LAMPEDUSA, Italy: The reception center on the Italian island of Lampedusa is for many migrants their first taste of Europe after crossing the Mediterranean Sea, and for those arriving, it is a grim, desperate place.
Flooded bathrooms, a lack of food and water and chronic overcrowding that left men, women and children sleeping on filthy mattresses in the open air — the stories told by humanitarian workers are bleak.
Three migrants have died in the center in recent months, according to the UN’s migration agency, amid accusations of a dangerous lack of doctors.
On June 1, the government brought in the Italian Red Cross, which has vowed to provide a more dignified welcome to the tens of thousands who arrive each year from North Africa, hoping for a new life in Europe.
Tonnes of rubbish have been cleared, and new bathrooms installed, although a sour smell still lingers. There is a new medical team in place and rows of modern cots are ready to almost double the site’s emergency capacity.
Efforts are also being made to speed up transfers off the island to ease pressure on a facility built for 389 people but which often houses more than 3,000.
“Here we are at the door of Europe. And obviously our mission... will be to restore that dignity which was often lacking to those who arrive in Italy,” said Ignazio Schintu, Red Cross director for emergencies, during a media tour this week.
Famed for its white sand beaches, Lampedusa was for decades best known as a tourist destination and still draws huge crowds each summer.
But located just 90 miles (around 145 kilometers) off the coast of Tunisia, it has also become one of the first points of call for the wave of migrants crossing the Mediterranean.
More than 46,000 migrants landed last year on Lampedusa, out of 105,000 total arrivals in Italy, according to the UN refugee agency.
In the picturesque old harbor, a small fleet of coast guard and police boats is moored alongside the fishermen and tourist day-trippers.
When the weather is fine and the sea calm, they are called out almost every day to meet the migrant boats approaching the coast.
At the reception hotspot, the arrivals are given food, water, clothes and a medical check-up, as well as access to a phone, a charging point and the Internet.
“Wi-Fi and connection... is one of the first requests that they make of us,” to enable them to let loved ones back home that they are safe, said Francesca Basile, Red Cross’ head of migration.
Sadly, her team also helps with “clarifying the fate of dead bodies or missing persons” for families “looking for somebody that is not present anymore,” she told AFP.
More than 1,000 migrants have died this year so far in the central Mediterranean, according to the UN migration agency.
Migrants once came and went as they pleased but these days the center is surrounded by a high fence and patrolled by soldiers outside.
On trestle tables under a gazebo between the prefabricated buildings, a group of young Tunisian men sat chatting.
Asked their opinion of the center, one laughed and said: “50-50.”
Many held here are teenagers or children, with or without their families, and they and the women are held separately from adult men.
A number of playground toys are installed under the shadow of the few trees, while one wall bears the letters of the alphabet and a few Italian words.
Psychologists are also on hand to help the most vulnerable, although a requirement for migrant centers to provide such services was recently removed by the new right-wing government in Rome.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition took office in October in large part on a promise to stop mass migration into Italy.
But more than 53,000 people have already arrived this year, up from 21,000 in the same period of 2022, from countries including Ivory Coast, Egypt, Guinea, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The government passed a law seeking to speed up the processing of arrivals, sparking warnings that they must protect migrants’ rights.
It has also vowed to improve and expand reception facilities, and Meloni’s emergency migration commissioner was on Lampedusa this week to show support for the Red Cross, which took over the management from a cooperative group.
Police have their own building in the center and the goal is to transport arrivals off Lampedusa within a day or two, to centers on the mainland where they can be properly processed.
Where they go next is hard to say.
The day after the media tour, AFP saw dozens of young men transported to the port and onto a ferry for Sicily.
Mohammed, 26, told AFP he had come from Bangladesh via Libya. He did not know where he was going, but when asked how he felt to be in Italy, he replied with a wide smile: “Good.”
On Lampedusa, Red Cross takes over grim migrant hub
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On Lampedusa, Red Cross takes over grim migrant hub
- Tonnes of rubbish have been cleared, and new bathrooms installed, although a sour smell still lingers
- There is a new medical team in place and rows of modern cots are ready to almost double the site's emergency capacity
Wife of jailed former Malaysian PM Najib Razak acquitted in latest graft case
- Rosmah Mansor faced 12 charges of money laundering and five charges of failing to declare her income
- Rosmah was sentenced to 10 years in jail on separate graft charges in September 2022 but has appealed
Rosmah Mansor, 73, faced 12 charges of money laundering involving 7.1 million ringgit ($1.6 million) and five charges of failing to declare her income between December 4, 2013, and June 8, 2017.
