Heartily recommended is the latest edition of Iconoclasts, where Philippe Legrain, a free-market economist and writer puts one of the best expositions of the No Borders position we've heard in a long time. And that from someone who has worked for the World Bank!
In the programme he takes on Andrew Green (Mr. Migrationwatch - has anyone ever come across somebody else who is in or works for Migrationwatch?), Labour MP Anne Cryer and some ex-immigration officer called Tony Saint. The irony of the programme is that the only one of the three 'challengers' is the ex-immigration officer.
The highlight of the programme though is when Legrain tells Green what we all have always thought, that he thinks he's a racist! Green threatens to set his lawyer on him unless he withdraws the 'accusation'. Pity, for a second there we thought someone had finally shot his fox (surely he must be pro-hunting as well).
Beware the programme is only available to listen to on-line till Wednesday 16th September.
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Camp Besson, Agres, France.
Yesterday morning at 7am, 82 French police officers turned up at the migrants' camp sited in a small copse close to the A26 motorway at Angres, 30km south-west of Lille. The police arrested the 85 Vietnamese, who include 20 women, after first allowing them to collect a bag of personal belongings each. They then proceeded to cut down the trees and torch the camp. 52 of the migrants were taken to the detention centre at Coquelles near Calais and 28 detained at the National Police station in nearby Liévin.
An everyday occurrence across Nord-Pas-de-Calais you would think, except this camp has had strong local support. The camp itself had first sprung up in 2007 and started to receive support from local residents, a phenomenon that has occurred in small towns and villages across Northern France where these migrant camps have established themselves, often at the behest of the locals when they find homeless migrants in and around their communities.
In Angres locals formed a support network called Fraternité-migrants, which has helped them build structures, lend them equipment (some of which the police allowed Fraternité-migrants to retrieve yesterday before trashing the camp), welcoming them into the village for festivals including Tet, intervening when harassed and arrested by cops, etc. Basically Angres made the Vietnamese members of their community.
So when it was discovered that the Police had arrived to remove the camp, supporters rallied around. When the 28 migrants were released from Liévin police station they were there to pick then up and return them to Angres. At 6pm yesterday there was a town meeting at which it was decided to set up a camp outside the town hall to house the 28 released earlier and 7 others who were found wandering around after the camp's destruction. Tents were erected and food shared. Mayors and deputies from surrounding communities turned up and a big spontaneous community event took place.
The original camp had been attacked and 7 migrants hospitalised the previous Friday by what has been described as a large mob armed with guns and knives arrived in 3 or 4 cars and terrorised the migrants for a number of hours. The migrants claimed they were 'Mafia' and were probably either local racists or, more likely, people traffickers. So last night a number of volunteers stayed with the Vietnamese in the tents to help ward-off any further attacks by 'Mafia' of the police.
And today they get down to the task of finding out again what has happened to the Vietnamese members of their community that have been take to Coquelles and face deportation back to Viet Nam. Oh, and, as you may have guessed, they have decided to call the new camp Camp Besson!
UPDATE: Camp Besson has since been replaced by a new purpose built 'Jungle' in nearby woods and, of the migrants detained in Coquelles, 4 have been expelled back to Germany where they had previously been fingerprinted, 11 are due to be deported to Vietnam and one young woman is still detained awaiting an age determination. The rest of the 52 detained on the 8 September have been released.
An everyday occurrence across Nord-Pas-de-Calais you would think, except this camp has had strong local support. The camp itself had first sprung up in 2007 and started to receive support from local residents, a phenomenon that has occurred in small towns and villages across Northern France where these migrant camps have established themselves, often at the behest of the locals when they find homeless migrants in and around their communities.
In Angres locals formed a support network called Fraternité-migrants, which has helped them build structures, lend them equipment (some of which the police allowed Fraternité-migrants to retrieve yesterday before trashing the camp), welcoming them into the village for festivals including Tet, intervening when harassed and arrested by cops, etc. Basically Angres made the Vietnamese members of their community.
So when it was discovered that the Police had arrived to remove the camp, supporters rallied around. When the 28 migrants were released from Liévin police station they were there to pick then up and return them to Angres. At 6pm yesterday there was a town meeting at which it was decided to set up a camp outside the town hall to house the 28 released earlier and 7 others who were found wandering around after the camp's destruction. Tents were erected and food shared. Mayors and deputies from surrounding communities turned up and a big spontaneous community event took place.
