Thread: Italy accused of bribing Libyan militias to stop migrants reaching Europe

Italy accused of bribing Libyan militias to stop migrants reaching Europe

Rome refuses to comment on claims that millions of dollars have changed hands during last year, as arrivals to Italy fall dramatically

Francesca Mannocchi Friday 25 August 2017 09:00 UTC Last update: Friday 25 August 2017 15:39 UTC


ZAWIYA, Libya - Until recently, the shores of Zawiya, west of Tripoli, were teeming with bodies and trade – the crossroads for much of Libya’s human trafficking.
But over the last few weeks, the trade has come to a standstill.
Arrivals to Italy from North Africa have dropped by more than half on last year’s figures, with Reuters reporting on Monday that an armed group was preventing migrant boats from setting off from Zawiya.
Investigations by Middle East Eye reveal that the armed groups are receiving pay-offs to stop the boats leaving Libya, in exchange for aid, aircraft hangars and large sums of money.

A few weeks after Italy implemented a controversial code of conduct in the Mediterranean, the coast along Zawiya has fallen silent.
The agreement, signed by some international NGOs, and boycotted by others, aims to regulate the rescue and transport of migrants by NGOs in the Mediterranean; one of the most controversial points of the code is the stipulation that Italian police be present on board NGO boats to investigate smuggling.
Zawiya, a town 50km west of Tripoli, is almost impossible to reach by car, and the road from the capital is dotted with at least six checkpoints.
The shore between Zawyia and Tripoli. The topography of the coastal area is perfect to access the water without being seen (Alessio Romenzi/MEE)
MEE reached the city by sea, from Zanzour, between Tripoli and Zawiya.
Yasin, a local, has been kidnapped twice by the same local Warshafana tribe and released only after payment of a ransom from his family.
He explained the complex but delicately balanced web of power, whereby different militias were responsible for various aspects of smuggling – of humans, oil, and more.
"This area belongs to Libya only formally, but it has its non-written rules and its rules are in the hands of militias and several groups of armed gangs."
"Each one has its own specialisation, there is the gang that assaults the armoured vehicles, the one that kidnaps the common people and the one who controls the movements of the few foreigners who work here.
"Then there are Islamic militias; if you look around on the walls you find signs of Daesh, they are few – sure - but they are still [here] and work in the shade. The politicians of this country say they are looking for its stability, but it seems to me that this country has become the regime of the militias."
Tranquillity along the shores

Sources in the nearby city of Sabratha told MEE that the tranquillity along the shores, from Zawiya to Sabratha, has come at a price.
"Money can buy anything here," says a local man, who does not want to reveal his name for security reasons.
"It is not possible to think that an area that for years has been the crossroads of human traffic is suddenly calm.
"The calm was brought about by economic agreements made with local militias. There is no possible negotiation, except with militias," he adds.
The sources believe that European intelligence agencies have been negotiating with the Sabratha municipality, on behalf of local militias, the latter having received "a figure of $5m to keep migrants in the area for at least a month and not to launch rubber boats to Italy."
In recent days, the Italian Development Cooperation - a government foreign aid body - delivered 11 tonnes of supplies to the University Hospital of Sabratha.
At the same time, a well-informed source says that he received reports of a meeting in Sabratha between Italian intelligence officials and members of the Anas Dabbashi militia.
MEE could not independently confirm that this meeting took place.
A spokesperson for the Italian prime minister, Filippo Sensi, told MEE that the government does not comment on anonymous accusations.
Illegal migrants who were rescued by Libyan coastguards at sea arrive at a migration detention and shelter facility in the capital
Tripoli's eastern suburb of Tajoura on 6 August 2017 (AFP)
The Italian air force transport, carrying general-purpose medical kits containing emergency medical equipment and a variety of medicines, took off from the UN Humanitarian Response Depot base in Brindisi in southern Italy, which is managed by the World Food Programme.
Another source in Sabratha believes that any negotiations aimed at preventing the departure of migrants from the Libyan coast must have involved the Dabbashi miltiia, which controls the nearby Mellitah Oil and Gas compound.
Ahmed Dabbashi – also known as al-Ammu – heads security at the compound, and asked Italian intelligence for a hangar for him and his men, in which to establish his headquarters, the source explains, in exchange for preventing migrants leaving the country.
In the summer of 2015, after four Italian employees of another oil company working in Libya were kidnapped, reportedly by a local gang linked to the Islamic State group, the Melittah Oil and Gas Company signed a private security agreement with the Dabbashi militia to provide security to the compound and surrounding road.
The Dabbashi militia has for years been heavily involved in human trafficking and fuel smuggling in the area.

