Many more hulls are leaving from Cyrenaica ports controlled by the Russian fighter brigade than in the past two years. To put pressure on our country and Europe.
One hand has opened the human spigot in Cyrenaica. Far more migrants are leaving Libya’s shores under the control of General Haftar’s militias supported by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group than in the past two years. They are setting sail from two areas in particular-the coastlines near the ports of Derna and Tobruk-that were “dormant.” They seemed armored and, instead, as refugees tell those rescuing them at sea, they have become hubs for traffickers again. “Libya,” a qualified source in our security apparatuses reasons with Repubblica, “is a cannon aimed at the electoral campaign: immigration is perhaps the most powerful weapon for those with an interest in destabilizing and, therefore, interfering with the September vote.
Our intelligence services had issued the first alert as early as a few weeks after the start of the war in Ukraine: the Kremlin may use its influence in Cyrenaica to increase departures of asylum seekers. In June, a new, more circumstantial alert. In recent days, in conjunction with the Draghi government crisis, signals gathered from the ground have left no more doubt. The spigot has been turned on. And benefiting from it will be those who seek consensus by waving the bogeyman of migrant invasion in front of voters: first and foremost, Matteo Salvini.
From Cyrenaica, the eastern region of the North African country, the barges, old wooden fishing boats that barely float loaded with five hundred to six hundred people at a time, have started leaving again. Making their way to the Sicilian coast is not only the desperation of those fleeing conflict, hunger and persecution, but also the political will of those who, through those barges, intend to put pressure on Italy and Europe. Putin’s Russia, for sure: with at least two thousand mercenaries (according to some unofficial sources, Wagner’s men in Libya number five thousand) it garrisons four military bases in the territory of the unrecognized government in Tobruk (Brak al Shati, Jufrah, Qardabiyah and Al-Khadim) and allows Haftar to remain firmly in power. But, we shall see, not only Russia.
Landings in Italy since the beginning of the year are 38,778, compared to 27,771 for all of 2021 and 12,999 in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. After downward figures last February and March, the suspected surge in April and May continued in June and July. “We left from a small port near the border with Egypt,” reported six days ago a boy rescued on a barge spotted 124 miles off Calabria by the Italian Coast Guard. With him were 674 refugees: Syrians, Egyptians and Palestinians. Five had died of hardship and thirst. In Lampedusa, 72 rubber boats arrived from Libya and Tunisia between Sunday and Tuesday. And on the eastern route, from Turkey, there are ten thousand entries so far. On the rise.
Complicating the situation on Libyan soil is what lies beneath it: oil fields that are among the richest in the world. Together with Egypt, in the last two years Russia has been able to ensure, Covid’s accomplice, reduced migration flows out of eastern areas. The crisis in Ukraine, however, has been a game changer. After months of wall-to-wall talks, for the first time there was rapprochement between Tripoli’s installed prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and General Haftar, propitiated – analysts explain – by the convenience of jointly running the National Oil Corporation (Noc), the company that owns the wells. Within four days, daily production more than doubled: from four hundred thousand to one million one hundred thousand barrels. How does this relate to Italy?
On the one hand, a section of Haftar’s militia sees rapprochement with the authorities in Tripoli as smoke and mirrors and has reacted by loosening its grip on migrant departure ports. On the other, there are those in the Libyan security apparatus who have not taken the Democratic Party’s latest moves well. In Parliament on Wednesday, the PD voted against renewing funding for maritime border monitoring, just under 12 million euros until December 31, 2022. A piece of news that passed almost under wraps in Italy but was widely echoed across the sea, especially among those who rely on that money. In essence, and in summary: a right-wing government in Italy today suits not only the Kremlin, but also the new power structure being built in Libya. Where, perhaps for the first time, our country no longer has a role: Putin’s Russia, Erdogan’s Turkey, Sisi’s Egypt and, on the quiet, Macron’s France are playing the game.
As long as europe cannot/will not protect its borders her enemies will exploit human migration. And potential migrants fleeing from shitholes are in billions….
Maybe Mr.Haftar needs a little knock on his house.
Libya is a damned mess.
On one side: the GNC, which those days is almost exclusively ruled by islamist parties like the Muslim Brotherhood. You’d rather nuke it from an European point of view considering groups like the MB try to influence foreign (esp European) opinions by mobilizing islamists elsewhere. But that would leave a problem, because….
The LNC is supported by Russia (but also by France). And you don’t want that either.
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Many more hulls are leaving from Cyrenaica ports controlled by the Russian fighter brigade than in the past two years. To put pressure on our country and Europe.
One hand has opened the human spigot in Cyrenaica. Far more migrants are leaving Libya’s shores under the control of General Haftar’s militias supported by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group than in the past two years. They are setting sail from two areas in particular-the coastlines near the ports of Derna and Tobruk-that were “dormant.” They seemed armored and, instead, as refugees tell those rescuing them at sea, they have become hubs for traffickers again. “Libya,” a qualified source in our security apparatuses reasons with Repubblica, “is a cannon aimed at the electoral campaign: immigration is perhaps the most powerful weapon for those with an interest in destabilizing and, therefore, interfering with the September vote.
Our intelligence services had issued the first alert as early as a few weeks after the start of the war in Ukraine: the Kremlin may use its influence in Cyrenaica to increase departures of asylum seekers. In June, a new, more circumstantial alert. In recent days, in conjunction with the Draghi government crisis, signals gathered from the ground have left no more doubt. The spigot has been turned on. And benefiting from it will be those who seek consensus by waving the bogeyman of migrant invasion in front of voters: first and foremost, Matteo Salvini.
From Cyrenaica, the eastern region of the North African country, the barges, old wooden fishing boats that barely float loaded with five hundred to six hundred people at a time, have started leaving again. Making their way to the Sicilian coast is not only the desperation of those fleeing conflict, hunger and persecution, but also the political will of those who, through those barges, intend to put pressure on Italy and Europe. Putin’s Russia, for sure: with at least two thousand mercenaries (according to some unofficial sources, Wagner’s men in Libya number five thousand) it garrisons four military bases in the territory of the unrecognized government in Tobruk (Brak al Shati, Jufrah, Qardabiyah and Al-Khadim) and allows Haftar to remain firmly in power. But, we shall see, not only Russia.
Landings in Italy since the beginning of the year are 38,778, compared to 27,771 for all of 2021 and 12,999 in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. After downward figures last February and March, the suspected surge in April and May continued in June and July. “We left from a small port near the border with Egypt,” reported six days ago a boy rescued on a barge spotted 124 miles off Calabria by the Italian Coast Guard. With him were 674 refugees: Syrians, Egyptians and Palestinians. Five had died of hardship and thirst. In Lampedusa, 72 rubber boats arrived from Libya and Tunisia between Sunday and Tuesday. And on the eastern route, from Turkey, there are ten thousand entries so far. On the rise.
Complicating the situation on Libyan soil is what lies beneath it: oil fields that are among the richest in the world. Together with Egypt, in the last two years Russia has been able to ensure, Covid’s accomplice, reduced migration flows out of eastern areas. The crisis in Ukraine, however, has been a game changer. After months of wall-to-wall talks, for the first time there was rapprochement between Tripoli’s installed prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and General Haftar, propitiated – analysts explain – by the convenience of jointly running the National Oil Corporation (Noc), the company that owns the wells. Within four days, daily production more than doubled: from four hundred thousand to one million one hundred thousand barrels. How does this relate to Italy?
On the one hand, a section of Haftar’s militia sees rapprochement with the authorities in Tripoli as smoke and mirrors and has reacted by loosening its grip on migrant departure ports. On the other, there are those in the Libyan security apparatus who have not taken the Democratic Party’s latest moves well. In Parliament on Wednesday, the PD voted against renewing funding for maritime border monitoring, just under 12 million euros until December 31, 2022. A piece of news that passed almost under wraps in Italy but was widely echoed across the sea, especially among those who rely on that money. In essence, and in summary: a right-wing government in Italy today suits not only the Kremlin, but also the new power structure being built in Libya. Where, perhaps for the first time, our country no longer has a role: Putin’s Russia, Erdogan’s Turkey, Sisi’s Egypt and, on the quiet, Macron’s France are playing the game.
As long as europe cannot/will not protect its borders her enemies will exploit human migration. And potential migrants fleeing from shitholes are in billions….
Maybe Mr.Haftar needs a little knock on his house.
Libya is a damned mess.
On one side: the GNC, which those days is almost exclusively ruled by islamist parties like the Muslim Brotherhood. You’d rather nuke it from an European point of view considering groups like the MB try to influence foreign (esp European) opinions by mobilizing islamists elsewhere. But that would leave a problem, because….
The LNC is supported by Russia (but also by France). And you don’t want that either.
Should have never taken out Ghaddafi god dammit