The original camp had been attacked and 7 migrants hospitalised the previous Friday by what has been described as a large mob armed with guns and knives arrived in 3 or 4 cars and terrorised the migrants for a number of hours. The migrants claimed they were 'Mafia' and were probably either local racists or, more likely, people traffickers. So last night a number of volunteers stayed with the Vietnamese in the tents to help ward-off any further attacks by 'Mafia' of the police.
And today they get down to the task of finding out again what has happened to the Vietnamese members of their community that have been take to Coquelles and face deportation back to Viet Nam. Oh, and, as you may have guessed, they have decided to call the new camp Camp Besson!
UPDATE: Camp Besson has since been replaced by a new purpose built 'Jungle' in nearby woods and, of the migrants detained in Coquelles, 4 have been expelled back to Germany where they had previously been fingerprinted, 11 are due to be deported to Vietnam and one young woman is still detained awaiting an age determination. The rest of the 52 detained on the 8 September have been released.
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Visa Overstayers No Longer Charged A$250,000 Room & Board
The Australian Senate today repealed a law which led to some clandestine migrants charged up to A$250,000 (£130,250) for the cost of their detention. The repealed legislation applied to migrants who had been found to be in Australia without a valid visa, had been detained by the Immigration Department but eventually allowed to stay because their country of origin was deemed unsafe preventing their forced return or they married an Australian national.
The legislation only just scraped through against strong right-wing opposition, despite the fact that the scheme recouped only 3% of the charges levied and that it cost more to administer than it collected. The far-from-Liberal Party opposition has staunchly opposed other recent small-scale immigration reforms* which have included halting the detention and deportation of visa overstayers.
This of course has made little difference to the estimated 5,000 plus UK passport holders who overstay their visas each year (which equals 10% of all overstayers). Even though Brits have traditionally made up the largest legal immigrant group at 18% of permanent settler arrivals, have also been amongst the largest 'illegal' immigrant group and the largest group of 'illegal' workers, they were never the ones that were locked up if caught.
In other Australian news, the controversy over the SIEV 36 (suspected illegal entry vessel) incident earlier this year has hit the news again. The boat with 47 Afghan asylum seekers and 2 Indonesian crew aboard was stopped by an Australian Defence Force (ADF) vessel HMAS Albany on 15 April and taken under tow en-route to Christmas Island. The next day petrol vapours on the migrants' boat ignited, causing an explosion and fire which left 5 Afghan refugees dead and more than a dozen seriously injured.
The Afghans abandoned ship and, when they tries to climb on board ADF rigid-hulled inflatable boats, they were kicked and beaten and pushed back in the ocean. The ADF made contradictory claims about the incident; one that they were merely trying to rescue their own personnel who had been blown into the sea after the explosion or that their actions may have been caused by concerns that their craft was in danger of capsizing. They did however eventually rescue 45 Afghans from the water.
The reason the case is back in the news is because The Australian newspaper has allegedly seen an ADF video of the incident and has called upon the Northern Territory Coroner, who is investigating the incident, to release the footage to the public. The ADF have neither confirmed nor denied their personnel used violent tactics to prevented the migrants from boarding their inflatables.
* Some have also been reversed by the Labour government themselves under no pressure from the Liberal opposition.
The legislation only just scraped through against strong right-wing opposition, despite the fact that the scheme recouped only 3% of the charges levied and that it cost more to administer than it collected. The far-from-Liberal Party opposition has staunchly opposed other recent small-scale immigration reforms* which have included halting the detention and deportation of visa overstayers.
This of course has made little difference to the estimated 5,000 plus UK passport holders who overstay their visas each year (which equals 10% of all overstayers). Even though Brits have traditionally made up the largest legal immigrant group at 18% of permanent settler arrivals, have also been amongst the largest 'illegal' immigrant group and the largest group of 'illegal' workers, they were never the ones that were locked up if caught.
In other Australian news, the controversy over the SIEV 36 (suspected illegal entry vessel) incident earlier this year has hit the news again. The boat with 47 Afghan asylum seekers and 2 Indonesian crew aboard was stopped by an Australian Defence Force (ADF) vessel HMAS Albany on 15 April and taken under tow en-route to Christmas Island. The next day petrol vapours on the migrants' boat ignited, causing an explosion and fire which left 5 Afghan refugees dead and more than a dozen seriously injured.
