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Afghanistan Probes Reports Iranian Guards Forced Migrants Into River

Afghan officials were hunting on Sunday for Afghan migrants in a river bordering Iran after reports that Iranian border guards tortured dozens and threw them into the water to keep them out of Iran.

Authorities in western Herat province said they retrieved 12 bodies from the Harirud river and at least eight other people were missing.

The incident could trigger a diplomatic crisis between Iran and Afghanistan at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has seen an exodus of Afghan migrants from Iran, with many testing positive. Up to 2,000 Afghans cross the border from Iran, a coronavirus hotspot, into Herat each day.

Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said on Saturday an inquiry had been launched. A senior official in the presidential palace in Kabul said initial assessments suggested at least 70 Afghans trying to enter Iran from Herat were beaten and pushed into the Harirud river on Saturday.

Abbas Mousavi, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, said the “incident” took place on Afghan soil.

“Border guards of the Islamic Republic of Iran denied the occurrence of any events related to this on the soil of our country,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

Abdul Ghani Noori, governor of Herat’s Gulran district, said dozens of Afghan migrant workers were thrown into the river by members of the Iranian army.

“Iranian armymen used shovels and gunshots to injure Afghan workers and threw them in water,” Noori told Reuters, adding that some of the injured workers were being treated in a hospital.

Doctors at Herat District Hospital said they had received the bodies of Afghan migrants.

“So far, five bodies have been transferred to the hospital. Of these bodies, it’s clear that four died due to drowning,” said Aref Jalali, head of the hospital. He added that two injured men were brought to the hospital on Sunday evening.

The Taliban militant group, fighting to oust the Afghan government, said Iran should launch an investigation into the killings and “strictly punish the perpetrators”.

“We have learnt that 57 Afghans on their way to the Islamic Republic of Iran for work were initially tortured by Iranian border guards and 23 of them later brutally martyred,” the Taliban said in a statement.

Noor Mohammad said he was one of the Afghans caught by Iranian border guards as they were trying to cross into Iran in search of work.

“After being tortured, the Iranian soldiers threw all of us in the Harirud river,” Mohammad told Reuters.

Shir Agha, who said he also survived the violence, said at least 23 people thrown into the river were dead.

Afghan officials that it was not the first time that Afghans had been killed by Iranian police guarding the 920-km (520-mile) border.

As of Sunday, at least 541 coronavirus-infected people in Afghanistan were from Herat province, which recorded 13 deaths, with the majority of cases Afghan returnees from Iran, said Rafiq Shirzad, a health ministry spokesman in Herat.

▻https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/05/03/world/middleeast/03reuters-afghanistan-iran-migrants.html?searchResultPosition=3
#noyade #torture #gardes-frontière #Harirud #armée

Afghanistan probes report Iran guards forced migrants into river

Survivors say at least 23 of 57 people thrown by Iranian border guards into Harirud River drowned.

https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2020/5/3/75efb17ef1bc4957b39e89ed4a22318f_18.jpg

Afghanistan has begun retrieving bodies of Afghan migrants from a river in a western province after reports that Iranian border guards tortured and threw Afghans into the river to prevent their entry into Iran.

Afghanistan’s foreign ministry in a statement on Saturday said an inquiry had been launched and a senior official in the presidential palace in Kabul said initial assessments suggested that at least 70 Afghans who were trying to enter Iran from bordering Herat province were beaten and pushed into Harirud River.

The Harirud River basin is shared by Afghanistan, Iran and Turkmenistan.

Doctors at Herat District Hospital said they had received the bodies of Afghan migrants, some of whom had drowned.

“So far, five bodies have been transferred to the hospital, of these bodies, its clear that four died due to drowning,” said Aref Jalali, head of Herat District Hospital.

The Iranian consulate in Herat denied the allegations of torture and subsequent drowning of dozens of Afghan migrant workers by border police.

“Iranian border guards have not arrested any Afghan citizens,” the consulate said in a statement on Saturday.

Noor Mohammad said he was one of 57 Afghan citizens who were caught by Iranian border guards on Saturday as they tried to cross into Iran in search of work from Gulran District of Herat.

“After being tortured, the Iranian soldiers threw all of us in the Harirud river,” Mohammad told Reuters News Agency.

Shir Agha, who said he also survived the violence, said at least 23 of the 57 people thrown by Iranian soldiers into the river had died.

“Iranian soldiers warned us that if we do not throw ourselves into the water, we will be shot,” said Agha.
’We will settle accounts’

Local Afghan officials said it was not the first time Afghans had been tortured and killed by Iranian police guarding the 920km (520 mile) long border.

Herat Governor Sayed Wahid Qatali in a tweet to Iranian officials said: “Our people are not just some names you threw into the river. One day we will settle accounts.”

The incident could trigger a diplomatic crisis between Iran and Afghanistan at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has seen a mass exodus of Afghan migrants from Iran with many testing positive for COVID-19.

Up to 2,000 Afghans daily cross the border from Iran, a global coronavirus hotspot, into Herat.

As of Sunday, at least 541 infected people are from Herat province, which recorded 13 deaths, with the majority of positive cases found among Afghan returnees from Iran, said Rafiq Shirzad, a health ministry spokesman in Herat.

▻https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/afghanistan-probes-report-iran-guards-forced-migrants-river-2005030926238

L’Ethiopie change sa politique migratoire vis-à-vis des réfugiés érythréens

L’Ethiopie a discrètement changé sa politique envers les 170 000 réfugiés érythréens qui vivent sur son sol. Ils obtenaient jusque-là une protection automatique, dès lors qu’ils avaient fui leur pays. Tel n’est plus le cas aujourd’hui, satisfaisant ainsi une ancienne revendication du régime érythréen.

Dans les camps le long de la frontière érythréenne, c’est l’inquiétude. Sans déclaration officielle, désormais l’agence éthiopienne des réfugiés n’accorde plus de protection systématique aux fugitifs qui arrivent d’Erythrée. Certains nouveaux arrivants sont dûment enregistrés, mais d’autres, comme les mineurs, sont simplement écartés, selon de nombreux témoignages.

Un réfugié du camp de #Hitsas où vivent plus de 10 000 Erythréens explique par ailleurs que les autorités leur ont annoncé en mars que le camp serait bientôt fermé. Il dit qu’il ne sait pas quoi faire, sinon tenter sa chance vers la Libye.

« Il y a peut-être un millier d’enfants seuls dans le camp, déplore en outre un humanitaire sur place. Les chasser revient à les offrir aux trafiquants. »

Une vieille revendication de l’Erythrée

Selon un porte-parole de l’agence éthiopienne des réfugiés cité par Associated Press, la protection se fera désormais au cas par cas, pour toutes les nationalités. Selon lui, l’ancienne pratique était « incontrôlée » et entraînait des abus.

Le HCR comme l’organisationHuman Rights Watch ont dénoncé ce changement de politique, lequel satisfait une vieille revendication de l’Erythrée, qui considère l’exode de ses citoyens comme un complot pour déstabiliser son régime, avec le soutien des organisations internationales.

▻http://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20200424-l-ethiopie-change-politique-migratoire-vis-%C3%A0-vis-r%C3%A9fugi%C3%A9

▻https://www.lesechos.fr/monde/europe/coronavirus-manquant-de-bras-litalie-va-regulariser-200000-sans-papiers-119

#coronavirus #solidarité #travailleurs_agricoles

Voir compile des effets délétères indirects de la pandémie :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/832147

L’appello di economisti, giuristi e virologi : « Regolarizzare gli immigrati in tutti i settori economici »

La proposta di una sanatoria per dare un permesso di soggiono agli invisibili, potenziale bacino di manovalanza per la criminalità organizzata.

Un appello con 360 firmatari - tra economisti, immunologi, virologi, giuristi ed esperti di immigrazione - per sollecitare la regolarizzazione degli immigrati irregolari non solo in agricoltura ma anche in tutti gli altri settori economici del Paese. Gli «invisibili», infatti, rischiano di essere uno dei maggiori fattori di rischio nella nascita di nuovi focolai dell’epidemia di coronavirus. Inoltre rappresentano un potenziale bacino di manovalanza per la criminalità. La via legislativa potrebbe essere quella di una sanatoria tramite dichiarazione di un datore di lavoro, che consente di ottenere un permesso di soggiorno e lavoro temporaneo che, finita la fase di emergenza, sarà sottoposto all’iter previsto per questi tipi di permesso.

«Sta circolando in questi giorni nelle commissioni parlamentari la bozza di un disegno di legge per la regolarizzazione degli immigrati irregolari in agricoltura - si legge nel documento - In questo nostro appello vogliamo sottolineare l’opportunità di estendere la proposta agli irregolari che lavorano in tutti gli altri settori economici del Paese (e, in primis, in quelli cruciali dei servizi alla persona, dell’artigianato, dell’industria e dei servizi ad essa collegati). Non soffermandoci sulle evidenti motivazioni umanitarie ma su quelle di carattere sanitario, di sicurezza, economico e sociale».

I firmatari espongono poi le motivazioni e i contenuti della proposta.
Motivazioni
"I costi psicologici, sociali ed economici della paralisi della vita sociale ed economica a cui siamo stati costretti per combattere il coronavirus sono drammatici e sotto gli occhi di tutti. E’ urgente passare il prima possibile alla fase 2 ma dopo 6 settimane di distanziamento sociale il declino dei nuovi positivi, e soprattutto dei decessi, appare ancora troppo lento, soprattutto nella regione Lombardia, che è il cuore produttivo del paese e anche, di gran lunga, la regione più colpita con più del 50 percento dei decessi.

E’ stato sottolineato di recente come la presenza di centinaia di migliaia di migranti irregolari e «invisibili» possa essere un problema serio in questo frangente. Secondo le stime più recenti (ISPI, 2020) i migranti irregolari sono circa 600mila vivono in genere occupando in molti piccole abitazioni e, anche in caso di malattia, ritardano il contatto coi medici a meno di versare in condizioni veramente gravi. Un’indagine ISFOL (2014) sottolinea come gran parte di essi lavora fuori dal settore agricolo (13.6% sono artigiani, operai specializzati o agricoltori e 72,6% svolgono professioni non qualificate che includono badanti, colf e piccolo commercio in grandi centri urbani). Non si hanno stime della loro distribuzione regionale ma è del tutto presumibile che siano concentrati in misura maggiore nelle regioni a maggiore attività economica del paese che sono anche le più colpite (in Lombardia, applicando le percentuali di migranti regolari gli irregolari sarebbero almeno 100mila). E’ del tutto evidente dunque che la presenza di un gran numero di irregolari nelle aree oggi più a rischio rende di fatto altamente aleatorie le probabilità di successo di attività di somministrazione di test sanitari, tracciamento e monitoraggio di massa necessarie per assicurare il successo della fase due. In parallelo, con la graduale riapertura delle attività economiche gli irregolari rischiano di essere uno dei maggiori fattori di rischio nella nascita di nuovi focolai".

"Oltre a queste dirimenti motivazioni di carattere sanitario - continua il testo - è ben noto che gli irregolari costituiscono un potenziale bacino di manovalanza per la criminalità con rischi che aumentano quando, in momenti come questi, condizioni di vita decente sono ulteriormente precluse. Da un punto di vista economico è stato sottolineato più volte come lavoratori immigrati irregolari e poco qualificati sottrarrebbero opportunità occupazionali a lavoratori italiani e determinerebbero una concorrenza al ribasso sul costo del lavoro che finisce per peggiorare dignità del lavoro e condizioni di vita anche dei lavoratori italiani a bassa qualifica. L’improvvisa scarsità di stagionali stranieri a seguito della chiusura delle frontiere per la pandemia ha evidenziato come i mercati del lavoro non siano in realtà così flessibili da ipotizzare una facile sostituzione tra lavoratori italiani e stranieri, lontani per mansioni e localizzazione. La regolarizzazione dei lavoratori stranieri avrebbe in questo caso un potenziale doppio beneficio. Rendere più facile lo spostamento tra diverse aree di chi già si trova nel nostro paese e, attraverso la sanatoria e la regolarizzazione, ridurre quelle condizioni di scarsa dignità e precarietà che rendono purtroppo il lavoro degli immigrati irregolari più «competitivo» rispetto a quello di lavoratori italiani che non accettano quelle condizioni.

In linea di principio, come sostenuto da forze politiche del nostro Paese, gli irregolari potrebbero essere espulsi. I dati recenti insegnano però che, neanche nella stagione politica nella quale il ministro dell’interno ha sostenuto con forza questa strategia, i «risultati» delle politiche di rimpatrio sono stati significativi. L’espulsione di massa degli irregolari si è dimostrata non praticabile per diversi motivi (onerosità dei costi complessivi di identificazione e trasferimento nei paesi di origine, difficoltà di stipulare accordi con i paesi di origine). Tanto meno si può pensare sia praticabile per sventare i rischi sanitari di cui sopra in breve tempo e in un momento difficile come questo.

In conclusione, motivazioni non soltanto umanitarie, ma anche sanitarie, di sicurezza, economiche e sociali suggeriscono l’opportunità della regolarizzazione degli irregolari seguendo una via già tracciata dal governo portoghese".
Contenuti e forma legislativa
«Trovando fondamento in queste motivazioni - sostengono ancora i firmatari - proponiamo dunque di estendere a tutti gli altri settori produttivi oltre quello agricolo la regolarizzazione dei migranti irregolari. La via suggerita è quella di una sanatoria tramite dichiarazione di un datore di lavoro che consente di ottenere un permesso di soggiorno e lavoro temporaneo che, finita la fase di emergenza, sarà sottoposto all’iter previsto per questi tipi di permesso. In questo modo, seppure in misura limitata, la regolarizzazione potrà contribuire con il versamento di contributi al finanziamento dell’ingente impegno di spesa pubblica necessario per superare questa crisi.

Per rendere operativa la nostra proposta sarebbe necessario modificare la proposta di decreto legge attualmente in discussione in Commissione Lavoro che limita questa possibilità ai settori dell’agricoltura, della pesca e della silvicoltura estendo la misura agli altri settori produttivi. Inoltre dato che la regolarizzazione è innanzitutto per ragioni di salute pubblica, occorre rilasciare a tutti gli stranieri in condizioni di soggiorno illegale un permesso di soggiorno per asilo, in base ad art. 11 DPR 394/1999 e art. 10 Cost., prevedendo che sia utilizzabile da subito per iscriversi al SSN e al Centro per l’impiego e per accedere alle provvidenze di assistenza sociale. Le motivazioni umanitarie spesso non bastano a convincerci a realizzare passi avanti verso il progresso civile. Sarebbe però un grave errore per la nostra classe politica non fare quei passi quando queste s’incontrano, come in questo caso, con ragioni di convenienza ed opportunità».

▻https://www.repubblica.it/politica/2020/04/25/news/appello_regolarizzazione_immigrati_agricoltura-254873997

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@karine4 et @isskein —> faits intéressants :
– il y a aussi des virologues qui ont signé
– on met en avant le fait que la régularisation réduit les #risques liés à la #sécurité (et notamment le #risque que ces personnes appelées dans l’appel « invisibles » risquent de tomber dans les mains de la #criminalité (et notamment la #criminalité_organisée)
– le fait de souligner que "en théorie les irréguliers pourraient être expulsés, mais dans les faits il ne le sont pas (et ils expliquent les raisons qu’on connaît)

Mais... la proposition se base sur des permis de séjours temporaires temporaires en un premier temps, mais au-delà du secteur de l’agriculture comme d’autres propositions le suggèrent :

Per rendere operativa la nostra proposta sarebbe necessario modificare la proposta di decreto legge attualmente in discussione in Commissione Lavoro che limita questa possibilità ai settori dell’agricoltura, della pesca e della silvicoltura estendo la misura agli altri settori produttivi. Inoltre dato che la regolarizzazione è innanzitutto per ragioni di salute pubblica, occorre rilasciare a tutti gli stranieri in condizioni di soggiorno illegale un permesso di soggiorno per asilo, in base ad art. 11 DPR 394/1999 e art. 10 Cost., prevedendo che sia utilizzabile da subito per iscriversi al SSN e al Centro per l’impiego e per accedere alle provvidenze di assistenza sociale.

Italy to give 600,000 migrants the right to stay

Ministers thank unregistered workforce that proved essential during lockdown.

More than half a million illegal migrants in Italy will be given permits to stay and work under plans put forward by the government, which said they had proved essential for caring for the elderly and picking crops in recent weeks.

▻https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/italy-to-give-600-000-migrants-the-right-to-stay-n3l8935bj

#paywall

La grande bufala della regolarizzazione

https://www.globalproject.info/public/resources/images/small/d_8.jpg

Permettere ai migranti già presenti in Italia di rimanerci solo per spaccarsi la schiena corrisponde ad una visione del mondo opposta rispetto a quella di chi chiedeva una sanatoria.

Nella mattinata di mercoledì 13 maggio la battaglia portata avanti dalla Ministra delle politiche agricole, alimentari e forestali Teresa Bellanova ha finalmente sortito qualche effetto, facendo trovare a Partito Democratico e Movimento Cinque Stelle un accordo che per settimane era sempre stato rinviato: quello sulla regolarizzazione dei migranti.

Il motivo per cui la Ministra la stessa sera nell’annunciarlo era quasi in lacrime non è l’aver riconosciuto a tante persone la possibilità di vivere legalmente su territorio italico, ma il fatto di aver in cuor suo abbandonato la lotta per l’uguaglianza che l’aveva portata nei lontani anni Ottanta ad essere in prima fila nella lotta al caporalato. La scelta di indicare Bellanova lo scorso settembre per un ministero che ha così tanto a che fare con il mondo del lavoro era stata accolta positivamente da molti, perché per quanto abbia come titolo di studio la terza media avrebbe potuto compensare con l’esperienza diretta, essendo stata una bracciante a partire dai 14 anni, poi una sindacalista della CGIL e solo in seguito una deputata dei Democratici di Sinistra prima e del Partito Democratico poi, per passare infine a Italia Viva.

Nonostante i suoi trascorsi, negli ultimi anni il suo interesse per le tematiche delle migrazioni e del lavoro ha definitivamente cambiato segno: ha sostenuto convintamente sia il Jobs Act (contestato persino dai sindacati confederali di cui era stata paladina), sia l’abolizione dell’articolo 18 dello Statuto dei lavoratori, ossia la legge sui licenziamenti, scontrandosi più volte con i lavoratori in qualità di vice ministra dello Sviluppo economico tra il 2016 e il 2018. Per tutti questi motivi, quando a metà aprile Bellanova ha rilanciato sulle pagine del Il Foglio la proposta di una regolarizzazione, gli attivisti per i diritti dei migranti hanno appreso con moderato entusiasmo la notizia e hanno continuato a ritenere quella della sanatoria l’unica soluzione percorribile.

Questo naturalmente non certo per la scelta singolare della ministra di intervenire su un quotidiano di destra (a bassa diffusione e di cui non è nemmeno nota la tiratura) e non solo per l’uso di espressioni quali “dare risposte al presente per mettere a dimora il futuro” che allontanano la Ministra dai giorni in cui rimproverava a Bersani di utilizzare termini vaghi o incomprensibili. Senza contare che mentre a fine marzo il Portogallo votava un’ordinanza per dare maggiori tutele alle persone in attesa di regolarizzazione (cioè non una regolarizzazione a tutti gli effetti come alcuni hanno scritto, ma un decisivo passo avanti in termini di tutele), Bellanova faceva pubblicare sul sito del suo ministero un appello alla Grande Distribuzione Organizzata in vista della Pasqua che diceva: «Acquistate ancora più prodotti italiani, assicurate anche la presenza nei vostri negozi dei prodotti della tradizione pasquale».

Non esattamente le stesse priorità degli attivisti (Legal Team Italia, Campagna LasciateCIEntrare, Progetto MeltingPot Europa e Medicina Democratica in primis) che poco dopo l’inizio dell’emergenza avevano chiesto una sanatoria subito, senza fare distinzioni legate all’esercizio o meno di una professione, e senza avere come riferimento un datore di lavoro (cosa che invece era stata richiesta da altre realtà). Giorno dopo giorno questa idea raccoglieva consensi e gli attivisti si incontravano virtualmente, fornendo riflessioni e analisi che sarebbero state molto utili al Governo, ma anche ai tanti che non sanno che il migrante irregolare, tanto per fare un esempio pratico, non può proprio iscriversi al Sistema Sanitario Nazionale, e non ha di conseguenza un medico di base cui rivolgersi, e se va al Pronto Soccorso c’è l’eventualità di un controllo che può portare alla sua espulsione o ad essere recluso in un CPR. Ma in realtà tutti noi rischiamo la salute per il suo silenzio forzato, dunque c’è un valido motivo in più per regolarizzare la sua presenza. E poi ci sono i tanti migranti che sono stati regolari per un po’, ossia finché hanno avuto un lavoro, ma poi l’hanno perso e sono così divenuti irregolari. Moltissimi lavoratori originari dell’Europa Orientali sono infatti usciti dall’Italia allo scoppio della pandemia e non sono potuti tornare a causa della chiusura delle frontiere

Colpevolmente la ministra non ha mai condiviso queste informazioni necessarie per arrivare ad una valutazione, e forse ha fatto leva prodotta sulla confusione creata da anni di allarmismi ingiustificati in tema di immigrazione quando nel suo intervento sul Foglio il 14 aprile ha delineato due urgenze: «la salute, in primis, e poi fronteggiare l’urgenza, determinata dall’assenza di manodopera, che sta investendo in modo pesantissimo l’agricoltura del nostro paese e che mette a repentaglio prodotti, lavoro, investimenti, cibo. Che rischia di mandare in enorme sofferenza le nostre aziende agricole e che nelle prossime settimane, quando saranno arrivati a maturazione molti raccolti, può determinare l’irreparabile. Mentre la filiera alimentare è impegnata con enormi sforzi a garantire cibo al paese, non si può, allo stesso tempo, lasciare marcire i prodotti nei campi e fare i conti con l’emergenza alimentare che sta investendo parti sempre più ampie della popolazione». Insomma: «siano i migranti a spaccarsi la schiena per noi: regolarizzare conviene!».

E aggiungeva una sentenza: «Sia ben chiaro. Non esistono filiere sporche».

Filiere che invece sono ben documentate. Ne hanno scritto numerose ong e associazioni nei loro report, e poi autori come Stefano Liberti, Yvan Sagnet, Antonello Mangano, Francesco Caruso, Stefania Prandi e il compianto Alessandro Leogrande. Ne hanno parlato attraverso il cinema Andrea Segre, Andrea Paco Mariani, Stefano Liberti ed Enrico Parenti. Con la legge 199/2016 di cui la ministra va fiera il caporalato non è certo defunto, anzi; come sintetizza il sindacalista Giovanni Minnini sul Manifesto è “inapplicata proprio nella parte che oggi sarebbe più necessaria, cioè: l’incontro della domanda e offerta di lavoro (il collocamento) e l’accoglienza dignitosa per i lavoratori stagionali.” Ed è un altro sindacalista la persona che più si è spesa sul campo per una degna regolarizzazione, Aboubakar Soumahoro (USB), che dando conto quotidianamente delle condizioni nei campi si è sempre rivolto tanto alle istituzioni, quanto ai consumatori. Così siamo arrivati ad una concessione fatta dal governo solo a chi si trova già sul territorio con un permesso scaduto, o con un lavoro irregolare, previa domanda del datore di lavoro, che dovrà autodenunciarsi rivolgendosi poi all’Inps o alla Questura e pagare 400 euro a domanda (soldi che magari vorrà farsi ridare poi dal lavoratore, come già successo in casi analoghi), più altri costi che non sono ancora chiari.

Di tutto questo dibattito conclusosi male ieri sera con la ministra che non spiega tali limiti dell’accordo (o scambio?) con i Cinque Stelle non resta che una distanza incolmabile, quella tra due visioni opposte sulla regolarizzazione, e in definitiva due visioni opposte del mondo.

Da un lato il discorso opportunista della ministra, che annuncia al paese la sua vittoria personale, un provvedimento di cinque pagine compreso all’interno di un decreto contenente essenzialmente misure economiche. Bellanova presenta infatti i migranti come corpi destinati irrimediabilmente - e indipendentemente dalle qualità personali - al lavoro fisico, minus habentes che proprio a causa dei loro deficit trovano un collocazione nei termini della locuzione do ut des: non bisogna far marcire i prodotti nei campi, si è ripetuto, perciò ora nella Fase 2, possiamo integrarvi nella norma, includervi temporaneamente in ragione di una condizione eccezionale, sempre se rispettate le regole e rimanete confinati nel vostro ruolo di oppressi. Il messaggio è che non vi vogliamo, ma adesso ci servite per raccogliere frutta sotto il sole e pulire il sedere agli anziani, costituite una scelta economica che va fatta in fretta per salvarci e per dare una risposta agli imprenditori che non vogliono che il paese si fermi nemmeno per un attimo. Ma poi, più o meno tra la Fase 3 e la 4, finita la pandemia o comunque scaduti i sei mesi concessi, tutti illegali come prima, senza alcuna soluzione giuridica prevista, pronti a farvi umiliare dalle peggiori destre e a rappresentare un problema di difficile risoluzione per quel che resta della sinistra. I profitti prima delle persone.

Dal lato opposto c’è invece il discorso umanitario, quello degli attivisti che hanno sì esposto tutte le ricadute positive che una sanatoria slegata dalla volontà dei datori di lavoro avrebbe avuto, ma che sono legati da ragioni più profonde. Per indole si schierano dalla parte di tutti i subalterni, hanno costruito le proprie relazioni nel corso delle mobilitazioni in nome dell’antirazzismo e contro le guerre che causano migrazioni. Muovono da considerazioni basilari, come quelle alla radice del principio di uguaglianza tra tutti gli esseri umani. Principio che può essere condiviso da chi conosce bene la Storia, anche quella violenta e coloniale dell’Italia. In questo specifico caso, le persone prima dei profitti.

Ma in tempi di antipolitica Bellanova ha gioco facile e con le sue lacrime ne esce meglio di tutti, e così tanti le scrivono su Twitter che in quel momento di commozione hanno visto quello che non avevano ancora trovato dall’inizio lockdown: un comprensibile crollo dovuto ad una grande impresa, un’ammissione della paura di prendere decisioni prima impensabili. Le emozioni vincono sempre, ed è curioso che già un’altra ministra, Elsa Fornero, abbia singhiozzato proprio mentre annunciava le misure rispetto ad un’altra questione del mondo del lavoro, quella degli esodati nel 2011 e sia ricordata anche per questo. «Lo Stato è più forte del caporalato» e «gli invisibili saranno meno invisibili» sono gli slogan con cui Bellanova ha chiuso la partita. E tra lei e la società civile c’è la stessa distanza che c’è tra sfruttamento e dignità.

▻https://www.globalproject.info/it/in_movimento/la-grande-bufala-della-regolarizzazione/22780

Italy’s coronavirus amnesty: Migrant rights or economic self-interest?

’The systematic use of this tool has always postponed the bigger problem: a long-term legalisation solution.’

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The Italian government passed a law on 13 May paving the way for around 200,000 undocumented workers to apply for six-month legal residency permits. But just a few weeks later, the initial atmosphere of hope has quickly faded to a lukewarm welcome.

The amnesty was one measure in a 55 billion euro ($59.6 billion) stimulus package meant to support Italy’s economy as the country struggles with the effects of the coronavirus. Italy has had one of the most severe outbreaks in the world, with nearly 230,000 confirmed cases and more than 32,500 deaths as of 25 May.

The new regularisation law was initially greeted as a major step forward for migrant rights and as an example of good migration policy during the coronavirus pandemic. “From now on, the invisible will be a bit less invisible,” Italy’s minister of agriculture, Teresa Bellanova, said at a press conference announcing the law.

Supporters still say the new law is an important, if tentative, improvement. But critics argue that it amounts to little more than a temporary amnesty that puts economic interests ahead of human rights and will do little to address the rampant exploitation of migrant labour, especially in Italy’s agricultural industry.

Italy’s fields have long attracted migrant workers from eastern Europe, hundreds of thousands of whom flock to the country to work the harvest every year. They are joined in the fields by thousands of Africans and other non-Europeans who have crossed the Mediterranean to apply for asylum or to seek better lives in the EU. Nearly 500,000 people have made the journey since 2015. Many intended to move on to northern Europe but found themselves stuck with little choice but to try to find work in Italy’s informal economy.

