Migrants: Boat intercepted in Libya, MSF appeals Geo Barents detention

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There Libyan Coast Guard has intercepted dozens of migrants headed to Europe on board a vessel and he brought back to shoreauthorities in the North African country said on Saturday. The news comes after a storm washed dozens of bodies ashore on the coast. The vessel in question was carrying 64 people and was intercepted on Friday off the northwestern city of Sirte. The Libyan Coast Guard has therefore the boat burned on which the migrants had set sail.

Boat sinks off Tobruk, Libya, on Wednesday

Last Wednesday another vessel, carrying 32 people from Egypt and Syria, capsized off the coast of the city of Tobruk: I am 22 migrants missingmost likely dead. Libyan authorities said they had saved nine and recovered one body. But the North African country’s Coast Guard has been the subject of harsh criticism for years for its methods of treating migrants.

Libya, on the other hand, has been plunged into an era of chaos since the 2011 uprising, backed by the Bornwhich had led to the dismissal and killing of Muammar GaddafiSince then, the country has become a transit point for migrants, but often those who arrive in the hope of being able to embark for Europe find themselves locked up in prison, or forced to pay exorbitant sums to unscrupulous traffickers to try to cross the Mediterranean.

Two important landings of migrants have followed one another on the Italian coasts in less than 24 hours. In both cases the point of arrival was the area of Ionian Rockin the Reggio area: in the first case it was a question of 72 people of different nationalitiesincluding five unaccompanied minors. In the second, which occurred at dawn, 71 other peoplewho reached Italy on board a small boat, rescued by the Coast Guard in the waters of the Ionian Sea, about 35 miles away from Calabria.

There sailboat had left five days earlier from TürkiyeThe people on board were temporarily accommodated in a structure inside the port, managed by the Red Cross and Civil Protection.

Three alleged traffickers arrested in Trapani

Meanwhile, in the last few days, the Trapani mobile squad has Three alleged traffickers arrestedof Tunisian origin. The men are suspected of having transported seven migrants to Italy, aboard a dinghy that crossed the Mediterranean in terrible sailing conditions.

In reality, according to the reconstruction, the vessel was not headed for the Italian coast but rather towards Malta. However, it was the weather conditions that pushed the migrants’ route to the island of Marettimoin the Egadi. Here the vessel was immediately abandoned, and the people on board fled to avoid being identified.

1,500 euros each paid by migrants just to attempt the crossing

However, the dinghy was noticed by the population of the island, and from here the investigations began, from which it emerged that the migrants had paid five thousand dinars each – the equivalent of approximately 1,500 euros – to three fellow countrymen smugglers to make the crossing. Thus, they were loaded on board the dinghy, on which the three would have oriented themselves only with a compassThe three arrests come after that of another alleged Tunisian trafficker, found aboard a dinghy in recent days together with some compatriots.

Also on Wednesday 4th September, the Coast Guard Italian reported having saved seven men from a vessel coming from Libya that was sinkingThe survivors told rescuers that their boat had left on September 1, and that there were twenty-eight people on board, including three minors. twenty-one fell into the sea, however due to adverse weather conditions, the Coast Guard said.

All this indicates that the business of the smugglers remains thriving. And the victims are precisely the many people, many of whom are desperate, willing to do anything to reach Europe, who rely on their “services”. Also for this reason, for several years now, the non-governmental organizations are present in the Mediterraneanpatrolled with their ships with the aim of intercepting vessels in difficulty and prevent the death of thousands of people.

Geo Barents ship, Doctors Without Borders appeals against detention

Their activities are however the subject of bitter political controversy. The latest case in chronological order is that concerning the ship Geo Barents Of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which is currently under administrative detention. The humanitarian association has filed an appeal with the court of Salerno, explaining that it considers the measure to be unjustified.

“We have provided the court with solid evidence showing that MSF teams intervened to save the lives of 37 people at sea on the night of 23 August. During that night, we provided the relevant authorities with accurate and timely information about our operations. We are confident that the court in Salerno will lift the detention of the Geo Barents,” said Juan Matias Gil, head of the NGO’s mission for search and rescue activities.

The accusation against the ship’s personnel is instead that they did not provide timely information to the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre. “It was the middle of the night – commented Riccardo Gattiresponsible for search and rescue on board the Geo Barents – and we saw people jumping from a fiberglass boat, falling or being pushed into the water. The rescue team had no choice but to retrieve the people from the sea as quickly as possible. There was an imminent danger that they would drown or get lost in the darkness of the night.”

In ten years more than 22 thousand deaths in the Mediterranean

According to the International Organization for Migrationin the last ten years alone there have been more than 22 thousand people lost their lives in the Mediterranean, attempting the crossing.