Migrants italy

BRUSSELS: European countries have come to an agreement on how to share responsibility for 131 migrants who were blocked on board a coastguard vessel by Italian authorities. An EU Commission spokeswoman told AFP that France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and Portugal would join the Italian church in caring for the migrants. Italy’s anti-immigrant deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini said he would allow the migrants rescued last week and held on a coastguard boat to disembark. The Commission did not give a breakdown on how the migrants would be shared between host countries, but the official said most would stay in Italy. Some 140 migrants, who set off from Libya in two boats, were picked up by Italian patrols and transferred to the coastguard ship Bruno Gregoretti. The operation took place on the same day that at least 115 other migrants were feared drowned in a shipwreck off Libya — according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Several migrants aboard the … [Read more...] about EU countries to share out 131 migrants blocked by Italy

ZARZIS: Bangladeshi farmer watched dozens drown beside him in the Mediterranean before "God sent us the fishermen", who saved him from the cold waters and took him to Tunisia.Ahmed Bilal was one of 16 survivors of the shipwreck, in which an estimated 60 people died on Friday while trying to reach Italy."I can't stop myself crying," said Bilal, who lost two younger relatives in the accident, from a Red Crescent emergency centre in the southern Tunisian coastal town of Zarzis.The 30-year-old said he began his journey to Europe six months ago, flying with three others to Dubai and onwards to Istanbul in Turkey.From there they took another flight to the Libyan capital Tripoli, Bilal said, where they joined around 80 other Bangladeshis and were held in a room in western Libya for three months."I already thought I would die in Libya," he said. "We had food only once a day, sometimes less. There was one toilet for 80 people. We could not wash - only our teeth - and we were … [Read more...] about Bangladeshi farmer among migrants saved by Tunisian fishermen

GENEVA: Dozens of migrants trying to reach Europe drowned in the Mediterranean on Friday (May 10) and 100 more were sent back to Libya, the United Nations said, while Italian authorities signalling opposition to more migration from Africa seized a rescue ship.The UN refugee agency UNHCR said 65 people drowned when their boat capsized off Tunisia, and 101 others who had been picked up at sea were returned to Libya, despite repeated warnings that it is not a safe country to send people back to.It was one the deadliest shipwrecks involving migrants trying to reach Europe via north Africa this year.Tripoli, a hub for migrants and refugees hoping to sail to Europe after a perilous trek through the Sahara, has long been a dangerous dead end: Many end up in detention centres or being tortured by their captors while money is extorted from their families, according to UNHCR.But it has become even more dangerous since forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar began an offensive a month ago on the … [Read more...] about Dozens drown on Libya migrant boat; Italy impounds rescue ship

ROME: Sixty-six migrants were rescued in international waters off Libya on Thursday (May 9) during two separate operations carried out by the Italian navy and a charity ship, raising the likelihood of a new stand-off over which port will take them in.The first group of 36 migrants was picked up by the navy's Cigala Fulgosi patrol ship around 75 nautical miles off the Libyan coast as part of Italy's "Mare Sicuro" ("Safe Seas") operation.A navy statement said those on board, including two women and eight minors, were in "mortal danger" as their makeshift craft had taken on water, adding that they had been rescued "in line with Italian and international law".In the evening, Italian charity rescue ship Mare Jonio said it saved 30 people, including five minors and a pregnant woman, about 40 nautical miles off the Libyan coast."We asked the Italian MRCC (Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre) for a safe port," the aid group SOS Mediterranee, which charters the Mare Jonio, … [Read more...] about Italian ships rescue 66 migrants off Libya