“[The law] is not exactly what we were hoping for because it is a very limited regularisation. But at this point, after decades of total invisibility, anything is better than nothing. It is a starting point,” Francesco Piobbichi, a social worker with the migrant support organisation Mediterranean Hope, told The New Humanitarian.

Not everyone agrees.

The Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), an Italian trade union that represents agricultural workers, called a national strike on 21 May to protest the law’s shortcomings. The union argues that the law is too limited in scope and will do little to protect exploited migrant agricultural workers. “Legal papers don’t necessarily protect you from exploitation,” said Michele Mililli, a USB representative in Sicily. “This is a structural problem that should not have been addressed during a healthcare emergency, but much earlier.”
Exclusions, and only temporary

There are an estimated 560,000 undocumented migrants in Italy. But the new law only applies to people working in agriculture or as domestic helpers, leaving out people who work in other sectors of the economy that rely heavily on undocumented labour, such as construction and food services.

To regularise their status, undocumented migrants need the support of an employer or proof they were working in one of the eligible sectors prior to October 2019. “There is no guarantee that many [employers] will do it,” Enzo Rossi, a professor of migration economics at Tor Vergata University in Rome, told TNH. “And when the six months… expire, these people will be faced with the same dilemma as before the pandemic.”

The amnesty also excludes people who were stripped of humanitarian protection or legal status by a series of anti-migrant security decrees issued in late 2018 by former far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini that Human Rights Watch said “eviscerated Italy’s asylum procedure and reception system”.

The law focuses instead on people working in sectors of the economy deemed to be “essential” during the coronavirus crisis, such as undocumented agricultural workers who account for about 25 percent of Italy’s agricultural workforce, about double the amount of other economic sectors, according to Italy’s National Institute of Statistics.

Portugal’s decision in March to treat people with pending immigration applications as residents for the duration of the coronavirus crisis has been regarded as an effort to guarantee that undocumented migrants have access to healthcare and social services during the pandemic. But Italy’s regularisation is seen by USB and other trade unions and humanitarian groups as a more cynical attempt to plug its labour gap – an estimated 250,000 worker shortfall stemming from coronavirus-related travel restrictions and fears.

It’s also not the first time Italy has offered a path toward temporary regularisation for undocumented workers, mainly in agriculture. Over the past 35 years, there have been at least five amnesties, but they’ve never led to a comprehensive solution, according to Rossi.

“The systematic use of this tool has always postponed the bigger problem: a long-term legalisation solution,” Rossi said. “That’s why the numbers of undocumented workers have always been so high.”
Exploitation in Italy’s south

Every week, Monday through Saturday, Bachir Ahmed Ali wakes up at the crack of dawn in the tented slum near the village of Cassibile in eastern Sicily and quickly runs to a nearby road where his employer waits for him in a truck with a dozen other migrant workers.

In less than an hour, they are dropped at the edge of one of the many fruit and vegetable fields in the province of Syracuse where migrant workers pick produce, mostly strawberries and potatoes, from 6am to 2pm, earning 35 euros (about $38) per day.

This is the daily reality for more than 430,000 migrants working irregularly in Italy’s agricultural sector who are at risk of exploitation. Many of them live in makeshift encampments close to Italy’s agricultural fields, especially in the country’s south.These informal settlements consist of improvised tents or derelict buildings and often lack access to running water and electricity. The people who live in them are caught in what is known as the caporalato system, a 17 billion euro ($18.45 billion) a year industry of illegal employment and labour exploitation run by organised criminal groups and agricultural speculators.

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In #Cassibile, Ali shares his tent with eight other farmworkers from Senegal, Gambia, Sudan, and Burkina Faso. He doesn’t complain about the overcrowding. During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ended on 24 May, he appreciated having the company. “They make me feel part of a family. I haven’t seen my real one since I was 14,” he told TNH.

Ali is now 30 years old. Originally from a village in Chad, bordering Sudan, he fled his home in 2006 when the country was on the brink of civil war and settled in Libya where he scraped by as a day labourer until the Libyan revolution erupted in 2011.

“I decided to leave, like many other African migrants, because it was no longer safe for us there,” he said. “We all embarked on boats heading to Europe, so overwhelmed with fear that we couldn’t fully grasp what was happening. But I thought… I could at least get an education, maybe a job.”

But none of that happened. Ali didn’t receive any guidance on how to rebuild his life at the migrant reception centres in Sicily he stayed in after he arrived. Eventually, the only job he could find was in the agricultural fields outside of Rome. “I worked there for four years then I returned to Sicily. I just couldn’t find anything else,” he explained.

Ali was granted political asylum and has legal residency. Nonetheless, he has been living in the makeshift camp of Cassibile, home to around 300 people, since 2015. Even during the coronavirus crisis, he has continued harvesting potatoes in Syracuse’s fields. “For me, the virus is not as scary as war or hunger. But I think our conditions should get more attention,” he said.

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Staying afloat

Ali’s story highlights the limitations of Italy’s new regularisation law: if people with refugee status and legal residency have no choice but to work in the caporalato system, how will the new law help undocumented migrants escape exploitation?

Employers know that undocumented migrants are desperate for jobs and use that as leverage to continue explotative practices. “[Migrants] accept whatever gig and conditions that keep them afloat and allow them to send money home,” Mililli, the labour organiser from USB, said.

Most of the migrants working in Sicily’s fields have been in Italy for an average of 10-12 years, according to Mililli. Salvini’s security decrees made them even more vulnerable and, in certain cases, made it more difficult for them to access healthcare.

The 5,500 farms in the southeastern area of Sicily, home to southern Italy’s biggest wholesale produce market, employ about 30,000 workers. Sixty percent of them are foreigners making as little as 15 euros ($16.35) per day, according to USB. More than half of the migrant labourers continued to work throughout the coronavirus crisis – despite the health hazards and intensified police checks – because they had no access to financial relief from the government.
‘Health hazard’

While the coronavirus has intensified the situation, health risks are nothing new for Italy’s exploited migrant labourers. In the past six years, around 1,500 agricultural workers have died due to the living conditions in the informal camps, from suffocating in overcrowded trucks used to transport undocumented workers or from car accidents on the way to the fields, according to the Italian NGO Doctors with Africa.

When potato harvesting season ends at the beginning of summer, Ali heads for the tomato fields in Apulia, a region covering the heel of Italy’s boot. Seven informal settlements close to the town of Foggia host up to 6,500 people during the summer months.

“These places are a health hazard. They were before the virus came, and [they] became a reason of great concern during the pandemic,” Alessandro Verona, the leader of a medical team for the Italian NGO Intersos, told TNH. “If one person gets sick here, it can turn the whole ghetto into a mass slaughter.”

“Paradoxically, it took a pandemic to improve the situation here. We were granted more water access and toilets,” Verona continued. “But to tame what we consider no less than a humanitarian crisis, these ghettos need to disappear completely. And that will only happen when all undocumented workers are recognised and can rent real places to live [in] decently.”

In opting for a temporary amnesty, Verona added, Italy lost a great opportunity to promote human dignity.

On 18 May, five days after Italy’s regularisation law passed, a 33-year old Indian migrant working in a field outside of Rome was fired after asking his employer for a face mask for protection while at work. When the worker requested his daily wage, he was beaten up and thrown in a nearby canal.

▻https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/feature/2020/05/25/Italy-coronavirus-migrant-labour

’Cynical’: Critics slam Italy’s amnesty for undocumented migrants

New measure that grants temporary permits to migrants in agriculture and care work is act of ’cynicism’, activists say.

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A partial six-month amnesty for Italy’s undocumented migrants was announced this month in a move described by some as “a watershed moment” in the country’s migration policy and “an act of cynicism” by others.

“Thanks to the choice made by this government, the invisible will become less invisible,” said Teresa Bellanova, Italy’s agriculture minister, in her emotional announcement speech on May 13.

The former trade unionist was referring to people working in the agriculture and fishing industries, as well as care workers who have been without a residency permit.

The measure, which grants a six-month residency, has been praised by CGIL-FLAI, the country’s biggest farmworkers’ union, as an “historic achievement”.

But migrant activists have criticised the limited nature of the amnesty, which will affect only about 200,000 people, according to the Italian government’s estimates.

The total number of undocumented migrants in the country ranges between 560,000 to 700,000, according to various estimates.
’Farcical scene’

“The tears of the minister provided a really farcical scene,” said Abdel El Mir, a spokesperson of Movement of Migrants and Refugees of Naples (MMRN) - a group of migrants and Italians of foreign origin with up to 300 members, based in the southern city of Naples.

The group held some of the first street protests in the city after the recent easing of the coronavirus lockdown.

“If there are about 700,000 undocumented people in Italy and you choose to regularise only a small fraction of them, that is not an act of courage, but of cynicism. You’re only giving papers to the workforce you need, not caring at all about people’s health,” El Mir told Al Jazeera.

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Italy made it clear that its provision was only intended to fill gaps in the labour market as the coronavirus pandemic hit the country.

Agriculture lobbies had warned the government that Italy would have to throw away huge amounts of fruit and vegetables because there was nobody to pick them, worsening the effects of a shutdown costing the food sector seven billion euros ($7.58bn).

“We are not making a favour to immigrant citizens by giving them a residence permit,” said Bellanova. “We are simply addressing our need for additional workforce.”

Under her scheme, the power to regularise migrants lies predominantly with landowners, who will be able to request residence permits for their workers by providing an employment contract and paying a 500-euro ($548) fee.

In response, the country’s migrant agriculture workers went on a nationwide strike on May 21, protesting against employment sponsorship being the basis for residency permits.

Aboubakar Soumahoro, the strike organiser, accused the government of “putting fruit and vegetables above people’s lives”.

The strike was not endorsed by any major union.

“In Italy, immigration is only ever understood as permissible when it is seen as having economic utility,” said Camilla Hawthorne, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California Santa Cruz, who has studied migrant activism in Italy.

The country passed its first comprehensive immigration legislation in 1990, in the wake of the racially motivated murder of Jerry Masslo. He was an asylum seeker from apartheid South Africa who worked as an undocumented agriculture labourer in the region of Naples.

‏According to Hawthorne, the current situation resembles the 1990 case, because a humanitarian rhetoric was used to pass immigration laws at the time, but “every subsequent law linked residence permits to work contracts”.
More vulnerable

El Mir said the recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic was likely to produce a spike in the number of undocumented people as the employment rates fall, leaving them more vulnerable.

“Lacking a document means lacking every right, including ordinary access to healthcare,” he said.

The group of migrants and refugees El Mir is associated with run a free legal help desk, a small health surgery and an Italian language school in Naples. They are providing assistance to more than 4,000 people.

During the coronavirus lockdown, the group set up a mutual aid network that delivered food and other essential goods to 120 migrant households.

Their activities also serve as a point of inquiry into the challenges faced by migrants, and informs the political strategy of the movement.

A citizen of Bangladesh, who has asked not to be identified, requested their assistance shortly after the amnesty was introduced.

He has been living and working in Italy without a permit for fours years, but as a shoe factory worker he is excluded from the regularisation initiative.

“An employer asked me to pay 5,000 euros (about $5,487) for a work contract in agriculture. But where am I going to get that money?” he wrote in a text message to El Mir.

El Mir said such cases were frequent, and were a direct result of the government’s discriminatory provision, but even before the pandemic, foreigners in Italy were under major stress.

He pointed to the so-called “security decrees”, a set of measures passed last year by the former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini that restricted access to asylum and drastically cut public services available to migrants.
Salvini’s legacy

After the far-right leader was removed from office in September last year, the new government failed to deliver on an initial pledge to reverse his most controversial anti-migrant legislation.

In a further blow to the expectations of human rights groups, Italy renewed a much-criticised deal with Libya to curb migration, and closed its ports to asylum seekers during the pandemic.

“Too many people think that not having a minister that shouts against migrants means that migration policy has changed. Reality says otherwise,” El Mir said.

The fact that “even after the fall of Salvini the government has continued many of the same right-wing policies” has pushed migrant activists “to create autonomous political spaces, away from the more traditional sights of political organising in Italy”, said Hawthorne.

“What gets lost in mainstream anti-racist activism - with its emphasis on tolerance and inclusivity as the antidote to the far-right rhetoric - is the structural critique of racism that is not just about populist leaders saying really racist things,” Hawthorne said.

“It is part of a broader system of capitalist globalisation and border fortification and militarism that work together to produce a racist system that disadvantages Black people across the spectrum, whether they were born in Italy, or they migrated to Italy,” she added.

In their demonstrations, the Naples activists tried to address the daily issues affecting migrants’ lives, such as the delay in issuance of residence permits or access to healthcare while also pointing at what they see as the structural causes of racism in Italy.

“We can’t skip over the fact that Italy openly sells arms to dictators and deals with criminal organisations in Africa; or that ENI [Italy’s state-owned oil and gas company] ravages entire African regions,” El Mir said.

He said such criticism does not always go down well with the wider anti-racist movement.

“They tell us that these issues are divisive. But what for them is divisive in terms of political consent, for us is a matter of life,” he said.

►https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/critics-slam-italy-amnesty-undocumented-migrants-200526104154789.html

Il gioco crudele della regolarizzazione 2020

Il provvedimento del governo sui migranti senza permesso di soggiorno è confuso e iniquo. Abbiamo perso una grande occasione. La rubrica di Gianfranco Schiavone dell’Associazione per gli studi giuridici sull’immigrazione

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Olga è ucraina, fa la badante di una anziana malata; è arrivata in Italia quasi per caso ormai quattro anni fa, per sostituire per un mese una sua amica. È arrivata regolarmente non avendo obbligo di visto. Poi ha trovato un lavoro in nero e ha deciso di rimanere. Il lavoro è pesante ma lei ha bisogno di soldi da mandare a casa e c’è poco da discutere. Tutti conoscono Olga e tutti possono attestare che vive con quella anziana donna alla quale si è affezionata. Olga ha saputo della sanatoria e pensa che finalmente si metterà in regola. Non sa ancora che non sarà così perché non è mai stata fotosegnalata e neanche espulsa (sulla carta) ed essere stati fotosegnalati, o almeno disporre di una attestazione di presenza rilasciata da organismi pubblici, è condizione essenziale per “fare” la regolarizzazione. Olga è, per così dire, troppo invisibile, come lo sono quasi tutte le donne straniere che nel nostro Paese fanno un lavoro di cura.

Abdul è un richiedente asilo con ricorso pendente contro il diniego della domanda; da quando, nel 2018, è stata abrogata la protezione umanitaria dal primo decreto (in)sicurezza, sono tante le domande come le sue che sono finite così.
Ma Abdul ha già da un anno un lavoro regolare e con contratto a tempo indeterminato; è disponibile ad abbandonare il suo ricorso per un permesso di soggiorno per lavoro; crede che sia arrivato il momento giusto ma non sa che non è così perché è, per così dire, troppo regolare e non è possibile la conversione da richiesta asilo a lavoro. Abdul resterà in Italia con il suo lavoro a tempo indeterminato fino al momento della decisione sul ricorso; se, come probabile, lo perderà, diventerà un “clandestino”, dopo avere vissuto e lavorato in Italia per anni.

Asif è pakistano, un tempo aveva un permesso di soggiorno ma poi non è riuscito a rinnovarlo. Gestisce un albergo; il suo datore di lavoro sa che lui parla quattro lingue e con i turisti ci sa fare. Asif ha deciso che è la volta buona: il padrone non può dirgli di no. Ma Asif ancora non sa che la regolarizzazione è solo per i settori agricoli e il lavoro domestico e di cura. Per lui non c’è niente da fare neanche questa volta.

Mohammed è un bracciante agricolo, vive da dieci anni in Italia ed è stato espulso, sempre sulla carta, già tre volte. Ogni anno, per tre mesi raccoglie i pomodori, poi per altri due raccoglie le olive, per altri due ancora le arance e poi fa lavori qua e là. Nessuno lo mai assunto e non vive da nessuna parte e nello stesso tempo ovunque in giro per la penisola, sempre in qualche baracca vicino al campo di raccolta. Ha sentito che questa è la sanatoria dei braccianti, proprio la sua, “Stavolta è fatta”. Chiederà a tutti i suoi padroni che l’hanno sfruttato in questi anni per 25 euro al giorno (dieci ore al giorno di lavoro) di fargli un contratto; anche brevissimo, solo per avere finalmente quel maledetto documento, e poi, s’intende, l’ammenda la paga lui. Nessuno dei suoi molti padroni lo farà, perché mai dovrebbero? Per due mesi di lavoro all’anno non se ne parla neanche; che se ne vada pure al diavolo e avanti un altro senza pretese.

Olga, Abdul, Asif, Mohammed sono nel gioco crudele della regolarizzazione 2020, che non è né aperta né restrittiva ma divide i migranti salvati da quelli sommersi senza alcuna ragionevolezza trattando le persone come merce a disposizione. Il testo di legge afferma, non senza solennità, che il fine della norma è quello di “garantire livelli adeguati di tutela della salute individuale e collettiva in conseguenza della contingente ed eccezionale emergenza sanitaria connessa alla calamità derivante dalla diffusione del contagio da Covid-19 e favorire l’emersione di rapporti di lavoro irregolare”. Intenzioni annunciate ma non realizzate. Neppure questa volta, nell’anno della pandemia, abbiamo infatti scelto di fare emergere gli stranieri senza permesso di soggiorno sulla base della loro semplice presenza, con semmai poche e nette esclusioni connesse a seri profili penali, dando loro un permesso per “ricerca lavoro”. Per permettere di cercarlo o di tenerlo o ancora di cambiarlo e soprattutto di liberarsi dallo sfruttamento di chi li ricatta. Per permettere a loro, e a noi, di vivere in una società migliore.

▻https://altreconomia.it/il-gioco-crudele-della-regolarizzazione-2020

La protesta di #Aboubakar_Soumahoro

Si è incatenato vicino a #Villa_Pamphilj e alla fine è stato ascoltato da Conte, chiedendogli una riforma della filiera agricola, un «piano nazionale emergenza lavoro» e una modifica delle politiche migratorie

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Martedì 16 giugno, il sindacalista dell’USB Aboubakar Soumahoro si è incatenato vicino a Villa Pamphilj, a Roma, dove sono in corso gli “Stati generali dell’economia”, una serie di incontri organizzati dal governo tra il governo stesso, istituzioni internazionali, sindacati e associazioni di categoria. Accompagnato da altri attivisti del sindacato, Aboubakar Soumahoro ha anche iniziato uno sciopero della fame e della sete, chiedendo al presidente del Consiglio Giuseppe Conte di essere ascoltato. Alla fine, dopo oltre otto ore di presidio, il sindacalista è stato ricevuto nel pomeriggio da Conte alla presenza del ministro dell’Economia Gualtieri e della ministra del Lavoro Catalfo. Il colloquio è durato circa mezz’ora.

Aboubakar Soumahoro, impegnato attivamente da anni per le persone migranti e i braccianti, ha presentato al governo tre richieste in particolare: una riforma della filiera agricola, un “piano nazionale emergenza lavoro” e una modifica delle politiche migratorie.

Sul primo punto: l’USB vuole l’approvazione della cosiddetta “patente del cibo” per dare cioè alle persone, ha spiegato Aboubakar Soumahoro, un cibo «eticamente sano». La “patente del cibo” prevede che vengano esplicitate una serie di informazioni che dicano dove quel cibo è stato prodotto e che garantiscano che sia stato prodotto senza sfruttamento. Il “piano nazionale emergenza lavoro” è stato spiegato per ora in modo piuttosto generico: l’obiettivo è comunque quello di tutelare «coloro che rischiano di perdere il posto di lavoro a causa della crisi sanitaria». Le richieste legate al terzo e ultimo punto, sulle politiche migratorie, sono invece più definite: «Regolarizzazione di tutti gli invisibili con rilascio di un permesso di soggiorno per emergenza sanitaria convertibile per attività lavorativa», cancellazione degli accordi con la Libia, dei decreti sicurezza, riforma radicale per le politiche dell’accoglienza, abolizione della legge Bossi-Fini e cittadinanza per chi è cresciuto o nato in Italia. «Si tratta di una lotta di civiltà», ha spiegato Aboubakar Soumahoro.

Nel cosiddetto “decreto rilancio“, che contiene decine di nuove misure per sostenere l’economia dopo il picco della pandemia da coronavirus, il governo aveva inserito anche una procedura per regolarizzare una parte dei migranti irregolari che vivono in Italia, legando il provvedimento al problema della raccolta della frutta nei campi agricoli. Aboubakar Soumahoro e l’USB chiedono invece che la regolarizzazione non venga legata alla raccolta della frutta, ma alla crisi sanitaria e che il permesso sia poi convertibile per attività lavorativa.

All’inizio di febbraio il governo italiano aveva rinnovato il controverso Memorandum d’intesa (PDF) firmato nel 2017 con il governo di unità nazionale libico guidato da Fayez al Serraj, servito soprattutto ad addestrare e fornire mezzi alla cosiddetta Guardia costiera libica, formata da milizie private spesso in combutta coi trafficanti di esseri umani, e finanziare quelli che il documento chiama «centri di accoglienza» in Libia, dove i migranti sono sistematicamente torturati, stuprati e al centro di richieste di riscatto per essere liberati. Aboubakar Soumahoro ne chiede la cancellazione, così come dei “decreti sicurezza”.

I cosiddetti “decreti sicurezza“ sono le due leggi molto restrittive sull’immigrazione fortemente volute dall’ex ministro dell’Interno Matteo Salvini e approvate durante il governo precedente. Il primo “decreto sicurezza” è entrato in vigore il 5 ottobre 2018 e interviene soprattutto sul sistema di accoglienza italiano. La principale misura contenuta nel decreto è l’abolizione del permesso di soggiorno per motivi umanitari, una forma di protezione molto diffusa della durata di due anni, sostituita da altri permessi più specifici e quasi impossibili da ottenere. Il secondo “decreto sicurezza” modifica invece le norme che riguardano gli sbarchi dei migranti soccorsi in mare attraverso la cosiddetta politica dei “porti chiusi”, ingenti multe per i comandanti delle navi che ignorano il divieto di ingresso, e nuovi fondi per il rimpatrio dei migranti irregolari, cioè senza alcun tipo di permesso per rimanere in Italia.

Entrambi hanno peggiorato le condizioni del sistema di gestione e accoglienza dei migranti: non hanno portato alla diminuzione degli sbarchi né dei morti in mare, non hanno portato alla riduzione del numero di irregolari né del numero dei rimpatri. Aboubakar Soumahoro chiede la cancellazione anche della legge Bossi-Fini del 2002, che rende impossibile trovare un lavoro regolare per quasi tutti gli stranieri extracomunitari.

Dopo l’incontro con Conte, Aboubakar Soumahoro ha spiegato che l’idea della “patente del cibo” ha trovato grande riscontro nel governo: «Il presidente Conte ha detto che è un’idea bellissima, un’idea geniale e che si attiverà per metterla in pratica». Sul piano del lavoro, Conte ha chiesto “proposte articolate in merito” che l’USB presenterà dunque al più presto. La risposta più deludente è stata sui “decreti sicurezza”: «Ci ha detto che il programma di governo prevede di riformarli, non ha mai parlato di cancellarli come noi chiediamo». Il sindacalista ha infine detto di aver informato Conte che stanno lavorando «alla convocazione degli Stati popolari. Loro hanno fatto gli Stati generali, noi faremo gli Stati popolari nelle prossime settimane a Roma: chiameremo a parlare giovani, precari, disoccupati».

▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z5xME3T7WM&feature=emb_logo

▻https://www.ilpost.it/2020/06/17/protesta-aboubakar-soumahoro

Regolarizzazioni, le Acli: «Migliaia di pratiche gestite, ma poca chiarezza»

Ci sono casi di lavoratori che emergono, poi i datori scompaiono (si pensi ai badanti di anziani) e loro restano nel limbo

Migliaia di pratiche gestite per la regolarizzazione degli stranieri prevista dal decreto Rilancio che è legge da metà luglio, ma ancora tante incertezze a riguardo.

E’ quel che emerge dai Patronati dell’Acli, in prima fila nella vicenda. «Abbiamo gestito finora circa 6000 pratiche» racconta Marco Calvetto, Capo Area dei Nuovi Servizi di Tutela del Patronato Acli «e devo dire che una buona percentuale sta andando avanti senza problemi però ci sono anche tante domande che si scontrano con criticità e ambiguità che la norma non ha affrontato. Parliamo in percentuale di un quinto delle domande, quindi non sono poche quelle che aspettano dei chiarimenti, prima di tutto da parte del Ministero dell’Interno che da giorni ha preannunciato la pubblicazione di una circolare che dovrebbe dirimere una serie di questioni sollevate da parte di tutte le associazioni coinvolte nella regolarizzazione. A poche settimane dalla scadenza dei termini per presentare le domande di emersione, che rimane il 15 agosto, desta un po’ di sconcerto che non siano ancora chiare e certe le normative e le procedure che a cui dovranno attenersi datori di lavoro e cittadini stranieri».

Tra gli stranieri che si sono rivolti al Patronato Acli per chiedere la regolarizzazione, si conta la stessa percentuale nazionale di un 90% di stranieri categorizzabili nel lavoro domestico e 10% di stranieri che invece fanno parte del mondo agricolo.

«Ai dubbi relativi all’invio dell’istanza si aggiunge anche - continua Calvetto - l’incertezza sull’esito e, spesso, la gestione degli eventi che possono incidere sul regolare soggiorno o sul rapporto di lavoro instauratosi fra il momento dell’invio dell’istanza e la convocazione in prefettura per il rilascio del permesso di soggiorno. Purtroppo la verità è che si tratta di almeno 5-6 mesi prima che le parti vengano chiamate per la firma definitiva e in questi mesi, si sta già verificando, il datore di lavoro purtroppo può morire, visto che spesso si tratta di persone anziane affette da qualche malattia grave, con il risultato che lo straniero è ormai emerso, perché ha fatto richiesta di regolarizzazione, però non ha più la possibilità di continuare l’attività lavorativa collegata con l’istanza di emersione e non sa bene come potrebbe essere assunto da altro datore di lavoro, non avendo ancora il titolo di soggiorno, o come si dovrebbe regolare il datore di lavoro in caso di infortunio del lavoratore, visto che il contratto di lavoro sarà comunicato agli enti solo in fase di presentazione allo Sportello Unico. Ad oggi non abbiamo nessuna risposta in merito, abbiamo sollecitato sia le amministrazioni che il Ministero degli interni affinché diano a tutti delle linee guida chiare con delle FAQ che rispondano a tutti i dubbi e le criticità che stanno insorgendo in queste settimane».

Certo, sono situazioni limite, ma non si tratta certo di casi isolati. «Spesso, i datori di lavoro sono molto anziani o comunque non sono autosufficienti, - aggiunge Giamaica Puntillo, Segretaria Nazionale Acli Colf - non è scontato che possano presentarsi in procura per la firma delle parti. Quando ci sono queste sacche di disinformazione non si fa che alimentare la paura di fare qualsiasi passo in avanti e in qualche modo si scoraggiano persone magari ben intenzionate.»

Il decesso del datore di lavoro durante l’iter dell’istruttoria di regolarizzazione non è il solo caso limite che è arrivato agli sportelli delle Acli in queste settimane: per esempio ci sono molti stranieri titolari di permesso di soggiorno diversi da quello per motivi di lavoro, permessi «deboli» o che a breve andranno a scadere (come ad esempio permesso per attesa asilo o per studio...), che stanno svolgendo un regolare rapporto di lavoro, ma che vorrebbero usufruire della regolarizzazione per avere maggiori garanzie a livello di stabilità , ma ancora non sanno se potranno collegare quel lavoro, anche se in uno dei settori coinvolti dalla regolarizzazione, con l’istanza di emersione. Oppure c’è il caso di un minore che ha un permesso di soggiorno non rinnovabile e non convertibile il cui datore di lavoro attuale sarebbe disponibile a mettere in regola, ma cosa succede in questo caso? Non è chiaro insomma se è possibile procedere con una novazione del contratto, ad oggi, che permetterebbe al datore di tenere in piedi lo stesso tipo di contratto o bisogna per forza far cessare il vecchio rapporto di lavoro.

