Italy’s patience with the migrant charities is wearing thin

The Spectator

By Fraser Nelson

3 August 2017

What to do about the charities who send boats to bring asylum seekers to the Italian coast? Save the Children and seven others have been doing this for some time now, to the alarm of the Italian government. It suspects that some NGOs are colluding with the people-traffickers, and undermining attempts by the government to shut down a business that has already led to 2,200 deaths this year alone. Nicholas Farrell looked at this in a recent cover story for The Spectator. The NGOs say they are saving lives – which is of course true. But the question is whether, by helping the people traffickers in the final leg of the journey, they are oiling the wheels of a new and evil industry in a way that means more, not fewer, deaths.

There’s no suggestion that the NGOs are taking backhanders from the people-traffickers, simply that the two are acting in concert to circumvent Italian border control. In some cases, they pride themselves in defying the government: a German outfit named Jugend Rettet, says it has rescued 6,530 people since it started out last summer and seeks to “put pressure on state actors to enforce the fundamental right to life and security even in the Mediterranean.” In so doing, might they be leading to more deaths in the Mediterranean?

It’s an awful conundrum, but one the Italians have been dealing with for years now. The frustration, there, is that the charity boats are operating outside democratic control and taking matters into their own hands: the coastguard estimates that a third of asylum seekers who land in Italy are landed by NGOs. And when the Italian government asked the NGO rescue boat operators to sign a code of conduct (including taking a policeman on board to ensure no laws are being broken), Save the Children agreed, but three of the eight refused – including Jugend Rettet. Since then, things have escalated. The Iuventa, which is run by Jugend Rettet, has been seized by Italian coastguards. The local prosecutor, Ambrogio Cartosio, says he has “evidence of encounters between traffickers, who escorted illegal immigrants to the Iuventa, and members of the boat’s crew.”

With the Aegean migrant route closed after the EU’s deal with Turkey, crossings to Italy are up by a third so far this year – as you might expect, the body count of those who died trying to make the crossing is up by a similar amount. The Italian public have had enough. The former Mayor of Lampedusa, who won a UNESCO prize for her support of migrants, has been booted out and replaced by someone who takes a harder line. But if the NGOs don’t recognise government authority – indeed, pride themselves in opposition to “state actors” – then what to do? The Italian government has started to give its answer.

Source: https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/08/italys-patience-with-the-migrant-charities-is-wearing-thin/

Libyan coastguard threatens Spanish NGO ships as tensions rise in Mediterranean

The Telegraph

By Raf Sanchez

16 August 2017

Libya’s coastguard threatened to target a Spanish humanitarian ship rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean this week as tensions continue to grow between NGOs and the Libyan government.

A ship run by the group Proactiva Open Arms was intercepted by a Libyan coastguard vessel on Tuesday and ordered to sail towards Tripoli or risk being fired upon.

“You have to sail now towards Tripoli port. You are under custody, sir. If you don’t follow the orders we will target you,” the Libyan captain warned the Spanish crew by radio.

“I have already warned you before, Libyan government has warned you before but you don’t listen. It’s your problem.”

The Spanish ship was eventually allowed to sail away into the Mediterranean but the confrontation is the most serious since Libya’s coastguard adopted a newly assertive policy several weeks ago.

Three major humanitarian groups - Save the Children, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and Germany's Sea Eye - have all halted their operations because of the Libyan threats and warned that more people will drown as a result.

“If humanitarian ships are pushed out of the Mediterranean, there will be fewer ships in the area to rescue people from drowning, said Annemarie Loof, MSF’s operational manager. “There will be more deaths at sea and more people trapped in Libya.”

Proactiva Open Arms, the Spanish group, said it was deciding whether to continue its operations after the run-in with the Libyan ship.

The group said that its boat was 27 miles off the Libyan coast when it was intercepted and therefore far outside of Libyan national waters, which only extend for 12 miles from the coast.

“It is abhorrent that any actors at sea would seek to attack an NGO vessel at work in International waters,” said Save the Children.

So far 2,408 people have drowned crossing the Mediterranean towards Europe this year, a similar number to the same period in 2016, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). 

