|
25 May 2009 The head of the UN refugee agency
wants the European Commission to organise talks on
Italy's controversial policy of sending back illegal
immigrants to Libya, a UN spokesman said Wednesday.
High Commissioner Antonio Guterres wanted Italy,
Malta, Libya and the UNHCR itself to discuss how to
handle the steady stream of migrants making the
perilous Mediterranean crossing, said spokesman Ron
Redmond.
The agency wanted to find "a more satisfactory
response" to the problem "following Italy's recent
'push-backs' to Libya," said a UNHCR statement.
The UNHCR recognized the pressure on Italy and other
EU countries, the statement added.
Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni and Libyan
officials on Tuesday discussed how to stem the flow of
illegal immigrants to Europe.
Maroni met Libyan Secretary of Pubic Security
Abdelfattah al-Obeidi for follow-up talks centring on
a 2008 agreement between the two countries to combat
illegal immigration from the north African nation.
The agreement "opens up new perspectives" for Libya
and Italy and Rome is ready to help Tripoli stem the
flow of illegal migrants to Europe.
"At the same time, UNHCR believes fundamental
principles are at stake and that these principles
ought to guide the response to such movements."
On May 12, the UNHCR wrote to the Italian government
expressing concern that its new policy of sending
refugees intercepted by its patrol boats back to Libya
undermined its legal obligation to provide asylum to
refugees.
That letter followed a diplomatic row between Italy
and Malta after a Maltese patrol boat with 66 rescued
illegal immigrants was refused entry to the southern
Italian island of Lampedusa.
Italian ministers have already rejected criticism of
the new policy from human rights groups and aid
agencies such as Human Rights Watch and Medecins Sans
Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders).
The Vatican has also expressed its concern at the new
policy.
Both Malta and Italy are grappling with a sharp spike
in illegal immigration from outside the European
Union, with 36,900 arriving in Italy last year -- a 75
percent increase from 2007.
Malta, whose population is about 400,000, saw a record
2,775 would-be immigrants landing in 2008.
Italy's holding centres for immigrants are like
"concentration camps", Prime Minister Silvio
Berlusconi said, adding it was more humane to send
migrant boats back to Libya than let them enter Italy.
Berlusconi's government has drawn strong criticism
from the United Nations and human rights groups for
its new policy of diverting migrants intercepted at
sea back to Libya.
"I think it is much easier ... to examine individual
situations in the country of origin, otherwise they
come here and go to a camp which, I should not be
saying this, is very similar to a concentration camp,"
Berlusconi told reporters.
EsinIslam.Com
|
Save
Add Comments To This Story