Aid groups snub Italian code of conduct on Mediterranean rescues

The Guardian / Reuters

31 July 2017

Five of eight groups operating migrant rescue ships refuse to agree to new measures, citing concerns over operational effectiveness and neutrality

Five aid groups that operate migrant rescue ships in the Mediterranean have refused to sign up to the Italian government’s code of conduct, the Interior Ministry said, but three others backed the new rules.

Charity boats have become increasingly important in rescue operations, picking up more than a third of all migrants brought ashore so far this year against less than one percent in 2014, according to the Italian coastguard.

Italy, fearing that the groups were facilitating people smuggling from North Africa and encouraging migrants to make the perilous passage to Europe, proposed a code containing around a dozen points for the charities. Those who refused to sign the document had put themselves “outside the organised system of sea rescues, with all the concrete consequences that can have”, the ministry said.

 Italy had previously threatened to shut its ports to NGOs that did not sign up, but an source within the Interior Ministry said that in reality those groups would face more checks from Italian authorities.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which has taken part in many of the rescues of the 95,000 migrants brought to Italy this year, attended a meeting at the Interior Ministry but refused to sign the code. MSF objected most strongly to a requirement that aid boats must take migrants to a safe port themselves, rather than transferring people to other vessels, which allows smaller boats to stay in the area for further rescues.

“Our vessels are often overwhelmed by the high number of [migrant] boats … and life and death at sea is a question of minutes,” MSF Italy’s director, Gabriele Eminente, wrote in a letter to the interior minister, Marco Minniti. “The code of conduct puts at risk this fragile equation of collaboration between different boats,” he continued, adding that MSF still wanted to work with the ministry to improve sea rescues.

But Save the Children backed the measures, saying it already complied with most of the rules and would monitor constantly to be sure that applying them did not obstruct their work. “We would not have signed if even one single point would have compromised our effectiveness. This is not the case – not one single point of the code will hinder our activities,” said Valerio Neri, director of Save the Children Italy, after the meeting.

The Malta-based Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) and Spanish group Proactiva Open Arms agreed to the conditions, but Germany’s Sea-Watch, Sea-Eye and Jugend Rettet, and France’s SOS Mediterranée abstained. MSF, SOS Mediterranée and Jugend Rettet also called for clarification of the rules and took issue with a clause in the code that would oblige groups to allow police officers on board.

“For us, the most controversial point … was the commitment to help the Italian police with their investigations and possibly take armed police officers on board,” Jugend Rettet coordinator Titus Molkenbur said. “That is antithetical to the humanitarian principles of neutrality that we adhere to, and we cannot be seen as being part of the conflict.”
Since you’re here …

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.


Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/31/aid-groups-snub-italian-code-conduct-mediterranean-rescues

Italy: Answering a Libyan Call for Help

Stratfor

31 July 2017

The Italian government recently authorized a navy patrol boat to begin reconnaissance in response to a Libyan request for help in dealing with its persistent migrant smuggling issue. While Italy is undoubtedly enthusiastic to help curb migrants arriving on Italian shores, the circumstances surrounding Libya's request may indicate deeper domestic sovereignty issues as the country deals with immigrant smuggling by sea.

The Italian government will present to its parliamentary Commission on Foreign and Defense Policy a plan on Aug. 1 to send Italian navy ships to Libya, in cooperation with local forces there to protect against migrant smuggling. The Italian government approved the plan during a July 28 meeting, with plans for the mission to start within a week. Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said the plan was based on a July 23 request by letter from U.N.-recognized Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj asking for technical support from Italy by sending ships into Libyan territorial waters.

Only days later, on July 28, al-Sarraj denied that he had requested Italian ships enter Libyan waters, saying that Libyan sovereignty was a red line that could not be crossed. But later that same day, al-Sarraj and the Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti discussed possible Italian assistance and managed to overcome domestic resistance in Libya.

Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Siala confirmed that al-Sarraj did invite Italy to send warships into Libyan waters with the permission of the Presidency Council (PC), a group of nine people that represent the U.N.-recognized government's executive branch. Siala said in an official statement that Libya asked for "logistical, technical and operational support to the Libyan coast guard," which will require "the presence of some elements of the Italian Navy at the port of Tripoli, but only for this purpose and only if necessary." The discrepancy in accounts of what request was actually made may indicate a deeper issue for al-Sarraj: Libyan sovereignty remains a central issue and is likely to bring further controversy and complications as he negotiates with other rival Libyan figures.