The vast majority of the deaths have been on the so-called “central route” - the dangerous voyage from Libya towards Italy.

Just under 100,000 people have arrived in Italy so far this year, around the same number as the same period last year. But the number of new arrivals in July was significantly down - suggesting that interceptions by the Libyan coastguard were reducing the numbers.  

Both Libya and Italy have taken a more aggressive approach to NGOs this summer in the face of complicated domestic politics.

Italy’s government is under pressure to reduce the number of migrants arriving in the country and has authorised a naval mission to help the Libyan coastguard stop migrant boats.

Italy has also demanded that NGOs agree to a code of conduct, which several groups have refused to sign. Many Italians believe the NGO boats encourage migrants to make the journey towards Europe and act as a "pull factor". 

The Italian naval mission has also stirred anger in Libya, where many people are furious at ships from a former colonial power operating in Libyan waters.

Public pressure has spurred Libyan forces to become more assertive in confronting the NGOs, which they accuse of violating Libya’s sovereignty. 


Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/16/libyan-coast-guard-threatens-spanish-ngo-ships-tensions-rise/

Italy minister sees light at the end of the tunnel on migrant flows

Reuters

By Giulia Segreti

15 August 2017

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy’s interior minister said on Tuesday he saw light at the end of the tunnel for curbing migrant flows from Libya after a slowdown in arrivals across the Mediterranean in recent months.

But a United Nations investigator said that Italy’s recent effort to draw up a code regulating the operations of humanitarian ships rescuing migrants at sea would cause more deaths.

The subject of immigration is dominating Italy’s political agenda ahead of general elections due before May next year, with public opinion increasingly hostile to migrants. Almost 600,000 migrants have arrived in Italy over the past four years.

“We are still under the tunnel, it’s a long tunnel, but I start seeing the light at the end of it,” Interior Minister Marco Minniti told a news conference.

After a surge in migrant arrivals from Libya at the start of the year, the numbers have slowed. Data from the Interior Ministry on Tuesday showed that 97,293 people had reached Italy so far in 2017, down 4.15 percent from the same period in 2016.

Minniti said that these trends would continue in August but did not comment further.

Italy has approached the migrant problem with a dual track strategy, strengthening Libya’s efforts to fight smuggling and at the same time putting pressure on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in rescue operations.

“It was important to intervene on the other side of the Mediterranean and we have focused on Libya. It seemed difficult, but it now appears that something is moving,” he added.

In Libya, Italy has trained members of the coastguard and upgraded its fleet, in line with the EU’s investments to support search and rescue operations at sea as well as those along its borders.

Minniti said that attention would also be given to the conditions of migrants brought back from sea to Libya and that Italy would start distributing aid in the cities of Sabratha and Zowarah, two hubs for the smuggling of migrants.

At home, the Italian government has introduced a code of conduct for the operations NGOs, demanding that armed police travel on their boats to help root out people smugglers.

Five out of the of eight groups operating in the southern Mediterranean agreed to the terms so far. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has refused to sign so far.

Hours earlier, a member of the United Nations largest body of independent experts said Italy’s policy could restrict the NGOs’ life-saving work and result in more deaths.

"This code of conduct and the overall action plan suggest that Italy, the EU Commission and the EU Member states deem the risks and the reality of deaths at sea a price worth paying in order to deter migrants and refugees," Agnes Callamard said in a statement.

Minniti said he would meet his counterparts from Libya, Chad, Niger and Mali on Aug. 28 and that he would soon meet in Rome the mayors of the main Libyan cities involved.

"A democratic country (like Italy) does not chase migrants flows, but governs them... ungoverned flows threaten a country's democracy," Minniti said. "Italy is not retreating but remains firmly committed to rescues at sea."

Additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Rome, editing by Alister Doyle


Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-security-buckinghampalace-idUSKCN1B52K3 

Italy praises PC’s ban on migrant rescue charity vessels in Libyan waters

Libya Herald

13 August 2017

The Italian government has today praised the Presidency Council (PC)’s order for all foreign vessels to stay out of Libyan territorial waters from near to or within which charities have this year been picking up the majority of migrants.