The Afghans abandoned ship and, when they tries to climb on board ADF rigid-hulled inflatable boats, they were kicked and beaten and pushed back in the ocean. The ADF made contradictory claims about the incident; one that they were merely trying to rescue their own personnel who had been blown into the sea after the explosion or that their actions may have been caused by concerns that their craft was in danger of capsizing. They did however eventually rescue 45 Afghans from the water.
The reason the case is back in the news is because The Australian newspaper has allegedly seen an ADF video of the incident and has called upon the Northern Territory Coroner, who is investigating the incident, to release the footage to the public. The ADF have neither confirmed nor denied their personnel used violent tactics to prevented the migrants from boarding their inflatables.
* Some have also been reversed by the Labour government themselves under no pressure from the Liberal opposition.
Libya Starts Mass Forced Deportations
Libya, currently at the forefront of the EU's policy to stop unsanctioned migration into southern Europe, has begun mass forced deportations of Nigerians. In the past 5 days over 600 Nigerians have been flown back to Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
The deportees come mainly from the Zamwia-Zamzu prison in Tripoli and had been move to a camp at Sahba in the centre of the country prior to removal.. According to one migrant, "We were given the option to voluntarily buy our air tickets and return to Nigeria. But some of us who don't have money were given free tickets and deported to Nigeria. Each day since September 1, 2009 the Libyan authorities have been deporting 140 people from Sahba Camp alone."
"We were beaten like animals; treated like outcasts; and condemned to death even before any proper prosecution process could take place. More than 200 of us were packed inside a room like frozen fish," another said.
"We were lucky to be alive. We were beaten, treated like slaves, but we thank God that we were not summarily executed. Many Nigerians have been so killed and as we are talking many will still be killed." The claim that Libya has subjected 'illegal' migrants to summary execution has been denied by the Libyan authorities but rumours are rife amongst the migrants populations and, Libya has a long history of prison brutality and summary executions. Just a month ago at Benghazi prison, 6 Somali detainees were killed and more than 50 others injured in a mass stabbing incident when prison guards armed with batons and knives tried to prevent a mass escape.
The deportees come mainly from the Zamwia-Zamzu prison in Tripoli and had been move to a camp at Sahba in the centre of the country prior to removal.. According to one migrant, "We were given the option to voluntarily buy our air tickets and return to Nigeria. But some of us who don't have money were given free tickets and deported to Nigeria. Each day since September 1, 2009 the Libyan authorities have been deporting 140 people from Sahba Camp alone."
"We were beaten like animals; treated like outcasts; and condemned to death even before any proper prosecution process could take place. More than 200 of us were packed inside a room like frozen fish," another said.
"We were lucky to be alive. We were beaten, treated like slaves, but we thank God that we were not summarily executed. Many Nigerians have been so killed and as we are talking many will still be killed." The claim that Libya has subjected 'illegal' migrants to summary execution has been denied by the Libyan authorities but rumours are rife amongst the migrants populations and, Libya has a long history of prison brutality and summary executions. Just a month ago at Benghazi prison, 6 Somali detainees were killed and more than 50 others injured in a mass stabbing incident when prison guards armed with batons and knives tried to prevent a mass escape.
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Denmark, Migration & Islamophobia
Yesterday Denmark deported 22 Iraqis, a number of whom had been among the 19 asylum seekers arrested during the violent eviction of Brorson's Church in Copenhagen on 13 August. Eighty migrants, which included a number of families with children, had sought shelter in the church in May after having their asylum applications refused, some had already been deported by the time of the eviction and it is and it is understood that the remaining women and children were able to escape during the confusion on the raid.
The early morning eviction had apparently been negotiated with church authorities and the police had promised the raid would be peaceful. The police however trashed the church's interior and their violent tactics spilled out on to the street where over 300 protesters, many from the migrants support group Kirkeasyl, were beaten, peppersprayed and arrested during a sitdown blockade to try and prevent the bus containing the migrants leaving. Running battles between the police and protesters also continued for a number of hours afterwards. [Video]
Denmark has some of Europe's most repressive immigration laws, all introduced since the 2001 election of the right-wing coalition led by Anders Fogh Rasmussen's Liberal Party won control by pledging to reduce immigration (under the slogan "refugees must not become immigrants") and lower taxes. One member of the coalition is the ultranationalist Dansk Folkeparti (DPP), the country's third-largest party with 12% of the vote and 22 seats under Denmark's partial PR system. As a key member of the centre-right government coalition, it has drafted tough new asylum policies and cut aid to the developing world and in the 2007 elections it increased its share of the vote to 13.8% and now has 25 MPs.