High Court judge K. Muniandy struck out all 17 charges, saying they lacked “probity, propriety and legality” and ordered a “discharge amounting to an acquittal,” according to a copy of the decision seen by AFP.
The Attorney-General’s office said it would appeal against the decision, Malaysian media reported.
Rosmah was sentenced to 10 years in jail on separate graft charges in September 2022 but has appealed against that conviction and remains free on bail.
She was charged in that case with seeking and receiving bribes for helping a company secure a solar power project for rural schools in the Malaysian section of Borneo island during her husband’s rule.
Rosmah has long been criticized by Malaysians for her reported vast collection of designer handbags, clothing and jewelry, acquired on overseas shopping trips.
Her collection of luxury items came under the spotlight after police raids on their family home in 2018 following her husband’s election defeat.
It drew unflattering comparisons with former Philippines first lady Imelda Marcos and contributed to accusations that the ousted ruling establishment had lost touch with economically struggling and middle-class Malaysians.
Najib is serving a six-year jail term for corruption related to a massive financial scandal at sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
He has filed an appeal to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest and a hearing has been fixed for January 6.
The 1MDB scandal, allegedly involving billions of dollars siphoned from the now-defunct state company, sparked investigations in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore.
France’s Macron in cyclone-hit Mayotte to assess devastation
- Officials have warned that the death toll from the most destructive cyclone in living memory could reach hundreds, possibly thousands
- Emmanuel Macron is expected to land in Mayotte around Monday morning, and will be traveling with ‘a very small delegation’
His visit to the French overseas territory comes after Paris declared “exceptional natural disaster” measures for Mayotte late Wednesday night to enable swifter and “more effective management of the crisis.”
Officials have warned that the death toll from the most destructive cyclone in living memory could reach hundreds – possibly thousands – as rescuers race to clear debris and comb through flattened shantytowns to search for survivors.
“The tragedy of Mayotte is probably the worst natural disaster in the past several centuries of French history,” Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said.
Macron is expected to land in Mayotte around 10:30 a.m. local time (0730 GMT), and will be traveling with “a very small delegation” to minimize the use of law enforcement resources needed elsewhere on the archipelago.
He will spend part of the day there, and will come with “four tons of food and health aid, as well as rescue workers,” the French president said in a post on social media platform X early Thursday.
After an “aerial reconnaissance of the disaster area,” Macron will go to the Mamoudzou hospital center, according to an itinerary released Wednesday, to “meet with the health care staff and the patients being treated.”
He will also visit a neighborhood razed by the storm, meet with Mayotte officials, and is expected to outline a reconstruction plan.
A preliminary toll from France’s interior ministry shows that 31 people have been confirmed killed, 45 seriously hurt, and 1,373 suffering lighter injuries.
But officials say the toll could rise exponentially.
Located near Madagascar off the coast of southeastern Africa, Mayotte is France’s poorest region.
Besides declaring “exceptional natural disaster measures,” authorities have also imposed a nightly curfew to prevent looting.
Cyclone Chido – which hit Mayotte on Saturday – was the latest in a string of storms worldwide fueled by climate change, according to meteorologists.
Experts say seasonal storms are being super-charged by warmer Indian Ocean waters, fueling faster, more destructive winds.
An estimated one-third of Mayotte’s population lives in shantytowns whose flimsy, sheet metal-roofed homes offered scant protection from the storm.
At Mamoudzou hospital center, windows were blown out and doors ripped off from hinges, but most of the medics had taken to sleeping at their battered workplace on Wednesday as Chido had swept their homes away.
“It’s chaos,” said medical and administrative assistant Anrifia Ali Hamadi.
“The roof is collapsing. We’re not very safe. Even I don’t feel safe here.”
But staff soldiered on despite the hospital being out of action, with electricians racing to restore a maternity ward – France’s largest with around 10,000 births a year – to their proper state.
“The Mamoudzou hospital suffered major damage... Everything is still functioning, but in a degraded state,” said the hospital’s director Jean-Mathieu Defour.
In the small commune of Pamandzi, sheet metal and destroyed wooden structures were strewn as far as the eye could see.
“It was like a steamroller that crushed everything,” said Nasrine, a Mayotte teacher who declined to give her full name.
With health services in tatters, and power and mobile phone services knocked out, French Overseas Minister Francois-Noel Buffet on Wednesday night declared “exceptional natural disaster” measures for Mayotte.
