49 migrants were repatriated to Ghana on 11 August. 270 migrants have been repatriated by Malta so far this year.
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270 Migrants Repatriated From Malta to Date in 2009 (News, Data/Stats)
Filed under Data / Stats, Malta, Mediterranean, News
UNHCR awarded Italy’s Terre e Pace peace prize (News)
The award is given to organizations and individuals deemed to have contributed to world peace. “The prize’s organizing committee said it chose UNHCR as this year’s recipient because of its work to protect the rights of asylum seekers in Italy, many of who arrive in overcrowded boats from Libya. Accepting the award, [UNHCR Regional Representative Laurens] Jolles said 2009 had been a difficult year for UNHCR in Italy as it sought ensure individuals’ rights to international protection were upheld in the face of restrictive government policies which, in some instances, has included returning boats to Libya.”
“This award is evidence that UNHCR is not alone in its conviction that safeguards for asylum seekers must be maintained, even on the high seas,” said Jolles. “It is essential that those who seek refuge from persecution are able to access international protection and that borders are not closed to them.”
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UE demande aux members d’accueillir les demandeurs d’asile échoués sur les côtes maltaises (News)
“Plus de 2 800 immigrés sont arrivés sur les côtes maltaises en 2008. [Malte] a examiné, cette année-là, 2 685 demandes d’asile et a accordé sa protection à 1 410 demandeurs, selon les chiffres de la Commission [Européenne].
“La Commission a … envisagé trois formules. Soit un groupe de pays présente un projet commun, avec un possible État leader et le soutien éventuel d’une organisation internationale, comme le Haut-Commissariat aux réfugiés de l’ONU (HCR). Soit un pays décide d’agir seul, …mais «s’il s’agit de réinstaller seulement cinq réfugiés dans un État donné, il n’y aura pas d’intérêt à présenter un projet», prévient la Commission en soulignant qu’un pays isolé ne pourrait ne pas être éligible au Fonds européen pour les réfugiés que Bruxelles veut mobiliser. Soit, enfin, les États, seuls ou en groupe, agissent avec le HCR ou l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM), qui toutes deux ont dit vouloir jouer un rôle actif.”
“Quoi qu’il en soit, Bruxelles ne veut pas perdre de temps : les 27 pays membres de l’Union devront se prononcer mi-septembre, puis un appel à projets sera lancé avant la fin du mois, permettant d’ouvrir la procédure pour les aides à venir.”
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Filed under European Union, Malta, News
Maritime Security and Defence Conference (Conferences)
The biennial Maritime Security and Defence conference will be held 30 September to 2 October 2009 in Hamburg.
Among the scheduled presenters is Rear Admiral (UH) Salvatore Ruzittu from the Italian Navy who will speak about the situation in the Mediterranean region and the stream of migrants from Africa.
Click here for more information.
Click here for conference web site.
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Filed under Colloques / Conferences, Italy, Mediterranean
ECRE Interview : Thomas Hammarberg, COE Commissioner for Human Rights (News)
Excerpts:
“ECRE: The European Union is very keen in strengthening cooperation with neighbouring countries such as Turkey and Libya in order to reduce the number of migrants entering irregularly the Union. Do you think this could have consequences for refugees who try to reach a safe haven in the EU?
TH: Migration policies are to be based on effective consultations and cooperation among host countries, transit countries and countries of origin. However, as stressed in my reports, legislative and other measures adopted by the EU or European states in order to effectively deal with migration flows should fully abide by international and European human rights law and standards. In this regard, I have made known my disapproval of bilateral or multilateral agreements for the forced returns of irregular migrants with countries, such as Libya, with a long-standing, proven record of torture. […]”
“ECRE: What is your opinion on the Italian policy of pushing back migrants to Libya without an assessment of their need for protection?
