More Than 100,000 People Cross Mediterranean to Europe
At least 85,200 people have entered Europe by boat through Italy this year, according to the U.N. Migration Agency (IOM).
This accounts for almost 85 per cent of the total 101,417 migrants and refugees who crossed the Mediterranean Sea from the beginning of the year until July 9, IOM said. The agency also estimated at least 2,353 people have died at sea so far this year.
The numbers show that the central Mediterranean route has seen an almost 10 percent increase in sea arrivals this year compared to the same time frame last year. Most come to Italy from Nigeria, followed by Bangladesh, Guinea and Ivory Coast. Meanwhile, the numbers arriving in Greece have dropped sharply, from more than 150,000 in the same period last year to 9,395 this year.
U.K. Inquiry: E.U.’s Operation Sophia Has Failed to Stop Smuggling
The European Union’s naval operation to tackle smuggling on the Mediterranean has been a failure, according to an inquiry by the U.K. House of Lords.
“People smuggling begins onshore, so a naval mission is the wrong tool for tackling this dangerous, inhumane and unscrupulous business. Once the boats have set sail, it is too late,” said the committee chair Sandip Verma.
The E.U.’s Operation Sophia, which was established in 2015 to curb people smuggling, has instead resulted in more deaths in the Mediterranean, the lawmakers found. By destroying smugglers’ boats, the operation drove refugees and migrants onto even more unseaworthy vessels. The death toll on the central Mediterranean route climbed 42 percent between 2015 and 2016.
The cross-party group of lawmakers recommended that the mandate for Operation Sophia should not be renewed, but that its search and rescue operations should continue.
Malaysia Cracks Down on Migrant Workers
At least 3,100 foreign workers and 63 employers have been detained in Malaysia since the country launched a clampdown on its undocumented population at the beginning of the month.
Malaysia set a deadline of June 30 for foreigners from 15 countries to register, but said only 161,000 of the estimated 600,000 eligible workers had done so.
An estimated 2 million registered foreign workers and another 1 million undocumented workers live in Malaysia, many from Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh and India. The government has periodically launched crackdowns on their presence.
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