Sicily Prosecutor Says NGO Accusations Were Unproven Hypothesis
The Sicilian prosecutor who has repeatedly accused NGO rescue groups of assisting smugglers in the Mediterranean told lawmakers he was only offering a “hypothesis.”
Carmelo Zuccaro, chief prosecutor of Catania, recently told an Italian newspaper his fact-finding mission had evidence of phone calls between aid groups and smugglers operating refugee boats from North Africa.
But he told a parliamentary committee investigating his claims that he had no proof which could be used in court. He urged legislators to give him more resources to further the investigation.
Another Sicilian prosecutor, Paolo Giordano of Syracuse, told legislators he had found no evidence of collaboration. “As far as our office goes, nothing has emerged in terms of presumed indirect or compromising links between NGOs, or elements of them, and the smugglers of migrants,” he said.
Some Italian officials have warned that unproven allegations against NGO groups are dangerous, while far right politicians in the country have seized upon the claims.
Loris De Filippi, president of Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) in Italy, told the parliamentary committee his organization was “deeply indignant” over the allegations.
Asylum Seekers Turned Away at U.S. Border
Human Rights First has documented 125 cases of people or families who tried to claim asylum at the U.S. border with Mexico but have been turned away since November.
The asylum seekers hailed from Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Turkey. Turning away people without giving them a fair chance to claim asylum is illegal under international and U.S. law, the group warned.
The group said the actual number turned away is likely much higher as most asylum seekers never find a lawyer or other representative.
Migrants turned away at the border are highly vulnerable to exploitation by cartels operating in the area, the report said.
While there has been no change in policy for asylum seekers at the border, migrant advocates say Donald Trump’s anti-refugee and -migrant rhetoric has emboldened some U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers.
“The tenor of interactions with CBP officers has veered toward the openly hostile following his election,” Nicole Ramos, an American lawyer representing asylum seekers traveling through Tijuana, told the New York Times.
CPB told the newspaper that their officials do refer people for asylum interviews in line with international law.
Earlier, the lead researcher on the report, Shaw Drake, detailed for Refugees Deeply the case of a Mexican woman who was turned away three times by U.S. border agents and told asylum was for persecuted Christians only.
UNICEF: Long Waits for Family Reunification Take Psychological Toll
The U.N.’s children’s fund warned that refugee children and single mothers living in limbo in Greece and the Balkans as they wait for family reunification are vulnerable to damaging psychological distress.
UNICEF said some 75,000 asylum seekers, including 24,600 children, are stranded in Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary and the Western Balkans. Now that the borders are closed, those applying to reunite with relatives – often adult men, who made the journey first and already reached Western Europe – face a wait of between 10 months and two years.
In Greece, nearly 5,000 people, including 700 lone children, made family reunification requests in 2016, but only 1,107 have joined their families, UNICEF said.
“We are seeing single mothers and children stranded in Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria who have not seen their husbands and fathers for months or even years,” said UNICEF’s Afshan Khan. “The family reunification process is slow, and its outcome uncertain, and it is this uncertainty which can cause significant emotional distress and anxiety for children and families, setting them back for years to come.”
Recommended Reads:
- E.U. Observer: Greece Paying Asylum Seekers to Reject Appeals
- The Conversation: Europe’s Wall Against African Migrants Is Almost Complete
- Border Criminologies: Seeking Refuge in Europe
- Quartz: Climate Change Has Created a New Generation of Sex-Trafficking Victims
- Kaldor Centre: The Interdiction of Asylum Seekers at Sea: Law and (Mal)Practice in Europe and Australia