italy moves to end migrant crisis with naval mission
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

in dramatic steps aimed at ending the migrant crisis

Italy moves to end migrant crisis with naval mission

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Italy moves to end migrant crisis with naval mission

Italy moves to end migrant crisis with naval mission and NGO crackdown
Rome - Arab Today

Italy on Wednesday dispatched a navy patrol boat to Libya and seized an NGO rescue ship in dramatic steps aimed at ending the migrant crisis that has engulfed Europe in recent years.

The twin moves came as new figures revealed a surprise drop in July in the number of mainly African asylum seekers and economic migrants arriving at the country's southern ports, suggesting efforts to close the Libya-Italy route into Europe could finally be bearing fruit.

The Italian parliament gave the go-ahead for a naval mission in support of the Libyan coastguard's fight against the people traffickers behind the surge in migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean.

As part of the mission, approved by the Libyan authorities, the navy patrol boat Comandante Borsini entered the North African state's territorial waters on Wednesday afternoon, en route for the capital Tripoli, the navy said.

On board was a small advance team charged with coordinating planned joint actions with the Libyan coastguard.

Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti said Italy was providing technical support, not seeking to impose a "hostile" naval blockade designed to prevent the departure of migrant boats.

Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said last week that the naval mission was being organised following a request from Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of conflict-torn Libya's UN-backed unity government.

Human rights warning

The number of migrant arrivals in Italy in July was down dramatically on the same month last year, suggesting efforts to train up and better equip the North African country's coastguard could already be having an impact.

The Interior Ministry said 11,193 new arrivals had been registered in July, compared with 23,552 in July 2016.

Arrivals for the first seven months of this year were 95,214, up 0.78 percent on the same period last year.

The new naval mission is expected to involve a logistics ship and maintenance support for the Libyans, as well as the Comandante Borsini.

Rome had initially hoped to send six ships into Libyan waters but had to downsize the mission after objections from the fledgling administration in Tripoli.

Some 600,000 mostly African migrants have arrived in Italy from Libya since the start of 2014, putting the country's reception facilities under strain and the centre-left government under pressure with elections looming next year.

Officials believe that sending boats back to Libyan ports will have a powerful deterrent effect on would-be migrants considering paying traffickers for passage to Europe.

But that approach has been criticised by international rights groups who say people returned to troubled Libya face detention in squalid camps and abuse at the hands of traffickers.

"After years of saving lives at sea, Italy is preparing to help Libyan forces who are known to detain people in conditions that expose them to a real risk of torture, sexual violence, and forced labour," said Human Rights Watch's Judith Sunderland.

 'Science fiction'

As parliament voted, Italian police on the island of Lampedusa "preventatively" impounded the Iuventa, a boat operated by German NGO Jugend Rettet, on the orders of a prosecutor based in Trapani, Sicily.

Prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio said "people on the Iuventa are believed to have taken on board, on at least two separate occasions, migrants escorted by Libyan traffickers whose lives were not in danger".

He said the probe, which began in 2016, had uncovered other elements "which lead us to believe that the practice is frequent", but the idea there was a "coordinated plan" between the Iuventus and traffickers was "pure science fiction".

Cartosio said he thought those involved had been driven purely by "humanitarian motives. There is nothing to suggest the aim is financial gain".

Investigators have yet to single out suspects, saying that at the moment the probe is into "persons unknown".

The move to impound the Iuventa came as Italy began enforcing a controversial code of conduct for charity boats rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean.

Jugend Rettet was among six of nine NGOs operating search-and-rescue activities in waters off Libya to reject the new rules, but Cartosio said there was no link between the investigation and the refusal to sign the code.

Italian authorities say the rules are necessary to ensure the boats are not effectively encouraging migrants to embark on the perilous crossing.

The NGOs have particularly objected to a requirement to allow an Italia police official to travel on each boat and a ban on moving rescued migrants from one aid vessel to another while still at sea, which they say could result in avoidable deaths.

Source: AFP

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

italy moves to end migrant crisis with naval mission italy moves to end migrant crisis with naval mission

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

italy moves to end migrant crisis with naval mission italy moves to end migrant crisis with naval mission

 



GMT 10:10 2017 Thursday ,09 February

3 Important Elements You Have to Consider

GMT 04:03 2017 Monday ,24 April

Bella Hadid ‘dying’ to visit Palestine

GMT 19:25 2016 Wednesday ,25 May

The Brooklyn Desk by Oeuf NYC

GMT 07:49 2018 Friday ,05 January

2 Russian servicemen killed

GMT 07:58 2018 Monday ,01 January

Italy orders N. Korea's envoy to leave

GMT 08:45 2017 Wednesday ,20 December

US military imagines war without GPS

GMT 17:26 2017 Sunday ,17 December

Putin thanks Trump for help in foiling attack plot

GMT 22:19 2017 Monday ,16 October

Cairo-hosted Fatwa conf. new contribution

GMT 02:27 2016 Friday ,10 June

Video hints Japan abetting illegal ivory trade

GMT 07:04 2017 Wednesday ,19 April

1,883 Bahrainis found jobs in March

GMT 14:24 2016 Tuesday ,22 November

Citi and JPMorgan top list of ‘globally banks’

GMT 21:43 2017 Friday ,01 September

People question Nazaruddin`s repatriation expenses

GMT 09:41 2017 Wednesday ,19 April

OIC concerned over violence in Mali

GMT 01:30 2017 Friday ,27 October

May22/Jun21

GMT 05:38 2016 Friday ,30 December

Dubai Airports divert 13 flights due to heavy fog

GMT 11:38 2017 Saturday ,14 January

Mexico names new ambassador to US

GMT 12:03 2017 Wednesday ,22 March

Kuwait to mark World Water Day

GMT 15:00 2017 Wednesday ,27 September

HM King receives invitation from Egyptian President

GMT 02:45 2017 Tuesday ,05 December

President Bashir arrives in Chad

GMT 02:45 2017 Wednesday ,16 August

Turkmen President Visits Pakistan
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday