2009-04-01 Italia: Välimeren vaarat ja Lampedusan liikenne (yhdistetty)

[Skeptikko]

Eurooppaa voi odottaa entistä suurempi pakolaiskriisi – Diplomaatti: Euroopan raja kulkee käytännössä Saharan eteläpuolella
http://www.hs.fi/ulkomaat/art-2000005106084.html

Euroopan turvallisuus riippuu Sahelin turvallisuudesta, sanoo Suomessa vieraillut EU:n erityisedustaja Ángel Losada.
...
Sahel on kuiva ja kuuma Afrikan poikki kulkeva vyöhyke Saharan eteläpuolella. Sitä koettelevat väkivaltaiset ääriliikkeet, työttömyys, ilmastonmuutoksen ongelmat ja järjestäytynyt rikollisuus.
...
"Libyan kriisin myötä sen Sahelin välillä ei enää lähes ole rajaa. Sahelista on käytännössä tullut Euroopan etummainen raja", Losada sano.
...
Tulevaisuudessa Sahelin merkitystä korostaa alueen valtava väestönkasvu. Seuraukset näkyvät Euroopassa siirtolaisuutena ja pahimmillaan väkivaltaisen jihadismin leviämisenä, hän sanoo.
...
Sen jälkeen kun Niger teki ihmissalakuljetuksesta ja laittoman siirtolaisuuden tukemisesta rangaistavaa, siirtolaisuus kaupungin kautta on Losadan mukaan vähentynyt 80 prosenttia.

Tämänkaltaisia toimia EU haluaa tukea.

Arvostelijat ovat varoittaneet, että salakuljettajien jahtaaminen tekee matkanteosta kalliimpaa ja lisää riskejä, mutta ei auta ratkomaan lähdön taustalla olevia syitä. Ilman laillisia kanavia laiton yrittäminen jatkuu.
...
"Tilanne ei ole vielä varma, eikä siirtolaisuutta voi pysäyttää kokonaan. Me emme voi rakentaa muureja", hän sanoo.

[MustaLeski]

EU's Frontex: Volunteer Rescue Ships Encourage Mediterranean Migrant Traffickers

The head of EU border agency Frontex on Monday criticised charities that rescue migrants off Libya, arguing that they encourage the traffickers who profit from the dangerous Mediterranean crossings.

Such rescue operations "should be reevaluated", Fabrice Leggeri told Germany's Die Welt daily, also accusing the groups of not effectively cooperating with security agencies against human traffickers.

Leggeri said 40 percent of recent rescue operations at sea off the North African country "were carried out by non-government organisations".

He said that under maritime law everyone at sea has a duty to rescue vessels and people in distress.

"But we must avoid supporting the business of criminal networks and traffickers in Libya through European vessels picking up migrants ever closer to the Libyan coast," said the director of Warsaw-based Frontex.

"This leads traffickers to force even more migrants onto unseaworthy boats with insufficient water and fuel than in previous years."

Frontex operates on the EU's external borders, off Italy and the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, but not off the coast of Libya, which has been wracked by chaos since the 2011 overthrow of Moamer Kadhafi.

The Frontex boss also charged that some NGOs cooperate poorly with EU security agencies, which "makes it more difficult ... to gain information on trafficking networks through interviews with migrants and to open police investigations".

Frontex had criticised NGOs in a report in December, charging they were picking up migrants at sea "like taxis".

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) at the time labelled the charges "extremely serious and damaging" and said its humanitarian action was not "the cause but a response" to the crisis.

Frontex said in January that migrant arrivals by sea last year had plunged by almost two-thirds to 364,000 compared with 2015, mainly due to an EU border deal with Turkey that sharply reduced landings in Greece.

But the agency said Italy was the exception with a record 181,000 arrivals, mostly from Africa via the Mediterranean, a 20 percent rise from 2015.

Leggeri predicted in the interview that, because of the Libya-Italy route, "one should expect that more will come in 2017 than in 2016".

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/02/27/eus-frontex-volunteer-rescue-ships-encourage-mediterranean-traffickers/

Spain coast guard rescues 257 migrants at sea at weekend

The Spanish coast guard rescued 257 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe from Morocco in inflatable dinghies in an "intense weekend," they said Monday.

Sunday evening was particularly difficult with five boats carrying 210 people from sub-Saharan Africa rescued, while the remaining 47 were recovered from their dinghies on Saturday afternoon, a spokeswoman for the coast guard told AFP.

They were all taken to various ports in southern Spain such as Almeria and Motril, where they were attended to by the Red Cross.

Some were suffering from hypothermia but none were in any serious condition, the spokeswoman said.

