Pope Francis has described some of Europe’s holding centres for migrants and refugees as concentration camps. The Roman Catholic leader made the comments while meeting migrants during a visit to a basilica in Rome. He thanked those who welcomed refugees but said that it appeared “international accords are more important than human rights”. The American … Read more
Charity boats rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean are colluding with traffickers in Libya, an Italian prosecutor was quoted as saying Sunday, stirring up a simmering row over aid groups’ role in Europe’s migrant crisis. In an interview with Italian daily La Stampa, Sicily-based prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro made his most specific claims yet over NGO activities … Read more
Ugandan motorbike taxi driver Sadiq Agotre grumbles as he waits for a rare client among thousands of South Sudanese refugees hoping to receive food rations in the outskirts of his town. “Business is not good. These people don’t have money,” he says, gazing out over a vast area that in only eight months has transformed … Read more
UNESCO awarded its prestigious peace prize on Wednesday to migrant rescue association SOS Mediterranee and the mayor of Lampedusa, the tiny Italian island on the frontline of the refugee crisis. The Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize goes to the European NGO and mayor Giuseppina Nicolini “for their work to save the lives of refugees and migrants … Read more
Thousands of migrants have been saved from the sea near Libya during one of the busiest weekends of the year for rescue workers. More than 2,000 people were rescued on Friday and 3,000 on Saturday in dozens of separate rescues, the Italian Coast Guard said. But at least seven people drowned as aid workers struggled … Read more
The Italian coastguard and other boats rescued some 3,000 migrants from unseaworthy boats off the Libyan coast on Saturday, as the good weather pushes the numbers up, a participating NGO said. In all 35 rescue operations were launched during the day, with 15 of them still underway as night fell, the coastguard said. German NGO … Read more
Rescue vessels in the Mediterranean worked flat out Friday to rescue over 2,000 people from flimsy dinghies as exhausted saviours accused the EU of turning a blind eye to the crisis. The Italian coast guard and five privately-run rescue boats plucked migrants from 16 overcrowded dinghies and three wooden vessels. After non-stop back-to-back rescues, a … Read more
At least 97 migrants were missing after their boat sank on Thursday off the Libyan coast, a navy spokesman said. Survivors said the missing include 15 women and five children, General Ayoub Qassem told AFP. He said the Libyan coastguard had rescued a further 23 migrants of various African nationalities just under 10 kilometres (6 … Read more
Africans trying to reach Europe are being sold by their captors in “slave markets” in Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says. Victims told IOM that after being detained by people smugglers or militia groups, they were taken to town squares or car parks to be sold. Migrants with skills like painting or tiling … Read more
African migrants trying to reach Europe are being sold into slavery in Libya, including for sex, for as little as $200, international monitors said Tuesday, citing testimony from victims. Having paid human traffickers in the hope of finding a better life many instead were held hostage and their families extorted for ransom. The International Organization … Read more
The European Union has reneged on pledges to help Libya fight migrant smuggling to Europe, UN-backed Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj charged Tuesday in a German newspaper interview. “Unfortunately Europe did not help us but made just empty promises,” Sarraj told Bild newspaper, referring to EU offers of aid to build up a Libyan coast … Read more
Driven back by police batons and snarling dogs, or beaten and robbed by the smugglers they relied on, migrants caught in Serbia have regularly been victims of violence as they struggle to reach Europe. About 8,000 migrants have been trapped in the country since the European Union closed its borders, hoping to block the so-called … Read more
Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamad Taher Siala on Friday urged the EU to rethink its naval operation in the Mediterranean, saying it comes with the side effect of encouraging migrants to attempt the perilous crossing to Europe. The European Union launched Operation Sophia in 2015 to crack down on smugglers on the high seas, after hundreds … Read more
Dozens of migrants were rescued off the coast of Cyprus on Wednesday after their small fishing boat ran aground near the holiday resort of Paphos, the island’s authorities said. Police said 92 migrants including 18 women and 46 children were safely brought to shore after arriving by boat, most probably from Turkey. A police official … Read more
About 146 migrants are feared missing after their boat capsized after leaving Libya, according to a Gambian man who was rescued following the disaster, the United Nations’ refugee agency said Wednesday. The man was rescued by a Spanish military ship participating in the EU’s “Operation Sophia” to crack down on smugglers, and then brought to … Read more
About 146 migrants are feared missing after their boat capsized after leaving Libya, according to a Gambian man who was rescued following the disaster, the United Nations’ refugee agency said Wednesday. The man was rescued by a Spanish military ship participating in the EU’s “Operation Sophia” to crack down on smugglers, and then brought to … Read more
More than 200 migrants are feared dead in a boat sinking off the coast of Libya, a Spanish aid organisation says. Proactiva Open Arms said it had recovered five bodies floating near two capsized boats, which can each hold more than 100 people. The group’s Laura Lanuza said the five they pulled from the Mediterranean … Read more
More than 200 migrants are feared dead in a boat sinking off the coast of Libya, a Spanish aid organisation says. Proactiva Open Arms said it had recovered five bodies floating near two capsized boats, which can each hold more than 100 people. The group’s Laura Lanuza said the five they pulled from the Mediterranean … Read more
More than 200 migrants are feared dead in a boat sinking off the coast of Libya, a Spanish aid organisation says. Proactiva Open Arms said it had recovered five bodies floating near two capsized boats, which can each hold more than 100 people. The group’s Laura Lanuza said the five they pulled from the Mediterranean … Read more
Around 250 African migrants are feared to have drowned in the Mediterranean after a charity’s rescue boat found five corpses and two partially submerged rubber dinghies off Libya, a spokeswoman said Thursday. Laura Lanuza of Spanish charity Proactiva Open Arms said its boat Golfo Azzuro had recovered the five dead bodies close to the dinghies, … Read more