«Anche nel settore agricolo - sottolinea Gianluca Mastrovito Vicepresidente di Acli Terra - c’è poca chiarezza. Ad esempio i datori di lavoro fanno fatica a capire qual sia il minimo economico richiesto per poter accedere alla regolarizzazione. Si tratta di piccoli imprenditori agricoli che non fanno neanche il Modello unico perché spesso sono coltivatori da soli, oppure sono realtà familiari di poche persone, senza una vera struttura. In questa incertezza legislativa, con interpretazioni che variano anche da territorio a territorio, hanno gioco facile i faccendieri».

Stupisce, inoltre, viste le finalità della regolarizzazione strettamente connesse a ragioni sanitarie, che non sia ancora stato esplicitato come sia possibile per i soggetti coinvolti dall’emersione, possessori di una mera istanza di regolarizzazione, ottenere un Codice Fiscale e iscriversi al Servizio Sanitario Nazionale.

«Fra tante incertezze e dubbi colpisce che in fase di conversione a legge del Decreto Rilancio siano stati accolti auna serie di emendamenti e modifiche in materia di bonus e di politica fiscale, per esempio, ma non sia stato accolto nemmeno un emendamento sulla norma delle regolarizzazioni, ed erano centinaia , compresi i nostri e soprattutto compresi quelli presentati dalla maggioranza stessa - dichiara Emiliano Manfredonia, Presidente del Patronato Acli - è chiaro che ci troviamo di fronte ad uno scontro politico. Così perdiamo una grande occasione, il decreto si poteva e andava migliorato, dopo una risposta iniziale dettata anche dall’emergenza.»

L’altro problema, a cui la legge di conversione non ha posto rimedio, riguarda il fatto che la norma sia applicabile solo agli stranieri irregolari che lavorino in tre settori specifici: agricoltura, assistenza alla persona, lavoro domestico. «Dai dati resi noti dal Ministero dell’Interno emerge che molti lavoratori domestici coinvolti dalla regolarizzazione appartengono a nazionalità che tradizionalmente vedevano bassi indici di coinvolgimento nel settore. O ci troviamo di fronte ad un positivo superamento dell’etnicizzazione che caratterizza il lavoro domestico del nostro Paese o forse ad un vincolo legislativo che genera delle distorsioni.... » - ha aggiunto Calvetto - e d’altronde più la normativa è stringente più si fa il gioco di chi non ha peli sullo stomaco. Basti pensare che le istanze di emersione le possono inviare giustamente i singoli, ma forse un po’ più di perplessità le suscita il fatto che ogni soggetto privato può inviare fino a 5 istanze per altri. Facile capire come si possa trasformare in un’occasione di lucro per la criminalità organizzata e anche per la microcriminalità delle comunità straniere presenti nel nostro Paese: si illudono persone bisognose, in situazioni di fragilità, chiedendogli magari i risparmi di una vita o facendoli indebitare, creando legami di subalternità che rischiano di alimentare l’illegalità invece di processi di autonomia e partecipazione a cui l’emersione dovrebbe tendere. E non sono poche le domande che gli operatori Acli non accolgono perché palesemente in contrasto con i requisiti. «Chiediamo maggiore chiarezza, mancano ormai pochi giorni, visto che si avvicina anche la chiusura estiva - ha concluso Manfredonia - e crediamo che sia una questione di rispetto sia per chi ha intenzione di regolarizzare uno straniero ma anche per gli operatori dei patronati che si trovano a non poter dare le giuste risposte a persone che magari ne avrebbero il diritto.»

▻https://www.repubblica.it/economia/miojob/lavoro/2020/08/04/news/regolarizzazioni_le_acli_migliaia_di_pratiche_gestite_ma_poca_chiarezza_-

Migrants in Italy: 220,000 workers applied for regularization

Since a new decree went into effect in Italy this summer, 220,000 migrants have applied to get temporary papers, according to Deputy Interior Minister Matteo Mauri. Meanwhile, he also said that the exploitation of undocumented farmworkers in the Foggia region had to be stopped.

Deputy minister Mauri announced the numbers on October 13 after a meeting at the prefecture of Foggia in the region of Puglia.

“207,000 people applied for the regularization, in addition to 13,000 who asked for a permit to look for a job, so we are talking about 220,000 people,” Mauri said. “In the report we drafted before the start of the regularization, we wrote on a piece of paper that we would probably regularize 220,000 people, which is exactly what happened.”

Permit extension for migrant workers

The decree that allowed these people to apply for temporary papers came into force on June 1: Foreigners who had a stay permit that expired after October 31, 2019 could apply for a new six-month-long permit. The decree applied to migrant workers employed in specific sectors, including agriculture and domestic work, as well as unemployed migrants who previously worked in these sectors.

“More legality, more regularity and as a consequence more benefits for all, because producing conditions for high-quality integration is in everybody’s interest,” deputy minister Mauri said.

He said his administration was actively fighting the exploitation of undocumented migrants in agriculture in the Foggia region. “We have met with law enforcement, the prefecture, unions and associations. Unfortunately, we are not dealing with an emergency but with a problem that has existed for a very long time,” he said.

Exploitation of farmworkers

The Foggia region is known for makeshift migrant camps where gangmasters look for workers. Living conditions in these shanty towns are poor. This summer, several inhabitants caught COVID-19, and one migrant died in a fire.

Mauri said that “a different, dignified living solution must be found” for migrant workers, and that ending exploitative work situations was key to this.

“At the center of everything there is always the problem of exploitation, because if a person is not paid for what he or she does but is underpaid and in some cases enslaved, these situations become inevitable,” he said.

▻https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/27936/migrants-in-italy-220-000-workers-applied-for-regularization

#coronavirus #solidarité #Migrants

Voir compile des effets délétères indirects de la pandémie :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/832147

Et nouvelles de l’#île_Maurice, reçues d’une amie qui y a habité et qui a donc des informations de première main (30.03.2020) :

Le premier ministre mauricien a calqué le lockdown mauricien sur l’Inde. Résultat : depuis 5 jours, tous les #supermarchés et #épiceries sont fermées. La brigade anti-emeute « gère » les gens qui sortent pour se procurer de la #nourriture. Les supermarchés vont de nouveau ouvrir dans deux jours, mais dans maintes quartiers, il n’y a pas de supermachés et les gens n’ont pas de voiture !

#coronavirus #solidarité #pauvreté #Inde

Voir compile des effets délétères indirects de la pandémie :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/832147

En Inde, des millions de migrants de l’intérieur affamés abandonnent les villes

Le confinement du géant d’Asie du Sud provoque une crise sanitaire sans précédent, jetant sur les routes des populations non protégées contre le coronavirus.

https://www.courrierinternational.com/sites/ci_master/files/styles/image_original_765/public/assets/images/rts37inl_layout_comp.jpg?itok=ljliJVuM#.jpg

▻https://www.courrierinternational.com/revue-de-presse/societe-en-inde-des-millions-de-migrants-de-linterieur-affame

Voir compile des effets délétères indirects de la pandémie :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/832147

#coronavirus #travail

L’epidemia lascia l’agricoltura italiana senza lavoratori
Stefano Liberti, Internazionale, le 20 mars 2020
▻https://www.internazionale.it/notizie/stefano-liberti/2020/03/20/coronavirus-agricoltura-lavoratori

#coronavirus, alleanza cooperative, “filiera agroalimentare non si ferma, ma problemi aumentano. raccolti a rischio per l’assenza di manodopera”
►https://seenthis.net/messages/834459

v. ici aussi:
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/814444

Croatia ’wrongly deports’ Nigerian table tennis players to Bosnia

Two students visiting Croatia say they were wrongly suspected of undocumented migration and kicked out of the country.

https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2019/12/4/adf0974a7aea471fb02acb34ff758755_18.jpg

Croatian police have deported two Nigerian table-tennis players to Bosnia and Herzegovina, claiming they were in the country illegally, despite the pair having arrived in Croatia with valid visas.

Abie Uchenna Alexandra and Kenneth Chinedu, students from Owerri Technical University in Nigeria, arrived in Zagreb on November 12 to participate in the sport’s World University Championships in Pula, according to Hina, the government-owned national news agency.

▻https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/croatia-wrongly-deports-nigerian-table-tennis-players-bosnia-191204183710

Hrvatska policija kidnapovala nigerijske studente i prebacila ih u BiH!

Dvojica studenata iz Nigerije 12. novembra doputovali su u Pulu kako bi učestvovali na Svjetskom međusveučilišnom prvenstvu. Nakon završetka takmičenja, 17. novembra, doputovali su u Zagreb. Na ulici ih je zaustavila i privela policija. Odvezli su ih u šumu u blizini Velike Kladuše i pod prijetnjom oružjem natjerali da pređu na teritoriju Bosne i Hercegovine.

https://zurnal.info/img/s/810x500/upload/images/2019/ADI_7390.JPG

Osamnaestogodišnji student Abia Uchenna Alexandro iz Nigerije doputovao je 12. novembra ove godine u Hrvatsku da bi učestvovao na petom Svjetskom međusveučilišnom prvenstvu u Puli. Predstavljao je Federalni univerzitet tehnologija Owerri na takmičenju iz stonog tenisa. Nakon završetka takmičenja, zajedno sa jos četiri kolege, vratio se u Zagreb odakle je trebao 18. novembra letjeti za Istanbul.

Nakon dolaska u Zagreb, sa kolegom Eboh Kenneth Chinedu, smjestio se u hostel i izašao u šetnju gradom.

– Na ulasku u tramvaj zaustavila nas je policija. Odvezli su nas u policijsku stanicu. Pokušali smo im objasniti ko smo i da su nam dokumenti u hostelu. Nisu obraćali pažnju na ono što govorimo, kaže za Žurnal Eboh Kenneth Chinedu.

HODAJ ILI ĆU PUCATI

– Ne znamo koliko je sati bilo, ali bio je mrak... Izveli su nas iz stanice i stavili u kombi. Odvezli su nas na nepoznato mjesto. Dvojica policajaca su nam rekli idete u Bosnu. Ja nikada nisam bio u Bosni. Došao sam avionom u Zagreb, rekao sam im da ne znam Bosnu. Rekli su nam ne, vi idete u Bosnu. Nakon nekog vremena kombi je stao i gurnuli su nas u žbunje. Odbio sam ići u šumu, onda mi je policajac rekao ako se ne pomjerim da će me upucati, kaže Eboha Kenneth.

U razgovoru za Žurnal nigerijski studenti kazu da su bili preplašeni i da nisu znali šta da rade. Migranti, koje je Hrvatska policija zajedno s njima natjerala da kroz šumu pređu na teritoriju BiH, su ih odveli u kamp u Velikoj Kladuši.

https://zurnal.info/upload/images/2019/ADI_7408.JPG

– Naši pasoši i sve stvari su ostale u Zagrebu. Uspio sam iz kampa pozvati kolegu koji je zajedno sa nama bio na takmičenju da nam pošalje pasoše. Ne znamo šta da radimo, viza za Hrvatsku nam ističe danas, kaže Kenneth Chinedu.

Kampom Miral upravlja Međunarodna organizacija za migracije IOM. Za Žurnal su samo kratko rekli da su o slučaju nigerijskih studenata, nakon što su dobili potvrdu od organizatora takmičenja da su oni stvarno studenti sa uredno izdatim vizama, obavijestili organizaciju Vaša prava iz Sarajeva koja će preuzeti njihov slučaj.

Iz ove organizacije nisu odgovarali na pozive iz redakcije Žurnala.

SNIMALA IH HRVATSKA TELEVIZIJA

Iz Međusveučilišnog sportskog komiteta, organizatora svjetskog prvenstva u Puli, tvrde da su obaviješteni o slučaju. U razgovoru za Žurnal predstavnik Komiteta Alberto Tanghetti kaže da je bilo ukupno pet učesnika iz Nigerije, četiri studenta i profesor, te da su svi imali uredne vize.

– Ta dva studenta su bila na takmičenju, imali su hrvatsku vizu, povratne avionske karte iz Zagreba za Istanbul i iz Istanbula za Lagos. Znači, imali su vizu da dođu na takmičenje, imali su povratne karte... Na takmičenju ih je snimala hrvatska televizija. U nedjelju 17. 11 putovali su u Zagreb jer su u ponedjeljak imali let za istanbul. Sedam dana kasnije primio sam poziv iz kampa da se kod njih nalaze dvojica studenata iz Nigerije koje je hrvatska policija odvela u BiH. Ne razumijem kako se to desilo jer je policija u Puli bila obaviještena da su tu, kaže Thanghetti.

Iz ove organizacije kazu da ce nazvati Univerzitet u Puli, obavijestiti MUP Hrvatske i vidjeti kako mogu pomoći studentima.

▻https://zurnal.info/novost/22587/hrvatska-policija-kidnapovala-nigerijske-studente-i-prebacila-ih-u-bih

Behind the #Johannesburg riots: How did they happen?

https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1169769727717183488/dcGMPdHj?format=jpg&name=small#.jpg

The latest outbreak of mob violence and xenophobia was allegedly orchestrated by members of the All Truck Drivers Forum (ATDF), which held mass meetings that went into last weekend in different parts of Gauteng.

The Mail & Guardian has reliably learned that intelligence agencies — which sent a briefing note last week Friday to the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster (JCPS), chaired by Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula — have been investigating the forum’s involvement.

The cluster consists of the ministries of police, home affairs, state security, justice and constitutional development, as well as the National Prosecuting Authority.

High-ranking security officials have also discussed the political motivations behind the flare-up in violence, with theories that the violence was part of a campaign to embarrass and ultimately destabilise the presidency of Cyril Ramaphosa.

Despite the intelligence and warnings, these parts of the cluster failed to prevent the violent attacks and the burning and looting of shops in Jeppestown on Sunday night and into Monday morning.

On Monday, the violence spread to parts of central Johannesburg and Alexandra, as well as Boksburg and Thokoza on the East Rand. Shops, cars and other buildings were set on fire. More than 400 arrests have been made since.

In parts of KwaZulu-Natal, freight trucks were attacked and set alight.
Drivers found to be foreign nationals were also assaulted.

ATDF, which purports to represent only South African truck drivers, has dismissed the intelligence, saying that its organisation is anti-violence. Its spokesperson, Sipho Zungu, said on Thursday: “When this latest violence started on Monday we were in court, so there is no way this was us. ATDF has never even had a strike, let alone [engaged in] violence [and] looting. The nation is being misled here.

“What needs to be clarified is that ATDF is fighting for all truck drivers in the country, no matter if they work or not.” He went on to add: “The reality is that South African truck drivers no longer have jobs, and we have been engaging truck owners and government that they must get rid of foreign truck drivers.”

This kind of sentiment, and existing tensions, were worsened by political rhetoric around access to healthcare and unemployment before the elections. It reached boiling point last month, when police operations in Johannesburg to find fake goods were thwarted by shopkeepers, who pelted law-enforcement authorities with rocks, forcing a retreat.

Public reaction to this took on a xenophobic tinge, with some South Africans blaming foreign nationals for a host of problems — from the proliferation of drugs and fake goods, to crime and filth in inner-city Johannesburg.

Information shared with the JCPS cluster last Friday indicated that meetings to discuss strategy and co-ordinate attacks on foreign nationals were to scheduled to take place this past weekend. The meetings were to be held at venues in different parts of Gauteng, including the Mzimhlophe grounds in Soweto, Alexandra at Pan taxi rank, Randburg taxi rank, Ezibayeni in Hillbrow and Part Two, Diepsloot.

Foreign nationals also held their own meetings over the weekend, and discussed how to protect themselves against potential attacks.

The M&G understands that the government was concerned that foreign nationals could retaliate violently, which might escalate matters. A source in the JCPS cluster said: “If action was taken and those meetings disrupted, what happened on Sunday evening would not have happened.”

Now, Police Minister Bheki Cele has been forced to react after the fact. He has focused on the hostels this week and has had several meetings with iinduna to try to quell the unrest.

Cele’s office announced he would also be hosting imbizo, to be attended by residents, as well as local, provincial and national politicians, at the Jeppe hostel on Sunday.

Cele’s spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, said: “Izinduna who met with Minister Cele have assured the Gauteng Saps [South African Police Service] management that hostel dwellers have been urged to refrain from acts of violence leading up to the imbizo, planned for Sunday.”

Themba also said Cele had briefed Ramaphosa on the latest situation in Johannesburg on Monday, after a visit to Jeppe hostel. “There was a Cabinet meeting where this issue was discussed and brought to the attention of all ministers, including those in the JCPS cluster.”

“The JCPS cluster and various operational structures have been meeting and engaging continuously during the past weeks — and in some instances on a daily basis,” she said.

News of the imbizo has not been well received by all in the hostel. Nduna Manyathela Mvelase, who met with Cele during his visit, said: “It’s almost as if they are saying ‘It’s the hostels and the Zulu people that are responsible for this.’”

“It was unfortunate that a fire started not too far from here on Sunday and people died. At the same time, some criminals took advantage of that fire, and now it looks as if this started here,” he said. “This started in Pretoria and there are no hostels there … All our children are unemployed and on drugs.”

The government and the presidency’s slowness to get a handle on the situation has prompted severe criticism from observers, as well as heads of state across the continent.

Two former government officials expressed surprise that the JCPS had not met by Wednesday or made any public statements.

One said: “By now you should have been seeing all the different ministers visible on the ground … The fact that Nigeria’s president [Muhammadu Buhari] was even tweeting disinformation [that Nigerians were killed in the violence] means there could have been no information from our government to affected embassies.

“When government is this silent it becomes easy for the situation to escalate,” he added.

Department of international relations and co-operation (Dirco) spokesperson Clayson Monyela said on Wednesday that the department would try and secure meetings with consulates and high commissions of affected nationalities by today.

“Dirco has not received any official complaint or inquiry from an embassy. However, we are maintaining regular contact with the diplomatic corps to update them on government’s measures and interventions to deal with the spate of violence,” he said.

Johan Burger, a senior research er at the Institute for Security Studies, said he was extremely disappointed that Ramaphosa had remained silent about the attacks until Wednesday.

“I say, very reluctantly, that South Africa is at fault in terms of how it handled this issue from the top. I’m extremely disappointed that it took so long to say something,” Burger said. “He should have spoken to his security cluster ministers and asked what was happening and given instruction and direction.”

A senior government official suggested Ramaphosa was being let down by his Cabinet, particularly in the JCPS cluster, which met for the first time on Wednesday. “Not once in the former president’s tenure would so much time pass before security cluster ministers meet and strategise. Not once.”

The Nigerian government took a harsh tone this week, saying it would not tolerate any more attacks on its citizens, and deployed envoys to meet Ramaphosa, whose public statement condemning the attacks was issued only on Tuesday, to discuss the situation.

On Wednesday the Nigerian presidency announced that Nigerian airline Air Peace airlines would send an aircraft today to evacuate any of its citizens who wished to leave South Africa. Yesterday, South Africa shut down its embassy in Lagos and several South African businesses in that country were attacked and looted.

https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1169753589125791745/CdEmKxVs?format=jpg&name=small#.jpg

▻https://mg.co.za/article/2019-09-06-00-behind-the-johannesburg-riots-how-did-they-happen

South African Riots Over ‘Xenophobia’ Prompt Backlash Across Africa

Pop stars have announced a #boycott. Air Tanzania has suspended flights to Johannesburg. #Madagascar and Zambia are refusing to send their soccer teams. Nigeria has recalled its ambassador and pulled out of a major economic forum.

South Africa is facing a backlash after rioters in and around Johannesburg targeted immigrants from other African countries this week, torching their shops and leading to at least 10 deaths. Now, angry citizens and governments across the continent are lashing out at South Africa and its businesses, denouncing what they call “xenophobia.”

Africans across the continent once rallied behind South Africans in their struggle to defeat the apartheid government, which was finally replaced in elections held 25 years ago. Now, some Africans find themselves in the unfamiliar position of protesting the actions of the same communities in South Africa that they once stood with in solidarity.

“The only time we’ve seen this type of cooperation of African countries in terms of backlash,” said Tunde Leye, a partner at the Nigerian political research firm SBM Intelligence, “was in terms of support of the anti-apartheid movement.”
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The current level of political solidarity on the continent, he said, was “almost unprecedented.”

The riots, and the retaliatory measures, could not come at a more inopportune time for regional cooperation. This week, African leaders are meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, to discuss the African Continental Free Trade Area, an agreement made this year that sets the stage for the creation of the largest free-trade area in the world. It would join Africa’s more than one billion consumers into a single market.

The conflict, while not likely to imperil the free trade agreement, could at least slow its implementation, which is expected to take years, African analysts said.

Nigeria’s government, angry that its citizens have been victimized in the South African riots, has pulled out of the Cape Town meeting.

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Nigeria is the continent’s largest economy, and South Africa is the second-largest. Both countries were already reluctant participants in the accord, which is supposed to help knock down the many barriers to trade among African countries.

Anti-immigrant sentiment is a longstanding issue in South Africa, where the legacies of colonialism and apartheid run deep, and a political shift has not delivered meaningful change to many poor South Africans. Immigrants from countries like Nigeria, Mozambique, Somalia and Zimbabwe are often regarded by South Africans as competitors for jobs and social services.

In South Africa, attacks on foreigners have become common, and they surged beginning Sunday when rioters stormed neighborhoods in and around Johannesburg, lighting fires and breaking into shops.

At least 10 people have died in the riots, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a video address on Thursday, in which he also condemned the violence.

“There can be no excuse for the attacks on the homes and businesses of foreign nationals,” he said. “Equally, there is no justification for the looting and destruction of businesses owned by South Africans.”

In Gauteng, the province that includes Johannesburg, authorities have arrested at least 423 people, said Colonel Lungelo Dlamini, a police spokesman. On Thursday, he said that many shops owned by foreigners remained closed and that more shopping centers in the eastern part of the province “are being targeted.”

Police seized guns, he said, not just from South Africans, but also from at least two foreign nationals.
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The rolling backlash has united broad swaths of the continent. Two popular Nigerian musicians, Burna Boy and Tiwa Savage, said they were boycotting South Africa. Burna Boy was set to headline the Afropunk festival in Johannesburg in December, alongside artists like Solange Knowles. Tiwa Savage had an appearance in South Africa scheduled for mid-September.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, protesters rushed and sometimes looted South African-owned businesses in Nigeria and Zambia, including Shoprite supermarkets. The company closed stores. The South African telecommunications giant MTN did the same.

On Thursday, the protests spread to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where demonstrators outside of the South African Embassy in Kinshasa held signs that read “Don’t kill our brothers” and “No xenophobia.” In Lubumbashi, they broke windows at the South African Consulate.

Nigeria recalled its ambassador to South Africa. South Africa has shuttered its diplomatic missions in Nigeria, citing threats.

The clashes cast a cloud over the World Economic Forum in Africa, which began in Cape Town on Wednesday. Leaders were set to discuss the free trade pact, an agreement signed by 54 countries that supporters have said could reshape economic relationships on the continent.

The accord has the potential to bolster intra-African trade by 52 percent by 2022, according to the United Nations. Right now, intra-African trade accounts for just 16 percent of the continent’s trade volume. It can be cheaper to ship something from Nigeria to Europe, and then to Senegal, rather than directly from Nigeria to Senegal. This is a major barrier to regional development, economists say.

Still, a host of challenges await before the pact is put in place.

African analysts differed on whether Nigeria’s decision to skip the Cape Town meeting would have any effect in the long term.

Gilbert Khadiagala, a Kenyan professor of international relations at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, said Nigeria’s move was little more than “grandstanding,” and that would not impede the trade agreement.

But Mr. Leye, of SBM Intelligence in Nigeria, said that in his view, Nigeria’s boycott of the Forum “will have an impact in terms of the pace of implementation.”

▻https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/05/world/africa/south-africa-xenophobia-riots.html
#Zambie

▻https://seenthis.net/messages/800183

Nouvelle flambée de violences xénophobes en Afrique du Sud

Des centaines de personnes ont incendié et dévalisé des magasins tenus par des étrangers à Johannesburg et Pretoria.

https://img.lemde.fr/2019/09/03/0/0/4000/2667/688/0/60/0/d70177d_eRm7DNXrrnJ1p4PFSmkSLBpy.jpg

Refugees and police clash at Cape Town protest against xenophobia

Around 100 people were arrested on October 30 as part of an operation to disperse a group of refugees and asylum seekers who had staged a prolonged sit-in near the United Nations refugee agency in Cape Town, South African police said.

Local media showed footage of police firing water cannon into the crowd of protesters and arresting some of them. The South African Police Service (SAPS) said in a statement that they evicted around 300 people from the area in accordance with a court order.

The refugees and asylum seekers have been camping outside the offices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for weeks, asking to be moved out of South Africa, where they say they do not feel safe after a wave of xenophobic violence.

The refugees want to be repatriated to their home countries or moved elsewhere after a spate of deadly riots and attacks in September, which killed at least 10 people and left many foreigners afraid to live in the country.

▻https://www.euronews.com/2019/10/30/refugees-and-police-clash-at-cape-town-protest-against-xenophobia

Jordan Refuses Entry to Stateless Palestinian Journalist After Israeli Deportation Attempt
Amira Hass, Haaretz, le 23 juillet 2019
▻https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/jordan/.premium-jordan-refuses-entry-to-palestinian-journalist-after-israeli-depor

Un photojournaliste de Jérusalem détenu depuis janvier sans accusations ni procès, et Israël ne parvient pas à l’expulser
Amira Hass, Haaretz, le 23 juillet 2019
▻http://www.pourlapalestine.be/un-photojournaliste-de-jerusalem-detenu-depuis-janvier-sans-accusati

v. aussi :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/772984

Gen Khalifa Haftar’s forces close in on Tripoli

UN’s Guterres ‘deeply concerned’ after meeting with Libyan National Army leader.

Dozens of migrants and refugees in a Tripoli detention centre were dressed in old military uniforms and ordered to begin packing weapons this week, as rival forces began to march on the Libyan capital.

▻https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/africa/gen-khalifa-haftar-s-forces-close-in-on-tripoli-1.3851141

Libia, #Qasr_Bin_Ghashir: necessaria l’urgente evacuazione! 10 aprile

Il centro di detenzione di Qasr Bin Ghashir, Tripoli, Libia, al quinto giorno senza acqua e senza cibo.
500 persone prese sulla linea del fronte, abbandonate all’interno dalle milizie in fuga.

▻https://vimeo.com/329685644

’We are in a fire’: Libya’s detained refugees trapped by conflict

Detainees at detention centre on the outskirts of Tripoli live in fear amid intense clashes for control of the capital.

Refugees and migrants trapped on the front line of fierce fighting in Libya’s capital, Tripoli, are pleading to be rescued from the war-torn country while being “surrounded by heavy weapons and militants”.

Hit by food and water shortages, detainees at the #Qasr_bin_Ghashir detention centre on the southern outskirts of Tripoli, told Al Jazeera they were “abandoned” on Saturday by fleeing guards, who allegedly told the estimated 728 people being held at the facility to fend for themselves.

The refugees and migrants used hidden phones to communicate and requested that their names not be published.

“[There are] no words to describe the fear of the women and children,” an Eritrean male detainee said on Saturday.

“We are afraid of [the] noise... fired from the air and the weapons. I feel that we are abandoned to our fate.”
Fighting rages on Tripoli outskirts

Tripoli’s southern outskirts have been engulfed by fighting since renegade General Khalifa Haftar’s eastern forces launched an assault on the capital earlier this month in a bid to wrestle control of the city from Libya’s internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).

The showdown threatens to further destabilise war-wracked Libya, which splintered into a patchwork of rival power bases following the overthrow of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

At least 121 people have been killed and 561 wounded since Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) started its offensive on April 4, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

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Both sides have repeatedly carried out air raids and accuse each other of targeting civilians.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), for its part, estimates more than 15,000 people have been displaced so far, with a “significant number” of others stuck in live conflict zones.

Amid the fighting, refugees and migrants locked up in detention centres throughout the capital, many of whom fled war and persecution in countries including Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan, are warning that their lives are at risk.