More than 94,000 migrants have fled to Italy this year and more than 181,000 arrived in 2016. Italian and European authorities continue to pursue ways to prevent migrants from illegally crossing through the central Mediterranean route from Libya to Italy. Illegal migrants are still a controversial issue in the European Union because the relocation mechanism among member states is hardly working. Countries of arrival — such as Italy and Greece — are complaining about the lack of support, and tension on internal borders in the Schengen zone remains a threat. Italy's decision to help Libya comes at a time when the French government is also trying to make progress with the North African country. Last week, the French government hosted a meeting with the two factions that are vying for control of Libya, which prompted the government in Rome to accuse Paris of acting behind its back.

The Italian government hopes to play a role in Libya, but is still uncertain whether its ships will be allowed to rescue migrants in Libyan waters and take them back to Libya when the Libyan coast guard fails to intervene directly. The EU mission Sophia already has ships in international waters, but Libya has never agreed to allow them in its territorial waters. The prospect of any relief at its migrant ports means that Italy will make an effort to work with Libya when asked, as long as it's authorized to enter Libyan waters.


Source: https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/italy-answering-libyan-call-help

MSF refuses to sign on to new migrant rescue rules

AFP

1 August  2017

Rome (AFP) - Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) refused Monday to sign a code of conduct on migrant-saving operations in the Mediterranean, while others including Save the Children approved the new rules.

"There were two sticking points that prevented us from signing the code," said Tommaso Fabbri, head of MSF's Italy mission, after the charity took part in a meeting in Rome between the interior ministry and non-governmental organisations.

One was the obligation for rescue vessels to operate with an Italian police official on board, and the other was the ban on moving rescued migrants from one aid vessel to another at sea, which complicated missions, he said.

"We are doctors, not policemen," Fabbri told AFP.

"We will continue to carry out rescue operations without changing anything," he said, but added the organisation was "open to controls" by the Italian coastguard in the name of transparency.

The code, created to address the biggest migrant phenomenon in Europe since World War II, lays down 13 rules Rome insists must be followed to prevent aid groups rescuing migrants from acting as a magnet for human traffickers.

But the rules have been widely criticised by the NGOs as making it more difficult for them to save the lives of those attempting the perilous crossing from the shores of crisis-hit Libya to Europe.

The interior ministry said those who "refuse to agree and sign are excluded from the system of sea rescues".

The German NGO Jugend Rettet, a privately-funded aid organisation which has been carrying out rescue operations in the central Mediterranean, also refused to sign.

"We would only sign if the new rules made our work more efficient and increased the security of our volunteers," spokesman Titus Molkenbur told journalists at the close of the meeting in Rome.

- 'Restore climate of trust' -

The new rules, which have been given a green light by Brussels, forbid NGOs from sailing into Libyan waters unless lives are at risk, or communicating with smugglers -- including using lights that could attract traffickers.

Save the Children had signed up because its ship -- the Vos Hestia -- already operated according to most of the rules laid out in the code, the charity's director general Valerio Neri said in a statement.

He said the decision to agree to the code "was dictated by the desire to guarantee continuity for the rescue operations, in a transparent fashion, and restore a climate of trust and collaboration".

The charity said it would "constantly monitor" the code's application "to make sure it does not hinder the efficacy of search and rescue operations at sea by NGOs".

MOAS, the Maltese-based Migrant Offshore Aid Station, also rubber-stamped the rules "in solidarity with the government and the Italian people," said founder Christopher Catrambon.

"Our mission has always been to save as many lives as possible at sea, and this document allows us to continue to do just that," he said.

Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms sent a letter to Rome saying it was willing to sign the code, the ministry said.

Nearly 95,000 people have been brought to safety in Italy this year, a rise of one percent on the same period last year, according to the interior ministry.

The privately-funded aid boats performed 26 percent of the rescues carried out in 2016, rising to 35 percent so far this year.


Source: https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/36563746/msf-refuses-to-sign-on-to-new-migrant-rescue-rules/#page1

Doctors without Borders refuses to sign Italy's migrant rescue code of conduct

Business Standard

31 July 2017

Rome, July 31 (IANS/AKI) Doctors without Borders on Monday declined to sign the Italian government's controversial 'code of conduct' aimed at curbing the actions of charity rescue ships in the Mediterranean and stemming the numbers of migrants who reach Europe.

