53 survivors have been rescued from today’s accident. The total number of dead and missing is not known. Dozens of bodies, including those of children, have been observed in the sea by a Guardia di Finanza helicopter.
Click here for article. (IT)
© Copyright ANSA - Tutti i diritti riservati - Rescued migrants arriving at Lampedusa.
Filed under Italy, Libya, Mediterranean, News
It now appears that the boat that capsized earlier this morning off of Lampedusa was carrying Sub-Saharan Africans and that it had sailed from Libya not from Tunisia. The boat departed from Zuwarah in western Libya according to the Times of Malta. Woman and children were on board and are likely among the victims. The accident occurred around 4:00 AM local time in very rough seas. A call for help was made by satellite phone to Malta SAR. ANSA reported a short time ago that 48 people have been rescued and approximately 20 bodies have been recovered. IOM said that based on interviews with survivors there may have been as many as 300 people on board the boat.
Click here (EN), here (IT), and here (IT) for articles.
Filed under Italy, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News
There are reports that a boat carrying approximately 200 migrants believed to be Tunisians capsized during a rescue operation this morning. The incident occurred 39 miles southwest of Lampedusa. As of early this morning approximately 45 people have been rescued and 150 are missing. Italian Coast Guard boats are searching for survivors.
Click here and here for articles. (IT)
Filed under Italy, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia
Italy and Tunisia reached a new migration agreement on Tuesday. It was signed in Tunis by Interior Minister Roberto Maroni and Tunisian Minister Habib Essid. Italy reportedly pressed Tunisia to quickly accept the repatriation of the 20,000 Tunisians who have arrived in Italy. Tunisia refused to agree to the mass return of its nationals.
The compromise that was apparently reached will allow the 20,000 Tunisians who have already arrived in Italy to remain for at least six months with temporary residency permits and Tunisia in turn has apparently agreed to accelerated and simplified return procedures for newly arriving Tunisians that will not require fingerprinting or documentation. Italy reportedly believes that the accelerated repatriation procedures, once implemented, will act as a deterrent to those Tunisians who may attempt to leave Tunisia after the agreement enters into force.
The accelerated return procedures are troubling in multiple respects. While the overwhelming majority of persons who have reached Italy over the past two months are Tunisian nationals, over the past week or two for the first time there have been hundreds of non-Tunisians arriving in Italy and Malta. Many are from Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia and clearly have strong claims to international protection. An accelerated return procedure will mean that persons with claims to asylum or who are in need of other forms of protection may not be properly identified.
Where will the accelerated return procedures be carried out? Will migrants be rescued, brought to land, processed under the accelerated procedures, and then repatriated? Or will Italy attempt to revive its push-back practice and attempt to turn boats around at sea?
The text of the agreement has apparently not been yet made public (at least I cannot find it), but various media reports suggest that its provisions include the following:
The announcement of this bi-lateral agreement comes one day after Frontex released its recently approved Fundamental Rights Strategy. Click here for yesterday’s post about this strategy. Note the following provisions within the strategy:
“14. [***] One particular objective in [Joint Operations] is ensuring that the right to international protection must not be hampered by the law enforcement action and that persons seeking protection are referred to the competent national authorities to assess their case.
15. [***] Corrective measures should be taken in case of breach or serious risk of breach of fundamental rights. As last resort, Frontex might terminate a JO if the conditions guaranteeing the respect for fundamental rights are no longer met. [***]”
It remains to be seen what Italy will do in regard to accelerated direct repatriations to Tunisia, but there is definitely the concern that the right to international protection may be hampered by Italy’s actions. Frontex’s Joint Operation Hermes Extension is currently hosted by Italy. Frontex may be obligated to act pursuant to its Fundamental Rights Strategy depending on what new practices are implemented by Italy.
Click here (IT), here (IT), here (IT), here (FR), here (FR), and here (EN) for articles.
Filed under European Union, Frontex, Italy, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia
There have been reports in recent days from the UNHCR and others about at least two boats that are believed to have left Libya over the past 10-14 days carrying persons from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and possible other countries. Family members and friends of people who are believed to be on the boats have been calling for assistance in searching for the boats. Reuters reported that “[o]ne of the boats was reported to have left Libya on March 22 with 335 people on board. Italian media said 68 people on the other boat had almost certainly died during the journey, although there was no official confirmation. The top Vatican official in Tripoli, Bishop Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, said 10 bodies of African migrants were at the capital’s morgue on [4 April]. … He said there were reports of ‘many more bodies’ of migrants washed up on the shores of Garaboulli, some 40 km from Tripoli.” Father Mussie Zerai, who is based in Rome, “said he had last spoken to migrants on board the smaller boat, an inflatable, by satellite phone on 26 March before the line went dead. ‘I have meanwhile had no contact with the larger boat, but family members of those on board have called us from Canada, Sweden and Switzerland to tell us they left.’”
