Displaying items by tag: migrants

In a rare move, 17 Church of England bishops have united with church leaders of other denominations to urge the government to end indefinite detention, This move followed a BBC documentary describing Brook House immigration centre as 'a toxic, brutal and a failing environment where self-harming is commonplace'. Data from the Migration Observatory showed that in the final quarter of 2016, 2,573 of the 7,078 migrants released from detention had been held for more than 28 days, and 53 had been held for over a year. In a letter to the Telegraph on 6 September, the bishops say they are 'deeply concerned' by the findings, and accuse 'some politicians and sectors of the media' of dehumanising immigrants. The complaint was organised by former G4S manager and now whistle-blower and priest, Nathan Ward.

Faiez Serraj, head of the UN-backed unity government in Tripoli, has said that Europe is at risk from terrorists posing as migrants unless western capitals help Libya stem the numbers crossing the Mediterranean. He claimed that would-be terrorists were among the tens of thousands of people passing unvetted into Italy across its open southern borders. If this is the case, all the EU will be affected. His comments follow last week’s terrorist attacks in Spain, which police have linked to radical groups in North Africa. Nearly 98,000 migrants have crossed from Libya to Italy this year, almost as many as last year, and there are at least another 700,000 in the country. There is clear evidence of a modern-day slave trade on these routes, and Italy’s social and democratic fabric is under threat amid growing public intolerance to migrants.

Italy's coastguard reports that at least 34 migrants (some of them children) have drowned off the Libyan coast. The overcrowded boat was carrying about 500 migrants when it listed, sending about 200 people into the water, and triggering a frantic search for survivors. Good weather has prompted an increase in the number of migrants leaving Libya for Italy. The waters are busy with Italian and Libyan coastguard boats, humanitarian vessels, and even scavenger boats hoping to recover abandoned equipment. An NGO reported a Libyan coastguard vessel firing gunshots as it conducted a rescue. The boat was already carrying migrants, presumably picked up from other vessels, who panicked and threw themselves overboard, only to be shot at. ‘We cannot say whether and how many dead there were,’ the 25-year-old captain, named Jonas, was quoted as saying. ‘We had to be careful not to get a bullet ourselves. We are speechless against this crude violence.’