New immigration laws introduced in 2002 severely restricted the right to asylum [1] and, amongst others issues, the right of entry of foreign spouses. As a result the number of migrants allowed into Denmark under family reunification procedures decreased 70% between 2001 and 2006 to 4,198. During the same period the number of asylum permits granted decreased [8,739] by 82.5% to 1,095 and the recognition rate fell from 53% to 18%. [2] Also introduced were reductions in public benefits [3] designed to create 'incentives' for immigrants to 'integrate' and join the Danish workforce were also introduced.[4] Settled migrants have to sign a contract which stipulates that they must do to get a job or learn the Danish language. If they fail to do so, they will have their benefit reduced.
As a consequence of the dramatic drop-off of the numbers of asylum seekers reaching Denmark, it has been able to close nearly 50 of its detention centres since 2002. Yet at the same time it introduced legislation such as the new Aliens Act which allow the indefinite detention of 'failed' asylum seekers [5]. As a result, in 2007 it was estimated that 40 % of all asylum-seekers were being held for more than three years in reception centres after receiving their final refusal of a residence permit. A visit by MEPs to the Sandholm detention centre in 2008 found detainees who had been there for more than eight years, unable to work or take part in life in the surrounding community. Such lengths of detention are having severe effects on the detainees mental health, particularly amongst the children.
It is not just the government's attitude to potential asylum seekers that is fermenting social division. The DPP is vehemently anti-Islamic and has stage a number of stunts that have added fire to an already bubbling cauldron of social resentment. In May 2008 the PP forced through legislation that saw the wearing of headscarves in Danish courts banned. In 2005 the Danish daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten published controversial cartoons of the prophet Mohammed and the following year members of the DPP youth wing followed suit in a widely distributed film of a summer camp Mohammed cartoon competition that also provoked worldwide protests.
This anti-Islamic and general anti-immigrant sentiment is now widespread in Danish society. It is common practice in Copenhagen of police searching people on grounds of race and, in February this year, a 65-year-old male immigrant was severely beaten by police during a car search. A number of children, all younger than thirteen, who tried to help the victim were also brutalised. This provoked seven consecutive nights of rioting in largely Muslim neighborhoods of Denmark's largest cities including Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense.
A number of major newspaper also exacerbated the situation by reprinting the notorious Mohammed cartoons. This then allowed them the luxury of blaming the riots on fundamentalist Muslims. The real reasons however were outlined by a group calling itself "Drengene fra indre Nørrebro" (the boys from inner Nørrebro), who sent a letter to a national newspaper saying that the riots had been about discrimination and harassment by police to immigrants on the urban estates.
[1] The so-called ‘de facto status’, which covers asylum seekers who are not protected by the Geneva Convention, was changed to ‘B-status’, severely restricting the chance of achieving protection status for people fleeing from war and refugees and having a severe subjective fear of returning to their country. [See: Amnesty International report]
[2] Applications fell from 12,512 in 2001 to 1,960 in 2006. In 2008, 1453 asylum applications were granted and the figures for new applications was 2410, with a recognition rate of 50%. [Official statistics]
[3] People who have not resided permanently in Denmark for at least seven of the last eight years and haven’t worked for at least 2 ½ years, are not entitled to claim regular social welfare benefits. Instead they are restricted to the so-called “starting allowance”.
[4] The measure however appear to be failing, with Denmark being ranked the second-worst performer out of 28 mostly EU countries for migrant eligibility to enter the labour market in the 2007 Migrant Integration Policy Index. On the same index it was ranked the fourth-worst for family reunion.
[5] Anti-terrorist legislation means that non-Danish citizens who are considered to be a threat towards the Danish national security can either be expelled or allowed leave to remain in Denmark on a so-called ‘tolerated stay’. There is no legal right to know on what grounds it has been decided that they can safely be removed to the country to which they are to be expelled or to challenge the decision.