Click here and here for articles. (EN)
There have been confirmed deaths among migrants who have left Tunisia in recent weeks. At least 27 bodies had been recovered as of last week in Kerkennah. The dead were probably on board boats that sank on the 13th and 27th of March off the Tunisian coast.
Click here for article.
UPDATE: If you have information about a family member or friend who may be on a boat or if you are seeking information, please consider contacting the Agenzia Habeshia per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo in Italy at this email address: agenzia_habeshia@yahoo.it .
Filed under European Union, Frontex, Italy, Libya, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia, UNHCR
From the Times of Malta (sources: Home Affairs Ministry and parliamentary replies) and as noted on EASO Monitor:
Nationalities of migrants who arrived last week
Migrants in Malta before Libya crisis
Migrant arrivals in previous years
Click here for article.
Filed under Data / Stats, Eritrea, Ethiopia, European Union, Frontex, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News, Somalia
The Times of Malta has posted copies of an exchange of correspondence between Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici and Frontex Director Ilkka Laitinen. The Times of Malta article does not identify the source of the correspondence. It appears likely that the posted correspondence does not include all of the recent communications between Malta and Frontex. However, that which has been made available by the Times of Malta provides additional background information regarding Malta’s refusal to host a Frontex mission.
According to the posted correspondence, on 10 March, Mifsud Bonnici made an urgent request to Frontex for a new Joint Operation and deployment of a Rapid Border Intervention Team. Malta’s request however was conditioned upon Frontex agreeing to the establishment of a joint processing centre outside of Malta and an agreement not to follow the non-binding Guidelines pertaining to the surveillance of the sea external borders contained in Part II of the Annex to Council Decision 2010/252/EU.
On 29 March, Director Laitinen responded. Laitinen said that on 22 March he took the decision to deploy a RABIT team to Malta and that a fact-finding visit to Malta took place 24-25 March, but that during the visit, the Frontex delegation was informed that Malta would agree to accept a RABIT deployment only if Malta’s requests for the creation of the joint external processing centre and the Joint Operation were organised simultaneously with the RABIT deployment. Laitinen said that as of 28 March Frontex had received 10 official answers from Member States responding to Malta’s request for contribution to a possible Joint Operation and creation of the external processing centre; 9 of the answers were negative or questioned the concept of joint operation: “According to the replies – and also indicted by the number of missing replies – it is obvious that the MS consider the establishment of a joint processing centre as an issue that needs discussion and agreement on political level. It remains doubtful from legal point of view that a joint operation not applying the non-binding part of the Maritime guidelines – Council decision No 2010/252/EU – could be developed and implemented under Frontex coordination.”
Mifsud Bonnici’s initial letter was written before the first migrant boat from Libya arrived in Malta on 28 March. Presumably discussions between Malta, Frontex, and the Commission are ongoing.
Click here or on this link (Mifsud Bonnici Ltr – 10 March 2011 ) for the letter from Mifsud Bonnici to Laitinen.
Click here or on this link (Laitinen Ltr – 29 March 2011 ) for the letter from Laitinen to Mifsud Bonnici.
Click here for Times of Malta article.
A third letter from Commissioner Malmström was also posted by the Times of Malta. It makes reference to the exchange discussed above. More on this and on Malta’s call for triggering the Temporary Protection Instrument later.
Click here or on this link ( Malmström Ltr – 1 April 2011 ) for the letter from Malmström to Mifsud Bonnici.
Filed under European Union, Frontex, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News
Gaddafi and other Libyan officials in recent weeks have made statements to the effect that Libya will no longer prevent irregular migrants from leaving Libya and have made threats that Libya will encourage irregular migration. (6 March, Gaddafi: “I want to make myself understood: if one threatens [Libya], if one seeks to destabilize [Libya], there will be chaos, Bin Laden, armed factions. That is what will happen. You will have immigration, thousands of people will invade Europe from Libya. And there will no longer be anyone to stop them….”)
Now that migrants boats are again leaving Libya and arriving in Italy and Malta, it is unclear what role, if any, the Libyan government may be playing. In an article in yesterday’s Times of Malta there is a short statement by an Eritrean man who had just arrived in Malta from Libya on a migrant boat. His statement suggests that the Libyan government may be facilitating the departures: “[a] man said he had been in Libya for five years and this was not the first time he had tried to escape. ‘The boats were organised by the same people,’ he said, referring to a Libyan racket which was widely believed to enjoy the support of the North African regime. The migrants said they paid between $500 and $1,000 for their journey – meaning that those who organised the boats were pocketing an average of $200,000.”
Click here for article.