Italian foreign minister Angelino Alfano echoed prime minister Paolo Gentiloni’s call for a halt to the migrant flows. Libya people-traffickers have so far this year sent more than 95,000 migrants to sea in overcrowded inflatable rafts or decrepit fishing boats. Italy wants migrants to be held and processed in camps in Libya, a scheme which the PC has thus far rejected.

“We need a significant, I repeat, a significant European economic investment in Libya and in Africa,” AFP reported Alfano as saying.  The foreign mnister also told La Stampa today that Libya was ready to work with the EU and invest in its coastguards. “This sends a signal that the balance is being restored in the Mediterranean” he said.

The Libyan closure of its territorial waters has caused most of the seven charities principally involved in migrant rescues, led by Medecins Sans Frontieres on Thursday, to announce that they were suspending their operations.

The PC has said that Libyan coastguard vessels will patrol “a rescue zone” and deal with migrants. It is unclear if this zone encompasses all or just part of Libya’s 12-mile limit. There has been a number of confrontations between charity rescue ships and well-armed and equipped vessels that appeared to belong to the Libyan Coastguard. In one incident  last year a rescue ship was driven off by gunfire, armed men boarded a crowded inflatable apparently to seize the outboard motor but the craft was punctured and keeled over drowning at least 20 migrants.

This January Italy began training a second draft of Libyan Coastguards. In Rome last month, Gentiloni told PC head Faiez Serraj that he was also prepared to up material support for the Coastguard.

He also said after their meeting that Serraj had agreed that Italian warships could operate against migrant smugglers inside Libyan waters.  This was later denied by Serraj and the idea widely attacked, not least in the east where armed forces commander-in-chief Khalifa Hafter warned that it would be a violation of Libyan sovereignty.

Source:  https://www.libyaherald.com/2017/08/13/italy-praises-pcs-ban-on-migrant-rescue-charity-vessels-in-libyan-waters/

More NGOs halt rescues off Libya

'This is what the EU wants', risk of higher death toll

ANSA

14 August 2017

(ANSA) - Rome, August 14 - After MSF suspended its rescue activities for migrant boats experiencing difficulty in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya, on Monday Sea Eye and Save the Children did as well due to deteriorating security conditions. The Libyan coastguard has repeatedly clashed with NGO vessels on the edge of Libyan waters, at times opening fire, and the NGOs say they cannot continue to ensure the effectiveness of the operations. In less than 24 hours, thus, three of the eight NGOs that over the past 20 months had not left international waters off Libya and had saved thousands of migrants have ceased to operate in the area, at least temporarily.   

The NGOs rescued 46,796 people in 2016, about 38% of the total that landed, and 12,646 in the first four months of 2017, equal to 35% of the total. Considering the fact that the Juventa shop of the Jugend Rettet NGO has been seized in Trapani and that the boats of Proactiva Open Arms, Seawatch and MOAS are at the moment in the Valletta port, the only NGO ship currently involved in migrant search and rescue operations off Libya is SOS Mediterranee's Aquarius.

The suspension of activities is due both to threats from the Libyan coastguard and Tripoli's announcement that it will create a broader search and rescue (SAR) operation in its territorial waters, entrance to which will be possible only after authorization from Libyan authorities. The NGOs have said that both Italy and the EU are also responsible, however, for this situation that will lead to more deaths in the Mediterranean.

Proactiva founder Oscar Campos said that "that is what the EU wants". The Aquarius is off the Tripoli coast and will spend the day near the near the C-Star, a boat of the anti-migrant Defend Europe. "In addition to saving lives, our priority will be to ensure the maximum security of our crew," the NGO has said. "So long as continues to be ensured, we will remain in the area, rescuing boats in danger and prevented the forced return to Libya of those rescued." In any case, "limiting access and the activities of the NGOs will, once again, lead to an increase in deaths and suffering in the Mediterranean".

