Italy said that planes used by charities to track migrant boats in difficulty would no longer be able to fly from airports on the islands of Sicily, Pantelleria and Lampedusa that are close to the shipping routes.
The decision, announced by the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC), will make it much harder for non-governmental groups like Sea Watch to use its small planes to scour the central Mediterranean for boats in need of rescue.
In a written ordinance, ENAC said the planes were “unwarranted,” represented a burden for the official rescue teams and risked compromising the safety of undocumented migrants.
Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesman for the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), said the Italian decision “may hinder life-saving efforts”, and added that his agency was “waiting to understand its actual implementation.”
Since then, her government has made it increasingly difficult for charity ships to operate in the Mediterranean, limiting the number of rescues they can carry out and often forcing them to make huge detours to bring migrants ashore.
She has also worked with the European Union to persuade both Libya and Tunisia to slow the flows, and has signed an unprecedented deal with Albania to build migrant holding centres there.
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So the planes aren't searching for migrants. They are just going for a nice Mediterranean sight-seeing trip! But if they see boats in distress, it's their duty to report them! And if the airport denies their landing because they are doing their due diligence, well I guess they didn't plan to have to fly an extra hour away so now they don't have the fuel to make it there. Time for an emergency landing which pretty much every airport respects.
Since italy pays those countries to "guard their coasts", there have been many instances where peoples were forced to board these ships and "charity ships" were notified before hand in a sort of human-traffic type of business that makes profitable to enlarge the issue, there are multiple sides to these stories, It's not that simple unfortunately...not that I agree with what Italy is currently doing rn of course
That "charity ship” claim is a fabrication by right-wing media that has no basis in truth and has been even thrown out of court in Italy. Please stop perpetuating such lies.
What is actually happening is that they are paying Libyanese mafia militia for illegal push back operations and they don't want witnesses for that.
If I understand correctly, they are just not letting the planes belonging to the charities to fly out of those fields. So it's not the landing that's prohibited, it's they can't base themselves there.
Also, you technically are required to take an extra hour of fuel because airports close all the time. In theory, the airport has the right to tell you to land it in the field sonewhere.
Not that I support the Italian government in this shady shit.
I distinctly remember a news from years ago of a small town mayor from Southern Italy, who was warmly and openly welcoming migrants to prevent depopulation and revive his town, but was arrested for whatever reason. Granted, there could be more to nuance to this, but this also happened during the time when Mateo Salvini's far-right party is in a coalition government (now the Italian government is firmly on the further right with Georgia Meloni as PM in coalition with Salvini). So, the arrest of that small town mayor is probably politically motivated and sending signal to toe the line and with far-right policies.
As far as I remember, the mayor was arrested because he colluted with mafia and stole the money needed for the migrants, but feel free to keep your narrative
In a written ordinance, ENAC said the planes were “unwarranted,” represented a burden for the official rescue teams and risked compromising the safety of undocumented migrants.
Seriously? What mental gymnastics went into that excuse?
European migration laws forces these people to conduct this dangerous voyage because you can't get asylum without crossing the border. These operations are stimulating people to set out on the dangerous journey. It's the cobra effect.
Migration laws should allow people to apply for asylum in their respective country without risking their lives on a makeshift raft over ocean. Volunteers searching for these boats off shore are stimulating more trafficking of migrants.
These migrants are transported by people making money of their missery. There is no safety measures or care if they make it or not. It's a machine making money. Not humanitarian intents.
This is one of these "maybe true in theory" but counter productive arguments.
Irregular migration has been on the rise for many years and the ratio of success is high enough that people risk it regardless of whether or not there are planes looking for ships in distress.
But there is another reason why the Italian government doesn't want these planes flying: they are unwelcome witnesses to illegal pushback operations that the Italians and Maltese (and Frontex) are doing in cooperation with Libyanese Mafia militia.
European migration laws forces these people to conduct this dangerous voyage because you can’t get asylum without crossing the border.
Offshore resettlement programs exist in Europe and around the world. The problem is that there exists little incentive for people to remain in a refugee camp for what could be years when the option of travelling directly to their country of choice is an available option.
A solution is for countries to relocate all asylum seekers back to these refugee camps where they have no option but to wait with everyone else for resettlement. There would be no incentive to risk your life to cross a border if you're just going to end up back in a refugee camp along with other people who are waiting.
Currently, in my country at least, there is an onshore humanitarian program and an offshore humanitarian program. Most of the people granted refugee visas in the offshore program are from war-torn countries like Afghanistan or Syria who escaped to a third country. The top five countries of origin for those that apply for onshore protection are from tourist destinations that haven't seen war in decades. Hosting asylum seekers in UN refugee camps also helps prioritise those most in need.
Partially, but it is also that due to wage and PPP differences a single person with a mediocre job in the EU can support an entire extended family back in their home country. Changing that is not so easy, especially when it largely comes down to PPP and lifestyle differences.
IMHO as much as I agree that it would be great for people to not feel a lot of pressure to leave their home countries to look for a better life, maybe the more realistic option is to try and find a way to make this migration more beneficial for both sides (which it already largely is, but we could do better).
Greta Thunberg has accused Israel of “artwashing” its reputation at the Eurovision Song Contest after she joined pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a boycott of the event.
Israeli act Eden Golan, whose emotional song Hurricane was reworked from a previous track called October Rain, thought to be a reference to the Hamas attacks on Israel, will take part in the final on Saturday evening.
Thunberg said: “People from all over Sweden are gathering in Malmo this week, where Eurovision is taking place, to protest against Israel’s participation in the competition.
Israel has denied any accusations of genocide, which is a specific crime when certain acts are committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
The demonstrators, who were condemning Israel taking part in Eurovision amid the conflict in Gaza, walked through the streets of Malmo from Stortorget to Molleplatsen.
The event’s organiser said it would not censor the audience and encouraged the crowd to “attend in the spirit of the contest, embracing its values of inclusivity, celebrating diversity and being united by music”.
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The event’s organiser said it would not censor the audience
And then deployed anti-boo filters and artificial applause to censor the audience booing and shouting "free Palestine" as the representative of the fascist apartheid regime was performing.
She is a legend and I hope she knows it. I love how she sticks up to what’s right and doesn’t limit her activism to climate change alone. It goes to show how climate activism is all about human rights and dignity which makes her activism against the genocide in Gaza not that surprising to me.
independent.co.uk
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