La Vanguardia | 04.09.2017
Alhucemas (Marruecos), 4 sep (EFE).- Una patera con 51 inmigrantes subsaharianos fue interceptada en aguas del Mediterráneo por una patrulla de la Marina Real de Marruecos que los trasladó al puerto de la ciudad de Alhucemas, en el norte del país.
Una fuente de seguridad informó a Efe de que la embarcación fue interceptada en alta mar, en un punto lejano de las costas de la ciudad de Alhucemas, y subrayó que entre los rescatados se encuentran hombres y mujeres.
junge Welt | 05.09.2017
Wieder sterben Menschen beim Versuch, von Marokko aus Spanien zu erreichen. Madrid verteidigt Abriegelung von Ceuta und Melilla
Von Carmela Negrete
Spanische Menschenrechtsorganisationen werfen den Grenzschutzbehörden der in Nordafrika gelegenen spanischen Exklave Melilla vor, in der vergangenen Woche den Tod von mindestens sieben Frauen verursacht zu haben. Die NGO »Caminando Fronteras« informierte am Wochenende, dass die paramilitärische spanische Polizeieinheit Guardia Civil am Donnerstag ein kleines Holzboot mit 45 Flüchtlingen an Bord vor der Küste Melillas abgefangen habe. 27 Personen hätten sich daraufhin ins Wasser gestürzt, um schwimmend die Küste zu erreichen. 13 von ihnen wurden von den Grenzschützern aufgenommen, die übrigen wurden von einer marokkanischen Patrouille aus dem Wasser geholt und zurück auf ihr Boot gebracht. Dieses wurde von den Nordafrikanern in Schlepptau genommen, um zurück in einen Hafen gebracht zu werden. Dabei kenterte das Boot jedoch – mindestens sieben Frauen ertranken, unter ihnen vier aus der Demokratischen Republik Kongo. Sie sind die einzigen bislang identifizierten Opfer, Helena Maleno Garzón von »Caminando Fronteras« veröffentlichte am Wochenende ihre Fotos. »Vier der mutigen Frauen, die im Meer ertrunken sind. Ihre Gemeinden weinen, während die Regierung ihren Tod nicht anerkennt,« schrieb sie dazu auf Twitter.
Refugees Deeply | 30.08.2017
Tunisian fishermen living near the Libyan border have been rescuing migrants and recovering the dead for years. With the recent curbs on NGO boats, and an emboldened Libyan coast guard, they may bear the burden of Mediterranean rescues once again.
Kristen McTighe
ZARZIS, Tunisia – There are no signs to mark what lies beneath the rocky mounds of dirt and sparse browning weeds in this vacant government lot down a rugged, unpaved road near Tunisia’s coast.
But Chamseddine Marzoug, a former fisherman, cannot forget.
“In the corner over there, there is a man without a head,” said Marzoug, pointing to a heap where he buried one of hundreds of unnamed people found dead at sea. “We found him in the sea without a head.”
Amid European and Libyan efforts to curb migrant boats from North Africa to Italy, several humanitarian NGOs have recently had to suspend rescue operations in the central Mediterranean.
AA | 31.08.2017
TUNIS
A boat teeming with illegal migrants is believed to have sunk off the Tunisian coast, possibly resulting in scores of deaths, Shamseddine Marzouq of the independent Tunisian Red Crescent said Thursday.
“One of the boat’s Nigerian passengers managed to swim ashore near Benguerdan’s Al-Katef Port on Wednesday,” Marzouq told Anadolu Agency.
According to Marzouq, the survivor, who did not give his name, said the boat’s roughly 120 other passengers had all drowned in the sea after the vessel sank due to reasons that remain unclear.
Refugees Deeply | 01.08.2017
Since Egyptian authorities cracked down on people smuggling last year, the Eritrean population in Cairo has swelled. As the E.U. heaps praise on Egypt’s migration control measures, Eric Reidy examines their consequences for a vulnerable community.
CAIRO – “I was planning to leave Egypt by the sea. I didn’t have any plan to stay,” says Dejen, a 30-year-old Eritrean refugee. He’s sitting in the bedroom of an apartment in the Ard El-Lewa district of Cairo with three friends. Small, battered suitcases and backpacks are scattered across the floor, and a bed against the wall is waiting to be put together.
