#malte

EU pays for surveillance in Gulf of Tunis

https://digit.site36.net/files/2020/06/Tunisian_Sea_Copernicus-1024x711.png

A new monitoring system for Tunisian coasts should counter irregular migration across the Mediterranean. The German Ministry of the Interior is also active in the country. A similar project in Libya has now been completed. Human rights organisations see it as an aid to „#pull_backs“ contrary to international law.

In order to control and prevent migration, the European Union is supporting North African states in border surveillance. The central Mediterranean Sea off Malta and Italy, through which asylum seekers from Libya and Tunisia want to reach Europe, plays a special role. The EU conducts various operations in and off these countries, including the military mission „#Irini“ and the #Frontex mission „#Themis“. It is becoming increasingly rare for shipwrecked refugees to be rescued by EU Member States. Instead, they assist the coast guards in Libya and Tunisia to bring the people back. Human rights groups, rescue organisations and lawyers consider this assistance for „pull backs“ to be in violation of international law.

With several measures, the EU and its member states want to improve the surveillance off North Africa. Together with Switzerland, the EU Commission has financed a two-part „#Integrated_Border_Management Project“ in Tunisia. It is part of the reform of the security sector which was begun a few years after the fall of former head of state Ben Ali in 2011. With one pillar of this this programme, the EU wants to „prevent criminal networks from operating“ and enable the authorities in the Gulf of Tunis to „save lives at sea“.

System for military and border police

The new installation is entitled „#Integrated_System_for_Maritime_Surveillance“ (#ISMariS) and, according to the Commission (▻https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2020-000891-ASW_EN.html), is intended to bring together as much information as possible from all authorities involved in maritime and coastal security tasks. These include the Ministry of Defence with the Navy, the Coast Guard under the Ministry of the Interior, the National Guard, and IT management and telecommunications authorities. The money comes from the #EU_Emergency_Trust_Fund_for_Africa, which was established at the Valletta Migration Summit in 2015. „ISMariS“ is implemented by the Italian Ministry of the Interior and follows on from an earlier Italian initiative. The EU is financing similar projects with „#EU4BorderSecurity“ not only in Tunisia but also for other Mediterranean countries.

An institute based in Vienna is responsible for border control projects in Tunisia. Although this #International_Centre_for_Migration_Policy_Development (ICMPD) was founded in 1993 by Austria and Switzerland, it is not a governmental organisation. The German Foreign Office has also supported projects in Tunisia within the framework of the #ICMPD, including the establishment of border stations and the training of border guards. Last month German finally joined the Institute itself (▻https://www.andrej-hunko.de/start/download/dokumente/1493-deutscher-beitritt-zum-international-centre-for-migration-policy-development/file). For an annual contribution of 210,000 euro, the Ministry of the Interior not only obtains decision-making privileges for organizing ICMPD projects, but also gives German police authorities the right to evaluate any of the Institute’s analyses for their own purposes.

It is possible that in the future bilateral German projects for monitoring Tunisian maritime borders will also be carried out via the ICMPD. Last year, the German government supplied the local coast guard with equipment for a boat workshop. In the fourth quarter of 2019 alone (▻http://dipbt.bundestag.de/doc/btd/19/194/1919467.pdf), the Federal Police carried out 14 trainings for the national guard, border police and coast guard, including instruction in operating „control boats“. Tunisia previously received patrol boats from Italy and the USA (▻https://migration-control.info/en/wiki/tunisia).

Vessel tracking and coastal surveillance

It is unclear which company produced and installed the „ISMariS“ surveillance system for Tunisia on behalf of the ICPMD. Similar facilities for tracking and displaying ship movements (#Vessel_Tracking_System) are marketed by all major European defence companies, including #Airbus, #Leonardo in Italy, #Thales in France and #Indra in Spain. However, Italian project management will probably prefer local companies such as Leonardo. The company and its spin-off #e-GEOS have a broad portfolio of maritime surveillance systems (▻https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/sea/maritime-domain-awareness/coastal-surveillance-systems).

It is also possible to integrate satellite reconnaissance, but for this the governments must conclude further contracts with the companies. However, „ISMariS“ will not only be installed as a Vessel Tracking System, it should also enable monitoring of the entire coast. Manufacturers promote such #Coastal_Surveillance_Systems as a technology against irregular migration, piracy, terrorism and smuggling. The government in Tunisia has defined „priority coastal areas“ for this purpose, which will be integrated into the maritime surveillance framework.

Maritime „#Big_Data“

„ISMariS“ is intended to be compatible with the components already in place at the Tunisian authorities, including coastguard command and control systems, #radar, position transponders and receivers, night vision equipment and thermal and optical sensors. Part of the project is a three-year maintenance contract with the company installing the „ISMariS“.

