Mediaboss Marketing

A group of Liberian irregular migrants was among the latest victims of Greeces controversial pushback practice earlier this week. Four among them were found dead.

Rescued by the Turkish coast guard after Greece pushed their boat back into Turkish waters in the Aegean Sea on March 14, three women among the migrants said they would not have "survived if it was not for rescuers.

The coast guard spotted 56 irregular migrants aboard a rubber boat off the coast of Kuadas, a resort town in the western Turkish province of Aydn. The victims were taken ashore, visibly shaken by the experience. Julie Johnson, a 23-year-old pregnant Liberian woman among the survivors, told reporters on Friday that Greek forces intercepted them and started hitting migrants aboard their boat.

"I was screaming please do not kill me but they pushed me into the water. My husband threw me a life vest and I started swimming. I saw a Turkish gendarmerie on (the Turkish) shore from afar and started shouting for help. They took me to the coast and later to the hospital. I am grateful. If it were not for them, I wouldnt be alive, she said, narrating her ordeal.

Meanwhile,19-year-old Destiny Gekor said Greek sea police took all her possessions, including money and cell phone. "They then started hitting my stomach. I begged them to stop and cried. They pushed others into the sea, she said. "I saw a friend dying, she said amid tears. Gekor thanked Turkish officials for coming to their rescue and treating them for their wounds.

Hawa Johnson, an eight-month pregnant woman, 25, said she told Greek police she was pregnant, and they should not hit her but they shoved her and pushed her into the water.

Trkiye is a critical transit route for asylum-seekers hoping to cross into Europe in search of better lives, especially those fleeing war and prosecution in the larger Middle East and Northern Africa. Both human rights groups and media outlets have widely documented Greeces human rights breaches and violent anti-migrant policy.

Ankara too has repeatedly condemned Athens illegal practice of pushing back asylum-seekers, stressing that it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants, including women and children. While the Turkish coast guard has come to the rescue of thousands sent back by Greek authorities, countless others died at sea as boats full of refugees sank or capsized, especially in the Aegean Sea where both countries share a border.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) recorded nearly 2,000 migrants dead or missing in the Mediterranean Sea last year. A report by Trkiyes Ombudsman Institution said in July 2022 that Greece has pushed back nearly 42,000 migrants since 2020. Between Jan. 1 and Dec. 16, 2022, the Turkish Coast Guard Commands Aegean Command Station saved 47,498 irregular migrants in 1,550 separate cases across its areas of responsibility, over 18,000 of whom were victims of Greeces pushback policy.

Athens consistently denies the accusations despite abundant migrant testimonies, media evidence and international scrutiny. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis government since coming into office in 2019 has vowed to make his country "less attractive to asylum-seekers.

The migrant crisis in the Aegean and the broader Mediterranean remains unsolved.

Original post:
Pushed back by Greece, migrants saved by Trkiye recall ordeal | Daily Sabah - Daily Sabah

Malta has taken in just one irregular migrant from the sea so far this year as the number of arrivals to Italy has tripled, according to data from the UN and the Italian interior ministry.

The UNs Mediterranean operational portal shows that one person landed in Malta compared with 20,535 in Italy, which is three times as many as in the same period in 2022.

Sources said this person needed to be medically evacuated from a vessel.

I cannot exclude that Malta is [also] managing to lobby for effective interception on land in places like Al-Khums- Mark Micallef, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Malta has been accused of not doing enough to help migrants in distress at sea but geographical factors and a change in how governments are tackling the migrant crisis are also contributing factors, according to experts.

Geography plays a big part, explained Mark Micallef, director of the North Africa and Sahel Observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

Malta is impacted by the flows of migrants that depart from spots in Libya that are to the east of Tripoli, whereas Italy is affected mostly by spots to the west... the locations on the west of Tripoli are a lot more active, he said.

I cannot exclude that Malta is [also] managing to lobby for effective interception on land in places like Al-Khums [a Libyan coastal city east of Tripoli], he added.

Italys surge in numbers is largely due to the three days between March 9-11 when as many as 4,566 people landed.