Filed under Italy, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News
Here is a short AFP article about Father Mussie Zerai who is in frequent contact by satellite phone with African refugees in Libya and with those who are in the process of leaving Libya: “A few steps away from St Peter’s Basilica, an Eritrean Catholic priest is on the phone with boats in the middle of the Mediterranean filled with African refugees fleeing Libya. Mussie Zerai receives calls from satellite phones on the boats and co-ordinates the arrival of hundreds of Eritreans, Ethiopians and Somalis with Italy’s coast guard and the NATO warships imposing a naval embargo on Libya….”
Click here for article.
Father Zerai’s organisation’s blog: habeshia.blogspot.com/
UPDATE: If you have information about a family member or friend who may be on a boat or if you are seeking information, please consider contacting the Agenzia Habeshia per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo in Italy at this email address: agenzia_habeshia@yahoo.it .
UPDATE: Click here for 19 April 2011 BBC article.
Filed under Eritrea, Italy, Libya, Mediterranean, News
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi visited Lampedusa this afternoon and said that all 6000 migrants now on the island would be moved to new locations within Italy, in Sicily and elsewhere, within 48-60 hours. He indicated that a navy ship and multiple civilian ferries would be used to transport the migrants. He promised a massive clean-up operation and beautification programme for the island, announced there would be a tax holiday for island residents, said Lampedusa would be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and said that he had just purchased a personal home on Lampedusa.
Berlusconi said new unspecified measures were being taken to prevent new migrant arrivals. He seemed to say that some vessels that could be used for the transport of migrants from Tunisia have been purchased by Italy (or by him?). (“Abbiamo attuato anche misure imprenditoriali. Ve ne diro’ una variopinta: abbiamo comprato pescherecci affinche’ non possano essere utilizzati per le traversate.” “We have also implemented business measures. I will tell you [something] colorful: we bought vessels so they can not be used for the crossings.”)
There has been a lull in migrant arrivals to the island; no new boats from Tunisia or Libya arrived overnight.
Click here (IT), here (IT), here (IT), and here (EN) for articles.
Filed under Italy, Libya, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia
I posed several questions to NATO Maritime Command Naples asking what NATO’s policy is in regard to encounters between NATO ships and migrant boats leaving Libya. NATO Maritime Command Naples is responsible for enforcing the maritime embargo of Libya known as Operation Unified Protector. I also asked for more information about the encounter on 25-26 March between the Canadian navy ship, HMCS Charlottetown, and what was probably the first recent migrant boat from Libya. This particular migrant boat was subsequently taken to Linosa by the Italian Coast Guard.
Today’s response from NATO’s public affairs office is fairly straightforward and states that NATO ships will respond to vessels or persons in distress. The response suggests that NATO ships will otherwise not interfere with the passage of migrant boats unless a boat is suspected of carrying arms or mercenaries. Presumably NATO would also seek to stop and board migrant vessels suspected of carrying any persons of particular interest to NATO, e.g. Libyan officials.
Here are my questions and the responses from the Public Affairs Office at NATO Maritime Command Naples:
Q: Does Operation Unified Protector have plans or procedures in place regarding what to do in the situation where a NATO vessel encounters a boat or inflatable that is carrying irregular migrants or asylum seekers out of Libya and attempting to reach another country, e.g. Italy or Malta?
NATO: Operation Unified Protector is part of the broad international effort to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas under threat of attack. The maritime portion of the operation foresees NATO warships and aircraft patrolling the approaches to Libyan territorial waters to reduce the flow of arms, related material and mercenaries to Libya as called for in UN Security Council Resolution 1973. Issues of migration or asylum seekers are not within the mandate of this specific NATO operation.
Q: If there are plans or procedures for encounters with migrant boats, what do they provide for?
NATO: A master of a ship at sea which is in a position to be able to provide assistance on receiving information from any source that persons are in distress at sea, is bound to proceed with all speed to their assistance, if possible informing them or the search and rescue service that the ship is doing so. This obligation to provide assistance applies regardless of the nationality or status of such persons or the circumstances in which they are found.
Q: Additionally, can you provide details regarding what HMCS Charlottetown did on/about 26 March when it encountered a migrant boat carrying approximately 350 African migrants from Libya? Did HMCS Charlottetown request assistance in connection with this encounter from the Italian Coast Guard or Navy or from Frontex? What assistance, if any, was provided to the migrant boat?
NATO: On 25 and 26 of March 2011, NATO ships patrolling in International Waters attended a boat to ensure there was not a case of Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). Assistance was offered in the form of technical expertise and supplies. NATO ships monitored the situation constantly throughout the stated period. For action taken by Italy with regard to this event we recommend you contact the appropriate authorities.
Q: Does NATO anticipate that there may at some point be large numbers of non-Libyans or Libyans attempting to leave Libya by sea?
NATO: We do not feel that we can speculate on this matter.