The coast guard also said they had pulled a body from the sea not far from the small stretch of water between Gibraltar and Morocco, but they were not able to say whether it was that of a migrant.

According to the International Organization for Migration, around 1,000 migrants arrived in Spain by sea between January 1 and February 22, and 38 did not make it, dying on the way.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/spain-coast-guard-rescues-257-migrants-at-sea-at-weekend/article/486752

[Skeptikko]

Eurooppaa voi odottaa entistä suurempi pakolaiskriisi – Diplomaatti: Euroopan raja kulkee käytännössä Saharan eteläpuolella
http://www.hs.fi/ulkomaat/art-2000005106084.html

Tässä samalta samalta diplomaatilta hieman vanhempi juttu tästä aiheesta:

EU working with African states to tackle migration – EU Special Representative to the Sahel
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2016-11-27/local-news/EU-working-with-African-states-to-tackle-migration-EU-Special-Representative-to-the-Sahel-6736167154

[Peltipaita]

Euroopan raja kulkee käytännössä Saharan eteläpuolella

Raja on käsitteenä sellainen että siitä ei mennä yli ilman lupaa. Euroopalla ei ole rajaa edes siellä Saharan eteläpuolella.

[Pieni Maailma]

Helsingin Sanomien artikkeli:

Suomalainen vartiolaiva Välimerelle

Vartiolaiva Merikarhu lähtee 4. päivä maaliskuuta uudelleen Välimerelle.
Aluksen tehtävänä on valvoa EU:n ulkorajaa Egeanmerellä niin sanotussa Poseidon-operaatiossa.
Se oli vastaavanlaisessa tehtävässä jo vuosi sitten.

Poikkeuksellista Merikarhun matkassa on se, että aluksen miehistö on monikansallinen.
Ensimmäistä kertaa Rajavartiolaitoksen historiassa myös vartiolaivan päällystössä on ulkomaalaisia.
----
Kaukanen korosti, että Suomen osuus Frontexin operaatioissa on maan kokoon nähden merkittävä.
Taustalla on myös ajatus siitä, että osallistumalla aktiivisesti Frontexin operaatioihin Suomi takaa omaa selustaansa.

"Olemme halunneet olla aktiivisia myös siksi, että jos joudumme omilla ulkorajoillamme vaikeisiin tilanteisiin,
niin uskoakseni halu auttaa myös Suomea on vahva", Kaukanen sanoi.
----
Merikarhu toimii aluksi puoli vuotta Peloponnesoksen niemimaan länsipuolisella ja Kreetan pohjoispuolisella merialueella.
Sen jälkeen on tarkoitus päättää, jääkö alus Egeanmerelle pidemmäksi aikaa.

Merikarhun tehtävänä on ottaa kiinni laittomasti rajan ylittäjiä ja laittoman maahantulon järjestäjiä sekä osallistua meripelastustoimintaan.

Kenraali Kaukanen viittaa tummennetussa kohdassa todennäköisesti siihen, että Suomi saisi muista EU-maista rajaviranomaisia tuekseen
jos Venäjä päättäisi päästää suuria määriä siirtolaisia itärajaa kohti. Tämä vaihtoehto huomioitiin syksyn 2015 aikana ihan valtion virallisissa asiakirjoissa.
Länsirajan ylittäneet eivät aiheuttaneet vastaavaa kirjausta.

Kaikissa sanan "auttaa" tavanomaisissa merkityksissä sillä, kuinka paljon eurooppalaisia rajamiehiä jossain Nuijamaalla pyörii, ei ole mitään merkitystä.
Tähän astisten näyttöjen perusteella lopputulos on nimittäin sama: tuhansia hyödyttömiä elättejä Suomeen, joiden poistaminen on äärimmäisen haastavaa.

Toinen tummennettu kohta jatkuu oikeasti: "... toimia meritaksipalveluna ja roudata mahdollisimman monta geelitukkaa maidon, hunajan ja vapaamielisten naisten paratiisiin".

[MustaLeski]

Women and child migrants raped, beaten and starved in Libyan 'hellholes' says Unicef report

Women and children making the dangerous journey to Europe to flee poverty and conflicts in Africa are being beaten, raped and starved in "living hellholes" in Libya, the United Nations children's agency (Unicef) said on Tuesday.

The Mediterranean Sea between Libya and Italy has become the main crossing point for asylum seekers and economic migrants seeking a better life in Europe, after a clampdown on sea crossings from Turkey.

There were a quarter of a million migrants in Libya as of last September, most of whom languish in unsanitary, disease-ridden detention centres which Unicef described in its report as "no more than forced labour camps ... and makeshift prisons".