TH: Both in my latest report on Italy published in April and in subsequent statements that I made I have expressed my deep concern about migrant boat interceptions and forced returns of migrants from Italy to Libya. What requires states’ particular attention is the fact that among irregular migrants there are usually a substantial number of people who flee persecution or violence that necessitate the provision of international protection to them by European states. It is recalled that about 75% of the irregular migrants who reached Italy by sea in 2008 applied for asylum and around 50% of them were granted refugee or subsidiary refugee status. As a consequence, any legislative or administrative measures adopted with a view to tackling the phenomenon of irregular migration and entry into the country should not fail to take into proper consideration the particular needs of people who arrive in Europe and are in need of international protection.”
Click here for full ECRE interview.
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Filed under Italy, Libya, Mediterranean, News
UNHCR & IOM Sign Agreement with Libya (News)
Pursuant to an “agreement signed on 27 July in Tripoli, IOM and UNHCR will work with the relevant Libyan authorities and civil society to provide humanitarian assistance to concerned persons in reception and detention centres.”
“IOM and UNHCR will jointly determine those among migrants and rejected asylum seekers who are willing to return home and will assist them to return in safety and dignity.”
“The agreement further specifies that IOM and UNHCR will work as a team in the resettlement of refugees from Libya to third countries.”
Click here for IOM press release.
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Maltese MEP: Returning Migrants to Libya Protects Migrant Lives (News)
During a recent lecture at the Institute of European Studies and the Law Faculty of the Université Libree de Bruxelles, Maltese MEP Simon Busuttil said that “returning migrants to Libya might well be open to question but it was certainly preferable to allowing migrants to risk their lives in the first place by making the crossing in unseaworthy boats. He said that the solution lay in more effort on all sides, not least by affording prospective asylum seekers the possibility to apply for protection directly at the UNHCR’s office in Tripoli.”
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Filed under Malta, Mediterranean, News
Italy Forcibly Repatriates More Migrants to Libya (News)
14 migrants, after being rescued by an Italian fishing boat and after a renewed Maltese-Italian dispute over where the rescued migrants should be taken, were taken on board an Italian government vessel which in turn transferred them to a Libyan navy vessel. The migrants were first spotted by a Frontex aircraft operating from Malta.
“The incident yet again sparked the ire of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), who through its spokesperson Laura Boldrini insisted that both Malta and Italy should assume their international responsibilities and be humanitarian. The UNHCR spokesperson implored both states not to forcefully repatriate the migrants to Libya.”
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502 migrants au Maroc retournés “volontairement” vers 20 pays (News)
“Ce projet de 18 mois, … a apporté une solution aux migrants en situation irrégulière sur le territoire marocain et souhaitant retourner dans leurs pays d’origine. Ainsi 502 migrants ont sollicité l’assistance de l’OIM et sont retournés volontairement vers 20 pays d’origine différents, principalement le Congo Brazzaville, la Côte d’Ivoire, la Guinée Conakry et la République Démocratique du Congo. La majorité (56%) de ces bénéficiaires est composée de jeunes hommes entre 21 et 30 ans ; on compte aussi 87 femmes et 30 mineurs, dont 20 enfants de moins de 3 ans.”
“Le projet de retour volontaire assisté et de réintégration est l’un des programmes phares menés par l’OIM en Afrique avec l’appui de bailleurs de fonds européens.” [La Belgique, l’Italie, la Norvège, les Pays-Bas et la Suisse.]
“Aujourd’hui, 1.918 migrants ont bénéficié du programme de retour volontaire mis en place par l’OIM au Maroc depuis fin 2005. Pour assurer la continuité de cette action, un nouveau projet de Retour volontaire régional assisté et de réintégration (LIMO) a été lancé en avril 2009 et permettra de répondre aux attentes de 1.000 migrants en situation irrégulière et en transit au Maroc. Ce projet, d’une durée de 12 mois, est financé par la Commission européenne, l’Italie, le Royaume-Uni et la Suisse.”
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Filed under Mediterranean, Morocco, News
Turkey May Eliminate Geographic Restrictions on Asylum by 2012 (News)
The Turkish newspaper Zaman reports that Turkey is prepared to begin changes to its asylum laws to harmonize its immigration laws with those of the EU.