Besides Doctors without Borders, German NGO Jugend Reptet refused to sign the code, which was inked on Monday by just two charities - Maltese charity MOAS and Save the Children - at the Interior Ministry in Rome.

Save the Children Italy said it would "constantly check that the code of conduct does not hamper the effectiveness of rescue operations".

"The absolute priority remains saving human lives at sea."

The 11 point-code requires armed police on board NGO vessels and a ban on making calls or firing flares and has drawn criticism from rights groups including Amnesty International and the United Nations.

The aim of having an officer on board would be to guarantee security and also to root out human traffickers hiding among migrants, according to Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti, who demanded the code of conduct.

Phone calls made from the NGO vessels flares fired could signal to human traffickers when it is safe to send a boat to sea, he said.

A total 34 percent of rescue operations in the Mediterranean were carried out by NGOs and private rescue teams in the first four months of this year - more than by Italian Coastguard or European border patrol forces, according to Minniti.

NGOs including Spain's Proactiva Open Arms and Germany's Sea Watch, earlier refused to sign the code, saying it would endanger more lives in what is the most treacherous sea route in the world for migrants.

Amnesty and Human Rights Watch condemned Italy's new rules in a joint statement earlier this month, saying the measures would severely restrict the ability of humanitarian and aid groups to carry out their work, putting migrant lives at further risk.

The UN children's charity UNICEF also deplored the new code of conduct, saying it put many lives at risk, especially those of minors.

Almost 2,380 migrants perished in the Mediterranean this year as of July 26, according to figures issued on Friday by the UN migration agency, International Organisation for Migration.

Over 94,000 migrants have reached Italy from Libya this year - 85 percent of the total crossings - amid claims by Italian prosecutors that NGOs are abetting traffickers transporting refugees and migrants to Europe.

--IANS/AKI/vd

Source:  http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/doctors-without-borders-refuses-to-sign-italy-s-migrant-rescue-code-of-conduct-117073101724_1.html

Irish Navy rescues 109 migrants off Libyan coast

RTÈ

31 July 2017


The LÉ William Butler Yeats rescued 109 migrants and refugees off the coast of Libya, following a request from the Italian Maritime Rescue Co-Ordination Centre.

The rescue began at 12.30pm and all migrants were on board by 4.30pm and were given food, water and medical treatment where required, before being transferred to an Italian Coast Guard vessel.

This is the first search and rescue operation that the LÉ William Butler Yeats has conducted since deploying to the Mediterranean on 14 July as part of the Government's response to the migrant crisis in Europe.

The role of the Irish naval vessel is to provide a search and rescue capability and to undertake humanitarian rescue operations at sea in the Mediterranean.


Source: https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2017/0730/894068-le-yeats-rescue/

Italy Plans Naval Mission Off Libya to Stop Migrant Boats

The New York Times

By JASON HOROWITZ

27 July 2017

ROME — Italy’s prime minister convened top cabinet ministers on Thursday to discuss a plan to send Italian warships into Libyan territorial waters to combat smugglers who have sent thousands of migrants to Italian shores.

The step came a day after Italy struck a long-elusive deal with Libyan authorities to give it a freer hand along the African coast, and it reflected Italy’s rising frustration with what it sees as having to deal with Europe’s migrant crisis on its own.

This year alone, nearly 100,000 migrants from Africa, South Asia and the Middle East have arrived in Italy, a 7 percent spike compared to the same period last year. More than 2,000 migrants have died at sea this year as they risked the crossing.

On Wednesday, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni announced a potentially important breakthrough in Italy’s seemingly Sisyphean task of stopping migrants from setting sail for Sicily.

After meeting with Fayez Serraj, who leads Libya’s United Nations-backed government, in Rome’s Chigi Palace, Mr. Gentiloni announced that the Libyans had requested Italy’s help to stop the traffickers who have for years been operating brazenly in its territorial waters.

“It is very relevant news in the fight against human trafficking in Libya, if we respond positively,” Mr. Gentiloni said after the meeting. “I believe this is necessary.”

But the potential hurdles confronting such a strategy are manifold. Not least it requires the approval of parliament, which is scheduled to begin debating the potential deployment next Tuesday.

Once parliament gives consent, which is expected, the defense ministry says that it can quickly begin a mission and expects three to six ships, but also helicopters, fighter jets and drones, to be in action by mid-August.

