“A Europa não pode acolher toda a miséria do mundo.” (
Michel Rocard ) . "Pois é cada vez mais óbvio que não pode, por muitos
argumentos que se avancem sobre o crescente défice demográfico de que sofrem
tantos países (incluindo o nosso)" Vicente
Jorge Silva/ 17-6-2018
Com os crescentes problemas das alterações climáticas a
avalanche de imigrantes ( “refugiados” do Clima ) só irá aumentar
progressivamente. Resolver os problemas na origem para evitar o tráfico
humano? Ler o artigo em baixo do
Guardian ( publicado há 1 ano ) sobre o
papel ambíguo das ONG nestas questões decisivas para o futuro da Europa e da
UE.
OVOODOCORVO
O deserto do Sara mata ainda mais migrantes do que o
Mediterrâneo
Argélia abandona milhares de pessoas no deserto
expulsando-as para o Níger.
Maria João Guimarães
MARIA JOÃO GUIMARÃES 26 de Junho de 2018, 6:40
Não há tantas provas de que o deserto mata, mas estima-se
que seja mais perigoso do que o mar
O mar Mediterrâneo tornou-se o símbolo das travessias
perigosas, dos barcos apinhados, dos migrantes e refugiados mortos, embora o
verdadeiro número nunca se saiba, provas de naufrágios e as suas vítimas davam,
por vezes, à costa. A rota é tida como a mais mortífera. Mas há um local em que
se estima que morram ainda mais pessoas, a maior parte das vezes sem deixar
vestígios: o deserto do Sara.
A Organização Internacional para as Migrações (OIM) e o Alto
Comissariado da ONU para os Refugiados (ACNUR) têm vindo a alertar para este
fenómeno. “Ainda não temos uma estimativa do número de mortos no deserto” do
Sara, declarou há meses o director para a África Ocidental e Central, Richard
Danziger, numa conferência em Genebra. Poderão ter morrido no deserto,
perdidas, com sede, exaustas e sob um calor de mais de 40 graus, até 30 mil
pessoas desde 2014. Sozinhas, com filhos, em pequenos grupos.
O que se sabe é através de pessoas que fizeram a viagem e
sobreviveram. Algumas, que conseguiram manter os seus telefones, gravaram o que
aconteceu para responsabilizar as autoridades. Porque muitas vezes o facto de
estas pessoas se encontrarem no meio do nada tem um responsável: as autoridades
fronteiriças de países, sobretudo da Argélia.
Ju Dennis, da Libéria, filmou a sua deportação com um
telefone que conseguiu manter escondido no corpo, conta a agência Associated
Press que recolheu uma série de testemunhos. Foi levado num camião junto com
dezenas de outros durante horas por quase estradas de areia, e deixado num
local chamado “ponto zero”, onde guardas armados lhe indicaram a direcção do
Níger – e lhe ordenaram para seguir viagem. Sem água, sem comida, sem
orientação. Há relatos de guardas a disparar quando os expulsos não andam
suficientemente depressa.
"Sentaram-se e deixámo-las"
São por vezes grupos de centenas de pessoas, mas depressa
começam a dividir-se. “Houve pessoas que não aguentaram. Sentaram-se e
deixámo-las”, contou pelo seu lado Aliou Kande, senegalês de 18 anos, que fez
uma viagem semelhante mas a partir do Mali. Nunca mais as viu.
A Argélia não publica dados sobre as expulsões de migrantes.
Mas a OIM diz que desde que começou a contar, em Maio de 2017 – quando 135
pessoas foram deixadas perto da fronteira para andar até ao Níger – que os
números não param de aumentar. Em Abril deste ano foram 2888. No total deste
período, sobreviveram 11.276 pessoas.
“Chegam aos milhares”, comentou Alhoussan Adouwal, responsável
da OIM na localidade de Assamaka (Níger), a mais perto da fronteira com a Argélia, encarregado de dar o
alerta quando chega um grupo. “A escala das expulsões que estou a ver agora,
nunca tinha visto nada semelhante”, disse à agência de notícias norte-americana.
“É uma catástrofe”.
A OIM e o ACNUR têm equipas a correr o deserto, e por vezes
conseguem salvar quem encontram a vaguear no calor. Algumas pessoas vagueiam
dias seguidos antes de serem salvas. Muitas outras não aguentam. Por vezes as
equipas encontram mortos – em 2013, num caso que chocou o país, durante cinco
dias foram sendo encontrado cadáveres. No final eram 92 corpos, incluindo de 33
mulheres e 52 crianças. Alguns estavam em pequenos grupos, outros morreram
sozinhos.
No Níger, os migrantes também se arriscam a ser abandonados
pelos traficantes. “Por vezes são enganados pelos traficantes, que fogem com o
seu dinheiro, deixando-os no meio do nada, num país que não conhecem, a tentar
ganhar dinheiro para continuar viagem ou voltar a casa”, descrevia Guiseppe
Loprete, responsável pelas operações da OIM no Níger, à agência de notícias das
Nações Unidas.