The Government reportedly plans to create an Asylum and Immigration Directorate within the Interior Ministry, to build “refugee shelters”, and to ratify the 1967 UN Refugee Protocol, thus eliminating the geographic restrictions (Europe only) that Turkey currently applies to asylum seekers.
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Increased Shooting Deaths at Egypt-Israel Border May Be Related to Italy-Libya Agreement to Stop Migrants in the Mediterranean (News)
Reuters reports that there has been a recent increase in the shootings of African migrants by Egyptian authorities along the Egypt-Israel border. Six Africans have been shot to death by Egyptian police since May. “Monthly migrant arrests by Egypt at the border have surged, 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 article suggests that the migrant and refugee stream from the Horn of Africa that has most recently tended to cross Egypt to Libya and then on to Italy may now be shifting to the east because the route from Libya to Italy is blocked by the Italy-Libya agreement to turn back migrants.
“’The numbers (at the Egypt-Israel border) are increasing. That route is being used again more heavily than before,’ said Gasser Abdel Razek, Egypt country director of refugee legal aid group AMERA. ‘I heard it (Libya) is becoming difficult for them … I am hearing there is strong monitoring along this route, on the border between Libya and Sudan,’ said Mohamed Dualeh, head of an office of the U.N. refugee agency in Kassala in east Sudan, through which many migrants transit, especially Eritreans. ‘If you are a human being, and you cannot go because one route is blocked, you look for another route,’ he said.”
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85 Haitians Dead Off of Turks and Caicos (News)
The US Coast Guard discontinued its 2 plus day search for survivors. 15 dead have been confirmed and about 70 others are believed to be missing and dead. Survivors from the boat said they paid $500 apiece for the trip to the Turks and Caicos from northern Haiti.
Click here and here for articles.
Click here and here and here (USCG video) for US Coast Guard Press Releases.
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Filed under Caribbean - West Indies, Haiti, News, Turks and Caicos
UNHCR: 12,000 Somalis Prepare to Cross Gulf of Aden for Yemen (News)
The UNHCR reports that ongoing fighting within Somalia has pushed approximately 12,000 Somalis to the northern port town of Bossaso where most are preparing to attempt a crossing of the Golf of Aden in September when more favourable weather conditions will likely be present.
“Last year, more than 50,000 new arrivals reached Yemen’s shores a 70 percent increase from 2007. The trend has continued during the first six months of this year, with around 30,000 new arrivals the total for the whole of 2007.”
“More than 1,000 people drowned en route in 2008 as they were thrown overboard or forced to disembark too far from the shore by unscrupulous smugglers. So far this year, almost 300 have died or gone missing.”
Click here for UNHCR statement.
Click here and here for articles.
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Filed under Gulf of Aden, News, Somalia, UNHCR, Yemen
Haitian Boat Sinks, Over 10 Dead, Over 70 Missing (News)
A Haitian boat carrying an estimated 200 people sank near the Turks and Caicos Islands, a British Overseas Territory. Reports indicate that 15 bodies have been recovered, over 100 persons have been rescued, and over 70 may still be missing.
Rescue operations were being carried out by the US Coast Guard and the Turks and Caicos Police Marine Patrol.
“According to the U.S. Coast Guard in Miami, 1,491 Haitians were intercepted at sea between Oct. 1, 2008 and June 2, 2009. During the previous fiscal year [1 Oct 2007 – 30 Sept 2008], 1,582 Haitians were intercepted.”
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Filed under Caribbean - West Indies, Haiti, News, Turks and Caicos
Drop in Numbers of Migrants Leaving Senegal (News, Statistics)
Frontex reports a significant drop in the numbers of clandestine migrants arrested in Senegal: from 2,743 in 2007 to 494 in 2008 to 33 so far this year.
“Senegal signed a cooperation agreement with Europe in September 2006 in order to reverse the number of illegal immigrants from west Africa heading for Spain’s Canary Islands, one of the main entry points into Europe.”
“These days, emigrants are more likely to be leaving from Gambia and Guinea Bissau, according to a Frontex official.”
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Filed under Data / Stats, Eastern Atlantic, Frontex, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, News, Senegal
MIGRANTS AT SEA 