Archive for the ‘Migrant Crisis’ Category

MIGRANT CRISIS: 1000 storm Spanish border fence in second day of chaos – Express.co.uk

Three Spanish civil guards and dozens of police officers were left injured as they tried to stop the arrival of an estimated 1,000 sub-Saharans migrants.

The violent clashes came as migrants attempted to storm the borders of Spain's two enclaves in northern Africa, Ceuta and Melilla.

It comes a day after more than 100 migrants ran through one gate in the fence usually used as a border control.

REUTERS

And on Tuesday, dozens of sub-Saharan immigrants launched an assault on the border perimeter separating the autonomous city of Ceuta from Morocco at 6 am.

On this occasion, Moroccan authorities ensured that only around 300 immigrants managed to reach the border fence, where they were stopped by agents of the Civil Guard.

The Civil Guard Command of Ceuta reported large groups of sub-Saharan migrants throwing rocks and sticks in frustration in a bid to cross the border.

Getty Images

1 of 10

Aid workers help migrants up the shore after making the crossing from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos on November 16, 2015 in Sikaminias, Greece

REUTERS

They were also reportedly armed with rudimentary spears and sharp objects.

The fresh attempt comes just 24 hours after 187 migrants reached Spanish territory following a rush across the border.

EPA

Many migrants try to enter Spain as a means of reaching other parts of Europe.

Arrivals through Ceuta and Melilla, as well as the number of migrants attempting to cross into Spain by sea from North Africa has risen this year, although the route between Libya and Italy remains the most popular.

Read more here:
MIGRANT CRISIS: 1000 storm Spanish border fence in second day of chaos - Express.co.uk

Migrant crisis triggers heightened risk of slavery in EU supply chains … – The Guardian

African migrant workers harvest tomatoes in farmlands in Puglia. Analysts said the risk of labour exploitation is likely to worsen in Italy over the next year, with agriculture a key sector of concern. Photograph: ROPI/Alamy

The migrant crisis has increased the risk of slavery and forced labour tainting supply chains in three-quarters of EU countries over the past year, researchers have found.

Romania, Italy, Cyprus and Bulgaria all key entry points into Europe for migrants vulnerable to exploitation were identified by risk analysts as particularly vulnerable to slavery and forced labour.

The annual modern slavery index, produced by Verisk Maplecroft, assessed the conditions that make labour exploitation more likely. Areas covered by the index include national legal frameworks and the severity, and frequency, of violations.

Countries outside Europe, such as North Korea and South Sudan, were judged to be at the greatest risk of modern slavery, but the researchers said the EU showed the largest increase in risk of any region over the past year.

In the past, the slavery story has been in supply chains in countries far away, like Thailand and Bangladesh, said Dr Alexandra Channer, a human rights analyst at Verisk Maplecroft. But it is now far closer to home and it is something that consumers, governments and businesses in the EU have to look out for. With the arrival of migrants, who are often trapped in modern slavery before they enter the workplace, the vulnerable population is expanding.

The International Labour Organisation estimates that 21 million people worldwide are subject to some form of slavery.

The biggest global increase in the risk of slavery was in Romania, which rose 56 places in the index and is the only EU country classified as high risk.

Turkey came a close second, moving up 52 places, from medium risk to high risk. The influx of hundreds of thousands of Syrians fleeing war, combined with Turkeys restrictive work permit system, has led to thousands of refugees becoming part of an informal workforce, said the study.

The government, which is focused on political crackdown, does not prioritise labour violations, further adding to the risk. Over the past year, several large brands from Turkish textile factories have been associated with child labour and slavery.

The picture in Romania is more complex, researchers said. The countrys high risk category reflects more severe and frequent instances of modern slavery, but also reflects a greater number of criminal investigations in Romania, usually in collaboration with EU enforcement authorities.

Both Romania and Italy, which rose 17 places, have the worst reported violations in the EU, including severe forms of forced labour such as servitude and trafficking, the study said.

The EU, on average, remains at medium risk of modern slavery, the index said.

It found that even the EUs largest economies were not immune. The UK, which introduced the Modern Slavery Act in 2016, has experienced a slight negative shift in its scores, moving from low risk to medium.

It is marginal change, but the driver in the UK is [lack of] enforcement, said Channer.