In the meantime, Italian government officials said they were trying to untangle thorny issues related to the rules of engagement.

Those included what Italian warships would do if they encountered hostile human traffickers in foreign waters; whether they can stop arms and oil smugglers as well as human traffickers; and whether the migrants they might have to rescue should be returned to Libya, where they could face a horrific security situation.

The political impact could also be significant. Domestically, the waves of migrants have become a conservative talking point against the center-left government, which has found itself increasingly on the defensive as elections approach.

The crisis has stoked tensions between Italy and its European Union partners, who have mostly been unwilling to share the burden of migrants flowing into Italy, even as many of the migrants seek destinations farther north among Europe’s richer countries.

Since 2015, the government in Tripoli has denied the European Union’s antismuggling mission, called Sophia, from entering its waters. Italian efforts to train the Libyan Coast Guard have proved mostly ineffective.

Instead, Libya has emerged as a key point of departure for hundreds of thousands of migrants, as human traffickers capitalize on the power vacuum created by the overthrow and killing of Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011.

Aid groups operating ships have rescued a significant percentage of the migrants in grave risk of drowning at sea. Some anti-immigrant parties have accused the aid groups of encouraging, or even colluding with, human traffickers.

That suspicion, and a far-right-wing ideology to protect European countries from Muslim and a nonwhite “invasion,” prompted a group of far-right activists operating under the name Defend Europe to charter a ship to monitor and disrupt aid group activity to prevent asylum seekers from reaching Europe.

The “identitarians,” as they call themselves, planned to board the ship this month in Sicily and sail toward Libyan waters. But the ship got stuck for days in Egypt.

On Wednesday, it arrived in Northern Cyprus, where its captain and first mate were reportedly arrested themselves for people-smuggling and forging documents after about 20 South Asians were found on board.

About five of the South Asian crew asked for asylum. A spokesman for Defend Europe blamed the asylum requests on bribes from aid groups.


Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/27/world/europe/italy-plans-naval-mission-off-libya-to-stop-migrant-boats.html

EU gives 46 million euros to Italy to help protect Libya borders

Reuters

28 July 2017

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union gave 46 million euros ($54 million) to Italy on Friday to help it protect Libya's northern and southern borders, part of the bloc's efforts to stem arrival of African migrants across the Mediterranean.

Nearly 95,000 people reached Italy this year, embarking on smugglers' dinghies from the shores of the lawless Libya.

Rome plans to send navy vessels to Libyan waters next month to combat human trafficking, as well as looking to strengthen Libya's southern border, which many migrants cross on their way.

The EU has already deployed its mission further north in the Mediterranean and donated 90 million euros to improving living conditions for migrants stranded in Libya, as well as helping them get back home further south in Africa, to dissuade them from daring the deadly sea passage to arrive in the bloc.

It is supporting the U.N.-recognized government of Fayez Seraj in Tripoli, as well as training and equipping his coast guard to have it intersect migrants and put them back on shore.

The bloc is also trying to step back deportations of those who still make it to Europe, but fail to win asylum.

The EU's strategy has been badly criticized by rights groups for pushing people back to inhumane treatment and other perils in Libya's chaos, and failing to offer them enough protection.

Arrival figures show little to no sign that the EU strategy has worked so far.

Italy - Libya's former colonial master and the main gateway to Europe now for Africans - is increasingly under pressure and has resorted to more bilateral deals with Libya without waiting for the rest of the EU to follow.

A senior EU official hoped, however, that the combined 136 million euros, and Italy's own endeavors will together eventually lead to lower arrivals in Europe, which has turned increasingly cold to accepting refugees and migrants.

That came after a chaotic influx of more than a million people in 2015 caught the EU by surprise, beefing up support for populist, nationalist and euroskeptic parties across the bloc.

These groups make a strong link between immigration from the mainly-Muslim Middle East and Africa and a raft of recent Islamist attacks in Europe.

"If we want to stop the flow, there must be an element of deterrence. This is Realpolitik, Italy is the EU state that has the biggest presence on the ground in Libya, has an embassy and intelligence there," the official said.

"If we want someone to do something that will actually make a change, it can only be Italy. We will support them financially and that should bring effects."

($1 = 0.8515 euros)

Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, editing by Pritha Sarkar


Source:  http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-eu-libya-idUSKBN1AD27S