“We find ourselves in a fire,” a 15-year-old detainee at Qasr bin Ghashir told Al Jazeera.
Electricity outage, water shortages

Others held at the centre described the abject conditions they were subject to, including a week-long stint without electricity and working water pumps.

One detainee in her 30s, who alleged the centre’s manager assaulted her, also said they had gone more than a week until Saturday with “no food, [and] no water”, adding the situation “was not good” and saying women are particularly vulnerable now.

This is the third time since August that detainees in Qasr bin Ghashir have been in the middle of clashes, she said.

Elsewhere in the capital, refugees and migrants held at the #Abu_Salim detention centre also said they could “hear the noise of weapons” and needed protection.

“At this time, we want quick evacuation,” said one detainee at Abu Salim, which sits about 20km north of Qasr bin Ghashir.

“We’ve stayed years with much torture and suffering, we don’t have any resistance for anything. We are (under) deep pressure and stressed … People are very angry and afraid.”
’Take us from Libya, please’

Tripoli’s detention centres are formally under the control of the GNA’s Department for Combatting Illegal Migration (DCIM), though many are actually run by militias.

The majority of the approximately 6,000 people held in the facilities were intercepted on the Mediterranean Sea and brought back to the North African country after trying to reach Europe as part of a two-year agreement under which which the European Union supports the Libyan coastguard with funds, ships and training, in return for carrying out interceptions and rescues.

In a statement to Al Jazeera, an EU spokesperson said the bloc’s authorities were “closely monitoring the situation in Libya” from a “political, security and humanitarian point of view” though they could not comment on Qasr bin Ghashir specifically.

DCIM, for its part, did not respond to a request for comment.

The UN, however, continues to reiterate that Libya is not a safe country for refugees and migrants to return.

Amid the ongoing conflict, the organisation’s human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, warned last week of the need to “ensure protection of extremely vulnerable civilians”, including refugees and migrants who may be living “under significant peril”.

Bachelet also called for authorities to ensure that prisons and detention centres are not abandoned, and for all parties to guarantee that the treatment of detainees is in line with international law.

In an apparent move to safeguard the refugees and migrants being held near the capital, Libyan authorities attempted last week to move detainees at Qasr bin Ghashir to another detention centre in #Zintan, nearly 170km southwest of Tripoli.

But those being held in Qasr bin Ghashir refused to leave, arguing the solution is not a move elsewhere in Libya but rather a rescue from the country altogether.

“All Libya [is a] war zone,” an Eritrean detainee told Al Jazeera.

“Take us from Libya, please. Where is humanity and where is human rights,” the detainee asked.

▻https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/fire-libya-detained-refugees-trapped-conflict-190414150247858.html

700+ refugees & migrants - including more than 150 women & children - are trapped in a detention centre on the front lines, amid renewed clashes in Tripoli. The below photos, taken today, show where a jet was downed right beside them.

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ESCLUSIVO TPI: “Senza cibo né acqua, pestati a sangue dai soldati”: la guerra in Libia vista dai migranti rinchiusi nei centri di detenzione

“I rifugiati detenuti in Libia stanno subendo le più drammatiche conseguenze della guerra civile esplosa nel paese”.

È la denuncia a TPI di Giulia Tranchina, avvocato che, a Londra, si occupa di rifugiati per lo studio legale Wilson Solicitor.

Tranchina è in contatto con i migranti rinchiusi nei centri di detenzione libici e, da tempo, denuncia abusi e torture perpetrate ai loro danni.

L’esplosione della guerra ha reso le condizioni di vita delle migliaia di rifugiati presenti nei centri governativi ancora più disumane.

La gestione dei centri è stata bocciata anche dagli organismi internazionali in diversi rapporti, ignorati dai governi europei e anche da quello italiano, rapporti dove si evidenzia la violazione sistematica delle convenzioni internazionali, le condizioni sanitarie agghiaccianti e continue torture.

▻https://www.tpi.it/2019/04/13/guerra-libia-migranti-centri-di-detenzione
#guerre_civile

The humanitarian fallout from Libya’s newest war

The Libyan capital of Tripoli is shuddering under an offensive by forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar, with the city’s already precarious basic services in danger of breaking down completely and aid agencies struggling to cope with a growing emergency.

In the worst and most sustained fighting the country has seen since the 2011 uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, the Haftar-led Libyan National Army, or LNA, surged into the city – controlled by the UN-backed Government of National Accord, or GNA – on 4 April.

Fighting continues across a string of southern suburbs, with airstrikes and rocket and artillery fire from both sides hammering front lines and civilians alike.

“It is terrible; they use big guns at night, the children can’t sleep,” said one resident of the capital, who declined to give her name for publication. “The shots land everywhere.”

The violence has displaced thousands of people and trapped hundreds of migrants and refugees in detention centres. Some analysts also think it has wrecked years of diplomacy, including attempts by the UN to try to build political consensus in Libya, where various militias support the two major rivals for power: the Tripoli-based GNA and the Haftar-backed House of Representatives, based in the eastern city of Tobruk.

“Detained migrants and refugees, including women and children, are particularly vulnerable.”

“Pandora’s box has been opened,” said Jalel Harchaoui, a research fellow at Clingendael Institute think tank in The Hague. “The military operation [to capture Tripoli] has inflicted irreversible damage upon a modus vivendi and a large set of political dialogues that has required four years of diplomatic work.”
Civilians in the line of fire

Media reports and eyewitnesses in the city said residents face agonising decisions about when to go out, and risk the indiscriminate fire, in search of food and other essentials from the few shops that are open.

One resident said those in Tripoli face the dilemma of whether to stay in their homes or leave, with no clear idea of what part of the city will be targeted next.

The fighting is reportedly most intense in the southern suburbs, which until two weeks ago included some of the most tranquil and luxurious homes in the city. Now these districts are a rubble-strewn battleground, made worse by the ever-changing positions of LNA forces and militias that support the GNA.

This battle comes to a city already struggling with chaos and militia violence, with residents having known little peace since the NATO-backed revolt eight years ago.

“Since 2011, Libyans have faced one issue after another: shortages of cooking gas, electricity, water, lack of medicines, infrastructure in ruin and neglect,” said one woman who lives in an eastern suburb of Tripoli. “Little is seen at community level, where money disappears into pockets [of officials]. Hospitals are unsanitary and barely function. Education is a shambles of poor schools and stressed teachers.”
Aid agencies scrambling

Only a handful of aid agencies have a presence in Tripoli, where local services are now badly stretched.

The World Health Organisation reported on 14 April that the death toll was 147 and 614 people had been wounded, cautioning that the latter figure may be higher as some overworked hospitals have stopped counting the numbers treated.

“We are still working on keeping the medical supplies going,” a WHO spokesperson said. “We are sending out additional surgical staff to support hospitals coping with large caseloads of wounded, for example anaesthetists.”

The UN’s emergency coordination body, OCHA, said that 16,000 people had been forced to flee by the fighting, 2,000 on 13 April alone when fighting intensified across the front line with a series of eight airstrikes. OCHA says the past few years of conflict have left at least 823,000 people, including 248,000 children, “in dire need of humanitarian assistance”.

UNICEF appealed for $4.7 million to provide emergency assistance to the half a million children and their families it estimates live in and around Tripoli.
Migrants and refugees

Some of the worst off are more than 1,500 migrants trapped in a string of detention centres in the capital and nearby. The UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, said over the weekend it was trying to organise the evacuation of refugees from a migrant camp close to the front lines. “We are in contact with refugees in Qaser Ben Gashir and so far they remain safe from information received,” the agency said in a tweet.

At least one media report said migrants and refugees at the centre felt they had been abandoned and feared for their lives.

UNHCR estimates there are some 670,000 migrants and refugees in Libya, including more than 6,000 in detention centres.

In its appeal, UNICEF said it was alarmed by reports that some migrant detention centres have been all but abandoned, with the migrants unable to get food and water. “The breakdown in the food supply line has resulted in a deterioration of the food security in detention centres,” the agency said. “Detained migrants and refugees, including women and children, are particularly vulnerable, especially those in detention centres located in the vicinity of the fighting.”

Many migrants continue to hope to find a boat to Europe, but that task has been made harder by the EU’s March decision to scale down the rescue part of Operation Sophia, its Mediterranean anti-smuggling mission.

“The breakdown in the food supply line has resulted in a deterioration of the food security in detention centres.”

Search-and-rescue missions run by nongovernmental organisations have had to slow down and sometimes shutter their operations as European governments refuse them permission to dock. On Monday, Malta said it would not allow the crew of a ship that had been carrying 64 people rescued off the coast of Libya to disembark on its shores. The ship was stranded for two weeks as European governments argued over what to do with the migrants, who will now be split between four countries.

Eugenio Cusumano, an international security expert specialising in migration research at Lieden University in the Netherlands, said a new surge of migrants and refugees may now be heading across the sea in a desperate attempt to escape the fighting. He said they will find few rescue craft, adding: “If the situation in Libya deteriorates there will be a need for offshore patrol assets.”
Failed diplomacy

Haftar’s LNA says its objective is to liberate the city from militia control, while the GNA has accused its rival of war crimes and called for prosecutions.

International diplomatic efforts to end the fighting appear to have floundered. Haftar launched his offensive on the day that UN Secretary-General António Guterres was visiting Tripoli – a visit designed to bolster long-delayed, UN-chaired talks with the various parties in the country, which were due to be held this week.

The UN had hoped the discussions, known as the National Conference, might pave the way for elections later this year, but they ended up being cancelled due to the upsurge in fighting.

Guterres tried to de-escalate the situation by holding emergency talks with the GNA in Tripoli and flying east to see Haftar in Benghazi. But as foreign powers reportedly line up behind different sides, his calls for a ceasefire – along with condemnation from the UN Security Council and the EU – have so far been rebuffed.

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“They (tell) migrants that if you know how to shoot a gun we will make you stay with us.”

https://i.imgur.com/A4cIglu.jpg

Detained refugees in Libya moved to safety in second UNHCR relocation

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, today relocated another 150 refugees who were detained in the #Abu_Selim detention centre in south Tripoli to UNHCR’s #Gathering_and_Departure_Facility (#GDF) in the centre of Libya’s capital, safe from hostilities.

The Abu Selim detention centre is one of several in Libya that has been impacted by hostilities since clashes erupted in the capital almost a fortnight ago.

Refugees at the centre told UNHCR that they were petrified and traumatised by the fighting, fearing for their lives.

UNHCR staff who were present and organizing the relocation today reported that clashes were around 10 kilometres away from the centre and were clearly audible.

While UNHCR intended to relocate more refugees, due to a rapid escalation of fighting in the area this was not possible. UNHCR hopes to resume this life-saving effort as soon as conditions on the ground allow.

“It is a race against time to move people out of harm’s way. Conflict and deteriorating security conditions hamper how much we can do,” said UNHCR’s Assistant Chief of Mission in Libya, Lucie Gagne.

“We urgently need solutions for people trapped in Libya, including humanitarian evacuations to transfer those most vulnerable out of the country.”

Refugees who were relocated today were among those most vulnerable and in need and included women and children. The relocation was conducted with the support of UNHCR’s partner, International Medical Corps and the Libyan Ministry of Interior.

This relocation is the second UNHCR-organized transfer since the recent escalation of the conflict in Libya.

Last week UNHCR relocated more than 150 refugees from the Ain Zara detention centre also in south Tripoli to the GDF, bringing the total number of refugees currently hosted at the GDF to more than 400.

After today’s relocation, there remain more than 2,700 refugees and migrants detained and trapped in areas where clashes are ongoing. In addition to those remaining at Abu Selim, other detention centres impacted and in proximity to hostilities include the Qasr Bin Ghasheer, Al Sabaa and Tajoura centres.

Current conditions in the country continue to underscore the fact that Libya is a dangerous place for refugees and migrants, and that those rescued and intercepted at sea should not be returned there. UNHCR has repeatedly called for an end to detention for refugees and migrants.

https://www.unhcr.org/thumb1/5cb0baad4.jpg

▻https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2019/4/5cb60a984/detained-refugees-libya-moved-safety-second-unhcr-relocation.html

Libya’s migrants under threat as battle for Tripoli sets in

Migrants locked in detention camps in Tripoli face increasing danger as the prospect of a drawn-out siege looms. Inconsistent responses from Europe to the crisis have left them little hope.

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▻https://www.dw.com/en/libyas-migrants-under-threat-as-battle-for-tripoli-sets-in/a-48351094

Libye : l’ONU a évacué 150 réfugiés supplémentaires d’un camp de détention

L’ONU a annoncé mardi avoir évacué 150 réfugiés supplémentaires d’une centre de détention à Tripoli touché par des combats, ajoutant ne pas avoir été en mesure d’en déplacer d’autres en raison de l’intensification des affrontements.

La Haut-commissariat aux réfugiés (HCR) a précisé avoir évacué ces réfugiés, parmi lesquels des femmes et des enfants, du centre de détention Abou Sélim, dans le sud de la capitale libyenne, vers son Centre de rassemblement et de départ dans le centre-ville.

Cette opération a été effectuée au milieu de violents combats entre les forces du maréchal Khalifa Haftar et celles du Gouvernement d’union nationale (GNA) libyen.

« C’est une course contre la montre pour mettre les gens à l’abri », a déclaré la cheffe adjointe de la mission du HCR en Libye, Lucie Gagne, dans un communiqué. « Le conflit et la détérioration des conditions de sécurité entravent nos capacités », a-t-elle regretté.

Au moins 174 personnes ont été tuées et 758 autres blessés dans la bataille pour le contrôle de Tripoli, a annoncé mardi l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS).

Abu Sélim est l’un des centres de détention qui ont été touchés par les combats. Le HCR, qui avait déjà évacué la semaine dernière plus de 150 migrants de centre de détention d’Ain Zara, a indiqué qu’il voulait en évacuer d’autres mardi mais qu’il ne n’avait pu le faire en raison d’une aggravation rapide des combats dans cette zone.

Les réfugiés évacués mardi étaient « traumatisés » par les combats, a rapporté le HCR, ajoutant que des combats avaient lieu à seulement une dizaine de km.

« Il nous faut d’urgence des solutions pour les gens piégés en Libye, y compris des évacuations humanitaires pour transférer les plus vulnérables hors du pays », a déclaré Mme Gagne.

Selon le HCR, plus de 400 personnes se trouvent désormais dans son centre de rassemblement et de départ, mais plus de 2.700 réfugiés sont encore détenus et bloqués dans des zones de combats.

La Libye « est un endroit dangereux pour les réfugiés et les migrants », a souligné le HCR. « Ceux qui sont secourus et interceptés en mer ne devraient pas être renvoyés là-bas ».

▻https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1166761/libye-lonu-a-evacue-150-refugies-supplementaires-dun-camp-de-detentio

Libya: Detained refugees shot as clashes near Tripoli continue

Refugees and migrants request immediate medical assistance as several people are reportedly wounded by gunfire.

https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2019/4/7/5e53df016ee247c6a4ab9576b511fea6_18.jpg

Footage shows refugees hiding as Libyan militia attack detention centre

At least two people reportedly killed in shooting at Qasr bin Ghashir facility near Tripoli.

Young refugees held in a detention centre in Libya have described being shot at indiscriminately by militias advancing on Tripoli, in an attack that reportedly left at least two people dead and up to 20 injured.

Phone footage smuggled out of the camp and passed to the Guardian highlights the deepening humanitarian crisis in the centres set up to prevent refugees and migrants from making the sea crossing from the north African coast to Europe.

The footage shows people cowering in terror in the corners of a hangar while gunshots can be heard and others who appear to have been wounded lying on makeshift stretchers.

The shooting on Tuesday at the Qasr bin Ghashir detention centre, 12 miles (20km) south of Tripoli, is thought to be the first time a militia has raided such a building and opened fire.

Witnesses said men, women and children were praying together when soldiers they believe to be part of the forces of the military strongman Khalifa Haftar, which are advancing on the Libyan capital to try to bring down the UN-backed government, stormed into the detention centre and demanded people hand over their phones.

When the occupants refused, the soldiers began shooting, according to the accounts. Phones are the only link to the outside world for many in the detention centres.

Amnesty International has called for a war crimes investigation into the incident. “This incident demonstrates the urgent need for all refugees and migrants to be immediately released from these horrific detention centres,” said the organisation’s spokeswoman, Magdalena Mughrabi.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said a review of the video evidence by its medical doctors had concluded the injuries were consistent with gunshot wounds. “These observations are further supported by numerous accounts from refugees and migrants who witnessed the event and reported being brutally and indiscriminately attacked with the use of firearms,” a statement said.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said it evacuated 325 people from the detention centre after the incident. A statement suggested guns were fired into air and 12 people “endured physical attacks” that required hospital treatment, but none sustained bullet wounds.

“The dangers for refugees and migrants in Tripoli have never been greater than they are at present,” said Matthew Brook, the refugee agency’s deputy mission chief in Libya. “It is vital that refugees in danger can be released and evacuated to safety.”

The Guardian has previously revealed there is a network of 26 Libyan detention centres where an estimated 6,000 refugees are held. Children have described being starved, beaten and abused by Libyan police and camp guards. The UK contributes funding to humanitarian assistance provided in the centres by NGOs and the International Organization for Migration.

Qasr bin Ghashir is on the frontline of the escalating battle in Libya between rival military forces. Child refugees in the camp started sending SOS messages earlier this month, saying: “The war is started. We are in a bad situation.”

In WhatsApp messages sent to the Guardian on Tuesday, some of the child refugees said: “Until now, no anyone came here to help us. Not any organisations. Please, please, please, a lot of blood going out from people. Please, we are in dangerous conditions, please world, please, we are in danger.”

Many of the children and young people in the detention centres have fled persecution in Eritrea and cannot return. Many have also tried to cross the Mediterranean to reach Italy, but have been pushed back by the Libyan coastguard, which receives EU funding.

Giulia Tranchina, an immigration solicitor in London, has been raising the alarm for months about the plight of refugees in the centres. “I have been in touch with seven refugees in Qasr Bin Gashir since last September,. Many are sick and starving,” she said.

“All of them tried to escape across the Mediterranean to Italy, but were pushed back to the detention centre by the Libyan coastguard. Some were previously imprisoned by traffickers in Libya for one to two years. Many have been recognised by UNHCR as genuine refugees.”

Tranchina took a statement from a man who escaped from the centre after the militia started shooting. “We were praying in the hangar. The women joined us for prayer. The guards came in and told us to hand over our phones,” he said.

“When we refused, they started shooting. I saw gunshot wounds to the head and neck, I think that without immediate medical treatment, those people would die.

“I’m now in a corrugated iron shack in Tripoli with a few others who escaped, including three women with young children. Many were left behind and we have heard that they have been locked in.”

A UK government spokesperson said: “We are deeply concerned by reports of violence at the Qasr Ben Ghashir detention centre, and call on all parties to allow civilians, including refugees and migrants, to be evacuated to safety.”

• Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières and other NGOs are suing the French government to stop the donation of six boats to Libya’s navy, saying they will be used to send migrants back to detention centres. EU support to the Libyan coastguard, which is part of the navy, has enabled it to intercept migrants and asylum seekers bound for Europe. The legal action seeks a suspension on the boat donation, saying it violates an EU embargo on the supply of military equipment to Libya.

►https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/25/libya-detention-centre-attack-footage-refugees-hiding-shooting

From Bad to Worse for Migrants Trapped in Detention in Libya

Footage (►https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/25/libya-detention-centre-attack-footage-refugees-hiding-shooting) revealed to the Guardian shows the panic of migrants and refugees trapped in the detention facility Qasr bin Ghashir close to Tripoli under indiscriminate fire from advancing militia. According to the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR more than 3,300 people trapped in detention centres close to the escalating fighting are at risk and the agency is working to evacuate migrants from the “immediate danger”.

Fighting is intensifying between Libyan National Army (LNA) loyal to Khalifa Haftar and the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) around the capital Tripoli. There have been reports on deaths and forced enlistment among migrants and refugees trapped in detention centres, which are overseen by the Libyan Department for Combating Illegal Migration but often run by militias.

Amid the intense fighting the EU-backed Libyan coastguard continues to intercept and return people trying to cross the Mediteranean. According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) 113 people were returned to the Western part of the country this week. In a Tweet the UN Agency states: “we reiterate that Libya is not a safe port and that arbitrary detention must end.”

Former UNHCR official, Jeff Crisp, calls it: “…extraordinary that the UN has not made a direct appeal to the EU to suspend the support it is giving to the Libyan coastguard”, and further states that: “Europe has the option of doing nothing and that is what it will most likely do.”

UNHCR has evacuated 500 people to the Agencies Gathering and Departure Facility in Tripoli and an additional 163 to the Emergency Transit Mechanism in Niger. However, with both mechanisms “approaching full capacity” the Agency urges direct evacuations out of Libya. On April 29, 146 refugees were evacuated from Libya to Italy in a joint operation between UNHCR and Italian and Libyan authorities.

▻https://www.ecre.org/from-bad-to-worse-for-migrants-trapped-in-detention-in-libya

Libia, la denuncia di Msf: «Tremila migranti bloccati vicino ai combattimenti, devono essere evacuati»

A due mesi dall’inizio dei combattimenti tra i militari del generale Khalifa Haftar e le milizie fedeli al governo di Tripoli di Fayez al-Sarraj, i capimissione di Medici Senza Frontiere per la Libia hanno incontrato la stampa a Roma per fare il punto della situazione. «I combattimenti hanno interessato centomila persone, di queste tremila sono migranti e rifugiati bloccati nei centri di detenzione che sorgono nelle aree del conflitto - ha spiegato Sam Turner -. Per questo chiediamo la loro immediata evacuazione. Solo portandoli via da quelle aree si possono salvare delle vite».

▻https://video.repubblica.it/dossier/migranti-2019/libia-la-denuncia-di-msf-tremila-migranti-bloccati-vicino-ai-combattimenti-devono-essere-evacuati/336337/336934?ref=twhv

Et #travail_forcé dans les centres de détention libyens :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/785516

Libia, attacco aereo al centro migranti. 60 morti. Salvini: «E’ un crimine di Haftar, il mondo deve reagire»

Il bombardamento è stato effettuato dalle forze del generale Khalifa Haftar, sostenute dalla Francia e dagli Emirati. Per l’inviato Onu si tratta di crimine di guerra. Il Consiglio di sicurezza dell’Onu si riunisce domani per una sessione d’urgenza.

Decine di migranti sono stati uccisi nel bombardamento che ieri notte un aereo dell’aviazione del generale Khalifa Haftar ha compiuto contro un centro per migranti adiacente alla base militare di #Dhaman, nell’area di #Tajoura. La base di Dhaman è uno dei depositi in cui le milizie di Misurata e quelle fedeli al governo del presidente Fayez al-Serraj hanno concentrato le loro riserve di munizioni e di veicoli utilizzati per la difesa di Tripoli, sotto attacco dal 4 aprile dalle milizie del generale della Cirenaica.

▻https://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2019/07/03/news/libia_bombardato_centro_detenzione_migranti_decine_di_morti-230198952/?ref=RHPPTP-BH-I230202229-C12-P1-S1.12-T1

Le HCR et l’OIM condamnent l’attaque contre Tajoura et demandent une enquête immédiate sur les responsables

Le nombre effroyable de blessés et de victimes, suite à l’attaque aérienne de mardi soir à l’est de Tripoli contre le centre de détention de Tajoura, fait écho aux vives préoccupations exprimées par le HCR, l’Agence des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés, et l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM), concernant la sécurité des personnes dans les centres de détention. Ce tout dernier épisode de violence rend également compte du danger évoqué par l’OIM et le HCR concernant les retours de migrants et de réfugiés en Libye après leur interception ou leur sauvetage en mer Méditerranée.

Nos deux organisations condamnent fermement cette attaque ainsi que toute attaque contre la vie des civils. Nous demandons également que la détention des migrants et des réfugiés cesse immédiatement. Nous appelons à ce que leur protection soit garantie en Libye.

Cette attaque mérite davantage qu’une simple condamnation. Selon le HCR et l’OIM, une enquête complète et indépendante est nécessaire pour déterminer comment cela s’est produit et qui en est responsable, ainsi que pour traduire les responsables en justice. La localisation de ces centres de détention à Tripoli est bien connue des combattants, qui savent également que les personnes détenues à Tajoura sont des civils.

Au moins 600 réfugiés et migrants, dont des femmes et des enfants, se trouvaient au centre de détention de Tajoura. La frappe aérienne a causé des dizaines de morts et de blessés. Nous nous attendons de ce fait que le nombre final de victimes soit beaucoup plus élevé.

Si l’on inclut les victimes de Tajoura, environ 3300 migrants et réfugiés sont toujours détenus arbitrairement à Tripoli et en périphérie de la ville dans des conditions abjectes et inhumaines. De plus, les migrants et les réfugiés sont confrontés à des risques croissants à mesure que les affrontements s’intensifient à proximité. Ces centres doivent être fermés.

Nous faisons tout notre possible pour leur venir en aide. L’OIM et le HCR ont déployé des équipes médicales. Par ailleurs, une équipe interinstitutions plus large des Nations Unies attend l’autorisation de se rendre sur place. Nous rappelons à toutes les parties à ce conflit que les civils ne doivent pas être pris pour cible et qu’ils doivent être protégés en vertu à la fois du droit international relatif aux réfugiés et du droit international relatif aux droits de l’homme.

Le conflit en cours dans la capitale libyenne a déjà forcé près de 100 000 Libyens à fuir leur foyer. Le HCR et ses partenaires, dont l’OIM, ont transféré plus de 1500 réfugiés depuis des centres de détention proches des zones de combat vers des zones plus sûres. Par ailleurs, des opérations de l’OIM pour le retour volontaire à titre humanitaire ont facilité le départ de plus de 5000 personnes vulnérables vers 30 pays d’origine en Afrique et en Asie.

L’OIM et le HCR exhortent l’ensemble du système des Nations Unies à condamner cette attaque et à faire cesser le recours à la détention en Libye. De plus, nous appelons instamment la communauté internationale à mettre en place des couloirs humanitaires pour les migrants et les réfugiés qui doivent être évacués depuis la Libye. Dans l’intérêt de tous en Libye, nous espérons que les États influents redoubleront d’efforts pour coopérer afin de mettre d’urgence un terme à cet effroyable conflit.

▻https://www.unhcr.org/fr/news/press/2019/7/5d1ca1f06/hcr-loim-condamnent-lattaque-contre-tajoura-demandent-enquete-immediate.html

Affamés, torturés, disparus : l’impitoyable piège refermé sur les migrants bloqués en Libye

https://images.charentelibre.fr/2019/07/03/5d1cc8197971bb93700d2e83/golden/1000x625/malnutrition-enlevements-travail-force-torture-des-ong-presentes-en-libye-denoncent-les-conditions-de-detention-des-migrants-pieges-dans-ce-pays.jpg

Malnutrition, enlèvements, travail forcé, torture : des ONG présentes en Libye dénoncent les conditions de détention des migrants piégés dans ce pays, conséquence selon elles de la politique migratoire des pays européens conclue avec les Libyens.

Le point, minuscule dans l’immensité de la mer, est ballotté avec violence : mi-mai, un migrant qui tentait de quitter la Libye dans une embarcation de fortune a préféré risquer sa vie en plongeant en haute mer en voyant arriver les garde-côtes libyens, pour nager vers un navire commercial, selon une vidéo mise en ligne par l’ONG allemande Sea-Watch et tournée par son avion de recherche. L’image illustre le désespoir criant de migrants, en grande majorité originaires d’Afrique et de pays troublés comme le Soudan, l’Érythrée, la Somalie, prêts à tout pour ne pas être à nouveau enfermés arbitrairement dans un centre de détention dans ce pays livré au conflit et aux milices.

Des vidéos insoutenables filmées notamment dans des prisons clandestines aux mains de trafiquants d’êtres humains, compilées par une journaliste irlandaise et diffusées en février par Channel 4, donnent une idée des sévices de certains tortionnaires perpétrés pour rançonner les familles des migrants. Allongé nu par terre, une arme pointée sur lui, un migrant râle de douleur alors qu’un homme lui brûle les pieds avec un chalumeau. Un autre, le tee-shirt ensanglanté, est suspendu au plafond, un pistolet braqué sur la tête. Un troisième, attaché avec des cordes, une brique de béton lui écrasant dos et bras, est fouetté sur la plante des pieds, selon ces vidéos.

