BBC News | Migrant crisis: Spain arrivals triple compared with 2016 BBC News Three times as many migrants have arrived in Spain so far this year compared to the same period in 2016, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says. It means the number of sea arrivals in Spain - at 8,385 - could overtake Greece, which has ... |
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Migrant crisis: Spain arrivals triple compared with 2016 - BBC News
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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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MIGRANT CRISIS: 1000 storm Spanish border fence in second day of chaos - Express.co.uk
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.
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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.
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Watch: Sunbathers Look On as Migrants Arrive on Spanish Beach - New York Times
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.
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.
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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.
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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.