Click here for link to NATO Maritime Command Naples and here for link to Operation Unified Protector.
Filed under Italy, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News
Commissioners Cecilia Malmström and Stefan Füle are scheduled to travel to Tunisia 30 and 31 March to assess the situation at the refugee camps along the Tunisia-Libya border, including the camp near Djerba, and for discussions with Tunisian Prime Minister Béji Caïd Essebsi and other officials. Among the topics to be discussed will be the Tunisian nationals who have come to Italy in recent weeks, but who are not in need of international protection and who therefore are likely to be sent back to Tunisia by Italy. Malmström will be discussing with the Tunisian transitional government how the returns could possibly be carried out.
Click here (SV), here (SV), and here (FR) for articles.
Filed under European Union, Italy, Libya, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia
Malta Today reports that Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici reaffirmed Malta’s detention law and disagrees with the comments made by COE Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg. From Malta Today: “‘This [the detention policy] is compliant with Malta’s EU and other international obligations. As a matter of fact, the European Convention on Human Rights does not rule out detention,’ Mifsud Bonnici said, citing Article 5 (1)(f) of the Convention. … Mifsud Bonnici however said that the judgement in the [ECtHR’s] Massoud vs Malta case, ‘cannot, in any way be interpreted as constituting a condemnation of Malta’s detention policy. This has been proved and explained time and again.’”
Click here for article.
Click here for Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg’s statement.
300 migrants arrived in Malta this afternoon. A second group of approximately 250 is expected to arrive this evening. The migrants are believed to be Sub-Saharan asylum seekers from Libya.
Under Maltese law, the arriving asylum seekers will be detained. The law purports to authorise detention for up to 18 months. Malta’s detention centres are at present largely empty due to the lack of recent migrant arrivals. COE Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg concluded a visit to Malta just last week. The Commissioner’s report pertaining to his visit has not yet been released, but a statement was released in which the Commissioner called for “the policy of mandatory detention of all irregular migrants, including asylum seekers, [to] be reconsidered.”
Excerpts from the Statement:
“‘Malta and Europe need each other if the challenges of migration are to be met in a manner that respects human rights,’ said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, following his visit to Malta from 23 to 25 March. According to the Commissioner, Malta needs to move away from a reactive approach to migration and establish a system that is fully in line with European standards concerning the human rights of immigrants and asylum seekers. At the same time, a much more generous and collegial approach is needed on the part of other European states, by accepting to host some of the persons to whom Malta has rightly accorded international protection. ‘However, with the exception of France and Germany – and further afield the US – this has not been the case so far.’
The Commissioner underlined that the current uncertainty related to the events in Libya and possible forced migration towards Malta and Europe should not deter the Maltese authorities from undertaking the necessary reforms. ‘Instead this is another reason for more European solidarity to support these reforms’ said the Commissioner, noting also that the substantial decrease in the number of irregular arrivals in Malta over the last two years has taken considerable pressure off Malta.
In this context, the policy of mandatory detention of all irregular migrants, including asylum seekers, should be reconsidered. The Commissioner notes that the mandatory detention of migrants can hardly be reconciled with the requirements set by the European Convention on Human Rights, as also reflected in a July 2010 judgment of the Strasbourg Court in the case of Louled Massoud, which found that Malta had violated the Convention by detaining an asylum seeker, whose claim had been rejected, for almost 18 months. ‘Malta should take all necessary legislative and other measures in order to implement fully and effectively this important judgment of the European Court of Human Rights’ said the Commissioner. Alternatives to the detention of migrants should be provided for in law, in accordance with the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s Resolution 1707 (2010). …”
Click here and here for articles.
Click here for the Commissioner’s full statement
Click here for link to Commissioner’s thematic web page on human rights of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Filed under Commissioner for Human Rights, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News, Statements
Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said on Monday that “[i]f [the Tunisian Government] do[es] not send specific signals [and begin] keeping the promise of a commitment to stop the migration, Italy will proceed with the forced repatriations.” (“Se non manderà segnali concreti, mantenendo la promessa di un impegno per fermare i flussi migratori, l’Italia procederà con i rimpatri forzosi.”) Maroni also said “Tunisia had promised an immediate commitment to stop migration, but the boats continue to arrive. We are not subject to blackmail as with Libya for oil. [Tunisia is] dependent on us, especially in the tourism sector.”
Foreign Minister Frattini said that if Tunisian migrants do not agree to assisted returns to Tunisia, with the possible payment of €1500 using EU funds, “there is a second level of intervention for those who do not accept assisted repatriation, which is stated in the Bossi-Fini law: expulsion.”
Click here, here, here and here for articles. (IT)
Click here (EN), here (IT), and here (IT) for postings on the Foreign Ministry web site.
Filed under Frontex, Italy, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia
MIGRANTS AT SEA 