"In this city, migrants have always provided a business," the second source said.
"They were a business when they wanted to leave and the traffickers organised dozens of rubber boats every day. And they are a business now when Europe needs to stop them because – you know - everything has a price."
"Imagine what it means for traffickers to lose millions of dollars; do you really think they would stop their illicit business just because the Sarraj government has reached an agreement to strengthen the Libyan coastguard?
"The traffickers only think about money and they have weapons. So to ensure the stability of the area you have to pay them. And pay them a lot," the source added.
Everyday life has become difficult for the residents of Zawiya, and whole families have sold everything they own, locals say, including their furniture, and gold. The prices of basic goods have risen dramatically over recent years, and the official exchange rate of the Libyan dinar is one to one and a half against the dollar, but on the black market it is one to nine.
Filling the gaps of power

After the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, various armed gangs have become increasingly powerful and have gradually filled up the gaps of power, as rival governments compete for control across the country.
These gangs and militias – hundreds of which exist – have turned human trafficking into an industry, making it more efficient, and at the same time, more brutal.

The larger brigades were able to take control of oil plants, airports and ports, while the others were fragmented throughout the country, often struggling among themselves for ancient tribal dynamics, many experts and witnesses have documented.
The fragmentation of the armed brigades and their internecine struggles to control the strategic areas have greatly undermined the development of Libya after 2011, causing long-term consequences for the country's society, economy and stability.
The most powerful militia in the Zawiya area is Mohammed Kashlaf’s brigade, known as the Al-Nasr militia.
Libyan coastguards stand on an armoured boat as they patrol the sea between Sabratha and Zawiya on 28 July 2017 (AFP)
It controls the oil refinery in the area, whose operations are covered by the new head of the coastguard in the area, Abdurrahman Milad (better known as al-Bija) escorted the rubber boats leaving the area in exchange for a toll payment. Any ships or rubber dinghies wanting to leave the coast of Zawiya have to be approved by him, sources say.
Complicity

The only dinghies that were brought back belonged to those smugglers who had not paid those above them, according to local witnesses.
"This city has lived through the complicity of those in charge of fuel smuggling and human trafficking. You cannot maintain all this business while going unnoticed, in fact it was only possible with the complicity of the coastguard," Yasin says.
This close relationship between militias and the coastguard has been well documented, and in June, the UN Security Council released a report into this dangerous complicity in Zawhia and Sabratha.
One of the most prominent names within the Nasr militia (allied to Sarraj) is Fathi al-Far, a former Gaddafi-era army colonel, who formerly controlled the only detention centre in Zawiya, where migrants were sold to traffickers.
The interior ministry now runs an official detention centre in Zawiya, and the Nasr militia retains control over the unofficial site.
The leader of Zawiya’s Libyan Petroleum Facilities militia, who has the task of protecting oil companies, is Mohamed Khoshlaf. He has earned millions of dollars by cramming migrants into refineries and forcing them to work freely in the wells before selling them to traffickers, the report says.
Local militias have for years controlled the illegal oil trade in Libya, and many have now added human trafficking (AFP)
His brother, Walid Koshlaf, deals with financial matters, the UN report adds.
Koshlaf's affairs are protected by Bija, considered in the report the "important collaborator of Koshlaf family".
Bija, as head of the coastguard, should be responsible for patrolling the coast and implementing the recent code of conduct signed between NGOs and the Italian interior ministry, which includes keeping the international charities out of Libyan waters.
But there is a clear conflict of interest, as he is simultaneously tasked with tackling trafficking, whilst still believed to be heavily involved in the trade.
His soldiers are suspected by the UN to have fired on a Doctor Without Borders ship in international waters on 17 August 2016.
"There is nothing in this city that is not controlled by militias - milk prices, bread prices, fuel shifts, doctors trying to reach the detention centres in the area," Yasin says.
Today the Zawiya coasts are empty, since the code of conduct with NGOs was signed, and many of the ships have decided to leave the Mediterranean for safety reasons; no rubber boats have returned to Libya.
Zawiya residents claim that part of the traffic is moving to the Garabulli area and that some traffickers are waiting for the unofficial agreement to expire in a month to reopen the route across the Mediterranean, with boats replacing the inflatables. With the NGOs no longer operating in the waters, and unable to rescue their rubber dinghies, bigger boats will be sturdier.
Hope in Haftar?

Amid the chaos, trust in Sarraj’s UN-backed Government of National Accord seems to be wavering, with many looking to General Khalifa Haftar as the only hope for the future.
"When Haftar declared that he has regained Benghazi," says Yasin, "we were so happy. Libya needs an army: a recognised, institutional armed force.
"For three years we have lived in terror of being kidnapped, our families live in fear of being blackmailed.
"The militias control the most important assets in the country, our wealth.
"They blackmail the whole country, blackmail the government by controlling the oil terminals, living on the bribes they are asking for. This money should be distributed among the people and not just remain in the hands of groups of armed criminals."
Italy accused of bribing Libyan militias to stop migrants reaching Europe

THE CLINTON'S NEED TO BE LOCKED UP IN JAIL!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBpSckYr-uM

I have no idea why they call paying Libyan militias to stop illegal aliens entering Italy from Libya a "bribe". Makes perfect sense to me!