Dejen and his friends are moving in, preparing for a longer stay in Egypt than any of them had anticipated. “This year there is no way [to Europe]. The route is shut,” Dejen says, with a tired sigh.
Spezialmilizen der von der UN eingesetzten Regierung Sarraj haben einen mutmasslichen Chef der informellen Ökonomie in der westlibyschen Stadt Zuwara festgenommen. Das wirft Fragen auf, da sich die Stadt Zuwara erfolgreich gegen brutale Schlepper organisiert hat. Das berüchtigste Schleppernetzwerk wird nicht in Zuwara, sondern in den Nachbarstädten Sabratha und Zawya verwaltet. Die dafür verantwortlichen Milizen Sabrathas und Zawyias sind offensichtlich in das Lager der italienisch-libyschen Söldertruppe der EU-Abschottung gewechselt.
Libya Herald | 25.08.2017
By Sami Zaptia
The Rada Special Deterrence Force reported yesterday that it has arrested one of the biggest Libyan fuel smugglers and illegal migration traffickers. The accused, Fahmi Salim Musa Bin Khalifa from Zuwara is labeled by Rada as the ‘‘king of smuggling’’ in Libya. He is reported to own a transport network, property in Europe and investment in tourism. In a statement released late last night, Rada, led by Abdelrauf Kara, said that ”In a complex operation, the Special Deterrence Force was able to arrest one of the biggest smugglers of hydrocarbons and the manipulators of Libyan assets, the famous ”smuggling king” Fahmi Salim Musa Bin Khalifa of Zuwara”.
Reuters | 21.08.2017
TUNIS/ROME (Reuters) – An armed group is stopping migrant boats from setting off across the Mediterranean from a city west of Tripoli that has been a springboard for people smugglers, causing a sudden drop in departures over the past month, sources in the area said.
The revelation throws new light on the sharp reduction in migrant arrivals from Italy, which took over from the Aegean route as the main focus of European concerns in the crisis.
Arrivals in Italy from North Africa, the main route for migration to Europe this year, dropped by more than 50 percent in July from a year earlier, and August arrivals so far are down even further. July and August are peak months for migrant boats because of favorable sea conditions.
Le Quotidien d’Oran | 18.08.2017
Trente-sept candidats à l’émigration clandestine, tous Algériens, ont été interceptés, jeudi matin, dans deux opérations distinctes, au nord de Kristel (Gdyel) et au nord des Andalouses, par les éléments des Garde-côtes de l’unité d’Oran, a-t-on appris de ce corps de sécurité.
Dans une première opération, 17 clandestins ont été interceptés, jeudi matin, à bord d’un pneumatique, au nord de Kristel, par une patrouille des Garde-côtes.
La deuxième opération a permis l’interception, jeudi également, à 3h du matin, de 20 candidats à l’émigration, a-t-on indiqué de même source.
Les 2 groupes de harraga‘ ayant pris, respectivement, le départ à partir des côtes de Kristel et Bouzedjar (Aïn Témouchent), ont été remis, après les formalités d’usage, à la gendarmerie nationale pour être présentés devant la justice, a-t-on ajouté.
New York Times | 18.08.2017
By PATRICK KINGSLEY
LONDON — The main route to Europe is experiencing one of its longest lulls since the migration crisis began in 2014.
Just over 4,000 migrants have reached Italy from Libya since mid-July, about a fifth of the number during each of the equivalent periods of 2014, 2015 and 2016, according to the Italian Interior Ministry.
The lull provides rare respite for Italy, where migration — and the center-left government’s response to it — may prove to be a defining factor in a general election in the coming months.
After the European Union reached a deal with Turkey early in 2016 to try to stop migrants reaching the Greek islands in the Mediterranean, Italy once again became the main gateway to Europe — an unwanted title that it has held for most of the 21st century.
BBC | 17.08.2017
Spain’s coastguard says it has rescued 600 migrants crossing from Morocco in a 24-hour period amid a spike in the number of migrant arrivals.
The rescued migrants were in 15 vessels including toy paddleboats and a jet ski and included 35 children and a baby.
The UN says more than 9,000 people have arrived in Spain so far this year – three times as many as the previous year.
More than 120 people are believed to have drowned attempting the crossing.