She said that while there have been positive changes in the UK, such as the expanded powers and remit of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, new data revealed gaps in the UKs labour inspectorate. In Germany, which has also experienced an upward shift in its score, there was an increase in recorded trafficking and servitude violations.

A Guardian report this week revealed that the modern-day slave trade has taken root in Britain, with multiple trials exposing how Sports Direct had unwittingly used slave labour.

More than 100,000 migrants entered Europe by sea in the first seven months of 2017, 82% of whom landed in Italy, according to the International Organisation for Migration. Arrivals in Greece have fallen since the EU-Turkey deal, but the country is host to significant numbers of migrants. It rose 16 places in the index.

Due to the geographical shift in migrant sea arrivals, analysts expect the risk of modern slavery to worsen in Italy over the next year, with agriculture a major sector of concern.

The five worst countries globally, rated at extreme risk of modern slavery, were North Korea, Syria, South Sudan, Yemen and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The chief manufacturing hubs of Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand all featured in the extreme or high risk categories. However, India and Thailand have improved their scores, due to better efforts to enforce slavery-related laws.

See the rest here:
Migrant crisis triggers heightened risk of slavery in EU supply chains ... - The Guardian

Watch: Sunbathers Look On as Migrants Arrive on Spanish Beach – New York Times

The migrants scramble onto a packed beach and pull a black inflatable dinghy onto the sand.

The serenity of the stretch of beach is suddenly broken as sunbathers are jarred from their day in the sun. Moments later, the migrants scatter.

The footage, recorded Wednesday in Playa de los Alemanes in Cdiz province, Spain, is a reminder of the large number of refugees and migrants making their way into Europe, even as the everyday life of vacationers goes on.

Though attention has turned from the European refugee and migrant crisis, thousands of people are still making the dangerous sea crossing from North Africa into Europe, often smuggled by human traffickers on inflatable dinghies or old fishing vessels. The crossing is often deadly. Since January, more than 2,405 people have drowned in the Mediterranean while attempting it.

Nearly 117,000 migrants and refugees have entered Europe by sea so far this year, according to a recent report from the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency. The vast majority almost 83 percent arrived in Italy, while the rest were divided among Greece, Cyprus and Spain.

While the overall number of arrivals is down from this time last year, Spain saw a surge in migration in 2017. Earlier this week, the Spanish Red Cross said it had treated 186 migrants who stormed a border post at Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the North African coast. They entered the heavily policed border area from Morocco and clashed with officers at the border. Thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan attempt the crossing each year in a bid to enter Europe.

On Thursday, 700 migrants tried to enter Ceuta, with some attempting to climb the 20-foot tall barbed wire fence at the border. None made it across, according to a report from The Associated Press that cited the Interior Ministrys Office.

Go here to read the rest:
Watch: Sunbathers Look On as Migrants Arrive on Spanish Beach - New York Times

‘We’re in urban warfare’ Italy soldiers clash with migrants as locals ‘fear for families’ – Express.co.uk

The grainy video has prompted outrage from Naples residents who say such incidents are becoming more and more common in cities across southern Italy.

In the video, a group of soldiers are seen arresting a man outside a shop before others approach the troops and try to pull the detained man away, who is lying on the ground.

Two men eventually succeed in pulling the detained man away, but the soldiers catch up to them and try again to arrest the man as onlookers quickly gather around.

The video has sent shockwaves through Italy after receiving a huge response on social media.

FACEBOOK

Lello Cretella, who posted the video, wrote: Abandoned and betrayed! Episodes like these happen every day in our neighbourhood and everyone pretends not to see!

We feel alone and abandoned... we fear for us and our families!

Meanwhile, rightwing politician Matteo Salvini added: Men in our army are surrounded and attacked by dozens of immigrants who wanted to prevent the arrest of one of them.

We are now in urban warfare.

Getty Images

1 of 11

Refugees and migrants wait in a small rubber boat to be rescued off Lampedusa, Italy

Naples councillor Alessandro Gallo admitted: "The tension is very high every day.

Something very serious is happening with the army being surrounded. It is necessary to intervene."

As one of the largest countries on the Mediterranean coast, Italy has become a key point of entry for refugees and asylum seekers traveling to Europe.

The UNs International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates there are between 700,000 and one million people currently in Libya awaiting their chance to get into Europe.

