Discussion topics will include:
Click here for President Van Rompuy’s invitation letter.
Filed under Egypt, European Union, Libya, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia
From UNHCR: “GENEVA, March 4 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency on Friday reported a sharp drop in the numbers of people crossing the border at Ras Adjir from Libya into Tunisia, and said it was increasingly worried at reports of people being impeded from fleeing.
As of mid-week, some 10,000-15,000 people were crossing the border daily, placing huge strains on the abilities of Tunisian authorities and humanitarian agencies to cope. But since Wednesday afternoon the numbers have fallen sharply. On Thursday, less than 2,000 people crossed.
‘The border on the Libyan side is now manned by heavily armed pro-government forces,’ UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming told a press conference in Geneva. ‘From those that did manage to cross the border, we have heard that mobile phones and cameras were being confiscated en route. Many people appear to be frightened and are unwilling to speak’.…”
Click here, here, and here for full articles.
Click here for picture of pro-Gaddafi demonstration on Libyan side of border.
Filed under Libya, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia, UNHCR, United Nations
OCHA Situation Report 4 on Libya. “HIGHLIGHTS/KEY PRIORITIES:
Click here for OCHA Situation Report.
Click here for OCHA Map and Data update.
UNHCR – “GENEVA, March 3 (UNHCR) – An operation to evacuate tens of thousands of people from the Tunisian border and fly them home was under way on Wednesday. Under a programme led by UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 50 flights were planned on Thursday to take migrant workers, mostly Egyptians, back home. UNHCR flew home 177 people to Egypt on a first flight Wednesday evening…..”
Click here for UNHCR update.
Filed under Data / Stats, Egypt, Libya, Mediterranean, News, OCHA, Tunisia, UNHCR, United Nations
From UNITAR/UNOSAT: “Based on a rapid assessment of satellite imagery recorded this morning (3 March 2011 – 11:26 am local time) there are several thousand people located primarily within the Ra´s Ajdir border crossing facility along the Libyan-Tunisian border. There are multiple concentrations of people within different waiting and processing sites, as well as long lines of people and small vehicles waiting to move beyond the border into Tunisia. Although there are many permanent buildings in the area, there are no indications of emergency tent shelters available within the facility grounds for the thousands of people currently waiting. This report is part of an on-going satellite monitoring program of UNITAR/UNOSAT of the Libyan crisis and will be updated based on new satellite imagery tasking.”
Click on pictures below or here for links to images.
Filed under Data / Stats, Libya, Mediterranean, News, OCHA, Tunisia, United Nations
OCHA Situation Report 3 on Libya. HIGHLIGHTS/KEY PRIORITIES:
Click here for Report.
After a week or so without any migrants arriving in Lampedusa, ten boats carrying approximately 500 persons arrived in Lampedusa and nearby Italian islands over a 24 hour period 1st-2nd March. Improved weather conditions are the most likely explanation for the new boat arrivals. Highlighting the difficulties of maritime surveillance, one of the migrant boats with 22 migrants landed on the island of Linosa, roughly halfway between Lampedusa and Malta, without being detected.
According to Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, to date 2,000 Tunisians have applied for some form of protection; less than 400 asylum requests have been made. According to Maroni, most of the Tunisians have expressed a desire to go to other European countries, generally France or Germany.
Maroni said that Italy’s agreement with Tunisia limits repatriation of Tunisians to four persons per day and Italy is therefore currently negotiating with Tunisia to increase the number of persons who may be repatriated. If the daily limit is not changed it would take years to return the thousands who have arrived in Italy.
Click here (IT), here (IT), and here (EN) for articles.
This report is produced by OCHA in collaboration with humanitarian partners. It was issued by Cairo and New York. It covers the period from 28 February to 1 March 2011.
IRIN - Numbers of People Crossing into Neighbouring Countries
Filed under Data / Stats, Egypt, Libya, Mediterranean, Niger, Tunisia
Statement from Mevlüt Çavusoglu, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe: “Refugees and migrants are trapped by the conflicts [in Libya]. In Libya, 8000 persons have been recognised as refugees by the UNHCR and are particularly vulnerable…. UNHCR and IOM have today made a joint appeal to governments around the world to provide support for an emergency humanitarian evacuation ongoing at the moment. I join their appeal by adding my plea: the help of the entire international community is urgently needed, and Europe should be at the forefront of the response to this crisis.”
Click here for full statement.
Filed under Council of Europe, Libya, Mediterranean, News, Statements, Tunisia
Excerpts from the Backgrounder:
Currently, Tunisia and Egypt are experiencing an influx of people fleeing Libya. These persons include nationals of those two countries seeking to return home, as well as Libyans and smaller numbers of nationals of other countries in search of safety. Both Tunisia and Egypt, themselves emerging from turmoil, have kept their borders open and are receiving those fleeing Libya. …
All states affected by the ongoing crisis are bound to respect the following [core] principles governing the treatment of refugees….
