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Johan Leman, 16 March 2021

March 1. Between Friday and Sunday, some 550 migrants were rescued in the Central Mediterranean. While the private rescue organization Sea-Watch said it saved some 450 people, a Libyan patrol boat picked up nearly 100 from a shipwreck, in which 20 passengers are reported missing. (InfoMigrants)

March 2. “One of the main suspects in the murder ten months ago of 26 Bangladeshis and four migrants of African origin was arrested on Monday, according to authorities in Tripoli. In May 2020, 30 migrants were murdered and eleven others were wounded in a revenge attack which was allegedly carried out by the family of a people smuggler who had been killed by migrants. The massacre took place in May in the city of Mezdah (also Mizdah), more than 150 kilometers south of Libya’s capital.” (InfoMigrants)

March 4. “5,306 migrants and refugees landed on Italy’s coasts between January 1 and March 2 of 2021. That’s more than twice the number of people who arrived during the same period in 2020.” (InfoMigrants)

March 4. “A total of 197 refugees were flown to Hanover airport today and yesterday. This brings the total number of refugees transferred from Greece to Germany since last April to 2,151.” (InfoMigrants)

March 5. “Almost 200 refugees were flown from Greece to Germany this week. This brings the total number of refugees transfers since April of last year to 2,151.” (InfoMigrants)

March 5.  “Moroccans represent more than half of the total arrivals recorded last year in the Spanish group of islands.” (@InfoMigrants_fr)

March 8 .  In Augusta, Sicily, a Sudanese man was arrested and is suspected of having guarded and violently abused refugees in a camp in Libya. https://siracusa.gds.it/articoli/cronaca/2021/03/08/migranti-e-violenze-in-libia-fermato-un-presunto-carceriere-era-giunto-ad-augusta-giorni-fa-3e977533-0fe3-42ac-8ca2-48030f07f99b/

March 8. “Internal documents from the EU’s border agency Frontex offer insights into possible illegal pushback of asylum seekers. The bulk were drafted by people under the aegis of Frontex, operating off the Greek coastal islands and describe, sometimes in detail, how Hellenic authorities engage in preventing migrant arrivals at sea.” https://euobserver.com/migration/151148

March 8. “Today we remember the thousands of women and girls who left their homes searching for a better future and did not survive. Our data show that at least 3,068 women have died during migration since 2014. 3,068 women who just wanted to rebuild their lives where it’s safe.” (@MissingMigrants)

 

March 8. “Bosnian authorities have announced that over 100 migrants who had been sleeping rough have been moved into asylum centers. Nearly half of those moved were reportedly children.” (InfoMigrants)

March 8. “A landmine exploded in central Croatia killing one migrant and injuring several others. The place where the incident happened remains full of explosives left over from the war nearly three decades ago.” (InfoMigrants)

March 8.  “Since the beginning of the year, more than 650 migrants on dinghies have been intercepted in the Channel by the British authorities. This is double the number at the same period last year.” (@InfoMigrants_fr)

March 9. “The UK is to launch a new visa system designed to make legal immigration easier for highly educated migrants, in particular those working in fields like finance, science, research and technology. The plans are also criticized for being too elitist.”

(@InfoMigrants)

March 10. “TUNIS (Reuters) – At least 39 migrants died when two boats sank off Tunisia on Tuesday as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to the Italian island of Lampedusa, the Tunisian defence ministry said. The coastguard rescued 165 others, and searches for more survivors are still ongoing off the coast of Sfax, ministry spokesman Mohamed Zekri said. All the dead migrants were from sub-Saharan Africa, he added.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tunisia-migrants-europe/at-least-39-die-as-two-migrant-boats-sink-off-tunisia-idUSKBN2B11NF

March 10.  The Italian coastguard has rescued three boats carrying migrants near Lampedusa in just a few hours. According to the Adnkronos news agency, a total of 187 people have been brought to safety since Tuesday afternoon. https://www.hln.be/vluchtelingencrisis/italiaanse-kustwacht-redt-187-bootmigranten~a0d04e75/

March 11. “The Eritrean asylum seeker “suffered numerous fractures to his forehead, eye sockets and teeth.” # Calais (@InfoMigrants_fr)

March 12. The Libyan army freed 130 migrants from a camp in Bani Wali where they had been held captive. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/11/libyan-troops-free-scores-of-migrants-from-traffickers

March 12.  More than 60 North African migrants, previously housed in an overcrowded Red Cross centre in Gran Canaria, have set up a makeshift camp on a cliffside on the Spanish island. They are sleeping in tents, in the open air, without access to drinking water. Credit Reuters” (@Info Migrants_fr)

March 12. “Cyprus is building a barrier to prevent migrants and refugees from crossing over from the northern, Turkish Cypriot part of the island. The southern, Greek-administered part of Cyprus is part of the European Union.” (@InfoMigrants)

March 13. “Rights groups say that Turkey has forced hundreds of refugees into signing voluntary return documents in order to send them back to Syria.” (@InfoMigrants)

March 15. “EU interior and foreign ministers are continuing talks today about speeding up repatriations. The basis of the discussion is a report on the collaboration for readmission between 39 third countries and the EU’s 27 member states.” (@InfoMigrants)

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