A migrant boat carrying between 40 to 60 migrants sank near Perejil, off the northern coast of Morocco. More than five bodies have been recovered; more than 20 persons are presumed dead. Rescued survivors have been taken by Spanish rescuers to Morocco.
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Filed under Mediterranean, Morocco, News, Spain
An anonymous letter has reportedly been sent to an Italian prosecutor’s office and to the media accusing an Italian Coast Guard captain of mishandling a rescue attempt in June 2008 during which up to 15 migrants were killed. The survivors were reportedly taken to Malta after the incident.
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Filed under Italy, Malta, Mediterranean, News
“Francia quiere que la UE dé su visto bueno para poder interceptar y repatriar inmigrantes ilegales en el mar, según informó hoy el ministro de Inmigración francés, Eric Besson, en una carta que envió a sus homólogos comunitarios.”
“Besson considera inaudita la presión que los traficantes de inmigrantes ilegales ejercen en las fronteras de la UE y considera que la [Frontex] precisa una nueva doctrina basada en la interceptación y repatriación, pero que al mismo tiempo respete el derecho de asilo. El ministro francés propuso también una mayor cooperación entre Frontex y los países de los que parten los inmigrantes.”
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Filed under European Union, France, Frontex, Mediterranean, News
Eric Besson, French immigration minister, has proposed five measures for reinforcing the EU border against irregular immigration, including:
-a new doctrine of engagement for maritime operations overseen by Frontex in the Mediterranean focusing on interception and return of migrants, with respect for international obligations; and
-increased operational cooperation between Frontex and departure countries so as to coordinate maritime control operations.
Besson will present the five measures at the EU council of ministers meeting in Brussels on 21 September.
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Filed under European Union, France, Frontex, Mediterranean, News
Eric Besson, ministre de l’Immigration de la France propose cinq mesures pour renforcer l’action de l’Union Européenne contre l’immigration irrégulière:
– L’élaboration d’une nouvelle doctrine d’engagement pour les opérations maritimes conduites par Frontex en Méditerranée, tournée vers l’interception et la reconduite, dans le respect des obligations internationales notamment en matière d’asile.
– Une coopération opérationnelle renforcée entre Frontex et les Etats de départ des migrants, afin de coordonner les actions de contrôle en mer.
– L’installation d’un état-major de Frontex en Méditerranée, pour coordonner les opérations de surveillance et de contrôle au plus près du terrain.
– L’affrètement par Frontex de vols groupés pour des opérations conjointes de reconduite à la frontière
– La création d’un programme « Erasmus » pour les gardes-frontières en Europe, coordonné par Frontex, afin de faire émerger progressivement une véritable communauté professionnelle à l’échelle de l’Europe.
Besson présentera ces mesures lors du prochain conseil des ministres, lundi 21 septembre à Bruxelles.
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Filed under European Union, France, Frontex, Mediterranean, News
The IOM and UNHCR are beginning a radio campaign which will be aired on BBC Somali Service until January 2010. The campaign will warn Somalis of the dangers of traveling through Somalia towards the Gulf of Aden and across the Gulf of Aden.
“The campaign in Somali … will target both migrants as well as host communities in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Yemen.”
“Funded by IOM and its partners, the campaign will comprise various components, including migrant testimonies, discussions and drama. The radio campaign is part of a broader Somali lifeline programme funded by various UN agencies including UNICEF, UNFPA and the UN’s Office at Nairobi (UNON).”
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Filed under Gulf of Aden, News, UNHCR
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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Filed under Aegean Sea, Frontex, Greece, News, Turkey
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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Filed under Malta, Mediterranean, 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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Filed under Libya, News, Switzerland, UNHCR
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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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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Filed under European Union, Italy, Mediterranean, 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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Filed under Data / Stats, Gulf of Aden, News, Somalia, Yemen
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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Filed under Djibouti, Gulf of Aden, News, Somalia, Yemen
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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Filed under Italy, Libya, Mediterranean, News, United Nations
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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Filed under Gulf of Aden, News, Somalia
MIGRANTS AT SEA 