Perhaps the most important component of „ISMariS“ for the EU is a communication system, which is also included. It is designed to improve „operational cooperation“ between the Tunisian Coast Guard and Navy with Italy and other EU Member States. The project description mentions Frontex and EUROSUR, the pan-European surveillance system of the EU Border Agency, as possible participants. Frontex already monitors the coastal regions off Libya and Tunisia (▻https://insitu.copernicus.eu/FactSheets/CSS_Border_Surveillance) using #satellites (▻https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-8-2018-003212-ASW_EN.html) and an aerial service (▻https://digit.site36.net/2020/06/26/frontex-air-service-reconnaissance-for-the-so-called-libyan-coast-guar).

#EUROSUR is now also being upgraded, Frontex is spending 2.6 million Euro (▻https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:109760-2020:TEXT:EN:HTML) on a new application based on artificial intelligence. It is to process so-called „Big Data“, including not only ship movements but also data from ship and port registers, information on ship owners and shipping companies, a multi-year record of previous routes of large ships and other maritime information from public sources on the Internet. The contract is initially concluded for one year and can be extended up to three times.

Cooperation with Libya

To connect North African coastguards to EU systems, the EU Commission had started the „#Seahorse_Mediterranean“ project two years after the fall of North African despots. To combat irregular migration, from 2013 onwards Spain, Italy and Malta have trained a total of 141 members of the Libyan coast guard for sea rescue. In this way, „Seahorse Mediterranean“ has complemented similar training measures that Frontex is conducting for the Coastal Police within the framework of the EU mission #EUBAM_Libya and the military mission #EUNAVFOR_MED for the Coast Guard of the Tripolis government.

The budget for „#Seahorse_Mediterranean“ is indicated by the Commission as 5.5 million Euro (▻https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2020-000892-ASW_EN.html), the project was completed in January 2019. According to the German Foreign Office (▻http://dipbt.bundestag.de/doc/btd/19/196/1919625.pdf), Libya has signed a partnership declaration for participation in a future common communication platform for surveillance of the Mediterranean. Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt are also to be persuaded to participate. So far, however, the governments have preferred unilateral EU support for equipping and training their coastguards and navies, without having to make commitments in projects like „Seahorse“, such as stopping migration and smuggling on the high seas.

▻https://digit.site36.net/2020/06/28/eu-pays-for-surveillance-in-gulf-of-tunis

#Golfe_de_Tunis #surveillance #Méditerranée #asile #migrations #réfugiés #militarisation_des_frontières #surveillance_des_frontières #Tunisie #externalisation #complexe_militaro-industriel #Algérie #Egypte #Suisse #EU #UE #Union_européenne #Trust_Fund #Emergency_Trust_Fund_for_Africa #Allemagne #Italie #gardes-côtes #gardes-côtes_tunisiens #intelligence_artificielle #IA #données #Espagne #Malte #business

ping @reka @isskein @_kg_ @rhoumour @karine4

–—

Ajouté à cette métaliste sur l’externalisation des frontières :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/731749#message765330

Et celle-ci sur le lien entre développement et contrôles frontaliers :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/733358#message768701

Rights in route. The “#quarantine_ships” between risks and criticisms

The use of quarantine ships is one of the measures put in place by the Italian government to deal with the arrivals of foreign nationals in times of pandemic. Almost two months after the start of this experiment, it is possible to make a first assessment of the adequacy and criticism entailed in this measure.

The first experiment was carried out on board the ship Rubattino, run by the Tirrenia company, which hosted 183 people between the 17 April and the 5 May. On the 19 April, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportations launched a procedure for the chartering of vessels for the assistance and “health surveillance” of migrants autonomously arriving on the Italian coasts or rescued in SAR operations. The #Moby_Zazà was then identified as a “quarantine ship” capable of accommodating up to 250 people. 160 migrants, whose Covid-19 test was finally negative, left the ship on the 30 May.

The issue of the controversial interministerial decree no. 150 of 7 April 2020 gave rise to the redefinition of post-disembarkation procedures. The decree establishes that, during the health emergency caused by the spread of Covid-19, Italian ports cannot be classified as safe places, place of safety, for the landing of migrants.

On 12 April, Decree no. 1287/2020 of the Head of the Civil Protection Department was published, entrusting the Department for Civil Liberties and Immigration of the Ministry of the Interior with the management of procedures related to the fiduciary isolation and quarantine of foreign citizens rescued or arrived independently by sea. On the basis of this decree, the Ministry of Interior, together with the Italian Red Cross, may use ships for the “health surveillance” period “with reference to persons rescued at sea and for whom it is not possible to indicate the “Place of Safety”. This indication, apparently sibylline, refers to the persons referred to in the decree of 7 April, i.e. persons rescued outside the Italian SAR by ships flying a foreign flag for which Italian ports cannot be considered “safe places”. Migrants arriving autonomously, i.e. not as a result of SAR operations, should in the first instance carry out the quarantine period in reception facilities on the territory and not on ships, unless it is for some reason impossible to identify such facilities, as in fact happened for many people disembarked in Italy in May and June.

