First Independent Mena Newspaper
Libyan coastguard vessels intercepted Monday four inflatable smuggling boats carrying in total over 500 illegal migrants. The captured migrants, off coast of the North African country, were returned to their Libyan departure point. In 2017, about 119,000 migrants and refugees arrived in Italy from across the Mediterranean while more than 3,100 died making the crossing, […]
Italian authorities busted a migrant trafficking network with links to radical groups operating between Italy and Tunisia. The criminal network was dismantled following the arrest of 13 suspects in a high-speed migrant trafficking ring operating between Tunisia and Sicily whose members espoused radical jihadist views. Police in Sicily said that a wiretapped conversation between two […]
Tunisia will invest about $ 5 billion (12 billion dinars) in electricity and energy projects, between 2018 and 2020. According to a statement released by the government, the electrical projects include the construction of a submarine power- transmission line, with a transmission capacity of 600 MW. The infrastructure to link the country to Italy is […]
At least 90 migrants, mostly Pakistanis, lost their lives off the coast of Libya on Friday after their boat capsized, according to press reports. The victims were dreaming to reach Italy but their vessel, owned by smugglers, sank adding a new tragedy in the Mediterranean Sea. According to IOM Libya’s Olivia Headon, 10 bodies washed […]
Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni is to ask the Parliament’s permission to redeploy troops currently stationed in Iraq to Niger where terrorist groups are increasingly engaging in human trafficking, contributing to the surge of illegal immigration in the Mediterranean region. Gentiloni said Italy’s 1,400-strong military force, present in Iraq, could now be reduced after victories […]
Two militia groups linked to the UN-backed Government of National Accord have fought over the control of oil and gas terminal in the town of Sabratha, with the GNA and Italy fearing the fighting could disrupt efforts to thwart migrants’ smuggling in the town known as a departure point for the perilous journey across the […]
The Governor of the Italian Island of Sardinia has raised the alarm requesting help from Rome to curb the rising influx of illegal embarcations from Algeria, which has become a new Mediterranean illegal migration route to Europe. About 800 people have made the crossing from Algeria this year, landing on beaches in Sardinia in small […]
FARThe Moroccan armed forces (FAR) sent two Canadair planes to Italy to extinguish the fire that ravaged so far more than 2000 hectares of forests. Italy becomes the third country that receives Moroccan aid after Spain and Portugal, which also received Moroccan Canadair flights. Southern Italy, including Sicily, has been plagued by wildfires this summer […]
Several NGOs rescuing migrants off Libya’s coasts have suspended operations because of security threats from Libyan coastguard whom they accuse of firing at their ships. Germany-based Sea-Eye has joined Save the Children and halted its interventions in international waters to save migrants crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe’s southern coast. The charity said it made […]
Son of former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi Thursday indicated that Italy, by deploying warships into Libyan territorial waters, is looking to re-colonize Libya by, repeating the colonization and fascist strategy of the past. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi reportedly said Italy wants to re-colonize Libya as it used to consider Tripoli beaches as Rome’s colony. According to […]