Source: http://www.ansa.it/english/news/politics/2017/08/14/more-ngos-halt-rescues-off-libya_36827888-41de-42b9-b17a-bf223679c56c.html

Italy backs Libya as NGOs chased out of Mediterranean

EUobserver

By Andrew Rettman

14 August 2017

Italy has endorsed Libya’s decision to chase NGOs out of coastal waters in what one charity called “an unacceptable assault on people’s lives and dignity”.

Angelino Alfano, Italy’s foreign minister, told La Stampa, an Italian newspaper, on Sunday (13 August) that Libya’s actions meant that “balance is being restored in the Mediterranean”.

He said the Libyan government was “ready to put in place a search-and-rescue zone in its waters, work with Europe and invest in its coast guards”.

“We need a significant, I repeat a significant European economic investment in Libya and in Africa,” he added.

“Europe has to decide if the theme of migration flows is an absolute priority on the same scale as the economy. For us, it is,” he said.

Alfano’s statement came as most NGOs involved in migrant rescues in the region suspended their operations over the weekend due to threats from Libyan authorities.

It also comes after Italy struck a new accord with Libya to train and equip its coastguard.

Save the Children, a UK-based charity, and Sea Eye, a German NGO, said they would stop rescues on Sunday.

Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF), a Geneva-based charity made a similar announcement on Saturday, but said some of its doctors would still work on board a rescue vessel operated by SOS Mediterranee, a German NGO.

Proactiva, a Spanish charity, has also promised to keep up its work.

MSF said it had been “warned” by the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Rome “about security risks associated with threats publicly issued by the Libyan Coast Guard against humanitarian … vessels operating in international waters”.

The charity’s Brice de le Vingne said: “European states and Libyan authorities are jointly implementing a blockade on the ability of people to seek safety. This is an unacceptable assault on people’s lives and dignity.”

He urged “EU and Italian authorities to stop implementing deadly containment strategies that trap people in a country at war with no regard for their protection”.

Save the Children said the Libyan navy had claimed control over a zone up to 70 nautical miles off its shores.

Its operations director, Rob MacGillivray, said that “by entering that area, our operation may be in danger”.

He added that “life could be lost amid this confusion with less rescue capacity in the area”.

The charity also said that migrants who were returned to Libya by the Libyan navy risked horrors.

“Reports from inside Libya include incidents of people being beaten, whipped, and hung from trees. We have heard countless reports of women and children suffering persecution, beating and rape,” it said.

Sea Eye's founder, Michael Busch Heuer, said the Libyan authorities had issued an “an explicit threat against private NGOs” and that it would be “irresponsible toward our crew” to continue its work.

“We leave behind a deadly gap in the Mediterranean,” he added, with the German NGO alone having rescued some 12,000 people since April last year.

Ayoub Qassem, a spokesman for the Libyan coastguard, told the Reuters news agency on Sunday that NGOs could still operate in its zone but had to show “respect”.

"In general, we do not reject their presence, but we demand from them more cooperation with the state of Libya ... they should show more respect to Libyan sovereignty,” he said.

He said last Tuesday, after Libyan vessels fired warning shots against ProActiva’s boat 13 miles off Libya’s coast, that: “They don't have permission to work there.”

Tripoli has little control

The EU and UN-backed Libyan government, which is based in Tripoli, has little control over the majority of the country, which is run by rival armed groups, many of which make money from human smuggling.

Some 600,000 people have come from Libya to Italy since the start of 2014, prompting a surge in popularity for anti-immigrant parties in the EU state.

At least 13,000 people have died trying to make the crossing in the same time period.

The Italian interior ministry said there were 11,193 new arrivals in July, compared to 23,552 last July, indicating that its new deal with Libya to keep people from leaving had made a strong and immediate impact.


Source: https://euobserver.com/migration/138736

What is the current status of migrant rescues in the Mediterranean?

Deutsche Welle

By Wesley Dockery

14 August 2017

Thousands of migrants have been embarking on a perilous journey to the Mediterranean - their fate is determined by refugee rescue ships and government policy in Europe. Who are the major players involved?

What is the EU doing to tackle the influx of refugees?