A number of problems arise from use of the so-called quarantine ships. First of all, it is a device for the deprivation of personal freedom which differs clearly from the measures to which foreign citizens who have come to Italy by other means have been subjected during the lockdown. The Interministerial Decree of 17 March provided that persons arriving from abroad, in the absence of symptoms, must report their return to the public sanitary office, prevention department, and undergo isolation and health surveillance for a period of 14 days. It is therefore a formula with markedly discriminatory characteristics.

With regard to the conditions in which people are inside the ship, the words of the National Ombudsman for the rights of prisoners effectively paint the situation of the Moby Zaza: “the […] playful image painted on the hull, corresponds dramatically to the reality of those who, presumably escaped from wars or imprisonments, await the flow of the, though dutiful, quarantine with a lack of certain information and support against despair”.

The use of ships for the quarantine also has important symbolic value both for migrants subjected to the measure and in the political debate linked to the issue of disembarkation and the sharing of responsibility among the European member states in the field of migration.

Finally, no news has been spread about the procedures that are implemented on the ships, about the support that is or is not provided to foreign citizens, about the possible police investigations carried out on board and about institutional and non institutional actors operating on board.

For this reason, a request for access to the files was sent to the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Health to find out which procedures are implemented on board, how they are carried out and who is involved.

From the first answers received from the Civil Liberty and Immigration Department, as implementing entity, it is clear only the role of the Italian Red Cross responsible for health care measures, cultural linguistic mediation, social assistance, psychological support and identification of vulnerabilities.

Finally, particular attention deserves the future of this praxis: migration management policies in recent years teach us that the major innovations have been introduced to manage emergencies. The hotspots themselves were set up in 2015 as an extraordinary measure to deal with a situation where the number of people arriving in Italy and Greece was extremely high. However, this system, having ended “the emergency”, continued to operate and became fully integrated into the ordinary management system of migration, revolutionizing it and introducing serious violations of the rights of foreign citizens.

It is therefore necessary to ensure that quarantine ships do not become the forerunner of “#hotspot_ships”, “hotspot platforms” or other systems aimed at preventing foreign citizens rescued at sea from disembarking in Italy. The conditions of the ships, their structural isolation, the difficult monitoring and the impossibility of the contacts with civil society, make this formula absolutely inadequate for carrying out the delicate operations of reception, information, definition of the legal status of foreign citizens.

▻https://inlimine.asgi.it/rights-in-route-the-quarantine-ships-between-risks-and-criticisms

#navi_quarantena #hotspot #bateaux_hotspots #frontières_mobiles #Italie #migrations #asile #réfugiés #frontières #navi-quarantena #Méditerranée #mer

ping @isskein

L’« Ocean-Viking » attend un port de débarquement, avec 118 migrants à bord
▻https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2020/06/29/l-ocean-viking-attend-un-port-de-debarquement-avec-118-migrants-a-bord_60445

https://img.lemde.fr/2020/06/25/339/0/4032/2016/1440/720/60/0/8a7ed35_5880767-01-06.jpg

La première opération de sauvetage s’est déroulée dans les eaux internationales, proches de l’Italie et de Malte, tandis que la seconde s’est réalisée dans la zone de recherche et de sauvetage maltaise, selon l’ONG, qui a relancé ses opérations il y a une semaine après trois mois d’arrêt lié à la crise sanitaire. L’accostage de bateaux de migrants reste soumis à de strictes règles en raison de l’épidémie de Covid-19. Vingt-huit des 209 migrants secourus en Méditerranée par l’ONG allemande Sea Watch, puis placés en quarantaine sur un ferry dans un port sicilien, ont ainsi été testés positifs au coronavirus la semaine dernière

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#sante#italie#malte#postcovid#debarquement#depistage

Petrolio e migranti. Il « patto libico »

Decine di navi e depositi per il contrabbando attraverso Malta e i clan siciliani. Business da oltre un miliardo. Ispettori Onu e Ue: a comandare sono i boss del traffico di esseri umani.

https://www.avvenire.it/c/2020/PublishingImages/377f25fcc0b9482b809eb38e462bb7c8/IMG1325_69834480.jpg?width=1024#.jpg

«Oil for food» la chiamavano in Iraq. Export di petrolio in cambio di cibo. Era l’unica eccezione all’embargo. Le milizie libiche hanno cambiato i fattori: «#Oil_for_migrants ». Dovendo rallentare la frequenza dei barconi, hanno ottenuto cospicui “risarcimenti” mentre imbastivano un colossale contrabbando di petrolio. « Oil for migrants ». A tutto il resto pensano i faccendieri maltesi e la mafia siciliana.