The early morning eviction had apparently been negotiated with church authorities and the police had promised the raid would be peaceful. The police however trashed the church's interior and their violent tactics spilled out on to the street where over 300 protesters, many from the migrants support group Kirkeasyl, were beaten, peppersprayed and arrested during a sitdown blockade to try and prevent the bus containing the migrants leaving. Running battles between the police and protesters also continued for a number of hours afterwards. [Video]
Denmark has some of Europe's most repressive immigration laws, all introduced since the 2001 election of the right-wing coalition led by Anders Fogh Rasmussen's Liberal Party won control by pledging to reduce immigration (under the slogan "refugees must not become immigrants") and lower taxes. One member of the coalition is the ultranationalist Dansk Folkeparti (DPP), the country's third-largest party with 12% of the vote and 22 seats under Denmark's partial PR system. As a key member of the centre-right government coalition, it has drafted tough new asylum policies and cut aid to the developing world and in the 2007 elections it increased its share of the vote to 13.8% and now has 25 MPs.
New immigration laws introduced in 2002 severely restricted the right to asylum [1] and, amongst others issues, the right of entry of foreign spouses. As a result the number of migrants allowed into Denmark under family reunification procedures decreased 70% between 2001 and 2006 to 4,198. During the same period the number of asylum permits granted decreased [8,739] by 82.5% to 1,095 and the recognition rate fell from 53% to 18%. [2] Also introduced were reductions in public benefits [3] designed to create 'incentives' for immigrants to 'integrate' and join the Danish workforce were also introduced.[4] Settled migrants have to sign a contract which stipulates that they must do to get a job or learn the Danish language. If they fail to do so, they will have their benefit reduced.
As a consequence of the dramatic drop-off of the numbers of asylum seekers reaching Denmark, it has been able to close nearly 50 of its detention centres since 2002. Yet at the same time it introduced legislation such as the new Aliens Act which allow the indefinite detention of 'failed' asylum seekers [5]. As a result, in 2007 it was estimated that 40 % of all asylum-seekers were being held for more than three years in reception centres after receiving their final refusal of a residence permit. A visit by MEPs to the Sandholm detention centre in 2008 found detainees who had been there for more than eight years, unable to work or take part in life in the surrounding community. Such lengths of detention are having severe effects on the detainees mental health, particularly amongst the children.
It is not just the government's attitude to potential asylum seekers that is fermenting social division. The DPP is vehemently anti-Islamic and has stage a number of stunts that have added fire to an already bubbling cauldron of social resentment. In May 2008 the PP forced through legislation that saw the wearing of headscarves in Danish courts banned. In 2005 the Danish daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten published controversial cartoons of the prophet Mohammed and the following year members of the DPP youth wing followed suit in a widely distributed film of a summer camp Mohammed cartoon competition that also provoked worldwide protests.
This anti-Islamic and general anti-immigrant sentiment is now widespread in Danish society. It is common practice in Copenhagen of police searching people on grounds of race and, in February this year, a 65-year-old male immigrant was severely beaten by police during a car search. A number of children, all younger than thirteen, who tried to help the victim were also brutalised. This provoked seven consecutive nights of rioting in largely Muslim neighborhoods of Denmark's largest cities including Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense.
A number of major newspaper also exacerbated the situation by reprinting the notorious Mohammed cartoons. This then allowed them the luxury of blaming the riots on fundamentalist Muslims. The real reasons however were outlined by a group calling itself "Drengene fra indre Nørrebro" (the boys from inner Nørrebro), who sent a letter to a national newspaper saying that the riots had been about discrimination and harassment by police to immigrants on the urban estates.
[1] The so-called ‘de facto status’, which covers asylum seekers who are not protected by the Geneva Convention, was changed to ‘B-status’, severely restricting the chance of achieving protection status for people fleeing from war and refugees and having a severe subjective fear of returning to their country. [See: Amnesty International report]
[2] Applications fell from 12,512 in 2001 to 1,960 in 2006. In 2008, 1453 asylum applications were granted and the figures for new applications was 2410, with a recognition rate of 50%. [Official statistics]
[3] People who have not resided permanently in Denmark for at least seven of the last eight years and haven’t worked for at least 2 ½ years, are not entitled to claim regular social welfare benefits. Instead they are restricted to the so-called “starting allowance”.
[4] The measure however appear to be failing, with Denmark being ranked the second-worst performer out of 28 mostly EU countries for migrant eligibility to enter the labour market in the 2007 Migrant Integration Policy Index. On the same index it was ranked the fourth-worst for family reunion.
[5] Anti-terrorist legislation means that non-Danish citizens who are considered to be a threat towards the Danish national security can either be expelled or allowed leave to remain in Denmark on a so-called ‘tolerated stay’. There is no legal right to know on what grounds it has been decided that they can safely be removed to the country to which they are to be expelled or to challenge the decision.