Um recente combate ao tráfico de pessoas das autoridades do
Níger levou a que os traficantes evitem agora parte da rota mais popular,
usando desvios e aumentando o perigo. Com a crescente penalização, também os
que lucram com a viagem são cada vez mais traficantes também de armas e droga.
Dos que se cruzam com as patrulhas das organizações
humanitárias, a maioria opta por seguir de autocarro até Arlit, a seis horas
numa estrada de areia de Assamaka. Daí vão até Agadez, a cidade do Níger na
rota de comércio há gerações, e que está agora no centro de vários tráficos.
Os avisos de quem sobreviveu
Em Agadez, quem é resgatado pelas equipas de socorro e faz a
viagem de regresso para o seu país (ou a sua terra, muitos são naturais do
Níger) transforma-se muitas vezes num porta-voz dos perigos da viagem quando se
cruzam com quem chega ali para na viagem para norte.
Daniel, dos Camarões, é um deles. Aos 26 anos saiu do seu
país com o irmão gémeo e o tio e sofreu nas mãos dos traficantes entre o Níger
e a Líbia, a paragem que se segue ao deserto do Sara. Na gradação de infernos
pelos quais é possível passar a Líbia e as torturas dos traficantes está num
lugar cimeiro.
Depois de lhes contar a sua história, de ser preso e
espancado por não ter mas dinheiro para dar aos traficantes, não sabe o que
decidem. “Isso é com eles, mas fiz a minha parte ao avisá-los”, conta no site
do ACNUR.
Na cidade, a Associated Press descreve como todas as
segundas-feiras à noite dezenas de carrinhas passam o posto de controlo para a
abandonar, cheias de pessoas com uma carga de garrafas de água para enfrentar o
Sara, de olhos fixos no que está em frente. A partir dali, só se vê pó.
NGO rescues off Libya encourage traffickers, says EU borders
chief
Head of Frontex calls for rescue operations in Med to be
re-evaluated and says NGOs work ineffectively with security agencies
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Mon 27 Feb 2017 14.47 GMT First published on Mon 27 Feb 2017
14.21 GMT
People trying to cross the Mediterranean are rescued by a
Maltese NGO and the Italian Red Cross off the Libyan coast. Photograph: Andreas
Solaro/AFP/Getty Images
NGOs who rescue people in the sea off Libya are encouraging
traffickers who profit from dangerous Mediterranean crossings, the head of the
EU border agency Frontex has said.
Speaking to Germany’s Die Welt newspaper, Fabrice Leggeri
called for rescue operations to be re-evaluated and accused NGOs of
ineffectively cooperating with security agencies against human traffickers.
The comments provoked a bitter row with charities and leftwing
groups, who said there was no evidence of a lack of cooperation and that the
alternative to rescue operations was to leave people to their deaths.
Leggeri said 40% of recent rescue operations at sea off the
north African country were carried out by non-government organisations, making
it impossible to check the origins of the migrants or their smuggling routes if
the NGOs did not cooperate.
Luise Amtsberg, spokeswoman on refugees for the Greens in
the German parliament, denounced Leggeri’s comments. “The number of dead would
be much higher without the tireless commitment of non-governmental
organisations so we are indebted to these organisations,” she said.
In his interview, Leggeri said that under maritime law
everyone at sea had a duty to rescue vessels and people in distress. “But we
must avoid supporting the business of criminal networks and traffickers in
Libya through European vessels picking up migrants ever closer to the Libyan
coast.
“This leads traffickers to force even more migrants on to
unseaworthy boats with insufficient water and fuel than in previous years.”
He also claimed some NGOs cooperated poorly with EU security
agencies, which “makes it more difficult ... to gain information on trafficking
networks through interviews with migrants and to open police investigations”.
MSF labelled the charges “extremely serious and damaging”
and said its humanitarian action was not “the cause but a response” to the
crisis.
Aurélie Ponthieu, the humanitarian adviser on displacement
at Médecins Sans Frontières, said its only purpose was to save lives.
“It is very disturbing that we are hearing these criticisms
from Frontex via the media when they will not meet with us,” she said. “We have
asked for a meeting to respond to these criticisms and there is no reply.
“What is the alternative but to let even more people die? We
are not encouraging the smugglers, but it is not our job to act as a law
enforcement agency … [and] not our job to cooperate with law enforcement
agencies about the smugglers.
“We are a humanitarian agency, and we carry out proactive
search and rescue operations because the alternative is that hundreds of people
will die from drowning, asphyxiation and dehydration. If we just wait 60 miles
out to sea for boats that may pass by chance, rather than going to the areas
where the smugglers are operating, there will be many more deaths.”
The UN has said nightmarish conditions in Libya were helping
drive a surge in the numbers of migrants attempting to reach Italy in the
depths of winter.
European efforts to close the route are also thought to be
behind a 30-40% increase in the number of mainly African migrants who have
landed at Italian ports in the first two months of this year, compared with the
same period in 2015 and 2016.
More than 2,700 people have been rescued in recent days,
including a newborn delivered on a Norwegian police vessel, lifting the total
arrivals for January and February above 12,000.
