US weighs in on Italy’s boat-people crisis

Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi yesterday told US president Barack Obama the Mediterranean "has become a cemetery", such is the effect of the burgeoning boat-people crisis that has hit Italy this week.

Mr Renzi was making his first visit to the White House at the end of a dramatic week when favourable weather conditions saw the number of clandestine crossings of the Mediterranean increase dramatically, with more than 12,000 Africans and Asians landing on the coasts of southern Italy.

A number of the crossings ended in tragedy, with at least 450 migrants known to have drowned when their boats sank, often only hours after departing from the coast of Libya.

Mr Renzi said after the meeting he was sure the “total agreement” between the US and Italy on migration would produce positive results in the coming weeks. He said Italy was ready to assume “political leadership” in diplomatic negotiations with Libya in an attempt to halt the increase in human trafficking.

Risk zone

Mr Obama ruled out a military intervention in Libya, saying the crisis cannot be resolved “only with drones and military attacks”. Calling Libya a “risk zone” which may produce “terrorist threats”, Mr Obama said the US government was ready to collaborate with Italy and its “other partners” to resolve the boat-people crisis.

Both men were speaking at the end of another dramatic day, marked by reports that Libyans had attempted to hijack a Sicilian fishing boat. Italian navy sources confirmed that early yesterday morning unidentified Libyans attempted to hijack the Trapani-based fishing boat Airone, 30km off the Libyan coast.

The attempted hijack failed thanks to the arrival of an Italian navy vessel.

When two armed men from a Libyan speed boat came on board the Airone, claiming they had to carry out an inspection, the Airone crew became suspicious. The Italian boat crew apprehended the two men before then setting sail for the nearby Italian island of Lampedusa, accompanied by the Italian navy vessel.

Traffickers

The suspicion is that the men who boarded the fishing boat were traffickers, looking for another vessel with which to effect one of their crossings. Giovanni Tumbiolo, president of the Trapani fishing co-operative Cosvap, said, “The crew were able to apprehend the armed men who had come on board, shutting them in a cabin . . . But you have got to have sympathy for these frightened fishermen . . . they are terrified of falling into the hands of totally unscrupulous people.”

This latest incident is one of many as traffickers adopt an increasingly aggressive attitude. Earlier this week, four traffickers fired shots at the Asso 21 cargo ship as it rescued a boat full of migrants, demanding the restitution of the dinghy used to traffic the migrants. Faced with Kalashnikovs and with men, women and children already embarked, the sailors on the Asso 21 offered no resistance, allowing the traffickers to speed off with the small fishing boat.

Many of those who have landed in southern Italy have confirmed traffickers continue to charge exorbitant rates, asking an average of $1,000 for a place on their often unseaworthy boats. More than 1,000 people are believed to have perished in these crossings since the beginning of the year, compared with 17 in the same period last year.

The increase seems at least partly due to the fact the Mediterranean is no longer patrolled by Italy’s Mare Nostrum search-and-rescue service but rather by the much smaller EU Frontex border control authority.