Protection of refugees is a collective international responsibility. In practice, however, it is those countries that are closest to or most accessible from Libya and its neighbors that will be called upon to protect the majority of refugees who may seek international protection in the immediate term….
At a time when all countries in the region and their neighbors in the EU may see an increase in migration by people fleeing persecution and violence as well as worsening economic conditions, it is critically important that those who have a claim to international protection be given access to procedures to obtain it. The international community more broadly and the EU should assist those States that bear the brunt of this challenge in dealing with it in a way that is consistent with their international obligations. At the same time, Italy and other EU member states and institutions must refrain from pushing migrants back to Libya or any other country without identifying those in need of international protection and allowing those who need such protection to apply for it.
Click here for full document.
Filed under Analysis, Egypt, European Union, Frontex, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, Tunisia
From the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Situation Report No. 2, 1 March 2011:
Libya – thousands of migrants stranded at Benghazi port;
Tunisia – 10,000 to 15,000 people arrived in Tunisia on 1 March, creating a huge bottleneck on the border due to a lack of onward transportation to their home countries. Thousands of people (including over 15,000 Bangladeshis) are stuck on the Libyan side of the border and are not allowed to cross. They are stranded and without access to food, health, water and sanitation;
Egypt – 5,000 to 7,000 migrants stranded in the border area at Saloum, in “no man’s land”. The Egyptian authorities are not allowing those without valid tickets and documentation to leave. According to IOM, these stranded migrants need food, water, blankets, shelter and proper sanitation facilities. IOM has established a registration process for migrants from African and Asian countries who cannot continue their journey into Egypt because of lack of travel documents or entry visas;
Niger – IOM is preparing for the arrival later this week of an estimated 2,000 Nigerians and other African nationals who have recently managed to cross Libya’s southern border at Gatrone.
Click here for full document.
The chief criminal prosecutor of Agrigento, Sicily, Renato Di Natale, has opened criminal cases on charges of illegal immigration against the Tunisians who arrived in Lampedusa over the past several weeks. Cases have been opened against hundreds of Tunisians and additional cases will be opened as the migrants are identified. The chief prosecutor described the opening of the criminal cases as routine procedure which would occur in any case involving the arrival of a suspected illegal immigrant. The prosecutor said additional charges of providing false information could be added if it is discovered that a migrant provided a false name. If an individual migrant were to be given status as a political refugee, the criminal case would be dropped.
Bringing criminal charges against traffickers or smugglers would seem reasonable, but it strikes me as a poor use of limited state resources to open criminal investigations against the overwhelming majority of the Tunisians who have arrived in Italy in recent weeks. Even if the cases do not proceed, one would think that Italian authorities could respond to this situation differently.
Click here, here, here, and here for articles. (IT)
Filed under Italy, Judicial, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia
A photo of what is apparently the Ras Jdir (Ra’s Ajdir) crossing on the Libya- Tunisia border on 1 March 2011. (Photo Credit Reuters via Al Jazeera.)
Reuters via Al Jazeera
Filed under Libya, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia, UNHCR
1 March 2011 update from UNHCR:
“UNHCR staff at the Libya-Tunisia border have this morning told us that the situation is reaching crisis point. According to the Tunisian authorities, 70-75,000 people have fled Libya to Tunisia since 20 February. Fourteen thousand people crossed yesterday, the highest number to date, with tens of thousands of people now in urgent need of onwards transportation to their home countries. With 10,000-15,000 people expected to arrive today…
[T]housands of people have been waiting on the Libyan side to enter for as long as three days, obliged to spend the night outside in the bitter cold without shelter. We are very concerned that a large number of sub-Saharan Africans are not being allowed entry into Tunisia…
Meanwhile at the Egyptian border, the Government reported that some 69,000 people had crossed from Libya since 19 February. The majority of those who have crossed are Egyptians…”
Click here for UNHCR update.
The Hungarian Presidency and LIBE have released summaries regarding today’s LIBE Committee meeting. Here are some points from the two summaries:
Click here and here for the two articles.
Frontex Director Ilkka Laitinen is in Malta today for discussions with Maltese officials about the situation in Libya and the possibility of a new migrant flow from Libya. It seems that the discussions concern the expansion of Joint Operation Hermes Extension or the creation of a new joint operation based in Malta. Before leaving Brussels earlier today, Laitinen said that “although the situation is fluid and until now no flows of asylum seekers to Europe has resulted, Frontex was preparing for such an eventuality.”
Click here (EN), here (IT) and here (IT) for articles.
Filed under European Union, Frontex, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia
MIGRANTS AT SEA 