Immigration: from Ireland to Malta, Renzi's secret agreements that sold out Italy

Of Francesca Totolo
The Government has changed, as well as policies relating to migratory flow. The new ministers, supported by the broad consensus of citizens, they try to remedy the licentious agreements and against the interests of the Italians themselves of the Renzi-Gentiloni executives, which provided for the indiscriminate opening of ports to NGO ships and those of European missions. The result is clear to everyone: more than 600 thousand irregular immigrants arriving in Italy and the Mediterranean reduced to an open-air cemetery. Maybe one day someone will have to answer for these 14 thousand deaths (give UNHCR 2015-2018).
What few people know though secret agreements signed bilaterally by Prime Ministers Renzi and Gentiloni and by their counterparts from other countries, to make sure that all immigrants collected at sea were brought only and exclusively to Italy. It was last July when the undersigned e Luca Donadel we noticed a ship from Irish Navy which shuttled between the Libyan SAR zone and the Sicilian ports with a rather suspicious frequency. Dublin was not included in the European Frontex mission at the time, EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia, which included as a collateral activity the rescue of migrant boats in danger under the coordination of MRCC of Rome.
We thus discovered Operation Pontus, a bilateral pact drawn up in 2015 which involved Renzi's Italian government (then reconfirmed by Gentiloni) and the Irish one, independent of European devices. The agreement, kept silent to Italian citizens and without any mention on the Government's institutional websites, predicted that the immigrants transshipped onto Irish Navy ships in the Libyan SAR area were disembarked in Italian ports. No national press has ever documented the landings of the Irish ships even though they all occurred regularly in Catania, e, at the same time, no one ever mentioned Operation Pontus. Read More

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Migrants, la svolta dell'Italia: all ports closed

The NGO ship will not be allowed to disembark. The letter to Malta to force it to take charge of the migrants
Of Giuseppe De Lorenzo
Many expected a turning point. E, Perhaps, that's what's really about to happen. Matteo Salvini in fact, it has decided to close all Italian ports to NGO ships loaded with migrants.
The boat who is carrying i 600 shipwrecked people rescued in these difficult hours it was not not being authorized to dock in the Bel Paese.
The vessel (flying the flag of Gibraltar) after the rescue operations it arrived in Maltese waters. Salvini sent a letter to the Maltese government to explain that the “nearest safe haven” it is precisely the island-state and that if Valletta does not want to take charge of the migrants, this time it won't be Italy that takes its place. The unprecedented change also had the green light from the Minister of Infrastructure, Danilo Toninelli (responsible for landing authorizations).
One thousand saved in the Mediterranean
The waters of the Mediterranean therefore return to being the main national and international political scenario. Today they were saved 627 migrants in six different rescue operations. Ben 123 of these are minor, 11 children and 7 pregnant women. A boom in departures that raises some suspicion. According to some analysts, Indeed, Libya would be sending messages to the new executive to test the stability of the agreements made by Marco Minniti. E, Perhaps, to try to obtain some concessions (and money) more. Read More

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The pact with Malta that gives us immigrants

Of Paolo Becchi e Cesare Sacchetti on Libero, 25/05/2017


While the landings of migrants on the Italian coasts continue and controversies rage over the responsibilities of NGOs regarding their alleged collaboration with smugglers, more than a few observers have wondered why NGO ships don't even think of bringing migrants to Malta. The small island in the middle of the Mediterranean is no longer affected by the problem today, yet it is located closer to the Libyan coast than Sicily, and according to the rules of international law, migrants should be accompanied to the closest and safest port of destination for their safety. Malta has all the characteristics required by the case, but NGO ships do not even consider approaching Maltese ports. The issue reopens a debate that began last year, when the leader of the opposition and the Maltese nationalist party, Simon Musuttil, in a statement quoted by The Independent, he openly accused the Maltese government of treason for having signed a tacit agreement with Rome.
Which agreement is the Maltese politician referring to?? According to Musutti, Rome and Valletta have reached an agreement which provides for the interruption of the arrival of migrants on the Maltese coasts in exchange for the concession of oil exploitation rights in the stretch of sea south-east of Sicily, halfway between this and Malta. On this point there was a bitter dispute between the two countries which reached its peak in 2012. In that period, in fact, the government of Rome extended the stretch of sea where oil drilling was carried out until it reached, according to Valletta, in Maltese territorial waters. According to an independent study carried out by the company ERC Equipoise, the stretch of sea in question could yield a quantity of oil equal to approximately 260 million barrels. From here the clash between Rome and Valletta arose. Read More

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