dozens of migrants have been rescued
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

By “Doctors without Borders” ship

Dozens of migrants have been rescued

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicleDozens of migrants have been rescued

Migrants rescued in the Mediterranean last week
Tripoli - Fatima Al Saadawy

Migrants rescued in the Mediterranean last week said they had been lucky to dodge increased sea and police patrols along the Western coast of Libya that have dramatically reduced arrivals in Italy since July.

Last month, Reuters reported that an armed group was stopping departures from the city of Sabratha, which had been the main springboard for smuggling for the past two years, although some boats are still getting through.

On Thursday, the Aquarius rescue ship, run by humanitarian groups SOS Mediterranee and Doctors without Borders (MSF), picked up two rubber boats carrying a total of more than 260 migrants who had left from Sabratha.

“If you are unlucky they will catch you ... there’s so many ships in the sea,” Buba from Sierra Leone told Reuters a day after being picked up. He declined to give his last name. “If you are lucky you make it.”

Italy has led the European Union’s strategy to try to bolster the capability of local authorities and especially the Libyan coast guard so that they can shut down the central Mediterranean smuggling route, now the main one to Europe.

Arrivals in Italy of rescued migrants fell 50 percent in July from a year earlier, and declined more than 80 percent in August -- two months that had been peak periods during the previous three years. Overall, there have been more than 100,000 arrivals in Italy this year, a decline of more than 20 percent compared to 2016, official data show.

“In the Libyan waters, at Sabratha, there are plenty of police,” said Umaru, another migrant from Sierra Leone. Using a slang word for police to describe the forces stopping the boats, Umaru said: “When the karabouche (police) come they will take you to the jail. When they take you to the jail they will ask you to send money to let them free you.”

The Italy-EU strategy has been strongly criticized by charity groups, including MSF, because migrants returned to Libya by the coast guard are detained arbitrarily in filthy centers with no healthcare, little food and abusive jailers. Often they must pay a ransom for their freedom.

Noor Cornelissen, the humanitarian affairs officer on the Aquarius, said it was common to hear stories from migrants who have been repeatedly returned to Libya. “We talked to people who this has happened to, maybe two, three or even four times,” she said. “They find themselves in Libya, in captivity ... they have to pay ransom to get out,” she said. “They tell us that at that point it’s just being bought and sold, bought and sold ... whether they are being held by officials or by informal groups or even by private individuals.”

themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle

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*

dozens of migrants have been rescued dozens of migrants have been rescued

 



Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

GMT 12:33 2017 Thursday ,20 April

Premier congratulated by Sudanese Ambassador

GMT 21:47 2017 Tuesday ,31 October

January 19 - February 17

GMT 12:17 2011 Wednesday ,27 July

N. Korea calls for peace treaty with U.S.

GMT 13:34 2012 Sunday ,29 July

Palestinian intellectual passes away

GMT 15:58 2014 Tuesday ,27 May

How to heal bones

GMT 20:40 2014 Sunday ,12 October

No plan to lift fuel, butane gas subsidies

GMT 08:29 2016 Saturday ,27 August

Turkey PM denies Syria operation singling out Kurds

GMT 14:09 2017 Wednesday ,13 September

WADA 'to clear 95 Russian athletes of doping charges'

GMT 14:59 2017 Monday ,04 September

We will not allow Iran to have a foothold in Yemen

GMT 20:17 2017 Friday ,17 March

Merkel to Meet Putin in Moscow on May 2

GMT 13:40 2011 Saturday ,25 June

Explosions rock Myanmar\'s capital city

GMT 09:12 2013 Saturday ,16 February

Dina Abdel Fattah: Promoting Egypt\'s activists

GMT 18:06 2017 Saturday ,02 September

Libya’s Sarraj appoints new military chief of staff

GMT 09:09 2016 Monday ,22 August

'Marvellous' Rio flames out

GMT 14:35 2017 Saturday ,28 October

South Sudanese president to visit Sudan

GMT 12:24 2017 Tuesday ,06 June

The online battle for General Election votes

GMT 03:33 2017 Saturday ,18 February

Mexican drug kingpin 'El Chapo' extradited to US
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
 
 Themuslimchronicle Facebook,themuslimchronicle facebook  Themuslimchronicle Twitter,themuslimchronicle twitter Themuslimchronicle Rss,themuslimchronicle rss  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle