#mediterraneansea – European Affairs Magazine

150 migrants drowned in the mediterranean sea

29 Marzo 2017 Europe di

Nearly 150 migrants drowned after a rubber boat they were traveling in sank recently in the Mediterranean Sea, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said March 29, Reuters reported. A 16-year-old from Gambia, who was rescued by a Spanish frigate and transferred to an Italian coast guard ship, was the sole survivor of the ill-fated voyage. The boat departed from Sabratha, Libya, according to the young man. Rescuers have picked up more than 1,100 migrants in the Mediterranean over the past two days, according to Italy’s coast guard. Almost 600 people have died attempting the perilous voyage across the sea so far in 2017, the IOM said. At least 5,000 people are estimated to have died while attempting the crossing last year, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

source STATFOR

Naval mine kills Yemeni coastguards in Bab al-Mandeb

12 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

After the US Naval Intelligence Office had warned earlier this week commercial ships from the danger of mine planted by Houthis and Saleh militias in Bab Al-Mandeb strait, two yemeni coastguards were killed and 8 others were wounded when their vessel hit a mine on Friday near the international shipping passage of Bab Al-Mandeb. The explosion occurred during the surveillance tour of the vessel in the region and after the explosion the wounded ones were dispatched to hospitals in Aden, where also the captain of the vessel Safwan al-Ozaybi were brought because he was injured. Moreover the strait is a key point for the international navigations due to its role of link between Aden and the Red Sea, Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea and is one of the crowded oil passageways in the Middle East and other regions, whith sixty commercial ships that pass on a daily basis carrying more than 3.3 million barrels of oil.

Illegal immigration is still increasing in front of the perpetual conflict in the Middle East

10 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

Illegal immigration is still increasing in front of the perpetual conflict in the Middle East. The migrant’s flux has increased of 50% in the to first months of 2017. This recrudescence of people who want to join European continent is at the origin of a traffic. Furthermore, this traffic become more and more violent. The article mentioned a recent fact, where 22 dead bodies had been found. That number rises at 140 since the beginning of the year. Libya is one of the most concerned with approximately 181.000 illegal migrants who tried to cross Mediterranean sea from Libya to Italy last year.

Turkey’s existence and security in the Mediterranean depend on Cyprus

8 Gennaio 2017 BreakingNews @en di

The EU is continuing to demand the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the island and the end to Turkey’s guarantor state status.
Any agreement reached under these conditions will be the end of the gains of the TRNC, as well as the end of the Turkish Cypriots, and will pose a serious threat to Turkey’s existence and security in the Mediterranean. The thesis that the Turkish side has been defending all along has been the solution based on “bi-zonal and bi-communal” equality with two democracies. European countries behind them have never accepted this solution. At each negotiation phase, they have asked for and insisted on more territory, the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the island and the acceptance that Turkey is not a guarantor state. The two major obstacles standing in the way of the Greek Cyprus Administration to abolish the TRNC and extend sovereignty over the Turkish Cypriots is Turkey’s guarantor state status and the presence of Turkish troops on the island. It is not realistic for the Greek side to think that they could easily remove these assurances that are vitally important for the Turkish Cypriots.