Armed groups have taken effective control of official detention centres for migrants amid the political chaos that now reigns in Libya and they also run their own centres, competing and cooperating with criminal gangs and smugglers, according to the United Nations.

"For the thousands of migrant women and children incarcerated, (the centres) were living hellholes where people were held for months," the Unicef report said on Tuesday.

In interviews with more than 100 women and children, nearly half said they had been raped or abused several times during their journey, it said. Most of the children said they were beaten by adults along the way, with girls suffering more abuse than boys.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/28/women-child-migrants-raped-beaten-detained-libyan-hellholes/

[MustaLeski]

Syrian refugees selling organs for the chance to reach Europe

The illegal trade of human organs in the Middle East has surged recently as Syrian refugees seek money to afford smugglers' fees for a Mediterranean Sea crossing to Europe.

One young Syrian man, who gave his name as Mayar, fled his war-torn Syrian village for Cairo, hoping to be able to earn a living and support his family in that city. But that was unsuccessful.

"By God, I don't know how much money I can make from my kidney, but I have no other solution," A refugee given the pseudonym "Mayar" said to Vocativ in a recent interview. "Life in Egypt is expensive."

Mayar said that last month he posted an ad on a Facebook group called "Sell Kidney Online," describing himself as a "young Syrian man living in Egypt...O positive blood type... interested in donating my kidney in exchange for a monetary sum so that I may be able to survive my circumstances. Please reply as soon as possible."

A price list on the social media page shows the going rates from kidneys around the world -- From $650 in Kenya to as much as $300,000 in South Africa and Europe. It is often enough for refugees to pay the approximately $1,000 per person fee smugglers typically charge for a one-way ride on an often unseaworthy boat across the Mediterranean.

Experts say that both Egypt and Turkey have become hot spots for organ trafficking due to the large amount of refugees and migrants. And most of the money is going towards not only criminal networks, but terrorist organizations as well.

Lisää linkistä: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/02/28/syrian-refugees-selling-organs-for-chance-to-reach-europe.html

[Alaric]

Yleiseurooppalainen meritaksipalvelu on toiminut eilen erityisen tehokkaasti: lähes tuhat tyytyväistä asiakasta sai Libyan rannikolta kyydin Eurooppaan!

Jutussa on toki muistettu ainakin kerran mainita siirtolaiset.

http://yle.fi/uutiset/3-9489759 (3.3.2017)

Italian rannikkovartiosto pelasti lähes tuhat Eurooppaan pyrkinyttä

Libyasta Eurooppaan Välimeren kautta pyrkivien määrä jatkaa kasvuaan.

Italian rannikkovartiosto ilmoittaa jälleen pelastaneensa lähes tuhat ihmistä Libyan rannikon vesiltä.

Noin 970 ihmistä pyrki torstaina Eurooppaan neljällä kumiveneellä, yhdellä puupaatilla ja yhdellä hieman isommalla veneellä.

Italian rannikkovartioston lisäksi pelastusoperaatiossa oli mukana Euroopan raja- ja merivartioviraston Frontexin alaisuudessa norjalainen alus sekä kaksi muuta alusta. Mukana operaatiossa olivat lisäksi Välimerellä toimiva pelastusjärjestö SOS Mediterranee, Lääkärit ilman rajoja sekä espanjalainen avustusjärjestö.

Yli 13 400 ihmistä on saapunut Italian rannikolle pelkästään tämän vuoden aikana. Määrä on kasvanut 50-70 prosentilla verrattuna kahden edellisvuoden vastaavaan ajankohtaan. YK:n mukaan yli 440 Libyasta meriteitse lähtenyttä ihmistä on kuollut tai kadonnut tammikuun ja helmikuun aikana.

Turvapaikanhakijoiden ja siirtolaisten kiihtyvän virran on arvioitu johtuvan siitä, että EU:n pelätään sulkevan Välimeren reitin.

Kansainvälisen siirtolaisuusjärjestön IOM:n mukaan myös ongelmat Libyassa kiihdyttävät pakolaisten tuloa.

– Tulijoiden määrän kasvu on todennäköisesti seurausta siitä, että olot Libyassa muuttuvat entistä vaarallisemmiksi, IOM:n tiedottaja Flavio Di Giacomo sanoi viime kuussa uutistoimisto AFP:lle.

[takalaiton]

Merikarhu käy taas matkaan – valvoo Välimerellä EU:n ulkorajaa loppukesään asti

Suomi lähettää vartiolaiva Merikarhun Välimerelle osaksi Euroopan raja- ja merivartioviraston Frontexin merirajavalvontaoperaatiota. Merikarhu lähtee Suomesta Kreikkaan lauantaina ja viettää Välimerellä vähintään puoli vuotta. Vartiolaivan tehtävänä on valvoa EU:n ulkorajaa.