Le ultime tracce della “Libia connection” sono del 20 gennaio. In Sicilia, per questioni di oro nero, sono finiti indagati in 23, tutti vicini ai clan di mafia catanesi. Il 5 dicembre 2019 la Procura di Bologna aveva messo i sigilli a 163mila litri di carburante. Solo due giorni prima i magistrati di Roma avevano arrestato 16 persone e bloccato 4 milioni di litri di gasolio. Abbastanza per fare il pieno a 80mila utilitarie. Secondo la procura di Trento, che aveva chiuso un’analoga inchiesta, nel nostro Paese l’evasione delle imposte negli idrocarburi può arrivare a 10 miliardi di euro. L’equivalente di una legge finanziaria.

Per venirne a capo bisogna ficcare il naso a Malta, che «rappresenta anche uno snodo per svariati traffici illeciti, come quello dei prodotti petroliferi provenienti dai Paesi interessati da una forte instabilità politica», si legge nell’ultima relazione al parlamento della Direzione investigativa antimafia. L’episodio chiave è del 2017, quando la procura di Catania porta a termine l’operazione “Dirty Oil”, che ha permesso «di scoprire – ricorda sempre la Dia – un traffico di petrolio importato clandestinamente dalla Libia e che, grazie ad una compagnia di trasporto maltese, veniva introdotto sul mercato italiano sfruttando il circuito delle cosiddette pompe bianche». In mezzo, però, c’è l’omicidio di Daphne Caruana Galizia. La reporter maltese era stata eliminata con una bomba il 16 ottobre 2017, due giorni prima della retata che da Catania a Malta avrebbe confermato tutte le sue rivelazioni sui traffici illeciti tra la Libia e l’Europa via La Valletta. Messo alle strette, il governo dell’isola aveva chiesto sanzioni internazionali contro i boss del contrabbando di petrolio. Ma è a questo punto che accade un imprevisto. Uno di quegli inciampi che da solo permette di comprendere quale sia la misura e l’estensione della partita. Ad agosto 2019 il Cremlino, a sorpresa, annuncia di voler porre il veto al provvedimento con cui il Consiglio di Sicurezza Onu si apprestava a disporre il blocco, ovunque nel mondo, dei patrimoni della gang di maltesi, libici e siciliani. Un intrigo internazionale in piena regola. Un anno prima il Dipartimento del Tesoro Usa aveva disposto l’interdizione di tutti gli indagati da ogni attività negli Stati Uniti.

Tra le persone che Malta, dopo l’uccisione di Caruana Galizia, avrebbe voluto vedere con i sigilli ai conti corrente ci sono l’ex calciatore Darren Debono e i suoi associati, tra i quali l’uomo d’affari Gordon Debono e il libico Fahmi Bin Khalifa. Nomi che tornano spesso. I tre, con il catanese Nicola Orazio Romeo, sono sotto processo perché ritenuti responsabili di un ingente traffico di gasolio sottratto ai giacimenti libici sotto il controllo della milizia Al-Nasr, quella del trafficante-guardacoste Bija e dei fratelli Kachlav. Dallo stabilimento di Zawiyah, il più grande della Libia, praticamente a ridosso del più affollato centro di detenzione ufficiale per migranti affidato dalle autorità ai torturatori che rispondono sempre a Bija, l’oro nero viene sottratto con la complicità della “ Petroleum facility guard”, un corpo di polizia privato incaricato dal governo di proteggere il petrolchimico. Ma a capo delle guardie c’è proprio uno dei fratelli Kachlav. Il porto di Zawyah è assegnato alla “Guardia costiera” che, neanche a dirlo, è comandata sempre da al Milad, nome de guerre “Bija”, nel 2017 arrivato con discrezione in Italia durante il lungo negoziato per fermare le partenze dei migranti.

A sostenere la connessione tra smercio illegale di idrocarburi, traffico di armi ed esseri umani sono gli esperti delle Nazioni Unite inviati in Libia per investigare. Il gasolio «proviene dalla raffineria di Zawiyah lungo un percorso parallelo alla strada costiera», si legge nell’ultima relazione degli ispettori Onu visionata da Avvenire. Molte foto ritraggono proprio Bija alla guida di gruppi combattenti o impegnato su navi cisterna. Le conclusioni confermano inoltre che l’area di Zuara, dove spadroneggia il clan Dabbashi – a seconda dei casi alleato o in rotta di collisione con i boss di Zawyah – «è stata la principale piattaforma per le esportazioni illecite via mare di prodotti petroliferi raffinati». Nei dintorni ci sono almeno 40 depositi illegali di petrolio. Da questi impianti «il carburante – si legge ancora – viene trasferito in autocisterne più piccole fino al porto di Zuara, dove viene caricato in piccole navi cisterna o pescherecci con serbatoi modificati». A disposizione dei contrabbandieri c’è una flotta ragguardevole: «Circa 70 imbarcazioni, piccole petroliere o pescherecci da traino, sono dedicate esclusivamente a questa attività». Dalle stazioni di pompaggio i trafficanti utilizzano condutture che trasportano il carburante alle navi che sostano «tra 1 e 2 miglia nautiche al largo».