Under a new emergency system for overseas territories, the measures will hold for a month, and can be renewed every two months after that.
It will “enable the local and national authorities to react more quickly while streamlining certain administrative procedures,” Buffet said.
Much of Mayotte’s population is Muslim, whose religious tradition dictates that bodies be buried rapidly, meaning some may never be identified.
Assessing the toll is further complicated by irregular immigration to Mayotte, especially from the Comoros islands to the north, meaning much of the population is unregistered.
Mayotte officially has 320,000 inhabitants, but authorities estimate the actual figure is 100,000 to 200,000 higher when taking into account undocumented migrants.
French military planes have been shuttling between Mayotte and the island of La Reunion – another French overseas territory to the east that was spared by the cyclone.
A “civilian maritime bridge” was launched between both island groups, said Patrice Latron, the prefect in La Reunion.
As of Wednesday, more than 100 tons of food was to be distributed.
“We’re moving to a phase of massive support for Mayotte,” he said, adding that around 200 shipping containers with supplies and water would arrive by Sunday.
South Korea’s acting president to veto opposition-sponsored bills, deepening political strife
- Prime Minister Han Duck-soo assumed since the National Assembly voted to suspend Yoon Suk Yeol’s presidential powers over his short-lived Dec. 3 martial law
SEOUL: South Korea’s acting leader said Thursday he would veto a spate of contentious bills sponsored by the main opposition party, deepening political strife in the wake of parliament’s impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The ruling and opposition parties have been bickering over how much authority Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country’s No. 2 official, has assumed since the opposition-controlled National Assembly last Saturday voted to suspend Yoon’s presidential powers over his short-lived Dec. 3 martial law. The Constitutional Court is to determine whether to formally dismiss the conservative Yoon as president or reinstate him.
Law enforcement authorities are also separately investigating whether Yoon’s martial law enforcement amounted to rebellion. Yoon’s defense minister, police chief and several other military commanders have already been arrested over the case. The main liberal opposition Democratic Party earlier considered impeaching Han as well for failing to stop Yoon’s martial law declaration, but shelved the idea after he became acting leader.
Four of the six bills to be vetoed by Han were meant to introduce greater state financial assistance programs for the country’s agriculture and fisheries industries.
The most contentious bill is the Grain Management Act, which would require the government to buy surplus rice if the price drops too sharply to protect the country’s farming industry and promote its food sovereignty. Han said the bill would cause “immense” financial burdens on the government and eventually lead to further drops in rice prices.
Another controversial bill is the National Assembly Testimony Appraisal Act, which would give lawmakers more power to request people to attend parliament hearings and submit documents. Under the proposed legislation, individuals could no longer decline such requests by citing the protection of trade secrets or personal information.
The Democratic Party said the bill is necessary to determine the full details of Yoon’s martial law decree. But Han said the bill would likely infringe upon people’s privacy and that there are concerns among business leaders that key technology and company secrets could be leaked.
“I’m heavy-hearted because I’ve asked the National Assembly to discuss and act on the six bills again at a time when we desperately need cooperation among the government and the ruling and opposition parties,” Han said in televised comments at the start of a Cabinet Council meeting on Thursday. “But the government should make a responsible decision that prioritizes the principles of the Constitution and the future of our country.”
Democratic lawmaker and spokesperson Noh Jongmyun quickly criticized Han, warning him “not to cross a line,” adding, “We’ll immediately drag him down if he’s found to have collaborated with the rebellion.”
Observers earlier speculated the Democratic Party would reconsider impeaching Han if he vetoed the bills.
Another source of contention between the rival parties is whether Han has the right to appoint three vacant justices’ seats at the Constitutional Court, as filling the vacancies could affect the court’s decision on Yoon.
The martial law enactment lasted only six hours, but it caused huge political turmoil in South Korea and set off alarms from its neighbors and diplomatic partners. Yoon sent hundreds of troops to the National Assembly to block its vote on his decree. But many lawmakers managed to enter a parliament hall and unanimously voted it down, forcing Yoon’s Cabinet to lift it.
Philippines president says legal experts to consider clemency requests for convict Veloso
- Mary Jane Veloso was arrested in Yogyakarta in 2010 after being found with 2.6 kg of heroin concealed in a suitcase
- She said she was an unwitting drug mule, but she was convicted and sentenced to death, prompting an outcry in the Philippines
MANILA: Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said legal experts would consider clemency requests for Mary Jane Veloso, who had been sentenced to death in Indonesia for drug trafficking before the two countries reached a deal for her repatriation this week. Veloso, 39, had received a last-minute reprieve from execution by firing squad for drug trafficking in Indonesia in 2015. After years of negotiations, she returned to Manila on Wednesday to serve the remainder of her sentence.