Merikarhu osallistui samaan operaatioon myös viime vuonna. Tuolloin laivan miehistö muun muassa pelasti satoja Eurooppaan pyrkiviä ihmisiä merestä.

Laivaan on koottu kansainvälinen miehistö, sillä Rajavartiolaitoksen oma henkilöstö ei olisi riittänyt koko operaation ajaksi. Kyseessä on ensimmäinen kerta, kun Frontexin operaatiossa vartiolaivalla on yhteiseurooppalainen miehistö. Mukaan lähtee myös Suomen Meripelastusseuran vapaaehtoisia miehistönjäseniä.

(28.2.2017)
http://m.mtv.fi/uutiset/kotimaa/artikkeli/merikarhu-kay-taas-matkaan-valvoo-valimerella-eu-n-ulkorajaa-loppukesaan-asti/6328834

Suomen vartiolaiva SS Meritaksi Merikarhu ei vielä ehtinyt osallistua tähän sankarilliseen pelastusoperaatioon, mutta uusia tilaisuuksia "valvoa" EU:n "ulkorajaa" tulee varmasti. Itse ymmärrän merihädän yllättävänä ja täysin ennakoimattomana tapahtumana, jossa esim. kone hajoaa tai alus ajaa navigointivirheen takia karille. EU:lle ja Suomen Meripelastusseuralle merihätä tarkoittaa nykyään sitä, että salakuljettajat soittavat EU:n viranomaisille ja ilmoittavat uuden lastin saapumisesta merikelvottomassa purtilossa tai kumiveneessä Libyan rannikolle.

Hienoa, että EU on saatu näin saumattomasti integroitua rikollisten juoksupojiksi. Varmasti on vain ajan kysymys, että tällainen ulkorajojen "vartiointi" alkaa tuottaa tulosta ja tulijoiden määrät romahtavat. EU:n asteikolla voidaan puhua jopa erittäin onnistuneesta projektista.

[Java]

Tämä" meripelastusoperaatio" on ihan käsittämättömän typerää! Ymmärtäisin kyllä jos partioisivat Italian rannikolla, mutta että haetaan Libyan rannikolta on ihan älytöntä!

[niemi2]

Tämä" meripelastusoperaatio" on ihan käsittämättömän typerää! Ymmärtäisin kyllä jos partioisivat Italian rannikolla, mutta että haetaan Libyan rannikolta on ihan älytöntä!

Valta USA:ssa vaihtunut eikä muslimitaustainen presidentti Obama ole enää vallassa.

ISIS-taistelijat tarvitsevat kyytejä Eurooppaan koska Trumpin Lähi-idässä terroristit saavat menolipun helvettiin.

Tarve on nyt kova kun Trump ei aio päästää heitä edes USA:han.

[MW]

Tämä" meripelastusoperaatio" on ihan käsittämättömän typerää! Ymmärtäisin kyllä jos partioisivat Italian rannikolla, mutta että haetaan Libyan rannikolta on ihan älytöntä!

Valta USA:ssa vaihtunut eikä muslimitaustainen presidentti Obama ole enää vallassa.

ISIS-taistelijat tarvitsevat kyytejä Eurooppaan koska Trumpin Lähi-idässä terroristit saavat menolipun helvettiin.

Tarve on nyt kova kun Trump ei aio päästää heitä edes USA:han.

"Meripelastus", eli noukkiminen Afrikan rannikolta tai mihin vaan herrat suvaitsevat passinsa hävittää, on kyllä ihan €uro-operaatio.

En tiedä miksi, mutta siinähän maksetaan. Lujasti. Menee rahat "pitää leikata", menee turvallisuus, "löyhät kaveriporukat", järkihän tässä menee.

Se ei ole hyvä asia.

[MW]

Kääntöpuoli on se, että Lähi-Idän ja Afrikan naisilla ei ole kohta paljon työstettävää? Who cares. Pääasia, että turvapaikanhakija saa pimpsaa.

No ei ole. Nämä lapsensa ja naisensa dumppaavat pelkurit voivat omastakin mielestään pitää neljää (sossutukiyksinhuoltajaa) tallissaan. On ne uroita.

Respect.

[niemi2]

Valta USA:ssa vaihtunut eikä muslimitaustainen presidentti Obama ole enää vallassa.

ISIS-taistelijat tarvitsevat kyytejä Eurooppaan koska Trumpin Lähi-idässä terroristit saavat menolipun helvettiin.

Tarve on nyt kova kun Trump ei aio päästää heitä edes USA:han.

