Dozens Of Migrants Die Of Hypothermia On Italian Coast Guard Boats
ROME, Feb 9 (Reuters) - At least 29 migrants died of hypothermia aboard Italian coast guard vessels after being picked up from an inflatable boat adrift near Libya, the mayor of the Italian island of Lampedusa said on Monday.
▻http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/09/migrants-die-cold_n_6646078.html
#mourir_en_mer #naufrage #Italie #Lampedusa #migration #asile #réfugiés #Forteresse_Europe #hypothermie
Strage di Lampedusa, ora si muove l’Ue
«È stata l’Apocalisse. Onde alte otto-nove metri, mare forza sette, con 36 nodi di vento. Gente che tentava in ogni modo di entrare nel vano macchine per ripararsi dal vento e dal gelo. E poi tutti quei migranti che morivano per il freddo, uno dopo l’altro». Ha ancora il terrore negli occhi uno degli uomini a bordo della motovedetta della Guardia costiera che, dopo oltre 26 ore di navigazione, ha raggiunto ieri sera Lampedusa, con 29 cadaveri a bordo. Gli uomini della Capitaneria di porto sono esausti, stanchi. E tristi, perché avrebbero voluto portare i profughi a Lampedusa sani e salvi. Un infermiere dell’Ordine di Malta, Salvatore Caputo, che era a bordo, ha iniziato a mandare sms ai suoi familiari perché temeva di non riuscire a tornare sulla terraferma. Un altro testimone racconta di una lite tra un gruppo di profughi che tentavano di rompere il lucchetto del vano macchine. Momenti di panico. «Mai vista nulla del genere - dicono all’unisono - Con un mare così forte è stato quasi un miracolo essere riusciti a tornare a sani e salvi a Lampedusa». Emozionati anche il sindaco di Lampedusa Giusi Nicolini, il Prefetto Nicola Diomede, il questore di Agrigento Mario Finocchiaro, il comandante provinciale dei carabinieri Mario Mettifogo e quello della guardia di finanza Massimo Sobrà, che hanno voluto ringraziare gli uomini della Guardia costiera «per l’impegno dimostrato in questi difficilissimi momenti».
Lampedusa, la dottoressa a bordo della motovedetta: «Ho pregato per tutto il viaggio»
Anche i soccorritori hanno temuto per la propria vita e perfino i più esperti sono stati male durante il tragitto, durato al ritorno ben 17 ore. La drammatica testimonianza di Gabriella Lattuca del Corpo italiano di soccorso dell’Ordine di Malta: «le coperte non bastavano, il vento le portava via. Alcuni per scaldarsi si erano infilati nel vano del gasolio e ci siamo dovuti fermare»
Quanti morti servono ancora per spingerci a reagire?
I ventinove cadaveri portati a Lampedusa dalle motovedette della guardia costiera devono interrogare le nostre coscienze. Perché non sono morti affogati, ma di freddo. E non sono morti in attesa dei soccorsi, ma dopo, sui mezzi che li trasportavano a terra.
▻http://www.internazionale.it/opinione/stefano-liberti/2015/02/10/lampedusa-migranti-quanti-morti-servono-ancora-per-spingerci-a-reagir
Nine immigrants saved, but 200 die in new tragedy off Lampedusa
An Italian ship has saved nine immigrants off Lampedusa but another 200 are believed to have died, Italian media report today.
The merchant vessel is reported to have taken the nine survivors to Lampedusa today, two days after rescuing them 100 miles off the island.
The survivors told Italian authorities that more than 200 immigrants were on two dinghies which could not withstand the heavy seas and sank.
▻http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2015-02-11/local-news/Nine-immigrants-saved-but-200-die-in-new-tragedy-off-Lampedusa-67361
300 feared drowned trying to reach Italy
UPDATED: Up to 300 people are feared to have drowned trying to reach Italy, a spokesman for the UN’s refugee agency told The Local on Wednesday.