Italy has demanded the UN takes the lead on the ongoing migrant crisis after finally losing patience with the European Union.

GETTY

The countrys foreign minister said it was time for the UN to tackle the situation in Libya, with thousands of people every month making their way across the Mediterranean Sea.

Angelino Alfano said it was time for the UN to face reality and to help stop the people trafficking and drowning.

He said: It is time for the UN to show its strategic role in the international chessboard.

There is a need for action at several levels: in the Libyan region, it is necessary to facilitate a wider dialogue between the actors involved in a common and peaceful road map and to reiterate to neighbouring countries the need to abandon conflict.

Read more:
'We're in urban warfare' Italy soldiers clash with migrants as locals 'fear for families' - Express.co.uk

Face It: There Is No Quick Fix In This Migrant Crisis | HuffPost UK – HuffPost UK

Standing on deck seeing children, women and men up to their waist in seawater because their boat is slowly deflating, world politics suddenly seem very far away. We are the only ones here, in international waters. No other vessels around for miles, and about 140 people on the verge of dying. The roaring engines of our RHIBS carry the sound of survival for the people in the sinking boat.

If an hour earlier the Italian coast guard hadn't directed us to this location, these people would have died. Pushed out from Libyan shores hours before without an NGO vessel - or any other vessel - close by. Pushed out to sea by smugglers, but also by violence, detention, persecution, corruption or the simple fact that they saw no future in the place where they were.

When we dock in Catania a few days later, British journalist Katie Hopkins and members of the anti-immigrant movement Defend Europe are there, saying that we did the wrong thing. We shrug, restock, get our engine fixed and set out again.

A week later, I see what could have happened if we wouldn't have been on time. The NGO ProActiva Open Arms have rescued more than 160 people from a deflating rubber boat, but during an earlier panic on the dinghy at least 13 people died, drowned, trampled on, suffocated, burned by the chemical mix of seawater and fuel.

We board Open Arms' vessel to collect the bodies, as we have a morgue on board and they don't. Never have I witnessed such a horrific scene. We put the bodies in new body bags and photograph them - the photos will be used by the Italian police in case of a criminal investigation into the causes of death.

We're in the heart of the migration and refugee crisis, the big story of our era. Worldwide, more than 65million people have fled their homes. Most of them find refuge in their own countries or region, some try and make it to Europe through the dangerous crossing to Italy, a route on which this year roughly one in 43 people dies. And Italy has been bearing that brunt on its own for years.

Europe's answer however is quite simple: let's keep the migrants out. But surely, Europe can do better than that?

Let's acknowledge the fact that the rescue vessels on the Mediterranean are not the solution for this crisis - although they are a life-or-death solution for the people on the flimsy boats.

But let's also acknowledge the fact that people always will find ways to flee, as they have been doing for centuries. NGOs are in the eye of a political storm right now, as they are considered a pull-factor by some. Yet far more important for people to leave their homes are the push factors mentioned above; conflict, persecution, corruption, abuse, the lack of a future.

The truth is, there is no quick fix for this issue. Ban the export of rubber boats to Libya? Sure. A Code of Conduct? We're always willing to constructively search for solutions as long as they don't go against human rights and our humanitarian mandate.

But they are not solutions for the people in the heart of this crisis, to those who aim to cross and who will keep on finding ways to get to a place where they hope to build a future for their children and families.

In the short term, Europe must install safe and legal routes for people to come to Europe. Among the 577 people we recently brought to Italy were 66 Syrians; families with young children. Many of them fled war in their country years ago and were now fleeing the violence in Libya. It's almost certain they'll get their asylum status, so why are we forcing them, families with children, to get on a flimsy boat? The same goes for Eritreans, of whom we brought more than 250 to safety last week; they'll get their status, so why can't they come to Europe legally?

The long term solution lies in tackling the root causes of mass migration. People flee violence, torture, slavery, poverty, the lack of opportunities. If we can take those causes away, people would no longer have a reason to leave their homes.

That, however, would take a different way of political thinking. It's about time the EU looked at those alternatives, instead of choosing borders over people. If it doesn't, people will keep looking for dangerous ways to come to Europe. And that will mean more lives being lost.

Read the original post:
Face It: There Is No Quick Fix In This Migrant Crisis | HuffPost UK - HuffPost UK