Decisions and Priorities Imposed Without Risk Evaluation

On Monday 27 November the Aquarius landed at Catania with 421 people on board, the majority Eritrean. There were also five men from Egypt, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Pakistan and South Sudan. The percentage of women on board was very high – 40% – of whom 7 were pregnant. There were 98 minors, of whom 60 were unaccompanied. Three people had to be taken to hospital during the landing operation, including a woman in the ninth month of pregnancy whose waters broke.

Borderline Sicilia On Board the Sea Watch 3: The Intervention of the Libyan Coast Guard Brings Death and Refoulment

Press release – The landing operation of the Sea Watch 3 at the port of Pozzallo came to a close this morning at midday. Police, carabinieri, Frontex and EASO agents were waiting on the quayside, as well as staff from the main governmental organisations and NGOs active in Sicily. There were also workers and legal assistants from Borderline Sicily.

The Sea Watch 3 docks in at Pozzallo. Photo: Viola Gastaldi

Criminalising Those Who Rescue, Supporting Those Who Arm: The New Strategies Of The War On Migrants

The Golfo Azzurro, the vessel belonging to the NGO Proactiva, arrived at the port of Catania on Thursday morning with 490 migrants on board, including a group who had survived a shipwreck. At least eight people died, the bodies of whom were transferred to the Vos Hestia (Save the Chidren) although there are strong suspicions that many other bodies have disappeared, swallowed up all too quickly by the sea.

From On-Board Police To The Ban: What's In The NGO Code Of Conduct

Redattoresociale.it – The new rules proposed by Italy for the NGOs carrying out sea rescues are at the centre of heated debate. But what do they say in detail? Which are the controversial points? Below is a summary.

"They Leave As People, They Arrive As Ghosts” Shipwrecks And Push-Backs At Sea. Italy Closes The Doors, Including To Those Who Manage To Arrive

On June 12th a Swedish ship belonging to Frontex landed at Catania, with 356 migrants on board and 8 bodies. The survivors spoke of a dozen missing and the collapse of their rubber boat, packed with people far beyond its capacity. Only a few days later, a group of Sudanese migrants reported a boat which had broken apart after two days at sea, from which only a dozen people had been saved. Other refugees reported having met Syrian women and children in Libya: they had just been “brought back” to the departure point by the local Coast Guard and themselves told of having seen other small wooden boats go under.

The Italian Coast Guard vessel Diciotti in port at Catania

The Reason the NGOs Are Being Attacked Right Now

Exactly a week after the press conference held on board the Aquarius, the SOS Mediterranee and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) ship has come back in to port at Catania. Despite the vehement criticisms, the NGOs have continued to patrol the Mediterranean and rescue migrants, saving hundreds of people from certain death and demonstrating that sea rescue missions are more necessary today than ever before.

The Aquarius at Catania

Breaking the Silence

Pozzallo, Augusta, Catania, Lampedusa, Palermo: people continue to arrive in Sicily, crossing the sea from Libya. In the bays of the coastline, the rescue missions continue, as do the shipwrecks and death. Migrants are dying in the freezer trucks which transport them like the cargo they have become from the deserts to the Libyan coast, from where the attempt to reach Europe is usually made. Those who found themselves cited in the daily papers last week make up only a small percentage of the thousands who are trafficked every day. Whoever does make it to Italy tries to explain the horrors they have seen, far too often left unheard.

Photo: The arrival of the Golfo Azzuro into the port of Pozzallo

Refugees at a Distance: New Victims Amid the Complete Silence of Fortress Europe

“Europe talks about migrants as refugees only when they're at a distance, still in the countries of transit or where a war is unfolding. When we manage to cross the borders, we immediately become simply numbers, talked about as nothing but a problem.” 'L'. is from Senegal, and just a little over 20 years old, the last five of those years spent in a journey to reach Fortress Europe, where he arrived three years ago. He tries to stay calm and composed while speaking, even if the resulting tone makes his anger and frustration clear enough, and the pain which he tries to swallow down every day.

Deaths, Rejections and Vulnerable Detentions in the Pozzallo Hotspot: The Daily Tragedy of Those Fleeing to Europe

On average there are four landings every week at Sicilian ports alone, along with dozens of deaths and an imprecise number of people missing at sea. We're at the beginning of December, but the departures from Libya continue, with ever less certainty of arriving in Europe. The first round of shared training between the Libyan Coast Guard and the Italian Navy has just come to a conclusion on board the navy vessel San Giorgio, carried out by the European Union Naval Force, within the remit of the EUNAVFORMED operation Sophia. At the same time, the various humanitarian maritime missions, including the Bourbon Argos and the Dignity of Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children's Vos Hestia and MOAS*'s Phoenix will soon be concluding their own rescue operations for several months.

Hell at Sea

On the night of October 21st, Noëmi Landolt found herself on board the Sea-Watch 2, a ship belonging to Sea-Watch, a German NGO, trying to save the 150 passengers of a dinghy in difficulty off the coast of Libya. The Libyan Coast Guard intervened, attacking the migrants and hitting them with sticks. Many ended up in the water and died. The following article, published in the newspaper WOZ (Die Wochenzeitung), tells her story of that terrible night.

Libyan Coast Guard causes multiple dead - 2016/10/21 Incident Report

During the night to friday (21.10.2016) an aggressive attack of a self proclaimed Libyan Coast Guard vessel took place during one of our rescue operations in consequence, up to 30 refugees have drowned. A Speedboat of the Libyan naval forces had initially prevented a Sea-Watch rescue operation on duty of the MRCC in Rome in international waters, furthermore a situation of panic was caused by the interference in which nearly all approx. 150 people on the migrant boat fell into the water, many have drowned.

Read here the statement of Sea-Watch.

Libyan coastguard attacks Sea-Watch during rescue operation, causing deaths

We learn of an attack by the Libyan coastguard on a dinghy loaded with migrants during a rescue operation by the crew of the Sea-Watch 2. The following is their press release.