Britannia Radio

Seafaring migrant vessels spawn Italy-Malta tensions

16:18 17 MAR 2012

(AGI) Palermo - Italian authorities and UNHCR are on high alert as more migrant boats cross the Strait of Sicily. With concerns compounded by the death by drowning of an estimated five persons during a recent crossing, UNHCR spokeswoman Laura Boldrini reports that four vessels are currently crossing the stretch of sea between Italy and Tunisia.

Carrying an estimated 80 passengers, one such vessel was spotted in Maltese Search and Rescue waters by a French fishing boat. With the boat's position forwarded to authorities in Valletta, there is growing speculation that Maltese authorities may - as in several other past instances - simply redirect the vessel towards the nearest Italian safe haven, namely the island of Lampedusa. According to Boldrini Italian and Maltese are currently at loggerheads as to who has responsibility for rescuing the migrants.

Furthermore, Lampedusa shelter facilities recently witnessed forceful protests which issued in migrants setting fire to the shelter, leading local authorities to declare the port 'unsafe'. Interviewed on the matter, the Italian Coast Guard dismiss any direct responsibility in rescuing the vessel spotted off Maltese SAR waters. Similar incidents have generally resulted in Italy taking care of rescue operations, leading, however, to diplomatic spats between Rome and Valletta.

Boldrini also reports a Somali source as claiming that a further three vessels are at sea, two of which are yet to be spotted by radars. On that note, the UNHCR spokeswoman clarified that the information has been forwarded to the Italian Coast Guard.

http://www.agi.it/english-version/italy/elenco-notizie/201203171618-cro-ren1044-seafaring_migrant_vessels_spawn_italy_malta_tensions

Special medical emergencies unit dispatched to Lampedusa

16:53 17 MAR 2012

(AGI) Rome - Italian health authorities have agreed to dispatch a special medical emergency task force to Lampedusa. With the small island off the coast of Sicily bearing the brunt of migrant vessel landings, Health Minister Renato Balduzzi, Sicily's Regional Health Councillor Massimo Russo and the INMP migration institute's DG, Concetta Mirisola, agreed to the task force's establishment. The special emergencies unit - which is to work side by side with other emergency services - is to comprise doctors, nurses and interpreters. News of the unit's set-up was reported by the Health Ministry in the wake of today's spotting of a migrant vessel in the Strait of Sicily, with 57 on-board, of whom 5 deceased. INMP (Istituto Nazionale per la Salute, le Migrazioni e la Poverta') boasts a prior involvement in handling Lampedusa's North Africa migrant crisis:between April and September 2011, in conjunction with Palermo's ARNAS Hospital, INMP carried out medical triage at the port of Lampedusa and provided first aid services.

http://www.agi.it/english-version/italy/elenco-notizie/201203171653-cro-ren1048-special_medical_emergencies_unit_dispatched_to_lampedusa

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