"Meripelastus", eli noukkiminen Afrikan rannikolta tai mihin vaan herrat suvaitsevat passinsa hävittää, on kyllä ihan €uro-operaatio.

On toki, mutta tarkoitinkin, että kun ISIS on tappiolla, niin heillä paineet lähteä Eurooppaan.

Tässä niistä, jotka ovat vakituisia meritakseja:

The NGOs tied to boats involved in the operation were
Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS),
Jugend Rettet,
Stichting Bootvluchting,
Médecins Sans Frontières,
Save the Children,
Proactiva Open Arms,
Sea-Watch.org, Sea-Eye and
Life Boat.

II. Several Organizations Operating Ships In The Fleet Have Ties To George Soros, Hillary Clinton Donors

Information uncovered in an investigation by Disobedient Media has revealed that several of the NGO groups involved with the migrant fleet have received funds from George Soros aligned organizations or financial backers of Hillary Clinton.

The Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) was founded in 2014 by entrepreneurs Christopher and Regina Catrambone. MOAS operates the ships the Topaz Responder and the Phoenix in the migrant fleet. Mr. Catrambone was listed as a major donor to Hillary Clinton, giving over $416,000 to her presidential campaign bid in 2016. Another major supporter of MOAS is avaaz.org, who donated €500,000 to MOAS' "search and rescue operations." Avaaz.org was founded by Moveon.org, an American organization owned by George Soros. Avaaz.org acts as the European branch for Moveon.org.

NGO group Save the Children operates the Astral in the migrant fleet. Save the Children is supported in part by George Soros' Open Society Foundation.

Médicins Sans Frontiéres (MSF) also operates several ships in the migrant fleet – the Dignity 1, the Bourbon Argos and the  Aquarius. MSF has also received funding from the Open Society Foundation.

Other organizations running ships in the fleet, such as Sea Eye, have denied to news sources that they were delivering migrants to Italy, despite being caught by GEFIRA doing exactly that.


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-09/ngo-fleet-bussing-migrants-eu-has-ties-george-soros-hillary-clinton-donors

[Golimar]

En tiedä mikä tämä uutisessa mainittu matu on taustaltaan mutta ainakin hän on keksinyt käyttöä roska-astialle.

http://www.milanotoday.it/cronaca/uomo-cacca-via-airaghi.html

[Lady Deadpool]

Samalla kun Euroopan maat menettävät rahojaan, salakuljettavat rikastuvat. DailyMail uutisoi uudesta Europolin 60-sivuisesta tutkimuksesta, joka sisältää varoituksen tuleville vuosille.

DailyMail (9.3.2017)

Migrant smuggling is now worth £5billion to criminal gangs and is comparable to the illegal drugs market, report warns

Migrant smuggling has expanded dramatically and is so prevalent in Europe it is now comparable to the illegal drugs market, a new report has warned.

Criminal gangs have allegedly raked in huge sums of money amid the surge in refugees and migrants attempting to reach the continent.
A report from Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, describes people smuggling as a 'highly profitable and widespread criminal activity'.

The 60-page study noted: 'The migrant smuggling business is now a large, profitable and sophisticated criminal market, comparable to the European drug markets.'

Researchers found that the demand for smuggling services had grown significantly since 2014.

Figures suggested networks offering 'facilitation services' to either reach or move within the EU generated an estimated 4.7 billion euro to 5.7 billion euro in profit in 2015, equivalent to between £4.1 billion and £5 billion at current exchange rates.

These profits dipped last year, falling by nearly two billion euro, or £1.7 billion at today's rates, according to the assessment.

Itse läpyskä löytyy täältä: https://www.europol.europa.eu/publications-documents/migrant-smuggling-in-eu

Europe has seen an unprecedented increase in the number of irregular migrants arriving in the European Union since 2014. The scale of these migratory flows reached previously unseen heights in 2015. This trend of exponentially increasing numbers of migrants arriving in the EU is set to continue in 2016.

[kriittinen_ajattelija]

Italy: Leftist Council Plans to Hire Asylum Seekers to Escort Children to School

This is a story so crazy that's it's hard to believe. But it appears to be true. In the north Italian town of Arcore, in Lombardy, the leftist council is planning to start a school bus service called Pedibus. They intend to hire asylum seekers to "escort" the children to school.

There is a new conflict between the centre-right and centre-left about the hiring of some asylym seekers, who are housed in Arcore, as helpers on the Pedibus.