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
Berlusconi - How Dare The EU Question My Right To Drown Foreigners
In his latest fit of pique, Il Duce Silvio Berlusconi said Italy was ready to block the European Council if members of the European Commission or their spokespersons continued to make statements on matters regarding member states. "My position will be clear and precise: we will not give our vote, thus blocking the function of European Council, unless it is clear that no commissioner or their spokesperson can speak in public about any issue''.
All this because Dennis Abbott, a spokesman for EC Vice President Jacques Barrot, said on Monday that letters had been sent to Italy and Malta asking for details on an incident regarding 75 African migrants intercepted at sea and sent back to Libya Sunday. If the man can't stand people asking questions of his racist government's treatment of migrants then maybe he should resign and join a monastery. Not that they would have him, given his current standing with the Catholic Church!
The Italian government have been on the offensive recently, together with Greece and, in a rare show of unity, Malta calling on the rest of the EU to bear their 'fair share' of the 'burden' of the costs of policing 'illegal' migration into Europe via the Mediterranean. In response, the EU has unveiled a 'Joint EU Resettlement Programme', which it claims is aimed at discouraging 'illegal' immigrants by increasing its granting of refuge to migrants from the world's conflict zones. The EU accepted just 6.7% of the 65,596 refugees granted asylum last year.
Yet this is not quiet what the Italians were hoping for when the idea was announced last month. They were clearly expecting the plans to include proposals for an internal EU 'relocation' policy that would amke othe EU states take their 'share' of the migrants entering Europe via the Mediterranean countries. At the time Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini appeared to be somewhat placated by the possibility of new 'burden-sharing' proposals. After claiming that the money involved to spread the impact was ''peanuts" and that it was a ''problem of public opinion'', not financial issues, that was behind the EU members' reluctance to help so far, he grudging claimed that Italy would seek ''mediation rather than clashes'', at the planned discussion of current EU immigration policy to be held during the Foreign Ministers meeting at the end of October. He spoilt it a bit by saying that "the veto bomb will not be dropped, unless it is necessary," i.e. unless Italy gets its way.
All this because Dennis Abbott, a spokesman for EC Vice President Jacques Barrot, said on Monday that letters had been sent to Italy and Malta asking for details on an incident regarding 75 African migrants intercepted at sea and sent back to Libya Sunday. If the man can't stand people asking questions of his racist government's treatment of migrants then maybe he should resign and join a monastery. Not that they would have him, given his current standing with the Catholic Church!
The Italian government have been on the offensive recently, together with Greece and, in a rare show of unity, Malta calling on the rest of the EU to bear their 'fair share' of the 'burden' of the costs of policing 'illegal' migration into Europe via the Mediterranean. In response, the EU has unveiled a 'Joint EU Resettlement Programme', which it claims is aimed at discouraging 'illegal' immigrants by increasing its granting of refuge to migrants from the world's conflict zones. The EU accepted just 6.7% of the 65,596 refugees granted asylum last year.
Yet this is not quiet what the Italians were hoping for when the idea was announced last month. They were clearly expecting the plans to include proposals for an internal EU 'relocation' policy that would amke othe EU states take their 'share' of the migrants entering Europe via the Mediterranean countries. At the time Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini appeared to be somewhat placated by the possibility of new 'burden-sharing' proposals. After claiming that the money involved to spread the impact was ''peanuts" and that it was a ''problem of public opinion'', not financial issues, that was behind the EU members' reluctance to help so far, he grudging claimed that Italy would seek ''mediation rather than clashes'', at the planned discussion of current EU immigration policy to be held during the Foreign Ministers meeting at the end of October. He spoilt it a bit by saying that "the veto bomb will not be dropped, unless it is necessary," i.e. unless Italy gets its way.
Why The Crisis In Somalia Has A Direct Effect On Migration Numbers
In recent weeks there has been a large increase in the numbers of Somali migrants trying to make the crossing from the northern African coast to Europe despite an overall decrease in crossing via this route. Even more appear to be crossing from the Horn of Africa to Yemen. The number of Somali refugees that have arrived on the Yemeni coasts during August is officially put at 2675, which includes more that 1,000 women and 100 children.
Just last weekend, reports from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) indicate that 16 Somalis drowned after smugglers ferrying them to Yemen forced them overboard into the Gulf of Aden, 64 others from the 2 boats managed to successfully swim to shore.