I nomi dei vascelli sono noti e riportati in diversi documenti confidenziali. Impossibile che in Libia nessuno veda. In totale «esistono circa 20 reti di contrabbando attive, che danno lavoro a circa 500 persone», spiegano gli esperti Onu. Manodopera da aggiungere alle migliaia di libici arruolati dagli stessi gruppi per controllare il territorio, gestire il traffico di esseri umani, combattere per le varie fazioni.

Le inchieste, però, non fermano il business. Il catanese Romeo, indagato nel 2017 per l’indagine etnea “ Dirty Oil”, in passato era stato ritenuto dagli investigatori in contatto con esponenti della famiglia mafiosa Santapaola–Ercolano. Ipotesi, in attesa di un pronunciamento dei tribunali, sempre respinta dall’interessato. A confermare l’interesse di Cosa nostra siciliana per le petroliere sono arrivati i 23 arresti di gennaio. Tra gli indagati vi sono ancora una volta esponenti dei clan catanesi, stavolta della famiglia Mazzei, tornata ad allearsi proprio con i Santapaola– Ercolano. «Abbiamo riscontrato alcuni collegamenti con personaggi coinvolti nell’indagine Dirty Oil, dove era emersa proprio l’origine libica del petrolio raffinato», ha commentato dopo gli arresti il procuratore aggiunto di Catania, Francesco Puleio. Alcuni degli indagati hanno anche «cercato nuovi canali di fornitura e sono entrati in contatto con l’uomo d’affari maltese Gordon Debono, coinvolto nell’indagine Dirty Oil».

Il collegamento tra mafia libica e mafia siciliana per il tramite di mediatori della Valletta è confermato da un’altra rivelazione contenuta nel dossier consegnato al Palazzo di Vetro a fine 2019. A proposito della nave “Ruta”, con bandiera dell’Ucraina, sorpresa a svolgere attività di contrabbando petrolifero, gli investigatori Onu scrivono: «Secondo le indagini condotte dal Procuratore di Catania», il vascello è stato coinvolto in operazioni illegali, compreso il trasferimento di carburante ad altre navi, «in particolare la Stella Basbosa e il Sea Master X, entrambi collegati alla rete di contrabbando di “Fahmi Slim” e, secondo quanto riferito, ha scaricato combustibile di contrabbando nei porti italiani in 13 occasioni ». Quello di “Fahmi Slim” altro non è che il nome di battaglia di Fahmi Musa Bin Khalifa, il boss del petrolio di Zuara, in affari con Mohammed Kachlav, il capo in persona della milizia al Nasr di Zawyah.

A ostacolare il patto tra mafie dovrebbe essere l’operazione navale europea Irini «che ha già dimostrato l’utilità in termini di informazioni raccolte, e per l’effetto deterrenza anche sul contrabbando di petrolio», ha detto nei giorni scorsi il commissario agli affari Esteri Josep Borrel. E chissà se l’aumento del 150% delle partenze sui barconi sia solo una coincidenza o non sia uno degli effetti di «Oil for migrants».

▻https://www.avvenire.it/attualita/pagine/petrolio-e-migranti-il-patto-libico
#pétrole #migrations #Libye #pacte #extractivisme #accord #Malte #Italie #contrebande #mafia #Libia_connection #Dirty_Oil #Daphne_Caruana_Galizia #Darren_Debono #Gordon_Debono #Fahmi_Bin_Khalifa #Nicola_Orazio_Romeo #Al-Nasr #Bija #Kachlav #Zawiyah #Petroleum_facility_guard #gardes-côtes #Dabbashi #Zuara #Zawyah #Romeo #Santapaola–Ercolano #Cosa_nostra #Mazzei #Ruta #Stella_Basbosa #Sea_Master_X #Fahmi_Slim #Fahmi_Musa_Bin_Khalifa #Mohammed_Kachlav #Irini

–—

voir aussi :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/849512

ping @isskein @albertocampiphoto @wizo

#Covid-19 #migrant #migration #malte #expatries

COVID-19 : Changes In The Expatriates Unit Of Identity Malta - Coronavirus (COVID-19) - Malta
▻https://www.mondaq.com/operational-impacts-and-strategy/954942/covid-19-changes-in-the-expatriates-unit-of-identity-malta

https://www.mondaq.com/images/Mondaq_Share.jpg

Les 425 migrants bloqués en mer finalement autorisés à débarquer à Malte - InfoMigrants
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#monde#malte#mediterranee#bloque

▻https://www.infomigrants.net/fr/post/25234/les-425-migrants-bloques-en-mer-finalement-autorises-a-debarquer-a-mal

https://scd.infomigrants.net/media/resize/my_image_big/bcc92d15cf90010fdd1f5f167b01b697a3cebf1d.jpeg

L’île de Malte a finalement autorisé le débarquement, dans la nuit de samedi à dimanche, des 425 migrants bloqués depuis plusieurs semaines sur des bateaux de tourisme. Le Premier ministre Robert Abela a assuré avoir été contraint et forcé d’agir après avoir reçu un appel à l’aide de l’équipage d’un des bateaux.