The European Union Naval Force Mediterranean or Operation Sophia surveils smuggling and trafficking networks in the Mediterranean, searches suspicious vessels and apprehends suspected smugglers. In October 2016, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, commonly known as Frontex was formed. It coordinates responses between the various European coast guards, analyses risks and helps countries determine the best procedures to return migrants.

The Italian coast guard often plays a crucial role in saving migrants, because most of them on the Mediterranean are heading towards Italy. Between 2013 and 2014, the Italian government carried out the naval and air operation Operation Mare Nostrum to try and deal with migration to Europe. The Italian coast guard often carries out rescue missions to save migrants lost at sea.

Libya is the largest transit country for migrants , where many of them embark off the country's coastline for Europe, most often winding up in Italy. Libya accepted Italy's request in August to have a naval mission operate in Libya's coastal waters.

Which NGOs have been involved in migrant rescue operations?

Private NGOs have been operating in international waters, coordinating with the Italian coast guard, reacting to SOS calls, finding abandoned migrant boats and bringing the refugees to a safe harbor - often in Italy.

The rescue organizations involved include the Spanish organization Proactiva Open Arms, German organizations Sea-Eye and Jugend Rettet, Dutch charities Refugee Boat Foundation and Save the Children, Doctors without Borders (MSF), SOS Mediterranee, Migrant Offshore Aid station (MOAS) and the LifeBoat project's ship, Minden.

Meanwhile, NGOs involved in migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean have announced suspending their activities due to an announcement by the Libyan government on Sunday asserting its right over its search zone of 12 nautical miles, or 22.2. kilometers, along its coast.

What is the Libyan "search and rescue zone?"

Libya announced Sunday it would expand its maritime rescue zone in order to deal with the crisis. The Libyan government "is ready to put in place a search and rescue zone in its waters, work with Europe and invest in its coast guards," Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said.  "This sends a signal that the balance is being restored in the Mediterranean."

Doctors without Borders, Save the Children and Sea Eye have decided to suspend their rescue operations due to fears that the Libyan coastguard has become more aggressive in guarding its zone. When NGO vessels reach the border of Libyan waters, they often clash with the Libyan coastguard, which has even shot warning shots in the air to tell the NGO boats to stay away.

 "Under these circumstances, a continuation of our rescue work is not currently possible. It would be irresponsible towards our crews." Michael Buschheuer of the German NGO Sea Eye stated, saying the announcement was like to a threat to NGOs operating in the area.

However,  recently, Italian foreign minister Angelino Alfano and EU- refugee commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos have criticized a lack in political response, with Alfano saying the EU has failed to handle the migrant crisis. The two officials are demanding a better coordination and a joint effort in the fight against smuggling networks. NGOs, they say, should accept the code of conduct to join forces and help rescue migrants at sea.

What is the Italian code of conduct for migrant rescues?

The Italian government has in the past accused private NGOs of colluding with human smugglers. They claim that the smugglers know that NGOs will be right outside the 12-nautical-mile zone off the Libyan coast to rescue the migrants and bring them to a safe port in Europe. This is a concern for Italy, because many of the migrants will then land on Italian shores.

The Italian government then designed a code of conduct in August for the NGOs to combat the alleged collusion and NGOs have been divided on whether to sign onto the document or not. The document would demand that the rescue groups allow Italian police officers on board to monitor operations and rescue ships will have to turn on their tracking devices.

Who has signed the code of conduct so far?

Save the Children, MOAS and Sea-Eye have signed on while SOS Mediterranee, Doctors Without Borders, Sea-Watch and Jugend Rettet have opposed the document.

"In light of the more than 2,000 deaths at sea this year, what is need is not more rules, but greater rescue capacity," Germany's Sea Watch said in August.

The Save the Children  organization signed the document. "We would not have signed if even on single point would have comprised our effectiveness. This is not the case, not one single point of the code will hinder our activities," Valerio Neri, the director of the Italian wing of the organization said.

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Source:  http://www.dw.com/en/what-is-the-current-status-of-migrant-rescues-in-the-mediterranean/a-40087510