Le mauvais traitement des migrants a atteint un paroxysme dans la nuit de mardi à mercredi quand plus de 40 ont été tués et 70 blessés dans un raid aérien contre un centre pour migrants de Tajoura (près de Tripoli), attribué aux forces de Khalifa Haftar engagées dans une offensive sur la capitale libyenne. Un drame « prévisible » depuis des semaines, déplorent des acteurs humanitaires. Depuis janvier, plus de 2.300 personnes ont été ramenées et placées dans des centres de détention, selon l’ONU.

« Plus d’un millier de personnes ont été ramenées par les gardes-côtes libyens soutenus par l’Union européenne depuis le début du conflit en avril 2019. A terre, ces personnes sont ensuite transférées dans des centres de détention comme celui de Tajoura… », a ce réagi mercredi auprès de l’AFP Julien Raickman, chef de mission de l’ONG Médecins sans frontières (MSF) en Libye. Selon les derniers chiffres de l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM), au moins 5.200 personnes sont actuellement dans des centres de détention en Libye. Aucun chiffre n’est disponible pour celles détenues dans des centres illégaux aux mains de trafiquants.

L’UE apporte un soutien aux gardes-côtes libyens pour qu’ils freinent les arrivées sur les côtes italiennes. En 2017, elle a validé un accord conclu entre l’Italie et Tripoli pour former et équiper les garde-côtes libyens. Depuis le nombre d’arrivées en Europe via la mer Méditerranée a chuté de manière spectaculaire.
« Les morts s’empilent »

Fin mai, dans une prise de parole publique inédite, dix ONG internationales intervenant en Libye dans des conditions compliquées – dont Danish Refugee Council, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Première Urgence Internationale (PUI) – ont brisé le silence. Elles ont exhorté l’UE et ses Etats membres à « revoir en urgence » leurs politiques migratoires qui nourrissent selon elles un « système de criminalisation », soulignant que les migrants, « y compris les femmes et les enfants, sont sujets à des détentions arbitraires et illimitées » en Libye dans des conditions « abominables ».

« Arrêtez de renvoyer les migrants en Libye  ! La situation est instable, elle n’est pas sous contrôle ; ils n’y sont en aucun cas protégés ni par un cadre législatif ni pour les raisons sécuritaires que l’on connaît », a réagi ce mercredi à l’AFP Benjamin Gaudin, chef de mission de l’ONG PUI en Libye. Cette ONG intervient dans six centres de détention dans lesquels elle est une des seules organisations à prodiguer des soins de santé.

La « catastrophe ne se situe pas seulement en Méditerranée mais également sur le sol libyen ; quand ces migrants parviennent jusqu’aux côtes libyennes, ils ont déjà vécu l’enfer », a-t-il témoigné récemment auprès de l’AFP, dans une rare interview à un média. Dans certains de ces centres officiels, « les conditions sont terribles », estime M. Gaudin. « Les migrants vivent parfois entassés les uns sur les autres, dans des conditions sanitaires terribles avec de gros problèmes d’accès à l’eau – parfois il n’y a pas d’eau potable du tout. Ils ne reçoivent pas de nourriture en quantité suffisante ; dans certains centres, il n’y a absolument rien pour les protéger du froid ou de la chaleur. Certains n’ont pas de cours extérieures, les migrants n’y voient jamais la lumière du jour », décrit-il.
Human Rights Watch, qui a eu accès à plusieurs centres de détention en 2018 et à une centaine de migrants, va plus loin dans un rapport de 2019 – qui accumule les témoignages de « traitements cruels et dégradants » : l’organisation accuse la « coopération de l’UE avec la Libye sur les migrations de contribuer à un cycle d’abus extrêmes ».

« Les morts s’empilent dans les centres de détention libyens – emportés par une épidémie de tuberculose à Zintan, victimes d’un bombardement à Tajoura. La présence d’une poignée d’acteurs humanitaires sur place ne saurait assurer des conditions acceptables dans ces centres », a déploré M. Raickman de MSF. « Les personnes qui y sont détenues, majoritairement des réfugiés, continuent de mourir de maladies, de faim, sont victimes de violences en tout genre, de viols, soumises à l’arbitraire des milices. Elles se retrouvent prises au piège des combats en cours », a-t-il dénoncé.

Signe d’une situation considérée comme de plus en plus critique, la Commissaire aux droits de l’Homme du Conseil de l’Europe a exhorté le 18 juin les pays européens à suspendre leur coopération avec les gardes-côtes libyens, estimant que les personnes récupérées « sont systématiquement placées en détention et en conséquence soumises à la torture, à des violences sexuelles, à des extorsions ». L’ONU elle même a dénoncé le 7 juin des conditions « épouvantables » dans ces centres. « Environ 22 personnes sont décédées des suites de la tuberculose et d’autres maladies dans le centre de détention de Zintan depuis septembre », a dénoncé Rupert Colville, un porte-parole du Haut-Commissariat de l’ONU aux droits de l’Homme.

MSF, qui a démarré récemment des activités médicales dans les centres de Zintan et Gharyan, a décrit une « catastrophe sanitaire », soulignant que les personnes enfermées dans ces deux centres « viennent principalement d’Érythrée et de Somalie et ont survécu à des expériences terrifiantes » durant leur exil. Or, selon les ONG et le HCR, la très grande majorité des milliers de personnes détenues dans les centres sont des réfugiés, qui pourraient avoir droit à ce statut et à un accueil dans un pays développé, mais ne peuvent le faire auprès de l’Etat libyen. Ils le font auprès du HCR en Libye, dans des conditions très difficiles.
« Enfermés depuis un an »

« Les évacuations hors de Libye vers des pays tiers ou pays de transit sont aujourd’hui extrêmement limitées, notamment parce qu’il manque des places d’accueil dans des pays sûrs qui pourraient accorder l’asile », relève M. Raickman. « Il y a un fort sentiment de désespoir face à cette impasse ; dans des centres où nous intervenons dans la région de Misrata et Khoms, des gens sont enfermés depuis un an. » Interrogée par l’AFP, la Commission européenne défend son bilan et son « engagement » financier sur cette question, soulignant avoir « mobilisé » depuis 2014 pas moins de 338 millions d’euros dans des programmes liés à la migration en Libye.

« Nous sommes extrêmement préoccupés par la détérioration de la situation sur le terrain », a récemment déclaré à l’AFP une porte-parole de la Commission européenne, Natasha Bertaud. « Des critiques ont été formulées sur notre engagement avec la Libye, nous en sommes conscients et nous échangeons régulièrement avec les ONG sur ce sujet », a-t-elle ajouté. « Mais si nous ne nous étions pas engagés avec l’OIM, le HCR et l’Union africaine, nous n’aurions jamais eu cet impact : ces 16 derniers mois, nous avons pu sortir 38.000 personnes hors de ces terribles centres de détention et hors de Libye, et les raccompagner chez eux avec des programmes de retour volontaire, tout cela financé par l’Union européenne », a-t-elle affirmé. « Parmi les personnes qui ont besoin de protection – originaires d’Érythrée ou du Soudan par exemple – nous avons récemment évacué environ 2.700 personnes de Libye vers le Niger (…) et organisé la réinstallation réussie dans l’UE de 1.400 personnes ayant eu besoin de protection internationale », plaide-t-elle.

La porte-parole rappelle que la Commission a « à maintes reprises ces derniers mois exhorté ses États membres à trouver une solution sur des zones de désembarquement, ce qui mettrait fin à ce qui passe actuellement : à chaque fois qu’un bateau d’ONG secoure des gens et qu’il y a une opposition sur le sujet entre Malte et l’Italie, c’est la Commission qui doit appeler près de 28 capitales européennes pour trouver des lieux pour ces personnes puissent débarquer : ce n’est pas viable ! ».

Pour le porte-parole de la marine libyenne, le général Ayoub Kacem, interrogé par l’AFP, ce sont « les pays européens (qui) sabotent toute solution durable à l’immigration en Méditerranée, parce qu’ils n’acceptent pas d’accueillir une partie des migrants et se sentent non concernés ». Il appelle les Européens à « plus de sérieux » et à unifier leurs positions. « Les États européens ont une scandaleuse responsabilité dans toutes ces morts et ces souffrances », dénonce M. Raickman. « Ce qu’il faut, ce sont des actes : des évacuations d’urgence des réfugiés et migrants coincés dans des conditions extrêmement dangereuses en Libye ».

▻https://www.charentelibre.fr/2019/07/03/affames-tortures-disparus-l-impitoyable-piege-referme-sur-les-migrants

« Mourir en mer ou sous les bombes : seule alternative pour les milliers de personnes migrantes prises au piège de l’enfer libyen ? »

Le soir du 2 juillet, une attaque aérienne a été signalée sur le camp de détention pour migrant·e·s de #Tadjourah dans la banlieue est de la capitale libyenne. Deux jours après, le bilan s’est alourdi et fait état d’au moins 66 personnes tuées et plus de 80 blessées [1]. A une trentaine de kilomètres plus au sud de Tripoli, plusieurs migrant·e·s avaient déjà trouvé la mort fin avril dans l’attaque du camp de Qasr Bin Gashir par des groupes armés.

Alors que les conflits font rage autour de Tripoli entre le Gouvernement d’union nationale (GNA) reconnu par l’ONU et les forces du maréchal Haftar, des milliers de personnes migrantes enfermées dans les geôles libyennes se retrouvent en première ligne : lorsqu’elles ne sont pas abandonnées à leur sort par leurs gardien·ne·s à l’approche des forces ennemies ou forcées de combattre auprès d’un camp ou de l’autre, elles sont régulièrement prises pour cibles par les combattant·e·s.

Dans un pays où les migrant·e·s sont depuis longtemps vu·e·s comme une monnaie d’échange entre milices, et, depuis l’époque de Kadhafi, comme un levier diplomatique notamment dans le cadre de divers marchandages migratoires avec les Etats de l’Union européenne [2], les personnes migrantes constituent de fait l’un des nerfs de la guerre pour les forces en présence, bien au-delà des frontières libyennes.

Au lendemain des bombardements du camp de Tadjourah, pendant que le GNA accusait Haftar et que les forces d’Haftar criaient au complot, les dirigeant·e·s des pays européens ont pris le parti de faire mine d’assister impuissant·e·s à ce spectacle tragique depuis l’autre bord de la Méditerranée, les un·e·s déplorant les victimes et condamnant les attaques, les autres appelant à une enquête internationale pour déterminer les coupables.

Contre ces discours teintés d’hypocrisie, il convient de rappeler l’immense responsabilité de l’Union européenne et de ses États membres dans la situation désastreuse dans laquelle les personnes migrantes se trouvent sur le sol libyen. Lorsqu’à l’occasion de ces attaques, l’Union européenne se félicite de son rôle dans la protection des personnes migrantes en Libye et affirme la nécessité de poursuivre ses efforts [3], ne faut-il pas tout d’abord se demander si celle-ci fait autre chose qu’entériner un système de détention cruel en finançant deux organisations internationales, le HCR et l’OIM, qui accèdent pour partie à ces camps où les pires violations de droits sont commises ?

Au-delà de son soutien implicite à ce système d’enfermement à grande échelle, l’UE n’a cessé de multiplier les stratégies pour que les personnes migrantes, tentant de fuir la Libye et ses centres de détention aux conditions inhumaines, y soient immédiatement et systématiquement renvoyées, entre le renforcement constant des capacités des garde-côtes libyens et l’organisation d’un vide humanitaire en Méditerranée par la criminalisation des ONG de secours en mer [4].

A la date du 20 juin 2019, le HCR comptait plus de 3 000 personnes interceptées par les garde-côtes libyens depuis le début de l’année 2019, pour à peine plus de 2000 personnes arrivées en Italie [5]. Pour ces personnes interceptées et reconduites en Libye, les perspectives sont bien sombres : remises aux mains des milices, seules échapperont à la détention les heureuses élues qui sont évacuées au Niger dans l’attente d’une réinstallation hypothétique par le HCR, ou celles qui, après de fortes pressions et souvent en désespoir de cause, acceptent l’assistance au retour « volontaire » proposée par l’OIM.

L’Union européenne a beau jeu de crier au scandale. La détention massive de migrant·e·s et la violation de leurs droits dans un pays en pleine guerre civile ne relèvent ni de la tragédie ni de la fatalité : ce sont les conséquences directes des politiques d’externalisation et de marchandages migratoires cyniques orchestrées par l’Union et ses États membres depuis de nombreuses années. Il est temps que cesse la guerre aux personnes migrantes et que la liberté de circulation soit assurée pour toutes et tous.

►http://www.migreurop.org/article2931.html
aussi signalé par @vanderling
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/791482

Migrants say militias in Tripoli conscripted them to clean arms

Migrants who survived the deadly airstrike on a detention center in western Libya say they had been conscripted by a local militia to work in an adjacent weapons workshop. The detention centers are under armed groups affiliated with the Fayez al-Sarraj government in Tripoli.

Two migrants told The Associated Press on Thursday that for months they were sent day and night to a workshop inside the Tajoura detention center, which housed hundreds of African migrants.

A young migrant who has been held for nearly two years at Tajoura says “we clean the anti-aircraft guns. I saw a large amount of rockets and missiles too.”

The migrants spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

▻http://www.addresslibya.com/en/archives/47932

Libia, bombe sul campo profughi: «Migranti usati come scudi umani»

Quest’estate il campo profughi di #Tajura in Libia è stato bombardato. Gaetano Pecoraro ci racconta cosa volevano colpire veramente quelle bombe

▻https://www.iene.mediaset.it/video/libia-bombe-campo-profughi-migranti_531023.shtml

#boucliers_humains

Statement by the Post-3Tajoura Working Group on the Three-Month Mark of the Tajoura Detention Centre Airstrike

On behalf of the Post-Tajoura Working Group, the European Union Delegation to Libya issues a statement to mark the passing of three months since the airstrike on the Tajoura Detention Centre. Today is the occasion to remind the Libyan government of the urgency of the situation of detained refugees and migrants in and around Tripoli.

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▻https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/libya/68248/statement-post-tajoura-working-group-three-month-mark-tajoura-detention-

Statement by the Spokesperson on the situation in the #Tajoura detention centre

Statement by the Spokesperson on the situation in the Tajoura detention centre.

The release of the detainees remaining in the Tajoura detention centre, hit by a deadly attack on 2 July, is a positive step by the Libyan authorities. All refugees and migrants have to be released from detention and provided with all the necessary assistance. In this context, we have supported the creation of the Gathering and Departure Facility (GDF) in Tripoli and other safe places in order to improve the protection of those in need and to provide humane alternatives to the current detention system.

We will continue to work with International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) in the context of the African Union-European Union-United Nations Task Force to support and protect refugees and migrants in Libya. We call on all parties to accelerate humanitarian evacuation and resettlement from Libya to third countries. In particular, we are supporting UNHCR’s work to resettle the most vulnerable refugees with durable solutions outside Libya, with around 4,000 individuals having been evacuated so far. We are also working closely with the IOM and the African Union and its Member States to continue the Assisted Voluntary Returns, thereby adding to the more than 45,000 migrants returned to their countries of origin so far.

The European Union is strongly committed to fighting traffickers and smugglers and to strengthening the capacity of the Libyan Coast Guard to save lives at sea. Equally, we recall the need to put in place mechanisms that guarantee the safety and dignity of those rescued by the Libyan Coast Guard, notably by ending arbitrary detention and allowing the UN agencies to carry out screening and registration and to provide direct emergency assistance and protection. Through our continuous financial support and our joined political advocacy towards the Libyan authorities, the UNHCR and IOM are now able to better monitor the situation in the disembarkation points and have regular access to most of the official detention centres.

Libya’s current system of detaining migrants has to end and migration needs to be managed in full compliance with international standards, including when it comes to human rights. The European Union stands ready to help the Libyan authorities to develop solutions to create safe and dignified alternatives to detention in full compliance with the international humanitarian standards and in respect of human rights.

▻https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/65266/statement-spokesperson-situation-tajoura-detention-centre_en

05.11.2019

About 45 women, 16 children and some men, for a total of approximately 80 refugees, were taken out of #TariqalSikka detention centre by the Libyan police and taken to the #UNHCR offices in #Gurji, Tripoli, yesterday. UNHCR told them there is nothing they can do to help them so...
they are now homeless in Tripoli, destitute, starving, at risk of being shot, bombed, kidnapped, tortured, raped, sold or detained again in an even worst detention centre. Forcing African refugees out of detention centres and leaving them homeless in Tripoli is not a solution...
It is almost a death sentence in today’s Libya. UNHCR doesn’t have capacity to offer any help or protection to homeless refugees released from detention. These women & children have now lost priority for evacuation after years waiting in detention, suffering rape, torture, hunger...

▻https://twitter.com/GiuliaRastajuly/status/1191777843644174336
#SDF #sans-abri

Tanzania wants Burundian refugees sent home. But they face big challenges

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Tanzania says it has reached an agreement with Burundi to begin sending back all Burundian refugees from October. The repatriation effort will take place in collaboration with the United Nations. Moina Spooner, from The Conversation Africa, asked Amelia Kuch to give some insights into the decision.

How many Burundian refugees are there in Tanzania and why did they migrate there?

Tanzania has long been held up as a safe haven for refugees in the region. There’s a long history of refugees from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Mozambique seeking refuge and safety there. Burundians have been seeking refuge in Tanzania since 1960, with major waves of displacement happening in 1972, 1988, 1993, and 2015. This was due to several civil wars and genocidal violence.

The current displacement crisis started in 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza sought a third term in office and eventually won. Street protests led to violent clashes. The growing fear and uncertainty pushed over 400 000 Burundians to seek refuge in neighbouring countries. About 60% of them went to Tanzania.

Interviews with Burundian refugees revealed that if they were not a member of the leading party they faced violent persecution. They shared personal accounts of torture and rape by the Imbonerakure, the youth wing of the ruling party, and of disappearances and executions of family members.

There’s now a total of about 342 867 Burundian refugees and asylum seekers in Tanzania that are mostly settled in three refugee camps: Nyarugusu, Nduta and Mtendeli.

Tanzania had previously granted some Burundian refugees citizenship. Why do you think they’re choosing repatriation now?

Tanzania offered citizenship, through naturalisation, to 160 000 Burundian refugees. But this only benefited individuals and families who fled to Tanzania in 1972 and were settled in the three rural settlements –- Mishamo, Urambo and Katumba. It didn’t include more recent arrivals.

As much as the announcement of forced repatriation is troubling, it is not surprising. Over the past 15 years Tanzania has been making moves away from acting as a host country.

The 2005 election manifesto of Tanzania’s ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi, included a pledge to make Tanzania “refugee-free” by 2010. Their justification was that there wasn’t enough international aid to support the camps and that the camps were having a negative impact on neighbouring host communities and Tanzania’s security situation.

This has already led to repatriations. In 2012 residents of Mtabila refugee camp, most of whom fled to Tanzania in the 1990s, were returned to Burundi against their will and the camp was closed.

In 2018, Tanzania pulled out of the UN’s Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework – a declaration by countries to commit to respect the human rights of refugees and migrants and to support the countries that welcome them – citing a lack of international funding. The Burundian refugee situation is the lowest funded in the world. In 2018, UNHCR and its partners received just 33% of the required US$391 million requested to support Burundian refugees.

How should the repatriation process happen?

First and foremost Burundian refugees need to be able to make an informed decision if they wish to repatriate or remain in Tanzania. It must be a voluntary decision. At the moment it seems like refugees won’t be given a choice and will be forced to repatriate. Tanzanian Interior Minister Kangi Lugola announced that Tanzania will return Burundian refugees at the rate of 2 000 people a week.

Ideally, people should be allowed to travel back to Burundi to assess the situation for themselves and decide, after that initial first-hand experience, if they wish to repatriate voluntarily.

If they decide to repatriate, they should be given access to land and the ability to re-establish their livelihoods in Burundi. The support might come in the form of a financial grant, basic household items, food items, as well as financial support so they can access shelter and rent land.

Following repatriation, it’s essential that the safety of refugees is monitored. Repatriation is a political process and it will be necessary to ensure that returnees are protected and can access the same rights as other citizens.

Monitoring the reintegration of returnees is a UNHCR commitment under the Tripartite Agreement from 2017 and it is critical that journalists and researchers are safe to report on the reintegration process.

What do the prospects look like for the refugees once they’re back in Burundi?

Through current and previous research I’ve done on Burundian refugees who repatriated and then returned to Tanzania, I’ve seen a complex matrix of challenges that they face. These include hunger, the inability to access land and shelter, and a shortage of medicine.

There are also safety concerns. Today the Burundian government controls the political space and refuses to engage in dialogue with opposition parties. While there is less open violence, refugees still fear going back and for some, that’s with good reason.

With the closing migratory space in Tanzania, those who won’t be able to safely stay in Burundi will have to seek other destinations of refuge.

What are Tanzania’s international obligations in terms of protection of refugees?

The 1951 Refugee Convention – whose core principle asserts that a refugee should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom – has been ratified by 145 states, including Tanzania.

The Tanzanian government’s decision to repatriate Burundian refugees, despite evidence that their life and freedom might be threatened in Burundi, breaches the core principle of non-refoulement.

This, however, must be seen in the global context. The decision of the Tanzanian government to expel refugees is not happening in a political void. Rather, it emulates the policies implemented by some Western countries, including the US, Australia, France, Hungary and Italy.

These countries are also breaching the Convention; by obstructing refugees from coming, putting their lives in danger and even penalising those who try to assist refugees.

Rather than an exception, the recent decision by the Tanzanian government to forcefully repatriate Burundian refugees is a reflection of a growing, global hostility towards refugees and other migrants.

▻https://theconversation.com/tanzania-wants-burundian-refugees-sent-home-but-they-face-big-chall

Tanzania to send back all Burundian refugees from October

Tanzanian and Burundian officials announce deal but UNHCR says Burundi conditions are not conducive to promote returns.

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Tanzania says it has reached an agreement with neighbouring Burundi to begin sending back all Burundian refugees from October, adding that the repatriation will take place in collaboration with the United Nations.

However, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said in a statement on Tuesday that the conditions in Burundi, which was plunged into a political crisis four years ago, are not “conducive to promote returns” and noted that it is assisting refugees who indicate they have made a voluntary choice to return home.

Hundreds of people were killed and more than 400,000 fled to neighbouring countries due to violence the UN says was mostly carried out by state security forces following President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision in April 2015 to run for a third, disputed, term in office.

Nkurunziza won re-election and, the following year, Burundi suspended all cooperation with the UN human rights office in the country after a UN-commissioned report accused the Bujumbura government and its supporters of being responsible for crimes against humanity.

Currently, some 200,000 Burundians are in Tanzania, according to government figures.

Speaking to the AFP news agency, Tanzanian Interior Minister Kangi Lugola said: “In agreement with the Burundian government and in collaboration with the High Commissioner for Refugees, we will start the repatriation of all Burundian refugees on October 1.”

“Under this agreement, it will be 2,000 refugees who will be repatriated every week until there are no more Burundian refugees in Tanzania,” he said.
’Returns should be voluntary’

Lugola said that Burundi is currently at peace, adding that he had “information whereby people, international organisations, are deceiving people, telling them there is no peace in Burundi”.

He was speaking after he and Burundian Interior Minister Pascal Barandagiye on Sunday visited a camp where they annouced the return to the refugees themselves.

In an emailed statement to Al Jazeera, Dana Hughes, the UNHCR spokesperson for East Horn and Great Lakes, said around 75,000 Burundians had returned home in the past two years. She added, however, that hundreds still flee Burundi each month and urged governments in the region to maintain open borders and access to asylum for those who need it.

UNHCR also called upon the governments of Tanzania and Burundi “to uphold international obligations and ensure that any returns are voluntary in line with the tripartite agreement signed in March of 2018”, referring to a deal covering refugees who wish to return on a voluntary basis.

“The UNHCR urges states to ensure that no refugee is returned to Burundi against their will, and that measures are taken to make conditions in Burundi more conducive for refugees returns, including confidence-building efforts and incentives for those who have chosen to go home,” Hughes said.

One Burundian refugee, a man in his 40s who crossed over with his family and now lives in Tanzania’s Nduta camp, said he would not be returning home.

“We heard that the governments agreed on forced repatriation ... There is no way we can go to Burundi, there is no security there at all,” the man, who declined to be named, told Reuters news agency on Tuesday.

Human Rights Watch says Burundi’s government does not tolerate criticism, and security services carry out summary executions, rapes, abductions and intimidation of suspected political opponents.

Burundi’s ruling party denies it carries out systematic human rights violations.

▻https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/tanzania-send-burundian-refugees-october-190827180318193.html

Tanzania begins repatriating Burundian refugees

Tanzania and Burundi agree to facilitate voluntary repatriation of refugees by the end of 2019.

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Tanzania on Thursday began repatriating 1000 Burundians, who had taken refuge in 2015, following political violence and instability in their country.

“Today [Thursday] we are repatriating 1000 refugees with all their belongings. All international organizations are aware of this operation,” Director of Information Services and Government Spokesperson, Hassan Abbasi told reporters.

In April 2015 protests broke out in the landlocked East African country Burundi, when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to seek a third term in office. A coup attempt failed to dislodge him, leading to a clamp down and arrests. Over 300,000 people left the country, causing a humanitarian crisis.

In August, Tanzania and Burundi agreed to repatriate all the refugees peacefully to their homes, by the end of 2019. The mass repatriation was supposed to commence from Oct.1.

Reports said that the first batch of 1000 refugees were transported by buses to Gisuru transit center in eastern Burundi, where they stayed overnight.

According to officials, they will be transported to their home districts along with rations, that will sustain them for three months.

Abbasi said the Tanzanian government and the international agencies will ensure the refugees are at peace in their country.

The UN High Commission for Refugees has asked Tanzania’s government to avoid forceful repatriation of refugees.

“While an overall security has improved, UNHCR is of the opinion that conditions in Burundi are not currently conducive to promote returns,” the UN agency responsible for the welfare for refugees said in a statement in August.

However, Abbasi emphasized that repatriation is voluntary. “All those refugees, leaving camps were eager to go home,” he said.

He stressed that Tanzania respects international agreements on refugees and would ensure the repatriation process takes place well within international humanitarian laws.

Nestor Bimenyimana, the director general of repatriation and rehabilitation department in Burundi’s Home Ministry told local media that the UNHCR is involved in the identification and registration of Burundian refugees, willing to be repatriated from Tanzania.

“We don’t force anyone to register,” he said.

According to the UN agency, as many as 343,000 refugees, were living in the neighboring countries of Tanzania, Rwanda, DR Congo and Uganda as of August 2019.

Over past two years, refugee agency has facilitated repatriation of 74,600 refugees to their homes in Burundi.

▻https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/tanzania-begins-repatriating-burundian-refugees/1602122

Tanzania: Burundians Pressured into Leaving

Mounting Intimidation for 163,000 Burundian Refugees and Asylum Seekers.

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The fear of violence, arrest, and deportation is driving many of the 163,000 Burundian refugees and asylum seekers in Tanzania out of the country. Tanzanian authorities have also made it very difficult for the United Nations refugee agency to properly check whether hundreds of refugees’ recent decision to return to Burundi was voluntary.

In October and November 2019, Tanzanian officials specifically targeted parts of the Burundian refugee population whose insecure legal status and lack of access to aid make them particularly vulnerable to coerced return to Burundi. The actions come after the Tanzanian president, John Magufuli, said on October 11 that Burundian refugees should “go home.”

“Refugees say police abuses, insecurity in Tanzania’s refugee camps, and deportation threats drove them out of the country,” said Bill Frelick, refugee rights director at Human Rights Watch. “Tanzania should reverse course before it ends up unlawfully coercing thousands more to leave.”

In mid-November, Human Rights Watch interviewed 20 Burundian refugees in Uganda who described the pressure that caused them to leave Tanzania between August 2018 and October 2019. Seven returned to Burundi but said they then fled to Uganda to escape members of the Burundian ruling party’s youth league, the Imbonerakure, who threatened, intimidated, or arbitrarily arrested them. Thirteen went directly to Uganda.