Maurice Stiel from Alarm Phone, a hotline for refugees in distress in the Mediterranean, agrees that more crossings are being attempted from Tunisia but believes the main factor is Maltas systematic non-assistance policy.

Migrant boats nowadays are trying to cross the Maltese search and rescue zone in order to reach Lampedusa or even Sicily, which of course prolongs journeys and makes them more dangerous.

Migrants trying to escape from northern Africa, especially Libya, seem to be aware that they cannot rely on any assistance coming from Malta, he added.

Tamino Bohm, tactical coordinator for search and rescue NGO Sea Watch, also believes the small number of migrants is due to a lack of action on the part of Maltese authorities.

This is not a new trend and is connected to the current policies of the government, he said, observing that aircraft belonging to Armed Forces Malta (AFM) remain very active in southern waters and are passing information to the Libyan coastguard.

RELATED STORIES

Ive been doing this job for over six years, and the last time I saw the AFM rescue someone was so long ago I cant remember, he added, stressing that the number of migrants crossing the Maltese search and rescue zone had not changed.

In December, Times of Malta reported that according to NGO Sea Eye, Maltas Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) had instructed two merchant ships to ignore 45 people in distress at sea, warning in an email to one vessel that a rescue would be considered an interception on the high seas a crime under international law.

The government never says why a rescue was not attempted, who took the decision and what the criteria was... They need to justify their decision

Earlier this month, Malta hosted a meeting of ministers from five EU Mediterranean states, at which a more hardline approach focused on prevention and repatriation was discussed.

Last week, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri told parliament that Malta was continuing to insist that people traffickers must be countered, and the sea must be more intensively patrolled.

However, Neil Falzon, director of human rights NGO Aditus Foundation, called on the government to provide more information on why rescues are not attempted.

I dont think a state should measure success by people not turning up due to dying, he said, calling for more accountability.

The government never says why a rescue was not attempted, who took the decision and what the criteria was... They need to justify their decision this isnt a migration issue, its a democratic issue.

Some 375 people have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean as of March 19, according to the UN. As of Tuesday, a total of 27,532 migrants had arrived in Europe via countries in the so-called Med5 group, a group of Mediterranean countries who meet to discuss shared regional issues such as migration.

Most migrants arrived in Italy, with Spain the next largest recipient at 3,748 arrivals. Greece was next with 3,216, followed by Cyprus with 549 and finally Malta with one arrival.

When pressed for details as to why only one migrant has arrived in the country so far this year compared to the relatively high number of arrivals seen in other countries, the government did not respond.

Last year, there were 444 sea arrivals a 47 per cent decrease on 2021 arrivals with the majority of boats departing from Libya.

Independent journalism costs money. Support Times of Malta for the price of a coffee.

Link:
Malta has rescued just one migrant this year as numbers in Italy ... - Times of Malta

Labor traffickers are taking advantage of rising housing costs in Massachusetts to further exploit trafficked workers, an investigation by GBH News has found.

Interviews and court records revealed several cases of migrant workers coerced into laboring long hours with little to no pay, for fear of being turned out of housing provided by their employer.

The story, reported by the GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting, is part of Trafficking Inc., a global investigation in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists that reveals the networks of companies and people that draw profit from cross-border labor trafficking and sex trafficking.

Experts told GBH News that control of housing is one of the most effective ways traffickers can maintain control over laborers and Massachusetts is the state with the seventh highest housing costs in the country. A national survey of labor and sex trafficking survivors found that over 60% were recruited during a period of homelessness or housing instability, according to anti-trafficking organization Polaris.

Ongoing Trafficking Inc. investigations have found that labor trafficking cases are rarely filed in Massachusetts court because victims are afraid to speak out, and because law enforcement often mischaracterized forced labor cases as wage disputes.

Read the full story at GBH News.

More here:
Housing crisis used to coerce trafficked workers in Massachusetts ... - ICIJ.org

At least five African migrants died and another 28 are missing after their boat sank offTunisia. They had tried to cross the Mediterranean to Italy. This was reported by a local rights group.

