La Stampa | 18.04.2017
Almeno 13 morti al largo della Libia. Arrivi in aumento del 23,8% sul 2016
FRANCESCO GRIGNETTI
Superlavoro in mare, nei giorni di Pasqua, per chi recupera migranti sui gommoni. Secondo dati del ministero dell’Interno, sono stati salvati e portati in Italia in 8500 (2.000 venerdì, 4.500 sabato, 2.000 domenica). Recuperate anche 13 salme dal naufragio di due gommoni al largo della Libia. E chissà quanti sono quelli scomparsi tra le onde. Sono quindi da aggiornare le statistiche: gli ultimi dati del Viminale, alla data del 12 aprile, dicono che sono 26.989 i migranti sbarcati, con un incremento del 23,80% rispetto al 2016.
Complice un mare particolarmente piatto, per tre giorni gli scafisti libici hanno fatto mettere in acqua ogni tipo di natante. E le flotte che sono al lavoro nel Mediterraneo sono state impegnate allo spasimo.
L’agenzia europea Frontex ha recuperato 1400 persone in tredici distinte operazioni di salvataggio. I suoi vascelli sono quelli dell’operazione europea Triton: 600 li hanno sbarcati sabato, altri 816 li trasporta la barca norvegese Siem Pilot, attesa oggi a Cagliari.
Altre centinaia li hanno salvati la Guardia costiera italiana e le navi militari. Erano le 10 del mattino di ieri quando a Porto Empedocle (Agrigento) terminavano le operazioni di sbarco dei 447 migranti tratti in salvo dalla nave «Chimera» della Marina Militare.
La parte del leone, però, l’ha fatta il naviglio dell’internazionale della solidarietà. Le navi umanitarie di Ong spagnole, tedesche, britanniche e francesi hanno lanciato appelli disperati fin dalla notte di sabato. Circa mille sono giunti a Messina a bordo della nave umanitaria «Panther». Altri 1100 sono sbarcati a Catania con la nave tedesca Tender A513 Rhein.
L’impennata di sbarchi riaccende la polemica. «È ormai chiaro – dice Matteo Salvini, Lega – che l’immigrazione clandestina è organizzata e finanziata. Per questo motivo abbiamo deciso di denunciare il presidente del Consiglio, i ministri e i comandanti della Marina e della Guardia Costiera per favoreggiamento». Gli fa eco Maurizio Gasparri, Forza Italia: «Altre migliaia di persone che non ne hanno diritto, tramite la sperimentata filiera trafficanti-Ong-Guardia costiera-Viminale, approdano in Italia. Una catastrofe firmata Pd». E Paolo Romani, capogruppo FI: «L’indagine conoscitiva offra una soluzione per interrompere il meccanismo infernale, avviato inconsapevolmente dalle Ong, di incentivazione del traffico di esseri umani».
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Deutschlandfunk | 18.04.2017
Tausende Menschen am Osterwochenende gerettet
Tausende Flüchtlinge sind am Osterwochenende auf dem Mittelmeer aus Schmugglerbooten gerettet worden – insgesamt 13 Menschen starben dabei. Aufgrund des schlechten Wetters waren auch zwei deutsche Hilfsschiffe zwischenzeitlich manövrierunfähig.
Von Tilmann Kleinjung
Ostern auf dem Mittelmeer: 8.500 Menschen wurden gerettet auf dem Weg zwischen Libyen und europäischen Küsten. „Niemand hat jemals etwas Vergleichbares gesehen, wie wir an diesem Wochenende“, sagt Christopher Catrambone von der privaten Seenotrettungsorganisation MOAS aus Malta, und seine Ehefrau Regina berichtet im italienischen Fernsehen von einer Rettungsaktion, an der auch ein Schiff von MOAS beteiligt war.
„Es gibt Personen, die es nicht geschafft haben, einige sind auf dem Schlauchboot erstickt, einige im Meer ertrunken. Wir haben sieben Leichen an Bord, vier Männer, zwei Frauen und ein Kind von nur acht Jahren. Das war unser Ostersonntag.“
Am Ende des langen Osterwochenendes zählen die Retter 13 Todesopfer. Von denen, die überlebt haben, sind bereits viele in italienischen Häfen angekommen. Die „Ärzte ohne Grenzen“ haben die Flüchtlinge untersucht und festgestellt, viele von ihnen leiden an Verletzungen, die nicht von der Flucht über das Mittelmeer herrühren. Sprecher Michele Trainiti:
„Ihre Lebensbedingungen in den letzten Monaten waren sehr, sehr schlecht. Vermutlich waren sie inhaftiert. Viele haben physische Gewalt und Folter erlitten. Das ist das Ergebnis der gegenwärtigen Situation in Libyen. Wir sehen Menschen mit Schusswunden und wir haben Berichte von Menschen, die in Libyen gefoltert wurden.“
Zwei deutsche Hilfsschiffe setzten Hilferufe ab
Die Lage im Bürgerkriegsland Libyen ist so katastrophal, dass viele lieber in windige Schlauchboote steigen, als dort noch länger zu bleiben. Zu Beginn des Wochenendes war das Wetter noch stabil, dann verschlechterte sich die Situation, der Wind nahm zu, die Wellen wurden größer. Und auf einmal gerieten die Retter selbst in Seenot.