Refugees said their reasons for leaving Tanzania include fear of getting caught up in a spate of arrests, and alleged disappearances and killings in or near refugee camps and fear of suspected members of the Imbonerakure and of abusive Burundian refugees working with Tanzanian police on camp security. They also cited the government’s threats to deport Burundian refugees, the closing and destruction of markets, restrictions on commercial activities, and lack of access to services in the camps and freedom of movement.

On December 3, Tanzanian Home Affairs Minister Kangi Lugola denied that the government is “expelling” refugees, and said the Tanzanian and Burundian authorities “merely mobilize, to encourage those who are ready to return on their own accord, to go back.”

A refugee who returned from Tanzania to Burundi in August said: “I returned to Burundi because the Tanzanian authorities said those staying would be forced back… The police became increasingly violent and insecurity was the main reason I decided to return.” In late August, Imbonerakure members targeted him: “They arrested me, tied my arms behind my back and said, ‘you said you fled [Burundi] because of the Imbonerakure, but we are still here.’” He said his wife paid a bribe for his release and he fled to Uganda.

A December 6 Human Rights Watch report documented widespread abuses by members of the youth league, often working with local Burundian administrators. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in August that conditions in Burundi were not safe or stable enough for it to encourage refugees to return, and that it would only facilitate voluntary returns.

The 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1969 African Refugee Convention prohibit refoulement, the return of refugees in any manner whatsoever to places where their lives or freedom would be threatened. UNHCR says that refoulement occurs not only when a government directly rejects or expels a refugee, but also when indirect pressure is so intense that it leads people to believe they have no option but to return to a country where they face a serious risk of harm.

Between September 2017 and end of October 2019, 78,380 Burundians – about 725 a week – left Tanzania under an agreement between Burundi, Tanzania, and the UNHCR, which tasks UNHCR with conducting detailed interviews with refugees to ensure they are leaving Tanzania voluntarily. The number is well below the target of 2,000 a week Tanzania and Burundi agreed on in March 2018. An August 24, 2019 agreement between Tanzania and Burundi says all the refugees “are to return to their country of origin whether voluntarily or not” by December 31.

On November 9, UNHCR said that some Burundians signing up for voluntary return with UNHCR had “cited insecurity in refugee camps, fear of enforced return …, deteriorating living conditions …, prohibition of small commercial activities and closure of camp markets as the main reasons for their return.” The agency previously told Human Rights Watch that “push factors play a significant role” in refugees’ return decision, but that UNHCR considers their return to be voluntary because they have “made an informed decision” and “many other refugees” have decided to stay.

A government’s duty to protect refugee rights should not be assessed based on statistics but on a case-by-case basis, Human Rights Watch said. The fact that some or many refugees can stay in a host country is not evidence that those who leave do so voluntarily or that they did not leave due to coercion.

Seven of the refugees Human Rights Watch interviewed said they returned to Burundi between March 2018 and June 2019. One refugee who left Tanzania’s Nduta camp for Uganda in August said he had helped many families register for return to Burundi: “Before August 2018, UNHCR asked people who registered many questions about their decision to return and gave them time to change their minds,” he said. “But now they don’t give time to think or ask questions. They immediately process people for return.”

UNHCR’s mandate requires it to ask refugees signing up for voluntary return about the reasons behind the decision to ensure the decision is truly voluntary.

A well-informed source said that after a recent “validation exercise” to verify the number of registered and unregistered Burundians living in camps in Tanzania, about 3,300 people were registered but not given “active status,” which means they have no clear legal status or access to assistance, and are particularly vulnerable to government intimidation and coerced return to Burundi.

In October, the Tanzanian authorities summoned these people and registered “hundreds” who said they wanted to return to Burundi. The authorities told them to report to a departure center, leaving UNHCR, which usually speaks to people leaving a few days beforehand to make sure they are leaving voluntarily, to conduct some interviews at the departure center “in less than ideal circumstances,” it said.

Human Rights Watch previously reported on the coerced return of hundreds of Burundian asylum seekers on October 15, after camp authorities said that if they did not register to return, they would be in the camps without legal status and aid.

In late October, UNHCR said Tanzania was increasing “pressure on Burundian refugees and asylum-seekers to return home.” In the second week of November, Tanzanian authorities banned 10 UNHCR staff involved in managing the refugee registration database from the camp.

Tanzanian authorities should ensure that UNHCR staff are able to properly verify the voluntary nature of refugees’ decision to return to Burundi, Human Rights Watch said. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Union should send a team to visit the refugee camps and urge Tanzania not to directly or indirectly forcibly return asylum seekers or refugees.

“The African Union should publicly press the Tanzanian authorities to stop trying to bully refugees and the UN into submission,” Frelick said. “Tanzania claims it isn’t doing anything wrong, but Burundian refugees are telling us in clear terms that they are being driven out of the country.”

Factors Driving Burundian Refugees out of Tanzania

Twenty Burundian refugees formerly living in three camps – Nduta, Nyarugusu, and Mtendeli – in Tanzania’s northwestern Kigoma region spoke with Human Rights Watch in Uganda in November.

Tanzanian Deadline; Memories of 2012 Forced Return

All 20 said they left due to Tanzanian officials’ statements that Burundian refugees should go home. Some said that the combination of Burundian and Tanzanian officials telling refugees to go home, and refugees’ memories of Tanzanian forced refugee return in 2012 had created a climate in which they felt they had no choice but to leave Tanzania.

Thirteen who went directly to Uganda said they feared for their lives if forced to return to Burundi. Many said they knew other refugees who had returned to Burundi only to flee again to Tanzania to escape ongoing insecurity in Burundi.

Ten left the camps between August and October, with most citing increased pressure at that time. On August 24, Burundi and Tanzania signed an agreement to ensure that all Burundian refugees would leave Tanzania by the end of 2019. Both countries’ interior ministers jointly visited the camps the following day and said returns would start on October 1.

A 40-year-old woman said: “I decided to leave the camp when the authorities said they would start sending people back on October 1 and that they didn’t want any more refugees in Tanzania. During the meeting, [the authorities] said they had agreed with the Burundian government to repatriate us. That’s why I left.” She left for Uganda on foot with her young child on September 10. She spent a night in a local family’s compound but became frightened that Tanzanian authorities would catch her and ran away, leaving all her belongings behind.

Many refugees said they feared Tanzanian officials’ threatening language would turn into forced return. Several cited camp authorities’ phrases such as, “The last cow of the herd is always beaten” or “the cows that go to the trough first drink clean water, those that go last get the dirty water,” which they interpreted as saying that those who do not leave the camp now may be beaten or left without a return support package.

A refugee who left Mtendeli camp in October said: “Tanzanian authorities intimidated people to make them sign up for repatriation. They said otherwise they would use force and we wouldn’t even have time to collect our belongings or get any assistance. People were afraid, so they registered [to return].”

Tanzania has hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees over the past few decades and offered citizenship to tens of thousands who had been in the country since 1972. But the country also has a troubling history of forced return. After the forced return of hundreds of thousands of Rwandans in 1996, Tanzania began in 2006 to reduce the number of what it termed “illegal immigrants” by violently expelling thousands of registered Rwandan and Burundian refugees.

In June 2009, Tanzanian authorities announced the closure of a camp sheltering more than 37,000 Burundian refugees, at Mtabila. Pressure mounted until the camp was closed in December 2012. Some refugees in Uganda said that they had been in Mtabila camp in late 2012 when Tanzanian authorities forced people into returning to Burundi and that they were afraid the Tanzanian authorities would use similar tactics again.

A refugee leader from Nduta camp said he was summoned to a meeting with Tanzanian authorities on March 14, where refugees were asked: “Do you remember what happened in Mtabila? Our guns still work, you know. Burundi and Tanzania are one country.” A 25-year-old woman who left Tanzania for Uganda in August said: “I left because of what happened in Mtabila. I didn’t want to be forced back while there is insecurity in Burundi.”

Fear of Insecurity in and Around Refugee Camps

Most of the refugees said growing insecurity in the camps contributed to their decision to leave Tanzania.

All said they feared the Tanzanian police, who they believe work closely with the Burundian authorities to encourage refugees to return. Fourteen also said they were afraid of Burundian refugees in charge of refugee camp security, called “Sungu Sungu,” a term used to describe neighborhood militias in Tanzania. Refugees, including a former Sungu Sungu member, and an independent well-informed source in the camps said that Tanzanian police approve the appointment of the most senior Sungu Sungu representatives in the camps, some of whom refugees believed to be Imbonerakure.

Refugees said Sungu Sungu members had arrested refugees and helped Tanzanian authorities carry out what some called “mobilization efforts” to encourage their return.

One interviewee said: “In the camps, they [Sungu Sungu members] targeted the [political] opposition, arrested people at night, confiscated phones and demanded bribes. They organized meetings to tell people to return, and said if we don’t return voluntarily, we will be forced back.”

Some refugees said that Sungu Sungu members came to the houses of those who had registered for return, but had failed to show up on the day of the return convoy, and told people to leave Tanzania, but Human Rights Watch was not able to independently verify these allegations.

One refugee said he knew four Sungu Sungu members in Nyarugusu camp who were also Imbonerakure members in his home commune in Burundi. He said: “If a normal refugee comes home after 8 p.m., it’s fine, but if an opposition member goes home after 8 p.m., he’s beaten and made to pay a fine of up to 10.000 Shillings (US$4.3).”

Human Rights Watch independently verified the identity of the four men, as well as that of three other Imbonerakure members in Nduta camp, with a well-informed source in Burundi, who confirmed that at least five of the seven men were Imbonerakure members who either had ties with Tanzania or who had left their home communes in Cankuzo, Ruyigi, Karuzi, and Makamba provinces in Burundi.

Thirteen interviewees said they had heard of killings, disappearances, and arrests of Burundians in and around Tanzania’s refugee camps since 2018, including when refugees left the camps to look for firewood. The resulting climate of fear and suspicion triggered their decision to leave.

A 44-year-old man said: “After the August agreement … arrests increased. There were new ones every day. The camp authorities said they wanted to close the camps and that we had to register to go back.” A well-informed source confirmed that reports of disappearances and arrests by Tanzanian police have increased since August. Refugees also said that they believe Tanzanian authorities arrested people suspected of opposing their refugee-return “mobilization efforts.”

Market Closures; Other Restrictions

Most refugees said that restrictions that led to market closures, a ban on motorbikes and bicycles, and restrictions on access to services and commercial activities in the camps convinced them that Tanzanian authorities were planning to close the camps. Several also said that police and Sungu Sungu members prevented refugees from moving around the camps at night and prohibited refugees from listening to radio broadcasts by Burundian exiles.

One refugee who was repatriated to Burundi in August 2018 said: “I didn’t want to leave but they put us in an untenable situation… [The Sungu Sungu] forbade us from listening to the radio and beat us if they found us out after 7 p.m. They worked with the Tanzania police, which collaborates with the Burundian police.”

“In August, camp authorities closed Nduta camp market,” a 25-year-old woman who left Tanzania in August said. “This meant we had to survive on food rations, as we couldn’t buy vegetables and other small things in the camps anymore.”

A 35-year-old carpenter, who left Tanzania for Uganda with his wife and four children on September 24 said: “Something changed after August 2019. Assistance for building houses or education programs were suspended. Aid for refugees definitely diminished.”

Although these restrictions were added incrementally, refugees said that in August they became more severe. One refugee said: “After August, things changed. Markets inside and outside the camps were closed. The camp authorities said it would continue this way until all infrastructure is closed down.”

Increasing Pressure on Certain Groups

Human Rights Watch research indicates that as of October 31, there were about 151,000 registered refugees living in Tanzania’s camps together with 12,000 registered asylum seekers who were waiting for the Tanzanian authorities to decide on their individual asylum applications. In their August agreement, the Tanzanian and Burundian authorities erroneously referred to the 12,000 as “illegal migrants.”

The source said that a recent “validation exercise” in the camps also identified about 2,800 Burundians who arrived in the camps after January 2018, when the Tanzanian authorities stopped registering asylum seekers. The authorities registered their presence in October, but refused to give them “active status,” leaving them without clear legal status and assistance.

The source said that the exercise also identified and registered the presence of another 500 people whose refugee or asylum seeker status had been deactivated by UNHCR after they failed to show up for three consecutive food distributions, indicating they had left, but who had subsequently returned to the camps. As of early December, hundreds of them remain in the camp without “active status” or assistance.

In October, sources in the camps said Tanzanian authorities posted lists in the camps of people without active legal status and access to assistance, saying they should report to Home Affairs Ministry officials in the camps. Hundreds did and signed up to return to Burundi. Tanzanian authorities did not follow standard procedure, requiring them to report to UNHCR to verify the Burundians were leaving Tanzania voluntarily. Instead, the authorities told them to report to Nduta camp’s departure center, where returning refugees go with all their belongings ahead of their scheduled return to Burundi. UNHCR said they had to conduct some voluntariness interviews at the departure center “in less than ideal circumstances.”

UNHCR’s Handbook on Voluntary Repatriation says that “registration for repatriation should not be viewed as a merely clerical task” and that staff should “interview…the potential repatriates to obtain … relevant information, counselling them on issues of concern, answering questions on repatriation related issues [and] assessing vulnerability.”

The source said that between September 2017 and mid-November 2019, about 10,500 refugees signed up for voluntary return to Burundi but then decided to stay in Tanzania. They informed UNHCR, which took them off the agency’s “pending departure” list.

Nonetheless, in early October, the Tanzanian authorities posted a list of names in the camps of about 4,000 refugees who had signed up for return but had not shown up on the departure date and summoned them to Home Affairs Ministry representatives in the camps. A few hundred responded and said they wanted to return to Burundi and left in October and November. The rest remain in the camps.

Returning Refugees Fleeing Burundi Again

In its September report, the UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry on Burundi said that “serious human rights violations – including crimes against humanity – have continued…across the country” and that the targets were real and suspected opposition supporters, including Burundians who had returned from abroad.

Seven refugees said they had returned to Burundi between March 2018 and August 2019 under the voluntary repatriation program. Four said that members of the Imbonerakure had stolen the money and goods they had received from UNHCR, which include 70,000 Burundian Francs ($37), perishable goods, and cooking and other utensils. All said they left Burundi for Uganda to escape insecurity in Burundi.

A man who returned to Burundi on September 27, 2018 and left again for Uganda one year later, described the challenges returning refugees face in Burundi:

The Imbonerakure said we were ibipinga [a pejorative Kirundi expression to designate those who are against the party] and that we would pay for it in [the] 2020 [elections]. When they saw us at the market, they made us pay more. In July, August, and September [2019], CNDD-FDD [ruling party] members forced us to pay contributions for the elections and the ruling party. The Imbonerakure monitored our houses, especially if they suspected people might try and flee, and said they were going to kill us. The [local] authorities made me sign up to become a member of the ruling party... I thought I would be killed.

Several interviewees said Imbonerakure members accused them of joining rebel groups abroad and threatened to arrest them. One person said that Imbonerakure members beat people trying to get goods at distributions by aid agencies and prevented people from getting food. He said he was forced to give up much of the repatriation-assistance money he had received from UNHCR:

Of the 70,000 Francs I received [from UNHCR], I had to give 10,000 ($5.3) to the communal counsellor, 5,000 ($2.6) to the hill-level authorities, and 3,000 ($1.6) to the local Imbonerakure chief. Then, whenever an Imbonerakure came to my house, I had to give them 1,000 Francs ($0.5) …The Imbonerakure said they were going to kill me because I didn’t tell them how rebel groups were planning on attacking Burundi. They said they would cut my head off. I was afraid and decided to leave without any belongings – if the Imbonerakure suspected I was fleeing; they would have prevented me from crossing the border.

An interviewee who returned to Burundi in August said Imbonerakure members arrested and accused him of denouncing Imbonerakure abuses while he was abroad. He said his wife had to sell all the goods they had received from UNHCR in Tanzania to pay for his release, and they both fled the country later the same month.

▻https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/12/12/tanzania-burundians-pressured-leaving

Lebanon denies forcing Syrian refugees back home

At least sixteen deportees say they were pressured into signing forms saying they voluntarily agreed to return home.

https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2019/5/25/8540a989ae554a7bb3446b671873cc7b_18.jpg

Tunisia announces closure of #Medenine migrant centre

Tunisia has decided to close the Medenine center for migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers due to overcrowding and inhumane conditions.

Fadhel Mahfoudh, Tunisian minister for relations with constitutional instances, civil society and human rights, announced that the Medenine migrant center will be closed due to overcrowding and deplorable conditions for those being hosted there. “The conditions in this center are inhumane, and it will therefore be closed immediately,” Mahfoudh said during a working visit to Medenine. “We have to find solutions to allow migrants and refugees to live with dignity,” he said.

He said the center’s location, situated in a residential neighborhood between a high school and a foyer for female students, is inappropriate. He said the location creates problems with the neighborhood’s residents, who have already asked local authorities to find another place to host the migrants.

Resident numbers continue to increase

The center is managed by the Tunisian Red Crescent with the support of international organizations, IOM, UNHCR, and the collaboration of the International Red Cross. Local sources said the center currently hosts 20 migrants and 180 asylum seekers, but numbers continue to grow daily due to the increase in migrant flows from Libya. The Tunisian Red Crescent and some local NGOs have long denounced the critical conditions at the Medenine center.

#IOM supports decision

Lorena Lando, the Tunisian director of the International Organization for Migration, said the organization supports the decision to close the center, which she said has surpassed its maximum capacity. She said IOM will do everything it can to provide the necessary support and assistance to the center’s guests and to respond to the authorities’ demands in terms of migrant assistance. “IOM remains available to every migrant who wishes to return to his or her country of origin,” Lando said.

She said IOM ensured the return from Tunisia of 605 migrants to their countries of origin in 2018. UNHCR Tunisia representative Mazen Abu Shanab said the increase in the number of Libyan migrants in Tunisia (about 300 per month) is calling for a doubling of efforts in terms of assistance. Most of the migrants who are staying at the Medenine centre are Eritreans who wish to reach Europe, Shanab said.

▻https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/15890/tunisia-announces-closure-of-medenine-migrant-centre?ref=tw
#fermeture #OIM

ping @deka

La situation des migrants dans le centre du #Croissant_Rouge à #Médenine
▻https://ftdes.net/rapport-de-mission-denquete-la-situation-des-migrants-dans-le-centre-du-crois

#rapport

Traduction en italien :
►https://www.meltingpot.org/Tunisia-la-vita-dei-migranti-irregolari-nella-regione-di.html

Tunisia: la vita dei migranti irregolari nella regione di Médenine

Il ruolo della Croissant-Rouge e un piano d’azione che garantisce libertà di movimento anche senza documenti

https://www.meltingpot.org/local/cache-vignettes/L440xH330/articolo_2_centro_al_hamdi_medenine2_ingresso_principale_17022018-b55ba.jpg?1524473722#.jpg

►https://www.meltingpot.org/Tunisia-la-vita-dei-migranti-irregolari-nella-regione-di.html

v. aussi la métaliste sur le Décret Salvini :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/739545

Dl Sicurezza, 24 migranti cacciati dal Cara di Isola Capo Rizzuto e portati in stazione: “Non hanno un posto dove andare”

La prefettura di Crotone ha deciso di far uscire il gruppo per applicare il provvedimento appena approvato dal Parlamento. Gli stranieri sono in possesso del permesso di soggiorno umanitario e pur avendo diritto di stare in Italia, non possono beneficiare del diritto d’accoglienza nel sistema Sprar o restare nel sistema di prima accoglienza

Ventiquattro migranti hanno dovuto lasciare il Cara di Isola Capo Rizzuto, a seguito di un provvedimento emesso dalla prefettura di Crotone in ottemperanza al decreto Sicurezza approvato nei giorni scorsi in Parlamento. Gli stranieri sono in possesso del permesso di soggiorno umanitario e pur avendo diritto di stare in Italia, non possono beneficiare del diritto d’accoglienza nel sistema Sprar o restare nel sistema di prima accoglienza. Il gruppo, nonostante la protesta organizzata nel pomeriggio per chiedere di non lasciare il centro, è stato fatto salire su un pullman e accompagnato alla stazione ferroviaria di Crotone.

Lì c’erano ad attenderli i volontari delle associazioni che si occupano di assistenza e che si stanno adoperando per trovare per loro una sistemazione temporanea per la prossima notte. I rifugiati allontanati dal Cara, infatti, non hanno un luogo dove andare e per evitare che passino la notte all’addiaccio, è intervenuta la rete delle associazioni solidali di Crotone. L’accoglienza, però, secondo quanto hanno spiegato queste ultime, potrà essere garantita solo per pochi giorni, dopodiché dovranno tornare in strada. Nella stazione ferroviaria di Crotone, ci sono i volontari di Legacoop Calabria, che stanno fornendo loro assistenza. Secondo Pino De Lucia, responsabile immigrazione di Legacoop Calabria, “i costi per eventuali casi speciali che riguardano migranti minori, malati e disabili, sono a carico dei Comuni ospitanti, con notevole aggravio per le casse degli enti locali”. Tra le persone destinatarie del provvedimento c’è anche una giovanissima coppia, lei nigeriana, lui ghanese, con una bambina di cinque mesi, che sarà ospitata, assieme ad un’altra donna, a Crotone a cura della Croce Rossa e della Caritas, con vitto e alloggio assicurato per una ventina di giorni.

Il Cara di #Isola_di_Capo_Rizzuto era finito al centro delle polemiche a maggio 2017, dopo l’arresto per ‘ndrangheta di 68 persone. Secondo quanto rivelato nelle indagini, dei 100 milioni di euro stanziati negli ultimi 10 anni per i migranti, 32 andavano alla ‘ndrangheta. Secondo i pm la cosca Arena, era riuscita ad aggiudicarsi gli appalti indetti dalla prefettura di Crotone per le forniture dei servizi di ristorazione al centro di accoglienza di Isola Capo Rizzuto e di Lampedusa. Le indagini rivelarono anche che venivano dato cibo per maiali ai migranti.

▻https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2018/11/30/dl-sicurezza-24-migranti-cacciati-da-cara-di-isola-capo-rizzuto-e-portati-in-stazione-non-hanno-un-posto-dove-andare/4804833/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

I primi effetti del decreto (in)sicurezza

I primi effetti del decreto (in)sicurezza confermano, purtroppo, quanto in molti stiamo denunciando da settembre, da quando la bozza del decreto ha iniziato a circolare.
Sono già diverse decine le persone, alcuni bambini piccolissimi, costretti a stare per strada perché impossibilitate ad accedere alle strutture di seconda accoglienza (sono di ieri le prime circolari emanate da diverse Prefetture).
Se il Presidente della Repubblica firmerà la legge licenziata dalla camera, la situazione, nel medio e lungo periodo, peggiorerà sempre più. Migliaia di persone saranno costrette all’esclusione e alla marginalità sociale in nome della demagogia e del populismo.

A pagare il prezzo più alto saranno i più deboli, come al solito d’altronde, costretti a vivere sempre più ai margini, lontano dagli occhi dei più, nelle baraccopoli che affollano le periferie dalle nostre città e delle nostre campagne, come quella nella piana di Gioia Tauro dove ieri sera è morta un’altra persona, in quei «ghetti» utili a chi domanda lavoro da sfruttare per incrementare i propri profitti, quelli attarversati della violenza che, in quei luoghi, colpisce soprattutto le donne, le più invisibili tra gli invisibili.
Chi guadagnerà in tutto ciò? Solo sciacalli e criminali:
– i politicanti che proveranno a tradurre in consenso la frustrazione della gente che vede il proprio nemico in chi è affamato e non in chi affama;
– gli enti gestori e il considerevole indotto economico creato da quei luoghi di detenzione amministrativa chiamati centri per il riconoscimento e il rimpatrio in cui le persone saranno recluse fino a 180 giorni senza aver commesso alcun reato per essere poi rilasciate in condizione di irregolarità sul territorio;
– le aziende senza scrupoli che sfrutteranno il lavoro privato di diritti degli uomini e delle donne colpite dagli effetti del decreto (in)sicurezza;
– le organizzazioni criminali che gestiscono la tratta della prostituzione e il traffico di stupefacenti;
– chi potrà acquistare, o meglio riacquistare, i beni sequestrati alle organizzazioni mafiose.

Ognuno di noi deve decidere da che parte stare, sono sicuro che la maggioranza delle persone per bene, di chi crede nell’eguaglianza, nei diritti umani, non starà con le mani in mano.
Noi continueremo a resistere, disubbidiremo e ci organizzeremo per contrastare la barbarie, come già stiamo facendo, e lo faremo sempre meglio.
Touche pas à mon pote, non toccare il mio amico! Non toccate i nostri fratelli, non toccate le nostre sorelle!

▻https://migr-azioni.blogspot.com/2018/12/i-primi-effetti-del-decreto-insicurezza.html?m=1

Dl sicurezza, in 24 allontanati da Cara

Prima notte fuori dal Centro accoglienza richiedenti asilo di #Isola_Capo_Rizzuto, tra disagi e preoccupazione, per i 24 migranti in possesso di permesso umanitario allontanati in ottemperanza al Decreto Sicurezza. Solo una parte di loro è riuscita a trovare un tetto a Crotone dove sono stati accompagnati: una giovanissima coppia di origine africana con la loro bambina di cinque mesi, ospitati da Croce rossa e Caritas per una ventina di giorni e quattro donne, vittime di tratta, accolte provvisoriamente dalla cooperativa l’Agorà. Gli altri componenti del primo gruppo - altri ne usciranno lunedì per un totale stimato in 200 che dovranno lasciare la struttura entro la prossima settimana - si sono dovuti accontentare di soluzioni di fortuna probabilmente all’interno della baraccopoli sorta in corrispondenza del cavalcavia nord della città di Crotone. In base a quanto stabilisce il Dl Sicurezza, i migranti destinatari dei provvedimenti, pur avendo diritto a stare in Italia, non possono beneficiare del diritto all’accoglienza nel sistema Sprar. Né possono restare nel sistema di prima accoglienza. Da ieri sera, nella città calabrese meta di numerosi sbarchi di migranti, le associazioni che si occupano di accoglienza e assistenza si sono attivate per trovare soluzioni alla problematica.

▻http://www.ansa.it/calabria/notizie/2018/11/30/dl-sicurezza-in-24-allontanati-da-cara_6f548eae-48de-46a0-bc22-d0bfb015180f.htm

Migranti, trattenute a #Malpensa senza assistenza

Due donne, una cubana e una senegalese, sono bloccate all’area arrivi dell’aeroporto, rispettivamente da 96 e da 51 ore. Erano di rientro da un periodo di vacanze nel loro Paese d’origine e al controllo documenti hanno scoperto che i loro permessi di soggiorno sono stati revocati. Negato finora negato il permesso di incontrare un avvocato.

Stavano tornando in Italia dove un periodo di vacanze nel loro Paese. Ma agli arrivi dell’aeroporto di Malpensa hanno scoperto che il loro permesso di soggiorno era stato revocato. E ora sono bloccate in aeroporto, nell’area dei controlli dei documenti, senza poter incontrare qualcuno che possa dare loro assistenza legale. E’ quanto sta avvenendo a due donne straniere, una cubana e una senegalese, accomunate ora dal fatto di vivere in un limbo. La donna cubana è trattenuta a Malpensa da 96 ore, mentre quella senegalese, che è anche in stato di gravidanza, da 51 ore. Da questa mattina in aeroporto è presente Giulia Vicini, avvocata dell’Associazione studi giuridici dell’immigrazione (Asgi): “Il problema è che non mi permettono di incontrare le due donne –spiega-. Non mi fanno accedere nell’area dove sono trattenute, con la motivazione che si tratterebbe di territorio internazionale, non sottoposto alla giurisdizione nazionale”. L’avvocata contesta questa motivazione. “E’ come se dicessero che in aeroporto c’è una zona che non è Italia. Il fatto stesso che siano trattenute lì significa che ci sono funzionari della polizia e quindi stanno esercitando la giurisdizione”. Per cercare di sbloccare al più presto la situazione (il volo di ritorno per la donna senegalese partirà in serata) ha mandato due mail pec al Garante nazionale dei diritti delle persone detenute o private della libertà personale. “Il problema di fondo è che se non incontrano un avvocato queste due donne non possono firmare il mandato per presentare il ricorso. Viene loro negato il diritto di fare ricorso”.

