Am Sonntag dem 15.02.2015 hab die italienische Marine, die Küstenwache, die Finanzpolizei und Frachtschiffe unter italienischer Anleitung so viel Bootsflüchtlinge zwischen Lampedusa und Libyen an Bord genommen wie nie zuvor: über 2.100 Personen. An einem ersten untersuchten Flüchtling wurden frische Schussverletzungen festgestellt. Häufig tragen die Boat-people, die aus Libyen abfahren, Male von Folter, die sie in libyschen Lagern erlitten haben.
Zum ersten Mal haben Schlepper auf See die italienische Küstenwache mit Waffen bedroht und ein Boot nach italienischer Übernahme der Flüchtlinge wieder mitgenommen.
Zugleich spitzt sich die politisch-militärische Lage in Libyen und zwischen Italien und Libyen zu. Die westliche Kontrolle über die Erdöl- und Erdgasexportwirtschaft geht verloren. Die Hinrichtung von Ägyptern, die Dschihadisten in Guantanamo-Overalls gesteckt hatten, löst in Italien und den USA Reaktionen aus. Die italienische Regierung ruft zur Militärintervention auf.
Italy rescues over 2,000 migrants off Libyan coast
AFP, Italy
„The Italian coastguard launched a massive operation Sunday to rescue more than 2,000 migrants in difficulty between the Italian island of Lampedusa and the Libyan coast, local media said.
The emergency rescue came on the same day Italy said it was evacuating staff from its embassy in Libya and suspending operations there, highlighting the worsening security situation in the violence-plagued country.
Some 2,164 migrants coming from Libya had to be saved from a dozen boats, Italian media reported, citing the country’s emergency services.
By Sunday evening around 520 migrants were on board an Italian navy ship, the TGcom24 television station’s website said.
More than 900 other migrants were picked up by coastguard and customs police boats, while the rest were rescued by various ships in the area, the TV station said.
The Italian transport ministry said some of its coastguards had been threatened by four armed men earlier in the day who approached them by speedboat from the Libyan coast.
The Kalashnikov-wielding men forced the rescuers to return a boat that had been emptied of migrants, the ministry said in a statement.
[…] But in a major tragedy last week, more than 300 migrants died in the Mediterranean Sea when their overcrowded rubber dinghies collapsed and sank in stormy weather.The victims were among migrants mainly from sub-Saharan Africa who had embarked on the perilous journey from a beach near Tripoli.
The deaths underscored the limited means and scope of Triton, an EU-run mission which took over in November from the Italian navy’s Mare Nostrum search and rescue operation.
[…] Italy has seen a surge in migrants leaving in boats from Libya as the country has sunk deeper into chaos.
The Italian foreign ministry on Sunday said it was pulling out staff from its embassy in the former colony.
The ministry said the embassy — the last Western mission to remain open in Libya — has „suspended its activities because of the worsening security situation“.
In total, about 100 Italians were being evacuated by ship from the north African state, foreign ministry sources said.
Since dictator Mohammad Gaddafi was toppled and killed in a Nato-backed revolt in 2011, Libya has been plagued by conflict among rival forces battling for control of key cities and the country’s oil riches.
The notoriously brutal Islamic State group is now also active in the country and on Sunday released a video purportedly showing the beheading of Egyptian Coptic Christians the jihadists say they captured in Libya.
Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti said in an interview with Il Messaggero newspaper Sunday that the risk of jihadists arriving in Italy on boats carrying immigrants from Libya „could not be ruled out“.
She said Italy was ready to lead a coalition from Europe and north African states to battle against the advance of jihadists in Libya.
„The risk is imminent, we cannot wait any longer. Italy has national defence needs and cannot have a caliphate ruling across the shores from us,“ Pinotti said.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi told public television on Saturday that Rome was committed to intervening in Libya, and called for a stronger United Nations mission.
„We have told Europe and the international community that we have to stop sleeping,“ he said.“
Libia, motovedetta Guardia costiera minacciata da scafisti con kalashnikov
E‘ successo a 50 miglia da Tripoli. I militari, non armati, stavano soccorrendo un’imbarcazione con dei profughi a bordo. Lupi: „Ulteriore salto di qualità degli scafisti nella tragedia dei migranti“. Soccorse 2100 persone in un giorno
di F. Q.
Nel dramma dei barconi di migranti che arrivano dalla Libia si aggiunge un nuovo capitolo. Uomini armati su un barchino hanno minacciato una motovedetta della Guardia Costiera italiana che stava soccorrendo un’imbarcazione con migranti a bordo, a circa 50 miglia da Tripoli. Gli scafisti, armati di kalashnikov, hanno intimato agli italiani di lasciare loro l’imbarcazione dopo il trasbordo dei migranti. E così è avvenuto. Il personale della Guardia Costiera a bordo delle motovedette che fanno operazioni di ricerca e soccorso nel canale di Sicilia non è armato.
“Nella tragedia dei migranti e dell’azione di soccorso della nostra Guardia Costiera – dichiara il ministro dei Trasporti Maurizio Lupi – oggi è successo un fatto allarmante, che segna un ulteriore salto di qualità” degli scafisti. E’ “indispensabile un intervento delle istituzioni internazionali in Libia”. Quanto accaduto, aggiunge Lupi, “segna un ulteriore salto di qualità nell’orrendo traffico di donne, uomini e bambini nel Mediterraneo”. Il ministro spiega che il governo è vicino “agli uomini e alle donne della Guardia Costiera che si prodigano da anni per salvare da morte certa migliaia di persone e che per questo rischiano la vita. Oggi a maggior ragione riteniamo, come sostiene il presidente del Consiglio Matteo Renzi, che per affrontare adeguatamente questo dramma sia indispensabile un intervento delle istituzioni internazionali in Libia”.
Sono oltre 2.100 i migranti soccorsi nella sola giornata di domenica 15 febbraio nel canale di Sicilia, a circa 120 miglia a sud di Lampedusa e a poche decine di miglia dalla Libia. I migranti si trovano a bordo di mercantili dirottati in zona, delle motovedette delle Capitanerie e della Guardia di Finanza sulle navi della Marina.