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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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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Filed under Caribbean - West Indies, Data / Stats, Haiti, News, United States
Egyptian police shot and killed four African migrants and wounded two others near the Egypt-Israel border.
“Monthly migrant arrests by Egypt at the border have surged this year, rising five-fold in May to 55 and then doubling again to 114 in June and 160 in July, security sources said. That compares to just six arrests in January.”
The increased numbers of migrants attempting to enter Israel from Egypt is believed to be related in part to the Italy-Libya agreement which has resulted in the forcible returns of hundreds of migrants who are interdicted in the Mediterranean.
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A cayuco boat with 68 migrants believed to be from Gambia arrived in the Canary Island in the port of Los Abrigos. The migrants were detained.
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Filed under Eastern Atlantic, News, Spain
The Turkish military warned a Latvian helicopter on a Frontex mission near the Greek island of Farmakonissi in the Aegean Sea to leave the area. Turkish authorities presumably believed that the helicopter had entered Turkish airspace.
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Filed under Aegean Sea, Frontex, Greece, News, Turkey
Prime Minister Berlusconi has threatened to take steps to block the work of the European Council of Ministers unless measures are implemented to prevent European commissioners and their spokespersons from speaking publicly on any subject. Berlusconi is angered over the remarks made by Commission spokesman Dennis Abbott regarding the Somali migrants recently returned to Libya by Italy.
“Berlusconi said ‘We shall no longer vote, blocking in effect the workings of the European council [of ministers], unless it is decided that no European commissioner and no spokesperson may intervene publicly on any subject.’”
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The group of 75 migrants used a satellite telephone to seek assistance while they were being returned to Libya by Italian authorities. Several of the migrants telephoned a BBC reporter in Italy from the Italian patrol boat which had intercepted their dinghy.
One caller told the reporter ”we told the Italian military that we wanted to request asylum and asked them not to hand us over to the Libyans because we were afraid of going to jail, but they wouldn’t listen to us.”
Some of the migrants protested and refused to be moved from the Italian patrol boat to a Libyan patrol boat. The Italian boat was forced to dock at the Libyan port of Al Zuwarah in order to off load the migrants.
“A spokesman for the European Commission, Dennis Abbott, said the EU executive would ask the Italian government for details regarding Monday’s expulsion. But Abbot clarified that the EC was not ‘pointing its finger’. The spokesman explained that the EC’s goal was rather ‘to protect the right of every human being to request refugee status’ by enlisting the cooperation of member countries to share in the burden of hosting them.”
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Filed under Italy, Libya, Mediterranean, News
A boat carrying 75 migrants who are believed to be Somali was intercepted by Italian authorities near Sicily and its occupants were subsequently forcibly returned to Libya. This occurred while Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was in Libya to meet with Libyan leader Moamer Gathafi during Libya’s celebrations of the 40th anniversary of their revolution.
Prior to the Italian interception of the migrant boat, an Armed Forces of Malta patrol boat removed four migrants and brought them to Malta for medical treatment. The migrant boat was initially discovered by a Frontex helicopter.
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80 migrants have arrived in Malta in 2 boats. One boat landed on shore before being detected and the second was intercepted just off shore. At least one body was recovered from the water.
The Armed Forces of Malta released a photo of one of the migrant boats for the purpose of contrasting its condition with the dinghy used by the five Eritreans who were rescued last week by the Italians. The AFM has questioned whether the Eritrean dinghy from last week carried a large number of other migrants, as the survivors have reported.
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AFM Photo
Filed under Malta, Mediterranean, News
Italian Minister of the Interior, Roberto Maroni, claims a 92% reduction in the arrivals of irregular migrants since 5 May when the new Italian policy of turning migrants back to Libya was put in place.
Since 5 May there have been 1,345 migrant arrivals in Italy compared with 14,220 over the same period in 2008.
“Repulsion” works: “This means that our accord with Libya is working excellently: it works, and the results are there to be seen”. “Repulsion, is the same as saying taking the irregular migrants back to their place of departure. Repatriation means sending them back to their countries of origin, with all the bureaucracy that involves,” said Maroni.
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Filed under Data / Stats, Italy, Libya, Mediterranean, News
“The photo was taken from the FRONTEX-operated Casa-212 Aviocar patrol and surveillance aircraft.”
“‘This declassified image shows clearly the excellent and clean state that the intercepted rubber dinghy was in, as well as the good state of health of the occupants, who can be seen sitting down,’ the AFM said.”
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Maltese and Italian news services report that a new dinghy with 57 African migrants on board has been rescued near Lampedusa and that the individuals are being transported to Sicily.
There is renewed controversy between Italy and Malta because a Maltese patrol boat may have again provided some assistance to the migrants prior to their arrival in Italian waters.
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Filed under Italy, Malta, Mediterranean, News
Jorge Bustamante, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, praised Senegal after a visit. The number of African migrants who leave the Senegalese coast by boat for Europe and the number who perish during the attempt have fallen sharply during the first half of this year.
“Bustamante welcomed Senegal’s efforts to spotlight the issue of irregular migration and, through the implementation of bilateral and multilateral accords, to protect the rights of people who try to migrate along dangerous international routes, such as by sea.”
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Filed under Eastern Atlantic, News, Senegal, United Nations
“’We are shocked by the accounts we heard [from the survivors],’ said Mr. Andrej Mahecic, UNHCR spokesperson. ‘It gives UNHCR cause for concern that these people report being passed by many vessels without any assistance being offered. This is contrary to the long-standing maritime tradition of rescue at sea which has been under threat and is increasingly being eroded.’”
“He added that the agency would be very concerned if the hardening of government policies towards boat people has the effect of discouraging ship masters from continuing to honour their international maritime obligations.”
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Filed under Italy, Malta, Mediterranean, Statements, UNHCR
“Italian magistrates are reportedly evaluating the possibility of issuing international rogatory letters to Malta, in a bid to determine Malta’s role in the controversial rescue of five Eritrean migrants this week, who claimed their pleas for rescue were ignored by the Maltese navy. … According to Magistrate Renato di Natale in Agrigento, ‘it is possible that a case against Malta will be opened over charges of omission of rescue.’”
”[S]ources confirmed that the Sicilian magistrates are intent on indicting the crew of AFM patrol boat P61, which intercepted the five migrants and supplied them with food, water and fuel on the high seas, the Maltese government is countering this eventuality by announcing its willingness to ‘cooperate fully’ with the Italian investigators.”
”[F]urther declarations by the inquiring Italian magistrates revealed that any indictment would include ‘willful homicide’. But so far the charge is pending upon ignoti (unknowns), an Italian legal term for unknown perpetrators.”
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Filed under Italy, Malta, Mediterranean, News
MIGRANTS AT SEA 