Alla signora senegalese il permesso di soggiorno sarebbe stato revocato per insufficienza del reddito. La donna cubana ha ottenuto la cittadinanza italiana, ma deve ancora fare il giuramento e le è stato revocato il permesso di soggiorno perché non è più convivente con il marito, dal quale si sarebbe separata. “Si tratta di revoche contestabili perché si basano su interpretazioni secondo noi errate delle norme in materia”, sottolinea l’avvocata Giulia Vicini. Ma, comunque, al di là degli aspetti giuridici delle revoche dei permessi di soggiorno, il problema ora è che sono trattenute a Malpensa senza poter ricevere assistenza.

Il caso delle due donne ricorda quello della famiglia marocchina di cui si è occupato Redattore sociale: padre, madre e quattro figli, in Italia da oltre un decennio. Al ritorno da un periodo di vacanza, la donna ha scoperto che il suo permesso di soggiorno era stato revocato. Lei, con tre dei figli, ha dovuto fare ritorno in Marocco, lui è rimasto in Italia con la più piccola. Hanno fatto ricorso e, dopo più di un anno, hanno ottenuto il permesso di rientrare in Italia e vivere di nuovo tutti insieme.

▻http://www.redattoresociale.it/Notiziario/Articolo/609515/Migranti-trattenute-a-Malpensa-senza-assistenza
#aéroport #limbe

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Aggiornamento del collega Dario Paladini: la donna senegalese è stata rimpatriata nella serata di ieri, la donna cubana ancora in aeroporto #Milano #Malpensa

▻https://twitter.com/EleonoraCamilli/status/1069164388765102080

Aggiornamento/2 Anche la signora cubana è stata rimpatriata. Ieri sera sul tardi. E senza aver potuto parlare con un avvocato. (Dario Paladini)

▻https://twitter.com/EleonoraCamilli/status/1069332199625973760

Decreto sicurezza. È caos accoglienza. Scoppia il caso #Mineo

Famiglie e bambini verranno allontanati a giorni. Il vescovo eri: «Abbandonare i cani è reato. Lasciare persone per strada ’è legge’. Se serve apriremo le chiese per dare un tetto»

Ieri sarebbe dovuto toccare a una mamma con la sua bambina colpita da broncopolmonite. Ma la cacciata dei migranti dal Cara di Mineo, il più grande d’Italia, è stata posticipata di qualche giorno. Le istituzioni non si occuperanno di dare un tetto alle famiglie con bambini escluse dal sistema di protezione, ma il vescovo di Caltagirone non ci sta, e ha già trovato 40 posti letto. Se non bastassero, «apriremo anche le chiese per alloggiare queste persone», annuncia monsignor Calogero Peri. Entro l’11 dicembre quasi 90 persone su 1.800 verranno accompagnate fuori dalla struttura. Poi ne seguiranno altri secondo una tabella di marcia non ancora precisata.

A pochi giorni dal Natale, l’Italia mostra il suo volto peggiore. Verranno allontanati anche bambini da 1 a 12 anni, molti dei quali nati proprio in Sicilia durante la permanenza dei genitori nel Centro per richiedenti asilo. L’ultima volta il cappuccino Peri ne ha battezzati 11 e il rito dell’amministrazione dei Sacramenti non di rado si tiene nella cattedrale di Caltagirone, coinvolgendo così tutta la diocesi. Ma adesso questi bambini figli di migranti non solo dovranno trovarsi un tetto, ma saranno costretti ad abbandonare la scuola dell’obbligo, almeno fino a quando non raggiungeranno un’altra città italiana dove riorganizzare un futuro sempre più in salita. Nessuno dei cacciati potrà tornare nei Paesi d’origine e, dovendo vivere in “clandestinità”, non è neanche certo che i bambini continueranno gli studi da qualche altra parte.

E pensare che il Cara «fu fortemente voluto da Forza Italia e dalla Lega Nord, rispettivamente nella persona di Silvio Berlusconi, presidente del consiglio, e di Roberto Maroni, ministro dell’Interno», ricorda Calogero Peri. Una decisione che fu imposta «contro le alternative proposte dai sindaci del territorio». Nei giorni scorsi il ministro Salvini ha provato a rassicurare: «Sembrava a leggere i giornali che io buttassi fuori la notte della vigilia di Natale donne incinte, bambine e anziani: chi è nello Sprar arriva alla fine del percorso Sprar, se uno ha ancora un anno sta lì un anno». Affermazione che elude la situazione di tutte le altre strutture di permanenza, come i Centri per richiedenti asilo. Proprio come a Mineo. Quello del presule siciliano è però un richiamo alle coscienze: «In Italia, specialmente prima delle vacanze estive, passa una bella pubblicità: non è civiltà abbandonare i cani per strada e chi lo fa è punito dalla legge. Invece, abbandonare per strada i migranti o, se sembra troppo forte, “accompagnarli” e lasciarli per strada, è “sicurezza”, è legge». I timori sono diffusi in tutta la Penisola. In Lombardia la cooperativa Aeris, con oltre 300 migranti ospitati in circa 150 appartamenti tra Milano, Monza e Lecco, prevede che già solo in questo mese di dicembre rimarranno senza tetto una trentina di migranti con la protezione umanitaria, visto che il decreto Salvini ha loro sbarrato l’accesso ai progetti di accoglienza dello Sprar, il Sistema di protezione per richiedenti asilo e rifugiati. E nei prossimi mesi saranno almeno dai 20 ai 30 gli operatori (soprattutto mediatori culturali) che perderanno il lavoro.

Il “Progetto Arca”, che attualmente accoglie 500 migranti a Milano, stima che nei prossimi mesi almeno un terzo sarà costretto ad arrangiarsi. Contemporaneamente i mediatori ai quali non verrà rinnovato il contratto a progetto sono una settantina. E la Caritas Ambrosiana prevede che almeno mezzo migliaio di stranieri finiranno a ingrossare le fila dei senzatetto. «Non ci interessa fare i bed & breakfast dei migranti – spiega Alberto Sinigallia, presidente di Progetto Arca – . Oggi prendiamo dai 27 ai 29 euro al giorno per persona ospitata. Con i nuovi bandi delle prefetture non ci sarà più obbligo di garantire neanche corsi di lingua, l’assistenza medica e i percorsi di integrazione. Il prezzo più basso servirà solo per offrire vitto e alloggio. Ma non è la nostra mission». Il decreto sicurezza finirà per rendere più difficile anche i controlli sui malintenzionati. Trasformare i centri d’accoglienza in dormitori senza alcun progetto farà la fortuna di stranieri come i tre richiedenti asilo nigeriani arrestati ieri a Lucca per spaccio di droga e che fino a qualche tempo fa stavano in una struttura per migranti controllata a vista dalla Croce rossa. Le “mele marce” certo non mancano. Ieri la Guardia di finanza di Ferrara ha perquisito 16 strutture attive nell’accoglienza dei migranti.

Secondo gli investigatori vi sarebbero stati abusi sulla rendicontazione dei servizi erogati, con conseguente danno alle casse pubbliche. L’unica alternativa sembrano essere proprio quegli Sprar che il governo non ha voluto incentivare. Al contrario la Regione Campania chiede all’esecutivo 10 milioni per sostenere le attività di integrazione dei migranti. «Il nostro obiettivo principale – spiega Franco Roberti, assessore regionale alla Sicurezza – è sostenere le attività degli Sprar in tutte le province della Campania».

▻https://www.avvenire.it/attualita/pagine/caos-accoglienza-scoppia-il-caso-mineo

New Italian law adds to unofficial clampdown on aid to asylum seekers. “Hundreds have already been expelled from reception centres”

Tens of thousands of vulnerable asylum seekers have lost their right to two-year residency permits and integration services in Italy after new legislation championed by the populist government’s right-wing Interior Minister Matteo Salvini was signed into law this week.

But over the past two years thousands have already had government services to which they were entitled cut or curtailed, according to interviews with asylum seekers and legal experts over several months, as well as government responses to dozens of freedom of information requests.

One in every three asylum seekers who arrived in more than half of Italy’s local government prefectures over the past two years has either left or been evicted from their government-run accommodation, according to information IRIN obtained from local governments.

A request for comment on these findings to the Italian interior ministry went unanswered at time of publication.

Aid groups warn that the new law will compound an existing crisis in Italy, which is struggling to cope with providing basic services to some 180,000 refugees and asylum seekers awaiting decisions and an estimated 500,000 undocumented migrants – many of whom have already fallen out of the reception system.

In addition to granting five-year residence permits to refugees and to asylum seekers who meet “subsidiary protection” criteria, Italy has for the past 20 years granted two-year residency permits to a wider group of migrants on comparatively flexible “humanitarian protection” grounds – broadly interpreted as those who aren’t refugees but who can’t be sent home either.

The controversial new Decree-Law on Immigration and Security, signed by President Sergio Matterella on Monday, scraps “humanitarian protection” altogether and introduces new “special permits” for a much narrower group that comprises: victims of domestic violence, trafficking, and severe exploitation; those with serious health issues; those fleeing natural disasters; and those who commit acts of civic valour.

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The Decree-Law on Immigration and Security in brief
“Humanitarian protection” residency permits – granted to one in four asylum seekers last year – abolished
Asylum seekers lose access to integration services until their application is granted
Network of reception centres drastically downsized
Withdrawal of refugee status made easier
Maximum detention time in “repatriation centres” doubled to six months
Fast-track expulsions for “socially dangerous” migrants

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In 2017, 20,166 people – around 25 percent of the total who sought asylum – were granted “humanitarian protection”. Those who lose their permits also lose their right to work and their right to stay in the best facilities that have services to help them integrate into Italian society.

Only 25,000 places are available in Italy’s longer-term, government-run reception system, known by its Italian acronym SPRAR, which typically provides high standards of care. This means that more than 150,000 people waiting for decisions on their asylum applications, or 80 percent of the total, are housed in more than 9,000 supposedly temporary accommodation facilities, known by the acronym CAS. These are for the most part managed by commercial entities with no track record in providing housing and services for asylum seekers, and have been associated with corruption and substandard living conditions.

Some asylum seekers formerly granted “humanitarian protection” are already being forced out of the SPRAR facilities, meaning they also lose out on integration measures such as language classes and work skills courses.

"Hundreds have already been expelled from reception centres throughout Italy, and left homeless at a moment’s notice,” Oliviero Forti, head of the migration division for Caritas in Italy, told IRIN. “In some places, like Crotone, our charity shelters have been overwhelmed over the weekend. Some very vulnerable individuals, such as pregnant women or persons with psychiatric conditions, are being put on the street without any support measure and, incredibly, government-managed facilities are calling upon Caritas for help.”
An attempt to reduce arrivals

Italy overtook Greece in 2016 as the main European entry point for migrants and asylum seekers, receiving 320,000 people in the past two years – the vast majority entering on small, overcrowded vessels operated by smugglers across the Mediterranean from North Africa, or after being rescued en route.

Salvini, also deputy prime minister, leads the far-right League Party and campaigned on a strongly anti-immigration platform during the March general election. Shortly after taking office in June as part of a fractious ruling coalition with the populist and anti-EU Five Star Movement, Salvini closed the country’s ports to migrant rescue ships.

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Migrants who arrive in Italy by boat typically spend their first two days in initial arrival facilities known as “hotspots”, mostly concentrated in Sicily, where identification procedures take place. Those who are prima facie determined to have a legitimate basis to claim asylum are entitled to a place in the SPRAR system, even if the majority don’t get one.

These are small facilities evenly distributed across the country, organised by the Interior Ministry and managed by humanitarian organisations with experience working with migrant populations. They are known for providing a high standard of basic services as well as vocational training and psychological counselling. The 25,000 available placements have typically been reserved for the most vulnerable cases, such as minors who are victims of trafficking.

Under Salvini’s new law, only people who are granted a visa – a process that can take several years — may be placed in SPRAR facilities, not asylum seekers. Migrants and asylum seekers will be sent to a CAS.

Médecins Sans Frontières warned in a statement that the new law will have a “dramatic impact on the life and health of thousands of people”. MSF said that “over the years it operated inside CAS”, its workers found that prolonged stays in the centres “deteriorates migrants’ mental health” and “hampers their chances of integrating successfully into society”.

The coalition government promised that Salvini’s new law would result in half a million deportations. Past deportation rates suggest it will be difficult to keep that promise, analysts say. What does seem likely, they say, is that larger numbers of asylum seekers will be detained for longer periods. Salvini’s law doubles to six months the time new arrivals can be held in “repatriation” centres while their identities and nationalities are being confirmed.

Added to the 30-day detention period many face in hotspot facilities, this means asylum seekers can now be detained for up to seven months without having committed any crime.

Another measure within the new legislation suspends refugee protections for those considered “socially dangerous” or who are convicted of crimes, even in the first of Italy’s three-stage conviction process.
Already in crisis

Based on IRIN’s analysis of responses to freedom of information requests received from 53 of Italy’s 103 prefectures (the others did not reply), the Italian reception system is unable to retain its guests, partly due to a lack of integration opportunities and medical care. More than 28,000 residents have left the temporary facilities over the last 24 months, either because local governments withdrew their right to assistance for alleged violations of certain rules or because the migrants and asylum seekers decided to leave of their own accord.

Interviews with legal experts, social workers, dozens of migrants, and analysis of the withdrawal orders shows a pattern of widespread violations of migrants’ legal rights in the reception centres, with local authorities sometimes complicit in the abuses.

The CAS centres – for the most part private-sector hotels and apartments identified and approved by local government – are in theory just one link in a complex and poorly regulated chain of migrant accommodations. But because the SPRAR centres are full to capacity, they have taken on a spill-over function.

A migrant can be entitled to remain in Italy as an asylum seeker or refugee, but can still lose, with a “withdrawal order”, all institutional support, such as accommodation, training, medical care etc. Under EU law that is legally binding in Italy, withdrawal orders should only be issued as a last resort, to punish violent conduct or severe abuse of the reception benefits.

Dozens of interviews with former and current CAS residents – as well as withdrawal orders and communications between reception centre managers and government officials seen by IRIN – reveal that this regulation is frequently abused, sometimes to retaliate against residents who protest their treatment within the facilities. Minor infringements such as returning to centres late are routinely penalised, sometimes retroactively, with criteria that vary massively from one prefecture to another – including, sometimes, withdrawal notices.

The abuse of withdrawal orders “infringes both EU and Italian law, depriving migrants of basic human rights,” said Dario Belluccio, a lawyer and the director of ASGI, a leading association of immigration law scholars.

Those who receive a withdrawal notice – the number could spike under Salvini’s new law, with more asylum seekers being deemed “socially dangerous” or found guilty of minor infractions – instantly lose their place in a residence centre, a €75 monthly allowance, and virtually all institutional support.

Those who leave the centres often move to migrant shanty towns, which tend to lack water and electricity and where severe labour exploitation and sex trafficking thrive.

Helped by the unsatisfactory conditions in the reception system, the shanty towns have grown in size over the past few years. In these communities, migrants often find it difficult to obtain basic services such as healthcare as well as the legal assistance needed to follow up on asylum applications.
No permit, no job, no home

Even without a withdrawal order, more asylum seekers and migrants may soon find themselves without access to shelter or services provided by the government. That’s already the case for Becky*, a Nigerian woman in her 20s who was trafficked to Italy for sex work. A social worker familiar with her case, who spoke to IRIN on condition of anonymity for security concerns, said that shortly after arriving in Italy two years ago Becky was forced by her trafficker to leave the reception facility in which she was placed to move to a large shanty town in the province of Foggia.

When local anti-trafficking authorities became aware of Becky’s case after questions were raised during her asylum interview earlier this year, they offered her a place in a protection facility. But such facilities demand that residents give up their mobile phones to ensure that traffickers can’t track them. Residents are limited to one weekly call to a family member while trafficking allegations are being investigated.

“It is not an easy choice to make, and she didn’t take up that opportunity,” said the social worker.

Days before the new immigration law was passed by parliament last month, Becky was issued a humanitarian residence permit by the local asylum commission. But under the new law, authorities are no longer able to distribute the permits, even after they have been granted. “It is not a matter of will, it is literally a matter of police no longer having a button on their computers to print a humanitarian permit,” the social worker noted.

Without documents, Becky can’t look for a job or new accommodation. So she remains in the shanty town, exactly where her trafficker placed her two years ago.

►https://www.irinnews.org/news-feature/2018/12/07/new-italian-law-adds-unofficial-clampdown-aid-asylum-seekers

Vulnerable migrants made homeless after Italy passes ’Salvini decree’

Decree named after leader of far-right party abolishes humanitarian protection for those not eligible for refugee status.

Dozens of migrants, including victims of sex trafficking and a child with mental health problems, have been removed from so-called “welcome centres” in Italy as the populist government’s hardline immigration measures kick in.

The “Salvini decree” – named after Matteo Salvini, interior minister and leader of the far-right League – won a vote in parliament last week and was formally endorsed by the president Sergio Mattarella on Monday.

The main element of the bill, which abolishes humanitarian protection for those not eligible for refugee status but who cannot be sent home, was however retroactively applied by the interior ministry’s representative in Crotone, a province in the southern Calabria region, where last Friday 24 people were forced to leave a centre in the town of Isola Capo Rizzuto.

The evictions are not only affecting those whose request for protection on humanitarian grounds is pending approval, but also those in possession of permits to stay, despite the law stipulating that their status should be maintained.

The majority of migrants who have arrived in Italy in recent years have been granted humanitarian protection, with some 100,000 people estimated to hold the permit, which is valid for two years and enables them to work.

Among those stranded in Isola Capo Rizzuto were a young couple with a five-month-old daughter, two victims of sex trafficking and a boy suffering from mental health problems.

“When the police came to tell us that we couldn’t stay there anymore, I couldn’t believe my ears,” Blessing, a 31-year-old victim of sex trafficking from Nigeria, told the Guardian. “They took all of our belongings and escorted us out. There was a young girl in our group. This is outrageous. I have a legal permit to stay. And soon I may not have a roof over my head. I’m really frightened.”

Blessing found temporary shelter in a Red Cross charity facility in Crotone while the rest have also been accommodated with the help of other charities and the town hall.

“What happened here is crazy,” said Francesco Parisi, president of Crotone’s Red Cross. “You can’t just leave vulnerable people on the street. This is a violation of human rights. We are going to take care of these people now, but I hope things will change.”

Alessia Romana, a social policies councillor in Crotone, said the local authority was trying to manage the situation.

“The council has a moral obligation but also the juridical obligation to take care of these people,” she said. “Up until now, the system in #Crotone worked well. We managed to give reception and there wasn’t any trouble; migrants and locals co-existed.”

A similar measure was applied in Potenza, a city in the southern region of Basilicata, with the interior ministry prefect there announcing last week that “humanitarian protection holders” must be “invited to leave” welcome centres.

Once humanitarian protection permits are received, people are supposed to leave centres on the first rung of the migrant reception system and move to an accommodation in which they can benefit from integration programmes. But slow-moving bureaucracy and limited space means that those with permits end up staying in the first-rung centres for longer.

A dozen or so others have been asked to leave a welcome centre in #Caserta, Campania, according to Italian press reports, while hundreds are expected to be evicted from Cara di Mineo, Europe’s second largest migrant reception centre, in the coming days.

The number is likely to rise as the bill, which Salvini has described as a “gift to Italians”, takes effect. The loss of protection will also mean hundreds of people suddenly becoming “illegal” immigrants, with Italy’s national statistics office estimating that the decree will make 130,000 migrants illegal by 2020.

“What we have been witnessing recently leads us to believe that there will be negative effects not only on vulnerable people, but also on Italian society generally as people enter into a formally illegal status,” said Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency in southern Europe.

“We fail to understand why, at this precise moment, even those individuals with legal protection have been told to leave. The decree is not retroactive, so why are they telling them to leave? Sending families away, women and children, pregnant women. It seems cruel.”

Cities including Bologna, Turin and Rome, the latter two of which are managed by the Five Star Movement, the League’s coalition partner, have refused to implement the measures, arguing they will increase homelessness and risk social unrest.

“We are really worried about a bill that is meant to manage immigration and increase security for citizens, but will instead create social marginality and destroy integration, while also creating social risks and the potential for radicalisation,” said Valeria Carlini, a spokesperson for the Italian Council for Refugees.

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▻https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/07/vulnerable-migrants-made-homeless-after-italy-passes-salvini-decree

Migranti: le conseguenze del decreto Salvini e il nuovo “sistema parcheggio”

Dall’entrata in vigore del provvedimento su immigrazione e asilo, decine di persone sono state espulse dai centri di accoglienza e mandate per strada, nonostante vi siano posti liberi e già finanziati. “È illegittimo. Ci troviamo di fronte a un danno per i cittadini stranieri che hanno un titolo di protezione e a una beffa per il contribuente”, denuncia Gianfranco Schiavone, vicepresidente di Asgi

“Quello che sta avvenendo in queste settimane nel nome del decreto Salvini è gravissimo. Non solo le persone finiscono in mezzo alla strada nonostante vi siano nello SPRAR posti liberi (e quindi già finanziati), ma l’intero sistema di protezione e accoglienza è stato spezzato”. Gianfranco Schiavone, vicepresidente dell’Associazione studi giuridici sull’immigrazione (Asgi, www.asgi.it), osserva con preoccupazione gli effetti del provvedimento convertito nella legge 132/2018 (in vigore dal 4 dicembre 2018). Alcuni provvedimenti hanno preso la forma di circolari prefettizie che “invitano” i gestori dei centri di accoglienza straordinaria (CAS) a far uscire dalle strutture le persone in possesso di un permesso di soggiorno per protezione umanitaria, abrogato di fatto dalla legge. È accaduto a Potenza, a metà novembre, dove il dirigente dell’area Immigrazione ha “ricordato” anche ai gestori che il (fu) Sistema di protezione per richiedenti asilo e rifugiati (SPRAR) verrà riservato a titolari di protezione internazionale e minori stranieri non accompagnati. E basta.

Per comprendere natura e legittimità di iniziative come quelle della prefettura di Potenza, Schiavone suggerisce di partire dal nuovo quadro disegnato dalla norma.
GS Il decreto Salvini convertito in legge ha operato un cambiamento molto profondo del sistema nazionale pubblico. Il precedente infatti era imperniato sulla logica del Sistema di protezione per richiedenti asilo e rifugiati (SPRAR) come sistema unico sia per i richiedenti e sia per i titolari di protezione internazionale o umanitaria. Solo in caso di temporanea indisponibilità di posti nel sistema di accoglienza territoriale SPRAR e solo per il tempo strettamente necessario al trasferimento, il richiedente ospitato in un centro governativo di prima accoglienza restava ospitato in tale centro (ovvero in quelli di cui all’art. 11 del d.lgs 142/2015). La norma era pertanto chiara nel disporre che lo SPRAR fosse l’unico sistema di seconda accoglienza per tutti i richiedenti asilo che vi dovevano essere trasferiti nel più breve tempo possibile, dovendosi considerare l’accoglienza straordinaria in strutture temporanee una misura eventuale e limitata al tempo strettamente necessario al trasferimento del richiedente nelle strutture del sistema di accoglienza territoriale.

Questa la teoria. E la pratica?
GS Il sistema delineato dalla norma come straordinario e provvisorio nella prassi era diventato ordinario, a causa di carenze della norma ma anche per l’aumento inaspettato degli arrivi avvenuto nel 2015, 2016 e 2017. È evidente che il sistema straordinario avesse assunto grandissime dimensioni ma si trattava pur sempre di un sistema secondario e “di passaggio”. Questa situazione è stata completamente ribaltata dal decreto ora convertito in legge.

Perché?
GS Si torna a un sistema unico ma in una forma che non è mai esistita in Italia. Sin da quando è stato istituito un programma pubblico di protezione, questo è stato per così dire bicefalo, cioè imperniato su strutture statali e centri SPRAR, articolati grazie al coinvolgimento degli enti locali. Fino al 2015 ha governato una generale confusione, mentre tra 2015 e 2018 il previsto superamento dei CAS è rimasto in larga parte solo sulla carta. Ma, con un pizzico di ironia, oggi diremo che per fortuna il sistema almeno era bicefalo nel senso che conteneva anche spinte positive. Nella logica del Sistema di protezione c’era l’idea della gestione dell’arrivo dei richiedenti, della loro accoglienza e integrazione dentro la rete di servizi del territorio e organizzato dagli enti locali che si occupano di servizi socio-sanitari, come prassi normale per un Paese democratico.

Che fine ha fatto quell’impostazione, pur rimasta sulla carta?
GS È stata cancellata. Il legislatore ha previsto che non potranno più accedere allo SPRAR i richiedenti asilo, i titolari di permesso di soggiorno per motivi umanitari e i titolari di permesso di soggiorno per casi speciali (regime transitorio) rilasciato in seguito alla decisione sulla protezione umanitaria adottata dalla Commissione territoriale prima del 5 ottobre 2018, data di entrata in vigore del decreto Salvini, e infine esclude anche i titolari di permesso di soggiorno per protezione speciale, il nuovo status giuridico che in modo limitatissimo ha sostituito la protezione umanitaria. È un arretramento netto sia perché crea un esercito di nuovi esclusi sia perché indica come unica soluzione quella dei centri a diretta gestione statale. Lì non vi è nessun tipo di radicamento e collegamento con il territorio, al quale invece vengono sottratte funzioni operative e gestionali che gli sono proprie ovvero la gestione. Il sistema dunque mira di nuovo a concepire la presenza dei richiedenti asilo come un fatto di ordine pubblico, comunque straordinario, temporaneo, che prima o poi finirà. Non è scritto esplicitamente ma nella logica del legislatore la situazione è percepita come temporanea. Il che è semplicemente antistorico.

I sostenitori della gestione statale diretta delle misure di accoglienza per i richiedenti asilo sostengono che sia la regola anche altrove.
GS Molti altri Paesi europei hanno un ruolo diretto nella gestione del fenomeno, è vero. Ma si tratta di sistemi molto diversi dal nostro. In quei Paesi la ripartizione di competenze e funzioni tra stato centrale e poteri locali è molto diversa dal caso italiano. Nel nostro ordinamento, le funzioni amministrative oggi svolte impropriamente dallo Stato competono alle autonomie locali. Alla luce degli artt. 118 e 199 della Costituzione non si comprende infatti perché solo nel caso dell’accoglienza ordinaria di richiedenti asilo il sistema non sia gestito con strumenti ordinari in capo agli enti locali, tramite finanziamento statale. Le Prefettura non hanno e non devono avere un’organizzazione funzionale tale da diventare nuovi uffici sociali che svolgono compiti che spettano invece agli enti del territorio. Questo meccanismo è totalmente anomalo e in controtendenza rispetto a quello che è stato fatto negli ultimi anni.

Perché il sistema è stato “spezzato”?
GS Perché per i richiedenti asilo, inseriti in centri straordinari, l’accoglienza è minima, di bassa soglia, con servizi essenziali come vitto, alloggio, un minimo affiancamento legale e linguistico. Ma non sono affatto previste misure di integrazione sociale, di efficace apprendimento della lingua, di riqualificazione professionale. Un’accoglienza cioè che non si occupa di che cosa le persone facciano tutto il giorno, azzerando l’interazione con il territorio. Lo possiamo definire perciò come un gigantesco “sistema parcheggio” che ha costi economici e sociali altissimi.

La propaganda dice che sarà più economico.
GS Da un punto di vista strettamente monetario è vero, perché i servizi sono abbattuti al minimo ma è uno sguardo miope. Le ricadute si misurano su una scala più ampia: un buon sistema di accoglienza alimenta l’economia locale con un numero congruo di operatori qualificati e insegnanti. Spezzandolo, invece, vengono meno campi professionali e di sviluppo a favore di una mera guardiania richiesta alle strutture.

Il risparmio è un’illusione?
GS I costi di gestione dell’accoglienza, pur inizialmente ridotti saranno destinati a esplodere una volta che le persone saranno uscite dalle strutture. Per il semplice fatto che assomiglieranno a quelle appena entrate, con la differenza che quelle in uscita con poche risorse e pochi percorsi avviati saranno costrette ad avviarli dopo. È un enorme allungamento dei tempi che produce costi e un impatto molto più duro sul territorio.