Zwei deutsche Hilfsschiffe setzten Hilferufe ab. Die „Iuventa“ mit 400 Menschen an Bord war komplett überfüllt und navigationsunfähig. Und die „Sea-Eye“ der gleichnamigen Organisation aus Regensburg trieb am Ostermontag mit rund 210 Flüchtlingen an Bord auf halbem Weg zwischen Libyen und Italien manövrierunfähig im Mittelmeer.
Beide Organisationen gaben inzwischen Entwarnung. Die „Sea-Eye“ werde inzwischen von einem italienischen Seenotrettungskreuzer begleitet, die „Iuventa“ habe die Flüchtlinge an ein anderes Boot übergeben.
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The Daily Beast | 17.04.2017
Mediterranean Migrant Rescuers Need Rescuing
A record-setting weekend of maritime migrant rescues almost claimed rescuers as victims.
Barbie Latza Nadeau
REGGIO CALABRIA, Italy—Becoming a victim is surely a rescuer’s worst nightmare. But on Sunday in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya, NGO charity rescue vessels started tweeting very distressing messages that seemed to foreshadow a very serious situation.
The first came from the German NGO Jugend Rettet, whose rescue vessel Iuventa was chock full of migrants, including seven pregnant women, from multiple rescues over a 40 hour period in which nearly 7,000 migrants and refugees were saved from drowning in multiple operations. They also sent out emails to media they knew, urging them to try to get the word out that they were in dire need.
Their steering had gone under the weight of their human cargo and there were more rubber dinghies on the horizon as dark clouds signaled a coming sea storm. They had used all their life jackets, too, meaning even those who had been rescued from deadly rubber dinghies were at risk again.
Then the German NGO Sea Eye, which was making its way to help the Iuventa faced similar challenges trying to pluck as many people at risk of drowning from the increasingly rough seas as they could without putting their own rescue vessel at risk. They, too, started facing navigational challenges as seas worsened and their passengers shifted nervously.
Jugend Rettet first tweeted: “MAYDAY RELAY MAYDAY RELAY MAYDAY RELAY! all stations all! This is Jugend rettet! We are in distress! Position: 33°14´N 012°26´E.”
Then another tweet: “Iuventa + @seaeyeorg need urgend [sic] help. Several hundred people in rubberboats nearby. Both NGOs in distress. Bad weather on its way!”
Then, another: “#Iuventa and @seaeyeorg are unable to move due to the high amount of people on board and nearby us in rubberboats! We need help”
The German NGO ships had come to the aid of the Mobile Offshore Aid Station or MOAS. They, too, were at capacity but there were more stranded rubber dinghies and dangerous wooden fishing boats full of people.
MOAS had spent the previous night monitoring several boats with more than 1,000 people they could not assist because their own boat, the Phoenix, was full. “Dramatic situation unfolding in #Med. #MOAS crew caring for 453 people aboard; assisting 1000+ people on rubber boats around,” their crew tweeted.
Later they witnessed a rubber dinghy butted up to a merchant vessel that did not have the capacity to rescue them, so the migrants and refugees were essentially holding on for dear life.
By late Sunday night, many of the migrants had been offloaded from the over-capacity rescue vehicles to other vessels, including passing merchant ships that were summoned to the maritime emergencies. The three rescue boats in distress were limping toward land despite a continuing number of distress calls from the migrant boats still out at sea.
On land, Doctors Without Borders’ MSF Prudence brought 649 people to shore, including four young children and several men who had suffered gunshot wounds at the hands of the traffickers in Libya. Of the 60 women, several had reported torture. Their ship will head back out for more rescues on Monday.
The busy weekend comes on the heels of an investigation by a local Italian prosecutor into funding of the NGO charity ships with an eye to removing them from service. The NGOs have denied wrong doing, insisting that their purpose is to fill the vacuum created by “an absent Europe” that is seemingly leaving the migrants to sink or swim.