Raising their voice again are Forza Italia, Lega Nord and Fratelli d'Italia who have already tonight published on Facebook (and from tomorrow morning, Wednesday, on various empty billboards in the town) a shock poster against the possibility of hiring refugees in this project. The poster reads: "In Arcore, to school with the stranger? No thanks" and which has, in the background, an image of a man "of colour" embracing a child.

http://diversitymachtfrei.blogspot.fi/2017/03/italy-leftist-council-plans-to-hire.html
Afrikkalaisille miespakolaisille on suuri tarve pikkutyttöjen saattamisessa kouluun Italissa.

[Mr.Reese]

'Pedibus' kertoo jo kaiken. Hyvää koulumatkaa! 

[Alaric]

Kaksikymmentäkaksi Eurooppaan matkalla ollutta siirtolaista kuoli ihmissalakuljettajajengien tulitaistelussa ja yli 100 haavoittui.

Minun pitäisi ilmeisesti tuntea jotain näiden työvoimapulan paikkaajien puolesta. Surua, myötätuntoa, vihaa...

En kuitenkaan tunne mitään. Taidan olla rasisti.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/777703/smugglers-kill-african-migrants-beach-libya (10.3.2017)

BLOODSHED ON THE BEACH: 22 African migrants shot dead by people smugglers on Libyan coast

MORE than 20 EU-bound African migrants have been shot dead and more than 100 injured by Libyan people-smugglers.

Police initially believed the migrants had been shot because they refused to board the human traffickers' boat during bad weather.

But it later emerged that the migrants – whose bodies were found buried under the sand – had been caught in a bloody cross-fire between rival people-smuggling gangs operating along Libya's Mediterranean coast.

The migrants were due to set sail from the beach at Sabratah, a coastal town located some 45 miles west of Tripoli, to Italy or Malta.

Joel Millman, a spokesperson for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), said during a news briefing in Geneva his Libyan colleagues had confirmed more than 100 people – migrants and smugglers – had been badly wounded in the gunfight.

He said: "The dead were thought to be migrants rather than people-smugglers because they were sub-Saharan Africans." 

The number of African migrants reaching Italy's shores by boat has risen more than 50 per cent so far this year, Italian officials said.

Italy has promised to step up the deportation of failed asylum seekers, and said from now on migrants would be sent home either by force or with their consent.

Mr Millman added: "This is creating all kinds of activity in the smuggling industry, and apparently that activity has reached the level of violent shootouts that left 22 killed in the last couple of days."

Libya, which spiralled into chaos and lawlessness after the death of its leader, Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011, has become a hotbed of human trafficking and is now the official gateway to Europe for millions of African migrants.

[Lady Deadpool]

Samalla kun Euroopan maat menettävät rahojaan, salakuljettavat rikastuvat. DailyMail uutisoi uudesta Europolin 60-sivuisesta tutkimuksesta, joka sisältää varoituksen tuleville vuosille.

DailyMail (9.3.2017)

Migrant smuggling is now worth £5billion to criminal gangs and is comparable to the illegal drugs market, report warns

Migrant smuggling has expanded dramatically and is so prevalent in Europe it is now comparable to the illegal drugs market, a new report has warned.

Criminal gangs have allegedly raked in huge sums of money amid the surge in refugees and migrants attempting to reach the continent.
A report from Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, describes people smuggling as a 'highly profitable and widespread criminal activity'.

Tähän uutiseen sopivaa jatkoa, vaikkakin sivuraiteiden kautta:

The Guardian on tehnyt tutkivaa journalismia ja "paljastanut" modernia orjuutta Italian Sisiliassa. Ensimmäinen pitkä reportaasi keskittyy lähinnä romanialaisten naisten asemaan orjavoimana, mutta toinen kirjoitus vihjailee kohdistuvasta uhasta (todennäköisesti oikeasta) Välimeren kautta tunkeutuville ihmislasteille.

The Guardian: Raped, beaten, exploited: the 21st-century slavery propping up Sicilian farming (12.3.2017)

An Italian migrant rights organisation, the Proxyma Association, estimates that more than half of all Romanian women working in the greenhouses are forced into sexual relations with their employers. Almost all of them work in conditions of forced labour and severe exploitation.

Police say they believe that up to 7,500 women, the majority of whom are Romanian, are living in slavery on farms across the region. Guido Volpe, a commander in the carabinieri military police in Sicily, told the Observer that Ragusa was the centre of exploitation on the island.

"These women are working as slaves in the fields and we know they are blackmailed to have sex with the owners of the farms or greenhouses because of their psychological subjugation," he says. "It is not easy to investigate or stop this from happening, as the women are mostly too afraid to speak out."

The Guardian: Xenophobic rhetoric created the conditions for abusing migrants (12.3.2017)

In recent years an ever more poisonous xenophobic rhetoric has spread across Europe. This establishes an environment highly conducive to the exploitation of migrants and allows greater freedom to those who wish to turn a blind eye. The prejudice against migrants means there is insufficient public anger to turn the issue of their disgraceful treatment into a political one that must be resolved.