On Monday (31 August) 75 mainly Somali migrants, included 15 women and three minors, in an overcrowded inflatable were intercepted by the Italian Navy 24 nautical miles south of the island of Sicily. In a conversation with a BBC reporter in Italy, who they managed to contact by satellite phone, they said: "We told the Italian military that we wanted to request asylum and asked them not to hand us over to the Libyans because we were afraid of going to jail, but they wouldn't listen to us,.'
Under Italian law, have been permitted to enter the country and make asylum applications but, as part of Italy's new 'push-back' policy all, except 1 injured man, were taken all the way back to Libya on an Italian naval vessel, after first having refused to board a Libyan naval vessel which had come to take them part of the way back to Tripoli. The day after (Tuesday) another group of 84 Somali migrants were rescued off Malta by a Maltese army patrol boat.
All this comes after a statement by Oxfam condemning the "total failure of the international community to deal effectively with the Somalia crisis and help end the war is resulting in a spiral of human suffering and exodus to neighbouring countries." Poor sanitation and little access to basic services such as water and medicine due to an ineffective response are creating a public health emergency in camps. With Somalis fleeing "one of the world’s most brutal conflicts and a desperate drought, only to end up in unimaginable conditions in camps that are barely fit for humans" is it any wonder than some take the desperate choice of trying to flee to countries that they no doubt realise don't want them.
So far this year, some 36,000 Africans have reached Yemen by crossing by sea from northern Somalia, and the UNHCR is expecting a sharp increase in the number of Somalis seeking refuge in Yemen in the coming weeks due to a worsening security situation in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. In the rest of Somalia, thousands of internally displaced people are facing a food crisis as food shipments have been disrupted the civil war.
And to if that wasn't bad enough, Yemen faces its own humanitarian crisis, with aid officials warning of the threats of dehydration, malaria and diarrhoea in northern Yemen’s refugee camps. These camps house thousands of displaced highlanders escaping the fighting between government forces and Houthi guerrillas that has forced more than 35,000 tribespeople from their homes across the rugged, mountainous terrain around Sa’ada city in the past two weeks.
Just last weekend, reports from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) indicate that 16 Somalis drowned after smugglers ferrying them to Yemen forced them overboard into the Gulf of Aden, 64 others from the 2 boats managed to successfully swim to shore.
On Monday (31 August) 75 mainly Somali migrants, included 15 women and three minors, in an overcrowded inflatable were intercepted by the Italian Navy 24 nautical miles south of the island of Sicily. In a conversation with a BBC reporter in Italy, who they managed to contact by satellite phone, they said: "We told the Italian military that we wanted to request asylum and asked them not to hand us over to the Libyans because we were afraid of going to jail, but they wouldn't listen to us,.'
Under Italian law, have been permitted to enter the country and make asylum applications but, as part of Italy's new 'push-back' policy all, except 1 injured man, were taken all the way back to Libya on an Italian naval vessel, after first having refused to board a Libyan naval vessel which had come to take them part of the way back to Tripoli. The day after (Tuesday) another group of 84 Somali migrants were rescued off Malta by a Maltese army patrol boat.
All this comes after a statement by Oxfam condemning the "total failure of the international community to deal effectively with the Somalia crisis and help end the war is resulting in a spiral of human suffering and exodus to neighbouring countries." Poor sanitation and little access to basic services such as water and medicine due to an ineffective response are creating a public health emergency in camps. With Somalis fleeing "one of the world’s most brutal conflicts and a desperate drought, only to end up in unimaginable conditions in camps that are barely fit for humans" is it any wonder than some take the desperate choice of trying to flee to countries that they no doubt realise don't want them.
So far this year, some 36,000 Africans have reached Yemen by crossing by sea from northern Somalia, and the UNHCR is expecting a sharp increase in the number of Somalis seeking refuge in Yemen in the coming weeks due to a worsening security situation in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. In the rest of Somalia, thousands of internally displaced people are facing a food crisis as food shipments have been disrupted the civil war.
And to if that wasn't bad enough, Yemen faces its own humanitarian crisis, with aid officials warning of the threats of dehydration, malaria and diarrhoea in northern Yemen’s refugee camps. These camps house thousands of displaced highlanders escaping the fighting between government forces and Houthi guerrillas that has forced more than 35,000 tribespeople from their homes across the rugged, mountainous terrain around Sa’ada city in the past two weeks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)