“We’re aware of the request for clemency from her representative, of course, and from her family,” Marcos told reporters on Thursday.
“We leave it to the judgment of our legal experts to determine whether the vision of clemency is appropriate.”
Indonesia did not set any conditions on the return of Veloso, Marcos said.
“We are still far from that,” Marcos said when asked about clemency. “We still have to have a look at really what her status is.”
Veloso, a former domestic helper and mother of two, was arrested in Yogyakarta in 2010 after being found with 2.6 kg (5.73 lb) of heroin concealed in a suitcase.
She said she was an unwitting drug mule, but she was convicted and sentenced to death, prompting an outcry in the Philippines. Veloso was repatriated days after the five remaining members of the “Bali Nine” drug ring were sent back to Australia from Indonesia.
US repatriates 3 Guantanamo Bay detainees, including one held 17 years without charge
- The transfers come as rights groups push the Biden administration to end the detention of more than a dozen other men held there without charge
WASHINGTON: The US has transferred two Malaysian detainees at the Guantanamo Bay US military prison to their home country, after they pleaded guilty to charges related to deadly 2002 bombings in Bali and agreed to testify against the alleged ringleader of that and other attacks, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
The transfers, and the repatriation Tuesday of a Kenyan man who’d been held at Guantanamo for 17 years without charge, come as rights groups and others push the Biden administration to end the detention of more than a dozen other men held there without charge, and amid uncertainty over the incoming Trump administration’s plans for Guantanamo.
Prosecutors say Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep worked for years with Encep Nurjaman, known as Hambali, an Indonesian leader of Al-Qaeda affiliate Jemaah Islamiya. That includes helping Nurjaman escape capture after Oct. 12, 2002 bombings that killed 202 people at two night spots in Bali, US officials said.
The two men entered guilty pleas to conspiracy and other charges in January. Their transfer comes after they provided testimony that prosecutors plan to use in the future against Nurjaman, the alleged mastermind, the Pentagon said in a statement.
Nurjaman is in custody in Guantanamo awaiting resumption of pre-trial hearings in January involving the Bali bombings and other attacks.
The two Malaysian men’s transfers leave 27 detainees in custody at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay. President George W. Bush set up a military tribunal and prison after the Sept. 11, 2001 Al-Qaeda attacks on the US
Bin Lep’s Texas-based lawyer Brian Bouffard told Australian Broadcasting Corp. it was unclear when his client might be released into the Malaysian community.
“I know that he will be monitored by Malaysian authorities. There’s not going to be any opportunity for him to get in trouble even if he were inclined to want to get in trouble. That’s not what he wants,” Bouffard said.
Of the 202 killed in the attack, 88 were Australians. Australian survivors and victims’ families were critical of the prospect of the Malaysians being freed.
A bomb killed two members of Tim Weatherald’s Australian rules football team who he had been on vacation with in Bali.
“The thing for me is they showed no remorse. From my point of view, if they showed a bit of remorse, and a bit of care but they almost seem proud of what they have done. So I have no issue with them not ever seeing the light of day again,” he told Seven Network television in Australia.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s office said in a statement she had conveyed to the United States and Malaysia “our close interest in this matter.”
“While the arrangements for the transfer are a matter for the Malaysian and US governments, we have sought assurances from the Malaysian government that the individuals will be subject to ongoing supervision and monitoring,” the statement said.
At peak, Guantanamo detained hundreds of men, most Muslim, in the US military’s “war on terror” after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Just two of the men at Guantanamo are serving sentences. US prosecution of seven others currently facing charges has been slowed by legal obstacles — including those presented by the torture of the men in their first years under CIA custody — and logistical difficulties.
On Tuesday, US authorities repatriated a Kenyan man, Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu, after 17 years at Guantanamo without charge.
His release leaves 15 other never-charged men awaiting release. The US says it is searching for suitable countries willing to take them. Many are from Yemen, a country split by war and dominated by an Iranian-allied militant group.
Amnesty International urged President Joe Biden to end the detention of those never-charged men before he leaves office. If not, the rights group said in a statement, “he will continue to bear responsibility for the abhorrent practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial by the US government.”