Romadan Ben Omar, the official at theTunisian Forum for Social and Economic Rights, said that the coast guard rescued five migrants who had been on board the boat that sank off the coast of the city of Sfax, and that they were in a bad psychological condition.

Tunisian authorities were not immediately available for comment.

The coastline of Sfax has become a major departure point for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East for a shot at a better life in Europe.

The incident comes amid a significant increase of migration boats from theTunisian coast toward Italy and in the midst of a campaign byTunisian authorities of arrests targeting undocumented sub-Saharan African immigration.

According to unofficial United Nations data, 12,000 of those who have reached Italy this year set sail fromTunisia, compared with 1,300 in the same period of 2022. Previously, Libya was the main launch pad for migrants from the region.

Last month, President Kais Saied said in comments widely criticised by rights groups and the African Union that undocumented sub-Saharan African immigration was a conspiracy aimed at changing Tunisia's demographic make-up.

He ordered security forces to expel any migrants living inTunisiaillegally.

The order had led people to flee the country, even if they previously had no intention of making the dangerous crossing to Europe, a senior official with the United Nations said.

Tunisiais struggling with its worst financial crisis due to the disruption of negotiations with International Monetary Fund for a loan amid fears of default in debt repayment, raising concerns from Europe, especially neighboring Italy.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani previouslytold Reuters that Rome wanted the IMF to unblock the $1.9 billion loan toTunisia, fearful that without the cash the country would be destabilised, unleashing a new wave of migrants toward Europe.

With Reuters

Text initially published on: France 24

Read the original post:
Several dead, scores missing after migrant boat sinks off Tunisia - InfoMigrants

Theres a scene near the end of Tori and Lokita, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardennes strongest work in nearly a decade, that illustrates the difference the chasm, really between empathy and identification. Twelve-year-old Tori (Pablo Schils) and 17-year-old Lokita (Joely Mbundu), African-born immigrants who have made their way to a bustling Belgian city, are running for their lives, as they have been nearly all movie long. Injured and exhausted, Lokita makes her way to a remote stretch of road and flags down a passing car. The driver slows down, fixes her with a concerned stare and then, sizing up without understanding the situation, promptly drives away.

Our empathy with Tori and Lokita by this point is total, but I think the Dardenne brothers, without wagging their fingers too emphatically about it, want us to see that driver vanishing into the distance and admit that at least some of our identification lies with her. The moment passes in a flash, but the implication lingers as vividly as anything in this swift, urgent and palpably furious movie. We lose something when, whether out of self-preservation or ignorance or indifference, we turn away from the suffering of others. And the Dardennes, occupying their usual zone between clear-eyed moral parable and rough-hewn realist thriller, rebuke this apathy the best way they know how, by telling a story we can scarcely turn away from.

One of the unifying qualities of their much-acclaimed work and from La Promesse (1997) and The Son (2002) to LEnfant (2005) and Two Days, One Night (2014), you cant really go wrong with any of them is their ability to pinpoint essential truths about a characters life within a narrow time frame and a uniquely fraught set of circumstances. Tori and Lokita may be imaginary, but theres an uncanny truthfulness to nearly every moment we spend in their company, a sense that their lives are unfolding within, but also beyond, the cameras purview. The Dardennes sketch in a few details in passing Lokita emigrated from Benin, Tori from Cameroon but trust our imagination and curiosity to fill in the rest. We believe in Tori and Lokita, in part, because there is much about them well never know.

Its significant that the movie opens with an invasive, unnerving closeup of Lokita as she anxiously stumbles her way through a series of lies. Shes being questioned by the Belgian authorities about her relationship with Tori, who was accused of being a sorcerer child in Cameroon and has been granted political asylum here. Hoping to attain refugee status herself, Lokita claims that she and Tori are siblings separated years earlier but happily reunited during their journey overseas. The particulars may have been fabricated, but in every way that counts, the Dardennes suggest, Lokita is telling the truth. The bond that unites her and Tori, forged under mysterious but surely harrowing conditions, is far thicker than blood.