The carnage in the Mediterranean and the tolerance of slavery within Europe starkly demonstrate that the region is betraying its own ideals of upholding democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

Yllä olevassa kirjoituksessa mainitaan 2013 julkaistu 28-sivuinen läpyskä nimeltään The migration-trafficking nexus: combating trafficking
through the protection of migrants' human rights (antislavery.org 2013)

[Lady Deadpool]

Hurriyet Daily News uutisoi luksusjahti löydöistä.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=110773&NewsCatID=341 (13.3.2017)

Human traffickers, 83 migrants caught on luxury yacht

The Turkish Coast Guard has captured 83 people trying to cross into Italy illegally from the Aegean resort town of Çeşme in a U.S.-flagged luxury yacht.

Some 82 of the smuggled migrants were Syrian, while one was an Afghan, according to security sources.

Three more people on board, all of whom were Ukrainians, were also detained on suspicion they were part of the crew.

Gendarmerie forces also detained one Ukrainian, one Iraqi and two other people as suspected human traffickers.

The 12-meter-long yacht, the Big Man, was anchored at Port Alaçatı in Çeşme in the Aegean province of İzmir.

The yacht reportedly belonged to the Ukrainian suspect, according to sources. 

The migrants reportedly paid $5,500 per person to the human traffickers, the sources said.

The two Ukrainians on board and the owner of the yacht entered Turkey from Istanbul's Atatürk International airport on Feb. 28 and one of them was detained earlier for human trafficking, sources said.

A total of 289 migrants were apprehended off Turkey's Aegean and Mediterranean coasts over the past week, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on March 13.

Between March 3 and 10, the Turkish Coast Guard intercepted 289 migrants in seven separate incidents and arrested seven migrant smugglers, the statement said.

Separately, 178 migrants were apprehended in four incidents in Çeşme and Seferihisar, another district in İzmir, and Turkey's northwestern Aegean town of Ayvalık, it said.     

Two search and rescue ships, 71 coast guard boats, 23 coast guard security teams (SAGET), six coastal safety and security search and rescue teams (DEGAK) and 39 control boats patrolled for 2,197 hours to prevent irregular migration.     

Five of Turkey's Aegean provinces - Çanakkale, Balıkesir, İzmir, Muğla and Aydın - are prime spots for refugees leaving Turkey for the EU, with Greek islands lying within sight of the Turkish coast.     

Over the past years, hundreds of thousands have made short but perilous journeys across the Aegean in a bid to reach northern and western Europe in search for a better life. Hundreds of people have died at sea as a number of boats carrying refugees sank or capsized. The Turkish Coast Guard has rescued thousands of others.

[Lady Deadpool]

Middle East Monitorin mukaan 16,000 laitonta matua on saapunut tänä vuonna Italiaan, kasvu on huomattava viime vuodesta. Voa News taas uutisoi uudesta kampanjasta Afrikassa, tällä pyritään informoimaan mahdollisia uusia pakoloisia Välimeren vaaroista.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170315-16000-refugees-and-migrants-arrived-in-italy-this-year/ (15.3.2017)
http://www.voanews.com/a/information-campaign-migrants-launches-africa/3768388.html (15.3.2017)

16,000 refugees and migrants arrived in Italy this year

The Italian Interior Ministry said yesterday that the number of illegal immigrants who had arrived in the country has increased to reach nearly 16,000 immigrants since the beginning of this year.

The ministry said in its latest report that since 1 January, 15,852 illegal migrants and refugees have arrived in the country, an increase of 66.93 per cent compared with the same period in 2016, when 9,496 refugees and migrants arrived in the country.

According to the report, the number of unaccompanied minors who had arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year has reached 2,230 minors compared with 25,846 minors in all of 2016.

A majority of immigrants came from African countries including: Guinea, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Bangladesh, Gambia, Senegal, Morocco, Mali, Sierra Leone, Cameroon.

The report pointed out that the interior ministry has to deal with the immigrants' needs where 2,600 Italian municipalities currently host nearly 200,000 immigrants and refugees.

Last month the Italian government announced the allocation of €13 million ($13.8 million) over three years to build and manage new reception centres for migrants and refugees.

According to the Italian Coast Guards, nearly 3,000 people have drowned crossing the Mediterranean Sea since the start of 2016.

Information Campaign for Would-be Migrants Launches in Africa

A campaign to inform would-be migrants in Africa about the dangers of heading to Europe via the Mediterranean Sea aims to reach people in 15 African countries through social media, radio and television advertisements, migration officials said Wednesday.

