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{UAH} Bottleneck of 700,000 migrants wait in Libya to cross the Mediterranean to Europe after Italy turned boats away

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Akim Jags Odong/ Frank Mijabi/ Moses Nekyon,

Look at this looming nightmare in Libya. Up to 700,000 African migrants camped in there, trying their luck to get into Europe. The real figure is more like 1.5 million and growing. The Humanitarian ships rescuing migrants at sea have simply acted as the biggest magnet for immigrants. They now know all they have to do is get into any rickety old boat, and they will be rescued. Once rescued, they will nolonger go through the rigorous immigration process that most asylum seekers have to go through. They will just be distributed to different European countries in agreed  resettlement programmes.

The problem is that immigration has become a hydra headed monster. The more immigrants are rescued at the sea, the more others are attracted to try their luck. The Turkey route and the Balkan routes were ended only when Turkey, Hungary and Poland built walls and imposed a TOTAL BAN on any migrants crossing their territories, The EU may have to do the same in Libya, but by imposing a sea blockade along its coast. The other idea being floated around is to open up immigration centres in north Africa, similar to the refugee camps we have in Uganda where Sudanese refugees are camped, to be run by the African Union, but funded by the EU. But the African Union is objecting to this proposal because it will mean having to run a parallel government in the territory of another country, where may be up to 2 million black africans would be camped as refugees or illegal immigrants.

Bobby

Bottleneck of 700,000 migrants wait in Libya to cross the Mediterranean to Europe after Italy turned boats away

  • A spike in attempted illegal crossings has led to some 300 people die this week 
  • Migrants are reportedly finding new ways to hide, including 'coffin-sized' spaces
  • The NCA has claimed smugglers are making up to £6billion each year 

By LARISA BROWN FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 01:53, 9 July 2018 | UPDATED: 00:59, 10 July 2018

Hundreds of thousands of migrants are waiting in Libya to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, according to Britain's National Crime Agency. 

It warned that Italy's refusal to take stranded ships had created a bottleneck of 700,000 waiting in the North African country. 

There has been a spike in attempted illegal sea crossings to Europe this year. Some 300 people drowned last week alone. 

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Migrants sit at a naval base after being rescued by Libyan coast guards in Tripoli, Libya
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Migrants sit at a naval base after being rescued by Libyan coast guards in Tripoli, Libya

In a briefing, Tom Dowdall, NCA deputy director of organised immigration crime, warned of a 'meltdown' in Libya because of Italy's policy. 

He said migrants were finding new ways to evade detection, including hiding in 'coffin-sized' spaces in vehicles, with 'complicit lorry drivers' charging up to £2,000 per migrant. 

He revealed that smugglers collectively make up to £6billion a year charging would-be migrants.

A single boat from Africa to Europe could make them up to £300,000.

He said: 'Organised crime gangs are loading people into lorries, before bringing them through France and onto the UK. There are adapted hides in the rear of vehicles, an area for six to eight people, with welded false doors, and coffin "hides".'

Migrants wait on the deck of the NGO Proactiva Open Arms boat , the NGO rescued 59 migrants as they tried to cross the Mediterranean from the North African country
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Migrants wait on the deck of the NGO Proactiva Open Arms boat , the NGO rescued 59 migrants as they tried to cross the Mediterranean from the North African country

Members of the Libyan Red Crescent recover the body of a drowned migrant off the coast of Tajoura, east of the capital Tripoli
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Members of the Libyan Red Crescent recover the body of a drowned migrant off the coast of Tajoura, east of the capital Tripoli

Mr Dowdall said 'complicit lorry drivers' were charging up to £2,000 per migrant.

Iraqi Kurds, Afghan and Albanian gangs were the most prolific people smugglers to the UK.

Since the destruction of the Jungle camp in Calais in 2016, the issue had shifted to Belgium, he said.

The details emerged at a briefing on Project Invigor, a joint NCA, Home Office, Coastguard, Border Force and Crown Prosecution Service operation, according to the Sunday Express.

The project costs £14million a year to run.

Chris Hogben, NCA head of operations for organised immigration crime, said rescue boats were inadvertently aiding people smugglers.

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They are boats manned by non-governmental organisations

He said the NGOs were supposed to rescue people once they are more than 12 miles from the Libyan coast, but they were coming in much closer.

He said: 'They make it easier for the crime groups who now send a boat with not enough fuel on purpose as they know they will be picked up.'

The revelations of the scale of the challenge come after EU officials in Brussels had struggled to agree on a joint response to migration to calm tensions in Italyand Germany.

Rescued migrants pray aboard the Open Arms aid boat after being rescued from the Mediterranean while trying to cross from Libya
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Rescued migrants pray aboard the Open Arms aid boat after being rescued from the Mediterranean while trying to cross from Libya

The aid boat sailed to Spain with 60 migrants rescued on Saturday in waters near Libya, after it was rejected by both Italy and Malta
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The aid boat sailed to Spain with 60 migrants rescued on Saturday in waters near Libya, after it was rejected by both Italy and Malta

Germany, Italy and Austria will this week hold talks on how to 'shut' the migration route across the Mediterranean from Africa into Europe.

Last week Angela Merkel's government agreed a heavily watered-down version of plans to control migrantnumbers on the German-Austrian border.

The government quietly dropped plans to turn away migrants who are already registered in another EU country unless Germany has a bilateral deal to deport them.

The latest figures show attempted crossings to Greece and Turkey are up by 47 per cent on last year. Those to Spain and Italy up by 75 per cent.

They have not reached the peak levels of 2015, when Mrs Merkel opened Germany's borders and allowed a million refugees in.

Migrants wait in Libya to cross the sea after Italy turned boats away

 

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Get the ships out and take them all back to Libya. This is the only way to stop this. Most of the ones who arrived in Spain said they wanted to get to France, but this is obviously to get to Britain. Its alright for all the other countries to give them EU passports, they dont stay there, they are only passing through to get to us. We need to stop anyone with an entry visa since this surge on Europe to be stopped at the ports. What is the point in other people applying to come here or any other part of the EU while still in their own countries if you can do this and jump the queue. They cant be checked, No one knows who is entering Europe or their background because its impossible to check once they arrive. If Merkel is happy to have them then they should apply to Germany in the normal way.

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