(⛔️🚢BREAKING) EVERYONE GOES BACK. In July, 23% of #migrants departing from #Libya made it to Europe. This is the LOWEST share ever.
72% were caught and brought back.
5.2% died or went missing.
(⛔️🚢BREAKING) EVERYONE GOES BACK. Since July 16th, numbers paint an even starker (and somewhat different) picture.
99.5% of #migrants departing from #Libya were caught and brought back.
0.5% died or went missing (very few).
No one made it to Europe.
(🔴BREAKING) DEPARTURES FROM LIBYA ARE DOWN MARKEDLY. In June, about 6,900 migrants took to the sea from Libya's shores. This month, about 3,000 did: a 56% drop that is highly unusual during the Summer season.
(🔴BREAKING) LIBYAN COAST GUARD AT FULL STEAM. Activity by LCG continued to increase vs 2017 for second month in a row. But an understaffed and underequipped LCG will be under a lot of pressure in case departures start to increase again.
(🔴BREAKING) DEAD AND MISSING AT SEA - RISK STILL HIGH. Since June 1st, attempted crossings from #Libya have become riskier. Over the last two months, 6.1% died or went missing upon leaving Libya, more than double the average of 2.4% since 2017.
(🔴BREAKING) The absolute number of #migrants estimated to have died or gone missing upon leaving #Libya declined from 451 to 157.
Still higher than the average 97 dead and missing after the drop in departures since July last year, but not too far.
So, is the "strategy of total deterrence" working?
- Method: low / no search and rescue + higher risk of dying upon leaving #Libya ✅
- Aim 1: sharp decline in departures from #Libya + no-one makes it to Italy ✅
- Aim 2: keeping number of dead and missing low ⁉️
And what is the "strategy of total deterrence" disregarding?
- # of people trapped in #Libya's detention centres;
- risk of #AssoVentotto cases reoccurring (paradox of Libyan JRCC coordinating SAR while Libya not being place of safety);
- why focus on flows after July 2017 drop.
Migrants are trapped in #Libya, often in appalling conditions. Made even worse by the recent fighting in #Tripoli.
FOLLOW this crucial reporting by @sallyhayd. 👇
(⛔🚢BREAKING) Of the 742 that made it to Europe from #Libya this August, less than a third (234) disembarked in Italy. Of these, 190 were onboard an Italian Coast Guard ship during the "#Diciotti standoff".
Another 56% (416) disembarked in Malta.
12% (87) disembarked in Spain.
#Malta sostiene che il barcone con 190 #migranti ieri notte non fosse in pericolo (distress), e che per questo motivo quando era in loro zona SAR lo MRCC maltese non abbia coordinato salvataggio ma solo affiancato barca e prestato assistenza.
Secondo Malta, questo è sufficiente perché La Valletta non debba indicare un proprio “porto sicuro” per sbarcare i #migranti raccolti dalla nave #Diciotti.
Ma la realtà è ben più complessa.
🚢⛵️🚤🤔With less NGOs at sea (#Aquarius@MSF_Sea, @openarms_fund), we have seen people being saved from sturdier boats, trawlers arriving directly to 🇮🇹 shores.
The question: do NGOs' search and rescue activities affect how #Libya smugglers send #migrants at sea?
First: TIMING.
Data shows that rubber dinghies were already the most used means of transport in 2015, when NGOs were small minority of rescuers.
It also shows shift to smaller vessels (dinghies + small boats), from 78% to 90%+. But these were already large majority in 2015.
Second: CORRELATION.
Using what yearly data we have available, is there any evidence that NGOs affected the prevalence of unseaworthy rubber dinghies, as compared to sturdier vessels? Well, NOPE. 👇
⛔️🚷LA STRATEGIA DELLA DETERRENZA TOTALE. Su @ilfoglio_it di ieri, @borga_lor fa un grande lavoro per spiegare la strategia #sbarchi di questo Governo e per darne una misura dei rischi.
Leggetelo o, almeno, seguitemi qui sotto. 👇
So. The #Lifeline case has descended into another Aquarius case. Meanwhile, 16 leaders of EU Member States meet for an #EUCO informal meeting on #migrationEU.
Time for a brief recap of the role of #NGO-s doing #SAR operations in the Central Mediterranean? 👇
First: PERCEPTIONS MATTER. 📺🤔
Irregular sea arrivals to Italy are WAY down, and continue to be (-78% y-o-y), even as NGOs carried out over 40% of SAR operations in 2017 and 2018.
Still, 51% of Italians believe flows are as high or higher than last year's.👇
Second: DETERRENCE VS NGOs does not pay off (much).🚢⛔️📉
Over the last two weeks of the new goverment's "deterring measures", the decline in sea arrivals vs 2017 is broadly in line with the drop experienced since July 2017. With or without #Aquarius and #Lifeline arrivals. 👇