The "Aware Migrants" campaign, which was launched last year by the Italian government and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), features video testimonies of migrants who made it to Europe but were abused, beaten or raped along the way.

The voyage from Libya across the Mediterranean to Italy — most cross the sea on flimsy boats run by smugglers — has become the main route to Europe for migrants from Africa after a European Union clampdown last year on sea crossings from Turkey.

A record 181,000 migrants made the perilous journey last year, and arrivals in Italy this year so far have risen by two-thirds compared with the same period in 2016, IOM data show.

The campaign is now targeting potential migrants across West and Central Africa — which account for most arrivals in Italy — with posts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, and advertisements with local media, said IOM spokesman Flavio Di Giacomo.

"The purpose of the campaign is not to tell migrants not to leave. That is a personal choice," he said. "But we need to provide them with as much information as possible, and quickly."

More than 4,500 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean in 2016, and nearly 500 people crossing from Libya to Italy have died at sea this year, almost a fivefold increase from this time last year, according to the IOM.

African migrants are also prey to abuse, beatings, imprisonment and rape while heading through the Sahara desert and lawless Libya.

[Porcius]

Yemen migrant boat attack kills at least 31
At least 31 people have been killed after a boat carrying Somali refugees was targeted in a helicopter attack off the coast of Yemen, the International Organisation for Migration says.

Women and children were among those killed when the vessel was hit near the Bab al-Mandeb strait, the IOM said.

Images from the scene showed a boat strewn with bodies.

Among the dead were Somali refugees carrying ID documents issued by the UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency said.

About 80 survivors were rescued and taken to hospital, according to the IOM.

It remains unclear who carried out the attack.

The port is controlled by Houthi rebels who are fighting a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen's two-year war. The coalition, in general, controls Yemen's airspace.

The rebel-controlled Saba news agency said the refugees had been attacked from the air by the coalition, and coastguard Mohamed al-Alay told Reuters the boat had been hit by helicopter gunships.

But a port official told the AFP news agency that the craft had docked and the dead and injured had been hit with light weapons fire.

The coalition has not commented on the incident.

It is also not known where the boat was travelling to and from.

Despite the humanitarian crisis which has brought Yemen to the brink of famine, some migrants from Africa continue to travel to the war-torn country.

UNHCR officials said the people in the boat may have been heading towards Sudan or other countries to the north to escape deteriorating conditions in Yemen.

Somalia is also currently at risk of famine, according to the UN, with 2.9m facing food insecurity - following decades of civil war and a previous famine in 2011.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39302560

Ilmeisesti Saudit taas vähän riehuneet.

[ismolento]

Somaleilla taisi olla määräsatama vähän hakusessa vai oliko kompassi rikki. Jemenissä ei ollutkaan Frontexin meritakseja vastassa. Ei taida olla muuten muissakaan arabisatamissa.

[Hornsmith]

Apache on muutamista puutteistaan huolimatta erittäin suorituskykyinen ja tehokas kampe. Ei ehkä edusta ihan viimeisintä teknistä osaamista, mutta toisaalta lastentaudit on hiottu matkanvarrella pois.

[Mr.Reese]

Kieltämättä tehokasta verrattuna meritaxitoimintaan. Pari päivää tätä pöyristellään ja sitten se jo unohtuu, kun pitää leipoa pullaa ja huolehtia lemmikeistä. Pelotevaikutteena toimii pidempään.

[Hermit]

Jotenkin ounastelen, että somppujen veneretket loppuu kuim seinään.

[MW]

Jotenkin ounastelen, että somppujen veneretket loppuu kuim seinään.

Tuskin. Tarinankerrontaperinne voittaa todellisuuden 100-0. Onhan noita hukkunut satamäärin kiuluissaan, eikä menoa haittaa. Mitä joku 30, joka lähti Apachen lähikuvauksessa?

Tietysti, jos taho lupaa pitää Apachet valmiudessa, tilanne saattaa muuttua.

[yks vaan]

Kumma kun voimavara ei kelpaa.

[MiljonääriPlayboy]

Milläs ilveellä nämä muuten heti nimettiin PAKOLAISIKSI? Minkään tilaston mukaan katsottuna todennäköisyys EI ole sen puolella, että näistä kukaan, tai edes osa olisi määritelmän mukaisia PAKOLAISIA. Todenmukaisempi otsikko olisi:

"Rajarikollisten, elintasoturistien ja terroristien venettä tulitettu Yemenin rannikolla. 31 jihadistia pääsi allahin luokse. Joukossa saattoi olla myös muutamia pakolaisia, mutta mitä luultavimmin ei ollut."