Life-savers MOAS vow to continue mission at sea, three years on

Malta Today

By Matthew Vella

22 August 2017

On the third anniversary since its foundation, MOAS renews its commitment to its humanitarian mission in the Mediterranean Sea

Three years have passed since the 30 August 2014, when the brainchild of an Italo-American philanthropist couple was pioneered right here from Malta: the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) went on to effect its first rescue of a group of migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean.

The first private search-and-rescue initiative at sea, MOAS was founded with the aim to mitigate the loss of life at sea, and to draw the attention of European civil society to the humanitarian crisis that has been consuming the Mediterranean.

It became a model for many other organisations and private citizens, driven by its core belief that “no one deserves to die at sea”. In three short years MOAS rescued over 40,000 people in the Aegean and Central Mediterranean Seas.

It spawned a reason for so many other NGOs and private organisations to launch their own rescue missions, but now a number of these have docked in Malta under threat of Libyan retribution as a national coast guard took control of the waters right beyond its territorial control.

MOAS was the first search and rescue organisation to sign a ‘code of conduct’ proposed by the Italian government on 31 July.

“MOAS signed this document in solidarity with the Italian government and its people, the only ones in Europe who are committed every day to allow organizations like ours to fulfil our humanitarian mission,” founder Christopher Catrambone said on the day MOAS signed the code.

The need to be present at sea in order to help migrants and asylum seekers in the Mediterranean – which continues to be the world’s most dangerous border – has also prompted MOAS’ decision not to suspend its operations, but rather to carry on as it has always done in these three years.

“The Mediterranean has always been an unpredictable and dangerous environment, and the climate has certainly not changed now,” MOAS co-founder and director, Regina Catrambone, said.

“This is why MOAS has always taken the necessary precautions and employed professionals and experts in the field of search and rescue; And this is why we cannot afford to stop our operations, now more than ever; while we discuss what to do to block the flows or avoid landings, there are those who continue to risk their life at sea.”

In recent days MOAS continued to conduct several rescues, aiding a rubber dinghy carrying 111 people on 15 August, and two more inflatable migrant vessels for a total of 235 people on 17 August.

These last two rescue operations were conducted under the coordination of both MRCC Rome and Tripoli.

MOAS is aware that maritime search and rescue operations are not the solution to the current mass migratory phenomenon.

However, the organisation is determined to do its best to continue its humanitarian efforts as long as there are people so desperate so as to continue to risk their lives on these so-called “death trips”.

MOAS continues to appeal to European authorities for the creation of humanitarian corridors as a safe and legal alternative for those who are most vulnerable and in search of international asylum.


Source:  http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/79930/lifesavers_moas_vow_to_continue_mission_at_sea_three_years_on

Egyptian authorities foil attempt by 47 people to migrate to Europe

Ahram Online

19 August 2017

Egyptian authorities in the Delta governorate of Kafr El-Sheikh foiled on Saturday an attempt by 47 people to illegally migrate to Europe via the Mediterranean, state-run news agency MENA reported.

Police have arrested two suspected human traffickers believed to have organised the migration attempt.

The traffickers reportedly collected money from each of the migrants, both foreign and Egyptian, before they were to board a fishing boat for Europe.

The would-be migrants comprised 21 foreigners and 26 Egyptians.

In November, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ratified a law aimed at curbing irregular migration and cracking down on human trafficking along the country's northern Mediterranean coast, where thousands of migrants embark on dangerous boat journeys to Europe.

While the legislation does not punish the migrants themselves, it imposes jail terms on those convicted of human trafficking or acting as brokers or facilitators.

In September 2016, a boat carrying up to 450 people capsized off Egypt's northern coast. At least 202 bodies were recovered from the sea and 169 people were rescued.

In March, an Egyptian court handed jail terms to 56 people involved in the disaster.

In June 2016, around 320 migrants drowned off the Greek island of Crete after setting sail from Egypt.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 5,000 migrants are thought to have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea in 2016, a record figure the organisation described as "a devastating milestone."

In recent years, thousands of migrants and refugees from a number of countries have attempted to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, with an increasing number departing via smuggling boats from Egypt's northern coast.


Source:  http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/275640/Egypt/Politics-/Egyptian-authorities-foil-attempt-by--people-to-mi.aspx

German Foreign Ministry urges Libya to soften grip on NGOs work

Libyan Express

21 August 2017

German Foreign Ministry has urged the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) to allow the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to work off its territorial waters in order to be able to rescue illegal migrants in the Mediterranean.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement cited by Deutsche Welle that here are no reasons to limit and ban the work as well as the search and rescue operations of the NGOs in the international waters off Libyan coast.

“We cannot understand the logic behind Libya’s aim to create a search and rescue zone.” The Foreign Ministry indicated, adding that the protection level of illegal immigrants should not be decreased.

Libya announced the creation of a search and rescue zone banning NGOs from operating in it on accusations that they are cooperating with human traffickers.


Source:  http://www.libyanexpress.com/german-foreign-ministry-urges-libya-to-soften-grip-on-ngos-work/

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/