Malta sets up center in Libya to fight irregular migration - InfoMigrants
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#Malte#centrederetention#Libye

▻https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/25188/malta-sets-up-center-in-libya-to-fight-irregular-migration

https://scd.infomigrants.net/media/resize/my_image_big/e95b225b1448bc50cc3065ee863e37a39966e054.jpeg

The government of Malta has signed an agreement with Libya to combat irregular immigration across the Mediterranean. The Maltese-funded plans involve the setting up of coordination centers in the Libyan capital Tripoli and the Maltese capital Valletta.

La Grèce prolonge pour la troisième fois le confinement des camps de migrants
▻https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2020/06/07/la-grece-prolonge-pour-la-troisieme-fois-le-confinement-des-camps-de-migrant

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La Grèce a prolongé de deux semaines le confinement imposé depuis le mois de mars aux camps de migrants surpeuplés au motif de juguler l’épidémie due au coronavirus, au moment où le pays se prépare activement à une reprise du tourisme. « Les mesures contre la propagation du virus du Covid-19 sont prolongées pour les résidents des centres d’accueil et d’identification dans le pays » jusqu’au 21 juin, annoncé le Journal officiel dimanche 7 juin. Le gouvernement avait imposé le 21 mars un confinement aux camps de migrants installés sur les îles de la mer Egée comme à ceux de la partie continentale du pays. Elle avait ensuite décidé un confinement général le 23 mars qui a été maintenu jusqu’au 4 mai. Le confinement des camps avait déjà été prolongé à deux reprises, le 10 mai puis le 21 mai, jusqu’au 7 juin. Avec 180 décès du coronavirus et 2 980 cas, la Grèce a été moins touchée que ses partenaires européens par la pandémie. Parmi les migrants, aucun décès de la maladie Covid-19 n’a été enregistré et seulement quelques dizaines de cas signalés, selon les autorités.
Plus de 33 000 demandeurs d’asile vivent dans cinq camps sur les îles de la mer Egée, dotés d’une capacité d’accueil pour seulement 5 400 personnes, et quelque 70 000 autres dans d’autres installations sur le continent. Les organisations de défense des droits de l’homme s’inquiètent de voir les droits des migrants entravés par les restrictions imposées pour lutter contre le coronavirus.

#covid-19#migrant#migration#Grèce#Malte#réfugiés#demandeursd'asile#camp#confinement#pandémie#conditions-sanitaires#santé#droit

Rescued migrants stranded on chartered Maltese tourist boats | Ap-top-news | wfmz.com
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#Mediterranee#Malte#coincé#bateau

▻https://apnews.com/41c1cd0704345110a7af44f3154a605c

https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/wfmz.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/71/4713da0f-78d5-59e6-a8a5-db084fb18208/5ed7a25ed6bbe.image.jpg?resize=945%2C630

VALLETTA, Malta (AP) — More than 400 migrants are living aboard pleasure cruise vessels bobbing in the sea off Malta, many of them for weeks now. But for them, it’s no pleasure, only uncertainty over their fate and they aren’t cruising anywhere.

Malte retient en mer plus de 400 migrants sur des navires de tourisme - InfoMigrants
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#Malte#refoulement#Mediterranee

►https://www.infomigrants.net/fr/post/25080/malte-retient-en-mer-plus-de-400-migrants-sur-des-navires-de-tourisme

https://scd.infomigrants.net/media/resize/my_image_big/bb042e6c11e20a5c47d4f23753fcacd3d21075cb.jpeg

Depuis fin avril, Malte retient systématiquement sur des navires touristiques positionnés au large de ses côtes tous les migrants secourus en mer dans ses eaux territoriales. On compte désormais plus de 400 personnes retenues à bord de quatre ferries sans avoir eu accès à des avocats, des interprètes ou des agents du HCR.

Italy considers charges over Malta’s ’shocking’ refusal to rescue migrants | Global development | The Guardian
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#Italie#Malte#refoulement#Mediterranee

►https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/may/29/italy-considers-charges-over-maltas-shocking-refusal-to-rescue-migrants
►https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/f29430126da6e15f04ee2e3932fc4f6af21bebae/0_146_4715_2829/master/4715.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-ali

The Italian government has confirmed that Malta’s armed forces turned a migrant boat away at gunpoint from Maltese waters, after giving them fuel and the GPS coordinates to reach Italy.

