediterranean to “Head Off This Great Tide of People” (News)

Joe Borg, Commissioner for Maritime Activities and Fisheries, said that the time has come to act on new policies between Europe and North Africa.  Borg said a new strategy is needed to find mechanisms more suited ”to involving cooperation with third-party states of the basin. If we do not achieve this objective, we will be left with a somewhat unbalanced system of management for the Mediterranean”.

If a joint system between Europe and third countries is developed, assessment of sensitive issues such as illegal immigration ”could be coordinated with other aspects of the problem, such as developing systems of surveillance in North African countries, using development funds to head off this great tide of people”.

ANSAmed: “A pilot project is also on the cards for improving cooperation between national authorities of member states involved in surveillance operations as well as information exchange between port authorities. A study will then be launched to plan European maritime space and to realise an integrated project in connection with the EU’s Era-Net research network for strengthening coordination in marine research. All of which, Borg notes, must not disregard significant implements which are already in place: from the Mediterranean Union to Europe’s neighbourhood policies. The ball is now in the court of the EU’s general Council of Ministers and the Euro-parliament in the hope that it be taken up at December’s European summit.”

Click here for ANSAmed article.

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Filed under European Union, Mediterranean, News

by | 11 Sep 2009 · 20:28

1300+ Haitian Migrants Interdicted to Date in 2009 (News, Data)

164 Haitian migrants were interdicted and returned to Haiti by the US Coast Guard earlier this week.  1,374 Haitians have been stopped and returned to Haiti by US authorities to date in 2009.

“The summer has been largely silent in terms of repatriation but dozens were caught and sent packing in the first quarter of the year. January was especially a busy month, with 621 Haitians sent back in the first month of 2009.”

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by | 11 Sep 2009 · 17:41

EC Call for Grant Proposals Relating to Mediterranean Migration Cooperation (Communiqués)

“The European Commission has issued a Call for Proposals providing €31 million for migration and asylum cooperation along Mediterranean migratory routes, covering partners in the ENPI South. (EuropeAid/128764/C/ACT/Multi)”

“The general objective of the thematic programme is to help third countries better manage all aspects of migratory flows in all their dimensions.”

“The programme … is designed in particular to:

  • foster the links between migration and development;
  • promote well-managed labour migration;
  • fight illegal immigration and facilitate the readmission of illegal immigrants;
  • protect migrants’ rights, protect them against exploitation and exclusion, and support the fight against trafficking in human beings;
  • promote asylum and international protection of refugees.”

“[T]wo of the programme’s six lots specifically involve Mediterranean Partner Countries.”

“Lot 1: Southern migratory routes (sub-Saharan Africa and the southern Mediterranean) has an indicative allocation of funds of €28.5 million, €14 million for 2009, and €14.5 million for 2010, subject to adoption of the 2010 budget.”

“The lot is broken down into five sub-lots as follows:

  • Sub-lot A (€10.5 million): Western African Route, including Maghreb, ECOWAS, CEMAC region and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
  • Sub-lot B (€9.5 million) Eastern African Route, including Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Horn of Africa, Yemen, Great Lakes Region
  • Sub-lot C (€5 million) Northern Africa region, in line with Albufeira conclusions
  • Sub-lot D (€2 million) Southern Africa region
  • Sub-lot E (€1.5 million) Promoting the contribution of the Diaspora to act in Africa as a development actor for this continent through the establishment of an African Diaspora platform for development”

“Grants requested for an action under the Call for Proposals must fall between €500,000 and €2 million. The planned total duration of an action may not be lower than 12 months nor exceed 36.”

“The deadline for submission of Concept Notes is 13 November 2009.”

Click here for full statement.

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