Dove dovranno essere “avviati” quei percorsi?
GS Nell’ormai ex SPRAR, costretto a fare programmi di inserimento da zero in tempi ristretti. È un cortocircuito micidiale che produrrà persone regolarmente soggiornanti ma prive di strumenti e con drammatico impatto sui servizi sociali e quindi sui costi. Ecco perché qualunque analisi economica seria ci dice che il guadagno annunciato è in realtà un gigantesco sperpero di risorse.

Veniamo alla circolare di Potenza. Sostiene che i titolari di protezione umanitaria presenti nelle suddette strutture debbano essere “invitati” a lasciare i centri di accoglienza e che da inizio dicembre non verranno più corrisposte somme per la relativa accoglienza. Inoltre afferma che la nuova legge escluderebbe “la possibilità di trasferimenti negli SPRAR in assenza di permesso di soggiorno per status di rifugiato o per protezione sussidiaria”. È una lettura corretta?
GS Poco fa elencavo chi per legge non potrà più accedere allo SPRAR. Al di là di ogni considerazione sulla legittimità di quella previsione, è evidente non può applicarsi a chi sia già titolare di un permesso di soggiorno per motivi umanitari a seguito di domanda presentata prima del 5 ottobre 2018 (e relativo permesso rilasciato prima del 5 ottobre 2018) o a coloro che otterranno un permesso per “casi speciali” in quanto la loro domanda è stata esaminata con la normativa previgente ma il permesso di soggiorno è stato rilasciato dopo il 5 ottobre 2018.

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Perché?
GS Secondo l’ASGI, coloro che avevano presentato domanda di protezione internazionale prima dell’entrata in vigore del decreto Salvini avrebbero avuto pieno diritto di accedere allo SPRAR. Ma c’era mancanza di posti disponibili. Dunque solo un fatto contingente (cioè le persistenti deficienze organizzative della pubblica amministrazione), non da loro dipendente, ha impedito che nei confronti di parte dei richiedenti asilo la norma trovasse piena e corretta applicazione. Ma ciò non significa che queste persone non abbiano diritto di accedere allo SPRAR oggi o, comunque, che alle stesse non debba essere garantito, pur dentro una struttura diversa, il godimento di diritti identici a quelli di chi era già accolto o trasferito in un centro afferente allo SPRAR.

Tradotto: il diritto all’accesso nel sistema è sorto al momento della presentazione della domanda di protezione.
GS Esatto. Quando cioè la norma prevedeva il passaggio allo SPRAR nel minor tempo possibile. Dunque il nuovo “regime” dovrebbe essere applicato solo alle domande presentate dopo il 5 ottobre, i cui esiti ancora non ci sono.

Accade il contrario, però.
GS Ciò che sta avvenendo non dovrebbe in alcun modo avvenire tanto più che abbiamo persino un sistema di protezione sottodimensionato, con posti liberi nel sistema SPRAR. Significa che abbiamo persone in strada nonostante posti liberi e finanziati. Quindi ci troviamo di fronte a un danno per i cittadini stranieri che hanno un titolo di protezione e a una beffa per il contribuente, forse anche simpatizzante della nuova norma, che immagina maggior rigore o controllo e invece misurerà un peggioramento della qualità, dei servizi nonché l’aumento della spesa.

Il ministero dell’Interno sostiene però che anche in precedenza i migranti uscissero dai centri di accoglienza straordinaria.
GS Manca un piccolo dettaglio: uscivano dai CAS e per legge entravano nello SPRAR.

Quali scenari si profilano?
GS È necessario che gli interessati, i richiedenti e i beneficiari, sostenuti da enti che non vogliano essere solamente enti gestori ma anche enti di tutela, avviino una serie di ricorsi mirati a rivendicare la corretta attuazione della legge, con la cessazione immediata di allontanamenti illegittimi dai centri. I quali avvengono sempre in modo informale e totalmente scorretto, con l’ente pubblico che si libera della responsabilità di comunicare un provvedimento che non esiste neppure e demanda lo sgradevole compito all’ente gestore. E così il migrante si ritrova per la strada senza nemmeno un provvedimento da impugnare ma solo un rifiuto dell’ingresso nello SPRAR fatto in forma orale da un operatore sociale o figure assimilabili.

▻https://altreconomia.it/conseguenze-decreto-salvini

Ecco i primi effetti del #DecretoSicurezza: una circolare della Prefettura di #Potenza invita i gestori CAS a fare uscire dalle strutture le persone in possesso di PDS per protezione umanitaria. Ci domandiamo, è possibile mettere per strada dall’oggi al domani delle persone?

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Italie : des migrants hébergés en centre d’accueil jetés à la rue après le « décret Salvini »

Suite à l’adoption d’un décret-loi durcissant l’immigration en Italie, vingt-quatre migrants bénéficiant d’un « titre de séjour humanitaire » ont été expulsés d’un centre d’accueil en Calabre, dans le sud de l’Italie. Ce statut ne permet plus d’accéder à un centre d’hébergement. Les associations s’alarment et cherchent des solutions d’urgence.

En Calabre, dans le sud de l’Italie, le décret anti-immigration de Matteo Salvini, adopté le 28 novembre, a été rapidement appliqué. Deux jours après, 24 migrants ont été expulsés de leur centre d’accueil (CARA d’Isola Capo Rizzuto) à la demande de la préfecture de Crotone, en Italie du sud. Ils ne bénéficiaient plus d’un droit au logement conformément au décret-loi. Pourquoi ? Parce que, selon la nouvelle loi, leur « titre de séjour humanitaire » n’existe plus et ne leur donne plus accès à un toit.

Le décret du Premier ministre italien supprime en effet le « titre de séjour humanitaire », valable deux ans. Il est désormais remplacé par d’autres permis comme celui de « protection spéciale », d’une durée d’un an, ou « catastrophe naturelle dans le pays d’origine », d’une durée de six mois.

>> À lire : « Que contient le décret anti-immigration adopté en Italie ? »

La protection humanitaire était généralement accordée aux personnes qui n’étaient pas éligibles au statut de réfugié mais qui ne pouvaient pas être renvoyées chez elles pour des raisons de sécurité - cela concernait par exemple les homosexuels fuyant des pays aux lois répressives à l’encontre de leur communauté. Au total en 2017, 25 % des demandeurs d’asile en Italie ont reçu un permis de séjour humanitaire, soit plus de 20 000 personnes.

« Ils se retrouvent sans solution »

Avec la nouvelle loi, les centres d’accueil sont désormais réservés aux seuls personnes ayant le statut de réfugié et aux mineurs non accompagnés. Autrement dit, les migrants anciennement sous protection humanitaire ne pourront plus y avoir accès, même avec leur nouveau statut.

« Ces 24 personnes ont reçu un titre de séjour régulier en Italie, mais leur prise en charge dans la première phase d’accueil (CARA) a expiré. Ils se retrouvent donc sans solution », précise à InfoMigrants le père Rino Le Pera, directeur du réseau Caritas dans la province de Crotone.

Parmi les expulsés, il déplore la présence « d’une famille avec une petite fille de 6 mois (voir photo ci-dessous), d’une jeune femme victime d’exploitation sexuelle, d’une autre ayant subi des violences physiques et d’un homme souffrant de problèmes de santé mentale ».

https://scontent-cdg2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p526x296/47113521_10215536346794863_1532879591788511232_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg2-1.xx&oh=40a99926fd15fe8080b929de8c3419cc&oe=5C978722#.jpg

« Ce qui se passe ici est fou », dénonce de son côté Franceso Parisi, président de la Croix-Rouge à Crotone, interrogé par le quotidien britannique The Guardian. « Vous ne pouvez pas laisser des personnes vulnérables à la rue. C’est une violation des droits de l’Homme ».

Prévenus à l’avance de l’expulsion, Caritas et la Croix-Rouge italienne ont réussi à se rendre au CARA d’Isola Capo Rizzuto pour proposer une solution d’hébergement à la famille concernée ainsi qu’aux deux femmes victimes de violences. Quatre migrants ont également été accueillis par une coopérative locale. « Pour ce qui est des autres, nous pensons qu’ils ont pu reprendre la route, ou rejoindre le camp de fortune situé au nord de Crotone, où près d’une centaine de personnes vivent dans des conditions extrêmement précaires sous des tentes », assure le père Rino Le Pera qui s’étonne de la « vitesse » à laquelle les autorités ont mis en oeuvre les nouvelles mesures.

Les prêtres disposés à « ouvrir les portes des églises »

« Nous essayons de nous préparer car d’autres expulsions devraient arriver, mais nous ne savons pas quand ce sera, ni combien de personnes exactement vont être concernées », poursuit-il. À Crotone, Caritas a déjà préparé un dortoir pouvant accueillir 20 personnes, une solution « qui ne sera sûrement pas suffisante » concède son directeur.

https://i.imgur.com/PiiXZFj.png

Selon l’agence de presse italienne ANSA, environ 200 personnes devraient à leur tour être expulsées du centre d’Isola Capo Rizzuto. À Potenza, dans la région de la Basilicate, le préfet a annoncé au début du mois que les « détenteurs d’une protection humanitaire » devaient être « invités à quitter » les centres d’accueil, rapporte le Guardian. La presse italienne indique encore qu’une dizaine de migrants a reçu l’ordre de quitter leur centre d’accueil à Caserta, en Campagnie. Dans les prochains jours, des centaines de personnes devraient également quitter le CARA de Mineo, en Sicile, le deuxième plus grand centre d’accueil pour migrants en Europe.

Face à cette situation alarmante, les prêtres italiens ont déclaré la semaine dernière être disposés à « ouvrir les portes des églises de chaque paroisse » aux personnes expulsées des centres d’accueil.

▻http://www.infomigrants.net/fr/post/13814/italie-des-migrants-heberges-en-centre-d-accueil-jetes-a-la-rue-apres-

Studenti migranti con il permesso umanitario rischiano l’irregolarità

La storia di Amadou Diallo che a giugno dovrebbe diplomarsi all’Istituto Maiorana di Palermo ma a gennaio non potrà rinnovare il permesso di soggiorno perchè rientra nella tipologia abolita dal decreto sicurezza. I timori del progetto Ragazzi Harraga

▻https://www.rainews.it/tgr/sicilia/video/2018/12/sic-studenti-migranti-permesso-umanitario-irregolarita-1d1c931b-f4ac-4fc4-9f

https://i.imgur.com/nn3RLlx.png

#decretoinsicurezza Senza integrazione città più insicure. Con tagli allo Sprar solo propaganda. Solo a Pesaro 41 persone per strada da lunedì dalla mattina alla sera. Che non saranno rimpatriate. Più insicurezza e microcriminalità. Ecco gli effetti del decreto Salvini. #wepesaro

▻https://twitter.com/matteoricci/status/1073911256631906305?s=19

#Pesaro

Migranti, riforma accoglienza: «In 120 mila destinati a diventare irregolari»

Fotografa le conseguenze della riforma dell’accoglienza il nuovo report di Oxfam. «Oltre 12 mila migranti con permesso di soggiorno rischiano di restare in strada nelle prossime settimane». L’impatto sui bilanci comunali sarà di 280 milioni euro annui (stima Anci). Le testimonianze.

Oltre 12 mila migranti vulnerabili, in regola con il permesso di soggiorno, rischiano di restare in strada nelle prossime settimane, mentre nei prossimi 2 anni circa 120 mila persone sono destinate a scivolare nell’irregolarità, tra permessi per motivi umanitari non rinnovati (circa 32.750), non rilasciati (27.300), e pratiche arretrate che saranno esaminate dalle Commissioni Territoriali secondo le nuove disposizioni di legge (70 mila). Fotografia le conseguenze della riforma del sistema di accoglienza il report I sommersi e i salvati della protezione umanitaria, diffuso oggi da Oxfam, in occasione della Giornata internazionale dei diritti dei migranti, attraverso le testimonianze di chi da un giorno all’altro si sta vedendo negare il diritto all’accoglienza e all’integrazione.

A subire le conseguenze più gravi sono neo-maggiorenni, madri con bimbi piccoli, persone in fuga dall’orrore di guerre, persecuzioni e torture che saranno semplicemente tagliate fuori dal sistema di accoglienza, sottolineano gli osservatoi. «Con un futuro di fronte che, nella migliore delle ipotesi, si presenta pieno di incognite e un percorso di integrazione lasciato a metà. Vittime quasi sempre due volte della disumanità delle politiche migratorie adottate dall’Italia e dall’Europa: prima con l’accordo Italia – Libia e adesso con le politiche introdotte dal Governo». “Su 18mila permessi per protezione umanitaria concessi da gennaio a settembre nel nostro paese, solo una minoranza potrà continuare a seguire un percorso di integrazione virtuoso all’interno dei centri Sprar – ha detto Giulia Capitani, policy advisor per la crisi migratoria di Oxfam Italia - Le Prefetture di tutta Italia nei giorni scorsi hanno inviato agli enti gestori dei Centri di Accoglienza Straordinaria disposizioni per la cessazione immediata dell’accoglienza dei titolari di protezione umanitaria. Migranti vulnerabili sono stati semplicemente gettati in strada, in pieno inverno, senza nessun riguardo per la loro condizione e in totale assenza di soluzioni alternative. Una situazione incredibile da tutti i punti di vista. Ne è riprova la notizia, di queste ore, di una parziale e frettolosa retromarcia del Governo che ha dato “indicazioni verbali” ai Prefetti di sospendere momentaneamente le revoche dell’accoglienza e di attendere una circolare ministeriale in proposito”.

Oxfam ricorda inoltre che non si stanno interrompendo gli arrivi nel nostro paese, anche in inverno: «Oltre 2 mila da inizio ottobre ad oggi. Persone che, in un sistema di accoglienza che privilegia la gestione puramente emergenziale, andranno ad aggravare la situazione». “Il paradosso è che la nuova legge non aumenterà la sicurezza, né produrrà un risparmio per le casse dello Stato. - sottolinea Alessandro Bechini, direttore dei programmi in Italia di Oxfam - Buttando in strada migliaia di persone si pongono le basi per un drammatico incremento del conflitto sociale, della marginalità, del risentimento, della povertà. Si darà nuova linfa al lavoro nero e alla criminalità organizzata, che avrà gioco facile nel reclutare i più disperati. Allo stesso tempo l’aumento del disagio avrà un enorme impatto sui bilanci comunali, stimato da Anci in ben 280 milioni euro annui. Ebbene di fronte a tutto questo chiediamo con forza di riconsiderare l’approccio definito nella riforma, che di fatto nega i diritti delle persone più deboli, tradendo lo spirito della nostra Costituzione, della Dichiarazione universale dei diritti umani, per la quale si sono accese migliaia di fiaccole in tutta Italia solo qualche giorno fa”.

Il rapporto raccoglie diverse videotestimonianze. Come quella di Ibrahim Salifu, richiedente asilo accolto da Oxfam in un Centro di accoglienza straordinaria (Cas). Ricorda gli abusi subiti per 7 anni nell’inferno libico: “Quando sono arrivato in Libia sono stato rapito e portato in prigione. Lì le persone ogni giorno vengono picchiate e molti sono stati uccisi davanti ai miei occhi solo perché chiedevano di essere pagati per il lavoro che avevano svolto”. Per i traumi e gli abusi fisici e psicologici di cui è stato vittima, a Ibrahim è stata da poco riconosciuta la protezione umanitaria, ma dopo il 5 ottobre ossia dopo l’entrata in vigore del Decreto immigrazione e sicurezza, da poco convertito in legge: «Rischia nel prossimo futuro di ritrovarsi per strada, perché non potrà più entrare in un Centro di protezione per richiedenti asilo e rifugiati (Sprar), dove avrebbe dovuto concludere il suo percorso di integrazione».
▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbFu4tltStg

E’ inmvece la storia di un’accoglienza forse ancora possibile quella di Beauty Isimhenmhen. “Non mi aspettavo di sopravvivere, né che la mia bambina si salvasse. Per questo l’ho chiamata Miracle…che vuole dire miracolo”. La mamma di 25 anni costretta a fuggire dalle persecuzioni in Nigeria mentre era incinta, ricorda la paura di non farcela, durante il suo viaggio verso l’Italia e l’Europa. La tragedia del suo passaggio obbligato in Libia, durante cui ha perso il marito ed è rimasta sola. Arrivata in Italia al nono mese di gravidanza è riuscita a salvare sua figlia appena in tempo. Oggi sta imparando un lavoro, la lingua, ma famiglie come la sua hanno ancora la possibilità di essere accolte nei centri Sprar, solo perché hanno ottenuto il trasferimento dal Cas in cui si trovavano prima del 5 ottobre, data in cui è entrato in vigore il Decreto immigrazione e sicurezza.

▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUvakCk1w24

“È un’assurda lotteria dell’accoglienza, che la nuova legge ha aggravato a dismisura. Non si tiene più conto della condizione dei richiedenti asilo, del loro percorso di integrazione. – sottolinea Bechini – Ci sono capitati casi di persone in grande difficoltà – famiglie con bambini piccoli, vittime di torture, ragazzi e ragazze appena maggiorenni - a cui dopo il riconoscimento dello stato di protezione umanitaria è stata revocata la possibilità di entrare nei centri SPRAR, il giorno stesso dell’entrata in vigore del Decreto. Cosa facciamo con queste persone? Le buttiamo per strada? Per noi operatori del settore è una decisione impossibile da prendere”.

▻http://www.redattoresociale.it/Notiziario/Articolo/612325/Migranti-riforma-accoglienza-In-120-mila-destinati-a-diventare-irre

I sommersi e i salvati della protezione umanitaria

▻https://www.oxfamitalia.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/I-sommersi-e-i-salvati_MB_18dic18_FINAL.pdf

https://i.imgur.com/qfM6jnf.png

Tra poco, a @gpg_radio1 parliamo delle conseguenze del #DecretoSicurezza (oggi legge) sul numero degli irregolari in Italia. Quasi 700.000 irregolari entro fine 2020, per i quali sarà necessario trovare una soluzione. I rimpatri? Fermi a 7.000 l’anno.

▻https://twitter.com/emmevilla/status/1075328946772893697

En supprimant les « titres de séjour humanitaires », Salvini contraint des réfugiés à retourner dans l’illégalité

Depuis l’adoption du décret-loi durcissant la politique migratoire en Italie, des milliers de migrants devraient perdre leur statut de "protection humanitaire", qui leur permettait de rester légalement en Italie. Des milliers de personnes légales risquent de se retrouver à nouveau sans-papiers, sans travail.

Le ministre de l’Intérieur et vice-Premier ministre Matteo Salvini, également à la tête de la Ligue (extrême droite) a fait adopter fin novembre, un décret-loi dont la principale mesure est d’abolir les permis de séjour humanitaires. Ce statut était jusque-là accordé aux personnes vulnérables, familles ou femmes seules avec enfants, victimes de traumatismes pendant leur périple vers l’Italie.

Les conséquences sont graves, s’alarment les ONG d’aide aux migrants. Depuis 2008, plus de 120 000 personnes en ont bénéficié. "Et 40 000 personnes depuis deux ans", rappelle Marine de Haas de la Cimade. Ce statut était valable deux ans et renouvelable.

Comment la suppression de ces titres de séjour va-t-elle fonctionner ? "C’est au moment de renouveler leur permis humanitaire que les migrants vont perdre leur ‘régularité’ », rappelle Marine de Haas. Les primo-arrivants, eux, n’en bénéficieront plus. "En perdant ce statut légal, beaucoup vont perdre leur logement" et leur accès au marché du travail.

Ces dernières années et jusqu’en août, les commissions d’asile ont accordé en moyenne le permis humanitaire à 25% des demandeurs. Suite à des consignes de fermeté de Matteo Salvini, elles ont anticipé la fin des permis humanitaires, qui sont passés à 17% en septembre, 13% en octobre et 5% seulement en novembre.

Expulsion des personnes en situation irrégulière

Conséquence direct de la perte de ce statut : l’expulsion des centres d’accueil. Le 30 novembre, 24 migrants ont en effet été expulsés de leur structure d’hébergement d’urgence (CARA d’Isola Capo Rizzuto) à la demande de la préfecture de Crotone. "Les personnes qui avaient ce statut humanitaire perdent le droit d’aller dans les centres d’accueil. Elles repassent en situation irrégulière", explique Marine de Haas.

>> À relire : "En Italie, des migrants hébergés en centre d’accueil jetés à la rue après le ’décret Salvini’"

Matteo Salvini considère que ces personnes ne sont pas des ‘réfugiés’, "qu’elles doivent être expulsées", précise de son côté Eleonora Camilli, journaliste italienne, spécialiste de l’immigration, contactée par InfoMigrants.

Pour rester légalement en Italie, les migrants devraient convertir leur "statut humanitaire" en d’autres titres de séjour (séjour pour motif de travail par exemple), une procédure particulièrement complexe. "Ils peuvent aussi demander l’asile, mais vu le contexte politique, peu de dossiers ont de chances d’aboutir", précise Eleonora Camilli, la journaliste italienne.

La Cimade dénonce "l’hypocrisie" de Matteo Salvini

La Cimade et la journaliste italienne sont sceptiques face aux résultats de cette politique migratoire. "Les personnes en situation irrégulière ne vont pas être toutes renvoyées" précise encore Eleonora Camilli. "L’Italie n’a pas toujours d’accords de rapatriement avec des pays tiers". En effet, l’Italie dispose d’accords bilatéraux avec 24 pays non-européens pour rapatrier les migrants, mais beaucoup refusent de les reconnaître comme leur concitoyens et refusent de les ré-accepter sur leur territoire. Conséquence : l’Italie n’a procédé qu’à 6 514 reconduites à la frontière en 2017 et il n’est pas garanti que ce chiffre soit atteint cette année.

Les associations craignent donc une hausse de la clandestinité sur le sol italien. Beaucoup de migrants installés depuis plusieurs mois voire plusieurs années resteront sans doute en Italie, sans papiers. "Nous dénonçons l’hypocrisie de cette politique qui ‘invisibilise’ les migrants, qui les pousse à retourner dans la clandestinité, qui les pousse à se précariser durement", ajoute Marine de Haas.

>> À relire : "Le bon temps pour les clandestins est fini", affirme Matteo Salvini

Des associations françaises, comme Tous migrants, redoutent, elles, un pic de départ vers les pays limitrophes de l’Italie. "On s’attend à des arrivées prochaines via les Alpes", a expliqué Michel Rousseau, porte-parole de l’association de Briançon, ville non loin de la frontière italienne. Un avis partagé par Rafael Flichman, de la Cimade. "Des personnes avec un titre humanitaire qui expire dans quelques jours ou quelques mois peuvent décider de partir et de prendre la route vers la France".

Au total, entre les permis actuels qui ne seront pas renouvelés et ceux qui ne seront plus accordés, le chiffre de "100 000 clandestins en plus est une estimation basse", explique Valeria Carlini, porte-parole du Conseil italien pour les réfugiés (CIR).

http://scd.infomigrants.net/media/resize/my_image_big/167efea8ab7eccf5736931be2f999902bb4f1511.jpeg

Cambiamenti del “decreto sicurezza e immigrazione”

Quali sono i cambiamenti principali del decreto sicurezza? Cosa cambierà nel mondo dell’accoglienza? Quali saranno le conseguenze? Le risposte nella nuova infografica di Carta di Roma.

Approvato in via definitiva alle fine di novembre, il cosiddetto “decreto sicurezza” produce e produrrà i suoi effetti su tutta la filiera dell’immigrazione in Italia: dall’identificazione all’accoglienza, dalle procedure per la protezione internazionale all’integrazione. Nell’infografica che pubblichiamo oggi abbiamo riassunto alcuni punti fondamentali.

Fine dell’“umanitaria”

Senza addentrasi troppo nell’analisi della norma, alcuni punti importanti si possono segnalare. Fino all’autunno 2018 l’Italia poteva riconoscere 3 tipi di protezione a chi ne facesse richieste: status di rifugiato, protezione sussidiaria e umanitaria (qui ne abbiamo dato una sintetica descrizione). Distribuite così a fine novembre: 6467 status di rifugiato, 3888 protezione sussidiaria e 19841 protezione umanitaria. Oggi, la situazione è cambiata.

Chi ha presentato domanda di protezione internazionale DOPO il 5 ottobre ha due esiti possibili davanti a sé: 1. Se viene riconosciuto il rischio di persecuzione, e gli altri requisiti per lo status di rifugiato, oppure tortura, trattamento inumano e degradante, pena di morte o rischi legati a violenza generalizzata, allora riceverà il permesso per protezione internazionale. 2. E chi godeva della protezione umanitaria in quella fatidica data? Da una parte potrà convertire il permesso in uno per lavoro, altrimenti dovrà tornare davanti a una commissione territoriale per venire valutato secondo la nuova norma. 3. Può ottenere un permesso per casi speciali, per esempio per calamità naturali, per valore civile, per cure mediche, ecc.

Aumentano gli irregolari?

Secondo molti osservatori, il cambiamento della normativa avrà l’effetto di aumentare il numero degli irregolari presenti in Italia. Secondo le stime di Matteo Villa, analista dell’Ispi, in due anni e mezzo questi potrebbero crescere fino a quasi 140mila, tra i cosiddetti “diniegati” – coloro che in virtù della nuova legge non hanno ricevuto alcun tipo di protezione – e coloro che non hanno ottenuto il rinnovo in virtù delle modifiche alla norma. In totale 137mila migranti che dal giugno 2018 al dicembre 2020 sarebbero a spasso in Italia in attesa di un rimpatrio che di fatto è impraticabile senza gli accordi necessari con i paesi di provenienza.

«Il rischio di un’esplosione del numero degli irregolari è concreto, tuttavia io invito a essere molto cauti con le stime» nota Francesco Di Pietro, avvocato e membro dell’Associazione per gli studi giuridici sull’immigrazione. «La situazione è in evoluzione, leggiamo sui giornali di questi giorni di “stop alle espulsioni” e le cronache riportano i casi di famiglie lasciate per strada che devono essere tutelate e dovranno in qualche modo poter rientrare in qualche programma di protezione». È il caso dei migranti del Cara di Mineo o di Crotone e di molte famiglie ospitate in varie regioni italiane che sarebbero dovute uscire dalle strutture di accoglienza e che, per ora, hanno visto bloccato il provvedimento.

C’è un altro aspetto che dovrebbe calmierare, almeno parzialmente, l’aumento di irregolari. Coloro che hanno in mano il permesso umanitario hanno diritto a convertire quel permesso in uno di lavoro. «Tuttavia – nota Di Pietro – il rischio molto concreto con la nuova normativa è che si possa creare un mercato di permessi di lavoro fittizi, finte occupazioni che garantirebbero la permanenza nel nostro paese».

Cambiano gli Sprar

Il sistema Sprar (Sistema di protezione per richiedenti asilo e rifugiati) è stato in questi anni un fiore all’occhiello dell’accoglienza in Italia. Nel luglio 2018 aveva 35.881 posti assegnati (dai 25 in Valle d’Aosta agli oltre 4mila del Lazio e ai quasi 5mila della Sicilia) in 654 comuni italiani pari a 877 progetti in corso. Con la nuova norma firmata Salvini le cose cambiano. Con la scomparsa della protezione umanitaria, gli ospiti dei piccoli centri di accoglienza saranno solo i titolari di protezione internazionale (quindi asilo e sussidiaria) e i minori non accompagnati. Quindi niente più richiedenti asilo che rimarranno nei Cara e nei Cas fino alla decisione.

▻https://www.cartadiroma.org/news/in-evidenza/cambiamenti-del-decreto-sicurezza-e-immigrazione/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Salvini blocca gli #SPRAR e i ragazzi finiscono in strada
▻https://www.corrieredellacalabria.it/regione/item/162169-salvini-blocca-gli-sprar-e-i-ragazzi-finiscono-in-strad
#San_Ferdinando

Migranti. A centinaia in strada, senza dimora. Pure i bimbi. È il «decreto sicurezza»

Sant’Egidio: «A Catania stanno facendo dimissioni a tutto spiano, anche di donne vulnerabili con bambini piccoli o con problemi psichici. Sono una marea, arrivano anche da altri Cas siciliani».

▻https://www.avvenire.it/attualita/pagine/decreto-sicurezza-a-centinaia-in-strada