Malte : le premier ministre blanchi après une enquête sur la mort de migrants
▻https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2020/05/31/malte-le-premier-ministre-blanchi-apres-une-enquete-sur-la-mort-de-migrants_

A la mi-avril des ONG avaient accusé les autorités maltaises de ne pas avoir secouru des migrants à la dérive, y compris dans leurs eaux territoriales, ce que démentait La Valette, qui a fermé ses ports aux migrants à cause de la pandémie de Covid-19. N’étant pas parvenu à atteindre les côtes européennes, un de ces bateaux de migrants avait regagné la Libye. Selon des ONG, cinq de ses occupants étaient morts tandis que sept autres sont portés disparus.

#covid-19#migrant#migration#Malte#décès#fermeture-frontières#pandémie#UE#santé

Malta-Libya deal sets up centres ’against illegal migration’
#Covid-19 #Migration#Migrant#Malte#centrederetention#Libye Mediterranee
►https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/abela-ministers-return-from-libya-after-positive-migration-talks.79484

https://cdn-attachments.timesofmalta.com/0382839ed202f9c88056fe4c97aa63d242a551f1-1590667876-5ecfaa64-1200x630.jpg

Malta and Libya will be setting up units to coordinate operations against illegal migration, the government said on Thursday.

Malte accusée de refouler des migrants naufragés
►https://www.ouest-france.fr/monde/migrants/malte-accusee-de-refouler-des-migrants-naufrages-6846635
▻https://media.ouest-france.fr/v1/pictures/MjAyMDA1YTcxYmQwNzBhODg0MjE3MjA1NWZlMDg5YmE1ODAxMDM?width=1260&he
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#Libye#Malte#refoulement#naufrage#mediterranee

Malte accusée de refouler des migrants naufragés
Ouest-France Patrick ANGEVIN. Publié le 26/05/2020
►https://www.ouest-france.fr/monde/migrants/malte-accusee-de-refouler-des-migrants-naufrages-6846635

(...) Il y a plus grave. Une enquête criminelle a été ouverte à La Valette, à l’initiative de l’ONG locale Republikka, sur le déroulement d’une opération de « secours » à la mi-avril. Les naufragés d’une embarcation, partie de Libye avec 63 passagers, ont été pris en charge par un chalutier, le Dar es-Salam 1, qui les a ramenés à Tripoli le 19 avril. En tout cas, 51 survivants et 5 cadavres…

Les autorités maltaises ont reconnu que le Dar es-Salam 1 était bien l’un des trois chalutiers, avec le Salve Regina et le Tremar, qu’elles ont affrétés pour porter secours aux migrants. Des navires sous pavillon maltais, mais opérés par des marins étrangers, en majorité égyptiens.

Malte affirme être intervenue parce que l’embarcation dérivait depuis plusieurs jours, au vu et au su de l’Agence européenne Frontex (ce qui est vrai), mais qu’elle se trouvait dans les eaux sous responsabilité libyenne et que ses passagers pouvaient donc être renvoyés en Libye. Faux, dénoncent des ONG, dont AlarmPhone, qui assurent que les migrants ont été illégalement refoulés alors qu’ils se trouvaient dans la zone maltaise, coordonnées satellites de leurs téléphones à l’appui.

À Malte, le malaise est accentué par l’identité de l’homme chargé par le Premier ministre de coordonner l’opération, grâce à ses contacts avec les chefs de milices libyens. Devant la justice, Neville Gafa a confirmé qu’il avait assuré depuis deux ans cette « liaison ». Or Gafa est un intime d’un des principaux protagonistes de l’affaire Daphne Caruana Galizia, la journaliste assassinée en 2017 pour avoir fouiné de trop près sur la corruption au plus haut niveau de l’État maltais.

#Migrants #malte

Près de 300 migrants “parqués” par Malte sur des bateaux, en pleine mer
#Covid19#Mediterranee#coince#Malte#migration#migrant

▻https://www.courrierinternational.com/article/frontieres-pres-de-300-migrants-parques-par-malte-sur-des-bat

https://www.courrierinternational.com/sites/ci_master/files/styles/image_940/public/illustrations/thumbnails/rts38kos.jpg?itok=FmPqA2lf

Invoquant la pandémie de Covid-19, Malte a fermé ses ports en avril et refuse de laisser débarquer des réfugiés. Le pays a donc “logé” quelque 300 d’entre eux sur des bateaux touristiques, au large de ses côtes. Comme l’observent différents titres, une étrange jurisprudence s’est installée, pendant la pandémie, en matière migratoire.