A sibling-like bond exists between the characters played by Pablo Schils and Joely Mbundu in Tori and Lokita.

(Sideshow and Janus Films)

They spend almost every moment together at the childrens shelter where they sleep and also at the Italian restaurant whose owner, Betim (a chillingly banal Alban Ukaj), uses them as couriers in his drug operation. Their wages consist of a few measly euros and leftover focaccia, though Betim does throw Lokita some extra cash after he sexually abuses her in private. Outside the restaurant, Lokita is regularly harassed by her traffickers, extortionists masquerading as local church workers who steal her money before she has the chance to send it home to her family. Locked in cruel cycles of debt and servitude, Lokita dreams of a better life; she longs to secure her papers, find steady work and make a home for herself and Tori.

That dream, elusive as it is, flickers wistfully into view at crucial moments of respite, notably when Tori and Lokita sing karaoke at the restaurant in an effort to warm up the crowd. Its their most pleasant job and the movies loveliest moment: As their voices sweetly blend, Tori stares lovingly up at Lokita, while she smiles down protectively at him. Theyll take turns protecting and saving each other over the course of the movie. You can tell theyve had a lot of practice already.

So when Lokita is sent to work at a secret cannabis factory for three months, in a sweltering hot room with no company or contact with anyone apart from Betims pitiless associates, its Tori who leaps boldly into action. The steps he takes to find and be with Lokita, to bring some warmth and comfort to her ordeal, show astonishing pluck and resourcefulness; they also lead to passages of breath-sapping suspense and quick, brutish violence. While the Dardennes are rightly extolled for their low-key artistry and philosophical depth, it isnt pointed out often enough that they continue to make some of the most gripping action movies around.

Bravery carries Pablo Schils Tori through a hellish existence.

(Sideshow and Janus Films)

The formal devices that brought the filmmakers to international prominence decades ago the restless, off-center camerawork (here by Benot Dervaux), the jagged editing (by Marie-Hlne Dozo), the absence of nondiegetic music have long since ceased to feel like devices. Thats partly because they have been so fully absorbed into the tradition of 21st century realist filmmaking and partly because they feel like natural points of entry into the lives of characters who are constantly on the move, who scarcely have a moment to breathe.

Tori may be small, but we see, in Schils physically nimble performance, what a sadly necessary advantage that can be when it comes to hiding in dark corners and squeezing through tight passages. Whether hes racing across a busy street or pedaling like mad on his two-wheeler, Tori is spiritual kin to several fast-moving youths from earlier Dardennes movies (especially Rosetta and The Kid With a Bike), who run as if their life depends on it because it usually does. But unlike some of those other protagonists, Tori and Lokita notably arent confronted with a sudden crisis of conscience as they struggle to survive and stay together. Their options are too limited, their worlds too closed off; its as if they cant even afford the burden of a moral dilemma.

The unremitting bleakness of their ordeal feels shockingly blunt even coming from the Dardennes, who, despite their rejection of sentimentality and uplift, have always maintained a sincere belief in the possibility of redemption. Without disclosing what happens, that possibility is suspended here as the Dardennes follow their characters story to its logical, unadorned and thoroughly devastating end. Some might see this as an active denial of Tori and Lokitas dramatic agency; still others might accuse the Dardennes, ludicrously, of exploiting their characters in the name of art. But I think that the filmmakers pessimism is inseparable from their compassion and that their compassion is inseparable from their rage.

That rage has many targets, some of which hover over this story in the abstract the migrant crisis, anti-Black racism, crime and poverty, bureaucratic intransigence, the innate tendency of systems and individuals to prey on the young and vulnerable in their midst and none of which are limited to the Belgian towns and cities where these filmmakers make their remarkable discoveries. The Dardennes are too honest to conceal their despair at the state of the world. They also know that the voicing of that despair can be its own small expression of hope.

Tori and Lokita

Not ratedIn French with English subtitlesRunning time: 1 hour, 28 minutesPlaying: Starts March 24 at Landmark Nuart, West Los Angeles

Read the original:
'Tori and Lokita' review: The Dardennes in strong form - Los Angeles Times