Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Migrant rescue charities operating in the Mediterranean said an Italian boat may have violated international law by taking more than 100 migrants it had saved back to Libya.
...
Local media reported that Italy's coastguard instructed the Asso Ventotto to coordinate the rescue operation with the Libyan authorities.
...
The boat then transported those aboard to a port in Tripoli.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Italy tweeted: 'Libya is not a safe port and this could lead to a violation of international law,' adding that they were collecting 'all the necessary information on the case'.
...
As NGOs expressed their dismay over the latest boat controversy, Italy's far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini, who has closed the country's ports to migrant rescue ships, praised the Libyan authorities.
'Over the last hours the Libyan coastguard has saved and brought back 611 immigrants to Libya,' he tweeted.
I think the current leadership in Italy has had enough. I can't blame them.
In case you are not aware, one of the reasons why Qaddafi was important (before was he was removed during the Obama years and the Arab Spring) was that he controlled the migration. It wasn't until after he was removed that this latest wave of migration has restarted. My guess was that he was removed specifically for that purpose.
The migration crisis in its current iteration stems, in part, from the fall of Libya's Muammar Qaddafi. In 2010, Europe was moving quickly to normalize relations with the former dictator. Oil interests played a role, but so did the desire of many European nations to outsource migrant control to the North African country.
Libya's coast has a long history of sending people – willing and unwilling – to Europe and the Americas. Ports like Tripoli and Benghazi were the final stops for medieval slave-trading caravans from the African interior until the 19th century. In recent decades, migrants have shoved off for Italy and Spain in rickety fishing boats, with Libyan officials looking the other way.
Mr. Qaddafi was well aware of European alarm at the rising tide of migrants in his final years in power. He used it as a powerful wedge to improve his own standing. Back to 2004, Qaddafi began making deals with individual European states to control the tide of migrants. In August 2010, he visited his friend Silvio Berlusconi, then president of Italy, in Rome and said Europe would turn "black" without his help.
...
He offered to shut down his country and its coastal waters to the job seekers in exchange for €5 billion a year. He pointed to his work with Italy as proof he could get the job done. In June 2009, he signed a "friendship" agreement with Italy that involved joint naval patrols against migrants and Italy handing over migrants captured en route to Europe to Libya, no questions asked. The number of Africans caught trying to illegally enter Italy fell by more than 75 percent that year.
Italy Returns Migrants to Libya... EU, UN are Not Happy
Read the article, but didn't see EU commenting the incident one way or another.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DRob4JC
I think the current leadership in Italy has had enough. I can't blame them.
It is the new leadership, assumed power less than a month ago, who campaigned against immigration.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.