L’ONU exhorte les pays européens à débarquer 160 migrants bloqués en Méditerranée
►https://www.ouest-france.fr/monde/migrants/l-onu-exhorte-les-pays-europeens-debarquer-160-migrants-bloques-en-medi
►https://media.ouest-france.fr/v1/pictures/MjAyMDA1Y2YxYzFiOTZhNDZjN2Q5ZDhjNGIyZjAwNWYwMWFlMjI?width=1260&he
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#Mediterranée#Libye#Malte

L’ONU exhorte les pays européens à débarquer 160 migrants bloqués en Méditerranée
►https://www.ouest-france.fr/monde/migrants/l-onu-exhorte-les-pays-europeens-debarquer-160-migrants-bloques-en-medi
►https://media.ouest-france.fr/v1/pictures/MjAyMDA1Y2YxYzFiOTZhNDZjN2Q5ZDhjNGIyZjAwNWYwMWFlMjI?width=1260&he
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#Mediterranée#Libye#Malte

L’ONU exhorte les pays européens à débarquer 160 migrants bloqués en Méditerranée
►https://www.ouest-france.fr/monde/migrants/l-onu-exhorte-les-pays-europeens-debarquer-160-migrants-bloques-en-medi
►https://media.ouest-france.fr/v1/pictures/MjAyMDA1Y2YxYzFiOTZhNDZjN2Q5ZDhjNGIyZjAwNWYwMWFlMjI?width=1260&he
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#Mediterranée#Libye#Malte

L’ONU exhorte les pays européens à débarquer 160 migrants bloqués en Méditerranée
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#Malte#Europe#OIM#Mediterranee#sauvetage

►https://www.ouest-france.fr/monde/migrants/l-onu-exhorte-les-pays-europeens-debarquer-160-migrants-bloques-en-medi
►https://media.ouest-france.fr/v1/pictures/MjAyMDA1Y2YxYzFiOTZhNDZjN2Q5ZDhjNGIyZjAwNWYwMWFlMjI?width=1260&he

L’ONU a exhorté l’Union européenne, ce jeudi 21 mai 2020, à trouver un accord sur la relocalisation des réfugiés afin de débarquer 160 migrants bloqués en Méditerranée depuis deux semaines.

’We give you 30 minutes’: Malta turns migrant boat away with directions to Italy | Global development | The Guardian
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#Mediterranee#Malte#refoulement

▻https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/may/20/we-give-you-30-minutes-malta-turns-migrant-boat-away-with-directions-to
▻https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/f4829c867dd07ee028a02c147141da38d7c947ec/60_0_1800_1080/master/1800.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-ali

Survivors say an armed forces’ patrol vessel intercepted an overloaded dinghy, giving the refugees fuel and GPS coordinates for Sicily

Dalli, Casa on Malta’s migration challenge: EU solidarity hard to come by
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#malte#Europe#Mediterranee

▻https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/europe/102326/dalli_casa_on_maltas_migration_challenge_eu_solidarity_hard_to_come_b

http://cdn.maltatoday.com.mt/ui_frontend/thumbnail/684/400/20190325111913-c-1.2_-_eu.png

Malta is a small country “doing what it can” in its bid to win EU solidarity on immigration, Labour MEP Miriam Dalli said during a press conference, with Nationalist MEP David Casa, on COVID-19 and the European Parliament.

COVID-19 at the borders of Europe

Webinar with :

– #Karen_Mets - Senior Advocacy Adviser - Asylum and Migration, Save the Children
– #Sara_Prestianni – Program Officer Asylum and Migration, Euromed Rights
– #Vicky_Skoumbi – Editor αληthεια Magazine and Director of the Greece Programme, Collège de Philosophie de Paris
– #Alexandra_Embiricos- Policy and Legal Associate, UNHCR EU Representation

▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6PvSXftKIg&feature=youtu.be

ping @karine4 @isskein @luciebacon @thomas_lacroix @mobileborders @_kg_

€3,000-a-day for Captain Morgan vessels to house migrants offshore
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#Malte#Mediterranee#fermeture

▻https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/captain-morgan-vessels-housing-migrants-costing-3000-each-daily.791378

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Government applies for EU funding to cover costs

Malta pulls out of new EU Libya sea patrols in migration row - Reuters
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#Malte#Europe#Mediterranee

▻https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-libya-idUSKBN22K1UT

https://s4.reutersmedia.net/resources_v2/images/rcom-default.png

VALETTA/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Malta told its European Union partners on Friday it would no longer take part in a new Mediterranean mission to stop more arms reach warring factions in Libya, just four days after the naval and air operation began patrols.

A Maltese government spokesman and two EU diplomats told Reuters the decision was in protest at what Valetta said was an EU failure to help deal with migrants arriving from Libya, where the conflict has escalated sharply since April.