Also speaking to Die Welt, the new president of the European
parliament, Antonio Tajani, proposed the EU should set up reception centres for
asylum seekers in Libya, taking over the role currently played by smugglers and
the state.
Tajani warned that unless Europe acted now 20 million
African people would come to Europe over the next few years.
The proposed Libyan detention centres should not become
“concentration camps” but should have adequate equipment to ensure refugees
live in dignified conditions with access to sufficient medical care, Tajani
added.
Conditions in more than 30 existing detention centres, both
those run illegally by smugglers and by militias nominally on behalf of the
Libyan ministry of justice, violate human rights, the EU has said.
A leaked report from the EU external action service
describes Libyan border management as “in a state of complete disarray and
unable to combat smuggling”, adding smuggling is “a low-risk, high-value”
source of income for organised crime.
Echoing the report, Leggeri added: “There is no stable
state. At present, we have virtually no contact at the operational level in
order to promote effective border protection. We are now helping to train 60
officers of a possibly future Libyan coastguard. But this is at most a
beginning.”
He said work to train a Libyan coastguard to operate inside
Libyan waters had only just begun. Overseas vessels are forbidden from
operating in Libyan waters, and cannot send back refugees rescued in
international waters.
Salvini’s Anti-Migrant League Surges in Italy Mayoral Vote
The center-right alliance won in traditionally left-wing
Tuscan cities including medieval Siena and Pisa. The League also won in Terni,
beating the candidate of the Five Star Movement, its national government
coalition partner
By Chiara Albanese
and Lorenzo Totaro
25 juni 2018 08:27 CEST Updated on 25 juni 2018 09:01 CEST
Almost 3 million
people called to vote in local elections
League wins in
left-wing Tuscany outposts including Siena
Matteo Salvini’s League surged in a second round of
municipal voting in Italy, confirming a steady pickup in support for the
anti-migrant party since March’s national elections.
Candidates from the League and traditional allies Forza
Italia and Brothers of Italy won in the second round of local votes in most
Italian cities, data on the Interior Ministry’s website show.
The center-right alliance won in traditionally left-wing
Tuscan cities including medieval Siena and Pisa. The League also won in Terni,
beating the candidate of the Five Star Movement, its national government
coalition partner.
Salvini called the result “historic” in a Facebook post
Monday. Support for the League has surged since the March 4 general election in
Italy and the party is now neck and neck with Five Star in the most recent
polls. Salvini’s party also outshone Five Star in the first round of city
elections on June 10.
Migrants Stance
Salvini, the country’s deputy prime minister and interior
minister, has become the most visible and outspoken member of the new
coalition, stopping migrant ships from reaching Italy and taunting French
President Emmanuel Macron.
Top Worry
Immigration is still the main concern of European Union
citizens
Following the election results, Salvini announced a trip to
Libya Monday to discuss plans to tackle the flow of migrants traveling from
Africa to Italy.
Macron Says EU Must Share Refugees, Expel Economic Migrants
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said an informal European
Union summit in Brussels Sunday set the right tone on immigration. According to
a government official, Italy is open to discussing an EU agreement on migrants
but will not accept anything on secondary movements at this stage.
Salvini thanks Libya for rescuing migrants as he lands in
Tripoli for talks
Matteo Salvini posted
a string of images on his Instagram account as he headed on a high-profile trip
across the Mediterranean
Nick Squires, rome
25 JUNE 2018 • 1:03PM
Matteo Salvini, Italy’s hardline interior minister, thanked
Libya’s coast guard for picking up more than 800 migrants in the Mediterranean
as he flew to Tripoli for the first time to discuss the migration crisis.
The migrants were returned to Libya after Italy’s new
populist government prevented humanitarian organisations from rescuing them.
“I thank from the bottom of my heart, both as a minister and
as a father, the Libyan coast guard for having saved and taken back 820
migrants, rendering in vain the work of traffickers and averting the
intervention of NGO ships,” Mr Salvini said.
But humanitarian groups condemned the move, saying that the
migrants would be returned to horrific conditions in squalid camps run by
Libyan militia and smugglers.
“It’s the biggest mass push-back in the history of the
Mediterranean,” said Oscar Camps, the founder of Proactiva Open Arms, a Spanish
NGO that has rescued thousands of migrants at sea.
Mr Salvini, who has struck a stridently anti-migrant tone
since taking office earlier this month, flew to Libya to cement ties with the
internationally-recognised government in Tripoli.
In a tweet, he said he had proposed the setting up of
migrant processing centres on Libya’s southern borders, to stop migrants from
creating a “bottleneck” along the coast.
While Mr Salvini’s threats to expel half a million
unauthorised migrants from Italy and to hold a census of Roma gypsies has
earned accusations of intolerance and racism, they have chimed with many
Italians.
His party, the hard-Right League, performed strongly in
local elections on Sunday.
The League triumphed in towns and cities across the country,
snatching traditionally centre-Left bastions such as Siena and Pisa in Tuscany
from the demoralised Democratic Party, which performed poorly.
The elections were a debacle for the Democratic Party, which
lost strongholds that it had governed continuously since the Second World War.
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