Tag: migrants

EU leaders seal hard-fought migration deal

by Danny Kemp and Lachlan Carmichael Agence France-Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) – EU leaders clinched a crucial migration deal during all-night talks Friday that Italy’s hardline new premier said meant his country was “no longer alone” in shouldering the responsibility for migrants. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who heads a month-old anti-immigration government, had vetoed joint conclusions for the entire agenda of the summit in Brussels until his demands were finally met before dawn. Italy […]

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Migrant rescue ship docks in Malta as EU nations reach deal

by Arman Soldin Agence France-Presse VALLETTA, Malta (AFP) – A rescue boat stranded for nearly a week in the Mediterranean with over 200 migrants docked in Malta Wednesday, after a deal was struck between a group of EU states to take them in. Lifeline, a vessel for the German charity Mission Lifeline, had been waiting for permission to enter a port for six days after rescuing 234 migrants off the coast of Libya last Thursday. […]

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Italy’s Salvini in Libya as migrants in limbo at sea

by Imed Lamloum with Olivier Baube in Rome Agence France-Presse TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) – Italy’s pugnacious new government took its fight to block migrants to Libya on Monday as a new boat with hundreds on board remained stranded at sea, deepening a crisis shaking Europe. With European leaders at each other’s throats over the large number of migrants arriving from North Africa, Italy’s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini paid a surprise visit to Tripoli. There, […]

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Nearly 1,000 migrants rescued off Libya coast: navy

TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) – Libya’s coastguard has rescued nearly 1,000 migrants who were on boats in distress in the Mediterranean on their way to Europe, the navy said on Monday. Three separate operations took place on Sunday with the coastguard bringing ashore in Libya a total of 948 migrants, navy spokesman Ayoub Kacem said. The migrants were on inflatable dinghies which were facing difficulties in the Mediterranean off the coast of Garabulli east of the […]

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Nationalist ‘leprosy’ spreading in Europe: Macron

  PARIS, France (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday likened rising nationalism and anti-migrant sentiment in Europe to “leprosy”. On a visit to Brittany three days before a meeting of European leaders to try to resolve the continent’s migrant crisis, Macron urged the French not to give into anti-EU sentiment. “I’m saying to you in the gravest terms: Many hate it (Europe) but they have hated it for a long time, and now you […]

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Record 68.5 million people displaced worldwide: UN

by Nina LARSON Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — A record 68.5 million people have been forced flee their homes due to war, violence and persecution, notably in places like Myanmar and Syria, the UN said on Tuesday. By the end of 2017, the number was nearly three million higher than the previous year and showed a 50-percent increase from the 42.7 million uprooted from their homes a decade ago, according to a report by […]

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More than 50 migrants die in Mediterranean crossings

  by Ala Sakka with Aymen Jamli in Tunis Agence France Presse More than 50 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean on Sunday, the majority off the coasts of Tunisia and Turkey, while Italy marked a sea change in its policy. Tunisian authorities said 48 bodies were recovered off the country’s southern coast, close to the city of Sfax, while 68 people were rescued. “The boat had a maximum capacity of 75 to 90 people, but […]

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At least 19 migrants killed in Libya truck crash: hospital

TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) — At least 19 migrants were killed on Wednesday and more than 100 injured when the truck transporting them crashed in Libya, a hospital said. Over 300 migrants, mostly Eritrean and Somali nationals, were on board the vehicle which overturned near the town of Bani Walid. A child was among the at least 19 migrants killed in the accident, the head of the town’s hospital, Mohamad al-Mabrouk, told AFP. The hospital, which had earlier given […]

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Italian coastguard rescue 264 migrants off southern coast

ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italian coastguard service said Thursday 264 migrants had been rescued from a boat off the coast of Calabria, where traffickers have increasingly been using smaller boats recently. The vessel was sighted by a plane belonging to the EU border agency Frontex and the migrants were rescued off the southern city of Crotone, a spokesman said. The spokesman said the boat probably came from Turkey. Several coastguard boats and a British ship […]

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Scores of migrants missing in Mediterranean: Libyan Navy

TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) — Between 90 and 100 migrants were missing after their makeshift boat sank in the Mediterranean off the coast of Libya, the country’s navy said late Tuesday. The inflatable boat was carrying more than 100 people when it went down, according to navy spokesman Ayoub Kacem, who said rescuers had saved just 17 people, including some women. Survivors clung to the vessel for hours before help arrived. The boat sank off the […]

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Myanmar workers in Thailand victims of a broken system

  by Marion THIBAUT / Phyo Hein KYAW Agence France-Presse   MYAWADDY. Myanmar (AFP) – With only meager belongings stuffed into backpacks and duffel bags, tens of thousands of Myanmar migrants have streamed home across the Thai border over the past two weeks. But it is not a joyous homecoming for the truckloads of men and women, who fled Thailand in fear of a new law that hardens penalties on the millions of undocumented migrant […]

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Coldplay releases song to support migrants

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — English rockers Coldplay have released a new song written with ambient legend Brian Eno, with proceeds to support migrants who make the dangerous journey to Europe across the Mediterranean. “Aliens,” released late Thursday alongside an animated video, is the latest single from Coldplay’s upcoming EP “Kaleidoscope.” Coldplay said that proceeds from “Aliens” would support the Migrant Offshore Aid Station, a charity in Malta that sends search and rescue teams to […]

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