ON BOARD THE AQUARIUS, Undefined | AFP | The Libyan coastguard on Sunday prevented a rescue ship belonging to two NGOs from approaching a boat in distress carrying migrants, an AFP photographer witnessed. The Aquarius, chartered by SOS-Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), was informed by the Italian coastguard of …
Read More »Five migrants die off Morocco as Spain searches for more boats
Madrid, Spain | AFP | Five migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean, the Spanish coastguard said Thursday after rescuing more than 180 others, while they searched for another two boats with dozens aboard. Rescue boats, helicopters and planes from southern Spain carried out a series of rescue operations …
Read More »Merkel denounces new anti-Semitism from Arab refugees
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel denounced the emergence of “another form of anti-Semitism” from refugees of Arab origin in Germany, in an interview with Israeli television broadcast on Sunday. “We have a new phenomenon, as we have many refugees among whom there are, for example, people …
Read More »11 migrants dead, 263 rescued off Libya coast: navy
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | At least eleven migrants died at sea and another 263 were rescued on Sunday in two separate operations off the coast of Libya, the country’s navy said. In the first operation, “a coastguard patrol… was able to rescue 83 illegal migrants and recovered 11 bodies …
Read More »Number of migrants detained in Libya down sharply: government
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | The number of migrants detained in Libya has dropped by four-fifths since May 2017, a senior government official told AFP on Monday. General Mohammad Bishr, head of a government department set up to tackle clandestine migration, said the number of migrants held by authorities had …
Read More »Israel freeing 207 African migrants from prison
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israel on Sunday began freeing 207 African migrants from prison following a supreme court ruling after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu controversially reversed a deal with the UN refugee agency on the detainees’ fate. By early evening, a spokeswoman for the immigration authority told AFP, about …
Read More »Britain offers expertise for Libya to curb migration
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | A visiting British minister on Monday offered his country’s “technical expertise and practical support” to help curb illegal immigration through Libya, a hub for African migrants bound for Europe. “We discussed how we can help and support those who are working in such a difficult …
Read More »EU tracking 65,000 migrant smugglers: Europol
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | European law enforcement officials say they are tracking at least 65,000 migrant smugglers, twice as many as at the height of the migration crisis three years ago, as the illegal trade booms. Despite a drop in the number of migrants successfully crossing the Mediterranean since …
Read More »Four migrants found dead off Spain, others missing: rescuers
Madrid, Spain | AFP | At least four migrants were found dead off Spain on Sunday, with others who had been on board a make-shift boat missing, rescuers said. The bodies were recovered in the waters of the Strait of Gibraltar between Morocco and southern Spain. Rescuers found one survivor …
Read More »Trump gives many Liberians a year to quit US
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump decided Tuesday to end the protected status of thousands of Liberian migrants to the United States and gave them a year to leave the country. It’s the latest of similar moves, after more than 250,000 Salvadorans, Haitians and Nicaraguans lost …
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