Après un nouveau drame en Méditerranée, l’opération #Triton critiquée
L’opération Triton, mise en place depuis le 1er novembre 2014 sous l’égide de l’agence européenne Frontex pour surveiller les routes migratoires vers l’Italie en provenance de Libye et d’Egypte, a connu lundi 9 février son premier et grave dysfonctionnement. Vingt-neuf migrants originaires de l’Afrique subsaharienne sont morts de froid. Leurs corps ont été entreposés dans un hangar de l’aéroport de la petite île de Lampedusa en attendant une hypothétique identification. Ils avaient entre 18 et 25 ans.
Cronaca nera. Oltre 200 migranti morti, altri 100 alla deriva nel Mediterraneo
Articolo pubblicato dopo la tragedia della Norman Atlantic ma il cui senso e contenuto può essere rivolto alle notizie delle ultime ore e giorni. Dopo i 29 migranti morti assiderati nei giorni scorsi è notizia di queste ultimissime ore: oltre 200 migranti morti, un quarto gommone con oltre 100 persone potrebbe essere ancora alla deriva.
Naufrage de Lampedusa : « Frontex a fourni des moyens supplémentaires à l’opération de secours »
Alors qu’un nouveau drame a coûté la vie à plusieurs centaines de migrants venus d’Afrique, l’agence #Frontex, chargée depuis Varsovie de surveiller les frontières de l’Europe, est accusée d’inefficacité et d’inadaptation face à la situation. En Méditerranée, son programme, baptisé Triton, assure la surveillance des côtes depuis novembre 2014. Il a remplacé la mission Mare Nostrum, financée par l’Italie et destinée au secours en mer. Entretien avec le directeur exécutif de Frontex, le Français Fabrice Leggeri, en poste depuis le 16 janvier.
Le communiqué de Frontex sur le naufrage :
Migrants forced to board inflatable rafts at gunpoint
Today the African migrants who survived the traumatic events off the coast of Libya told Frontex debriefing officers that smugglers who organised the operation forced them at gunpoint onto the inflatable rafts.
The interviewed migrants were among the more than 400 people who boarded four dinghies on a beach near Tripoli on Saturday night and headed for Italy. The survivors told officials that the smugglers threatened to shoot on the spot anyone who refused to get into the four inflatable rafts.
The Italian Coast Guard assisted by vessels participating in the Operation Triton rescued 105 people on one of the vessels on Monday, although 29 of them died on hypothermia.
The Coast Guard later redirected two merchant vessels to rescue nine more survivors from the other rafts. The rest of the migrants likely perished in the treacherous winter sea.
“These stories point to an awful crime. The criminals threatened the migrants with violence to board these flimsy rubber boats, knowing very well that the chances of their survival in such difficult weather conditions were slim,” said Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri. “In this terrifying tragedy one can only wonder whether for these criminal this was a terrible accident, or part of a deliberate strategy”- he concluded.
The Triton operation deploys two offshore patrol vessels and seven patrol boats that monitor Italy’s territorial waters and nearby search and rescue waters, along with one helicopter and two aircraft in the Mediterranean. The two airplanes remain involved in the ongoing search operations for the missing African migrants led by the Italian Coast Guard.
Frontex coordinates border surveillance operations at the external borders of the European Union. Its role is not to replace border control of national authorities, but to provide those EU countries that face an increased migratory pressure with additional technical assistance and border guards. When called upon by the relevant authorities, they take active part in search and rescue operations, as required by maritime law.
▻http://frontex.europa.eu/news/migrants-forced-to-board-inflatable-rafts-at-gunpoint-bvmRKT
More than 300 people on four rubber vessels die in the Central Mediterranean Sea
Four inflatable rubber vessels that together carried over 400 people left a beach close to Tripoli/Libya in order to reach Italy in the night from Saturday 7th to Sunday 8th of February 2015. During their journey the migrants were without food and water and encountered situa-tions of distress due to the very difficult weather conditions. In total, and as far as known, there were merely 86 survivors and more than 324 fatalities.