The boat containing the 350 refugees, most of them children and women, from Libya arrived in Italy on Saturday (26 / 3). It was the first boat to reach Europe since the beginning of the fight against Moammar Qaddafi.
Having served thousands of refugees from Tunisia and Egypt, early last month, Italy is now back to receive refugees from Libya, its neighbors in North Africa. Affairs, led by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and President Giorgio Napolitano that was overwhelmed and request assistance of foreign agencies after refugees invaded Tunisia and Egypt.
A spokesman for the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Italy, Laura Boldrini, AFP reported on Sunday said that a boat crowded with 350 refugees stranded near Lampedusa Libya on Saturday. "This is the first boat carrying refugees from Libya after the escalation of violence and acts of revenge in there. They need international protection, "he said.
At first, hundreds of refugees was to be evacuated to Lampedusa, the largest island in the cluster Pelagie Islands, the province of Agrigento in Sicily. The island is situated 250 kilometers from Sicily and 113 kilometers from the Tunisian it is the southernmost area of Italy in the Mediterranean.
Given Lampedusa already accommodate 15,000 refugees, mainly from Tunisia, Libya immigrants evacuated to Linosa, a small island near Lampedusa. They were then placed in holding centers.
Born children in the boat
Mussie Zerai, Eritrea in Italian Catholic priest, was the first to make contact directly by satellite phone with the boat. He said, conditions in the boat is very alarming. Inside were 10 children and 20 women, including pregnant women. They fled for fear of gun violence victims of the Western coalition, Qaddafi, and the opposition.
Zerai said the boat arrived in Italy after leaving Tripoli between Thursday and Friday nights. Four or five other boats carrying African migrants also have left the coast of Libya. The boats were carrying 1,000 people.
On the first boat there was one pregnant woman bleed Ethiopia. In the confusion and panic on the boat that she gave birth to a baby girl named Yeabsera, meaning Gift of God. Together mother and father, the baby was evacuated to Lampedusa by an Italian Navy helicopter and was referred to a hospital in Sicily.
A pregnant woman can also be evacuated from the other boat that was having engine trouble and was filled with water. The priest said, some refugees are bloody Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia. The boat was initially assisted by Canadian warships participated in the NATO alliance's mission to enforce the arms embargo in the waters of Libya.
Boldrini said that, until recently immigrants who arrived in Lampedusa is one of Tunisia. "This is the first boat from Libya," said Boldrini.
David Taylor, a spokesman for NATO's mission embargo is based in Naples, Italy, said, "We continue to monitor the situation. They (the refugees) told me, the Libyan military to force them to leave. "
Italy-Libya friendship agreement was signed in 2008. Since the beginning of the crisis Libya, Italy invaded break the agreement for fear of illegal immigrants if Qaddafi fall. Italian and European Union assistance. Qaddafi even says it will send "millions" of refugees to Italy
0 comments:
Post a Comment