Refugee, Migrant Arrivals by Sea Surpass a Record 430,000: IOM

Updated

More than 432,000 refugees, migrants arrive in Europe by sea since January, with 2,748 recorded fatalities

An estimated 432,761 asylum-seeking refugees and migrants have reached Europe by sea in 2015 so far this year (as of September 10, 2015), reported the International Organization for Migration (IOM). “This figure is double the amount of arrivals in the Mediterranean for the entire 2014, emphasizing the scale of the current migration emergency.”

About 70% of the arrivals were registered in Greece (309,356 people), and 28% in Italy (121,139 people). At least 2,748 migrants have lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea (year to September 10), while 2,223  migrant deaths were recorded in 2014, according to Missing Migrants*.

Greece, the largest arrival portal, registered about 246,000 people: over 70% came from Syria alone (175,375), while the other main countries of origin were Afghanistan (50,177), Pakistan (11,289), and Iraq (9,059) between January 1 and August 31. (Additionally, more than 50,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Greece since the beginning of September, IOM estimates).

Italy recorded 116,149 arrivals during the same period—a 3% increase compared with last year—with the bulk of refugees and migrants coming from Eritrea (30,708), Nigeria (15,113), Somalia (8,790), Sudan (7,126), Syria (6,710), and Gambia (5,514), said the report.

At various border crossings between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) IOM staff recorded that more than 3,000 migrants were in the area passing the borders in groups of 50 every 20 minutes in recent days. Fewer than 50% of the migrants and refugees were nationals from Iraq and Syria, most of them families with little children. The rest were mainly nationals from Afghanistan and Pakistan along with some from Sub-Saharan Africa. Many were also speaking Greek, confirming the fact that along with recent arrivals, there were also those who have lived for years in Greece, wanting now to head to Northern and Western Europe.

More than 450,000 migrants have entered Germany so far this year, with a total of at least 800,000  expected for all of 2015.

*[Some 39 migrants, including 4 infants and 11 older children, drowned on their way to Greece in two separate incidents last weekend, reported AP. ]

Related Links

• ISIL Terraforming Syria for Israeli Expansion September 11, 2015
• Half of Syria’s Prewar Population Have Fled Their Homes August 31, 2015

Mediterranean Sea: A ‘Convenient’ Killing Machine

Up to 900 migrants drown, only 28 rescued

Hundreds of migrants are believed to have drowned after their boat sank about 100km off the coast of Libya.

The 20-meter-long boat was carrying up to 950 migrants, and only 28 survivors have been rescued, according to the latest reports.

The sinking is probably the largest loss of life of migrants attempting to cross to Europe, said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), adding that the North Africa-Italy route was the world’s deadliest.

The EU voted last year to heavily downsize search and rescue attempts. The decision was reached after EU members said they couldn’t afford to house the refugees, and feared that it would encourage even more migrants to cross the sea.

Some 13,500 people arrived in the Italian waters over the past week (April 10 – 17), said UNHCR. “Their arrival exacerbates a growing crisis which has seen some 31,500 people cross Mediterranean waters to Italy and Greece so far this year, as war and violence intensify in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.”

As many as 1,700 migrants are now feared to have drowned so far this year.

An estimated 218,000 migrants crossed the Mediterranean in 2014, while 3,500 others drowned, said UNHCR.

Hundreds of Migrants Drown in Mediterranean Sea

300 Migrants and Refugees Missing in Mediterranean

The missing, presumed drowned, were among migrants and refugees, mainly from Sub-Saharan Africa, who had left the coast of Libya in four dinghies.

Some 29 refugees and migrants died on Sunday from one dinghy, but 110 survivors landed in Lampedusa, after being rescued by Italian coastguard and a merchant vessel, said reports.

The survivors confirmed to UNHCR that they had left on Saturday, February 7, from Libya on four rubber dinghies without food and water. Only nine out of 216 passengers survived on two other dinghies, with the fourth one still missing.

“This is a tragedy on an enormous scale and a stark reminder that more lives could be lost if those seeking safety are left at the mercy of the sea. Saving lives should be our top priority. Europe cannot afford to do too little too late,” said Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR Europe Bureau Director.

At least 218,000 people, including both migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean in 2014 and the trend is expected to continue in 2015, said UNHCR.

Related Links

• State of Emergency Declared in Sicily October 15, 2013
• Dozens Killed as Yet Another Migrant Boat Sinks October 12, 2013
• Hundreds Killed in Another Migrants Boat Disaster October 3, 2013

State of Emergency Declared in Sicily

Global Disasters/ Significant Events – October 16, 2013

Governor of Sicily declares a state of emergency amid migrant crisis

The declaration came after Italian navy said it hads rescued about 300 migrants from two boats near the island of Lampedusa, said a report.

At least 36 people were killed when their boat capsized between Malta and Lampedusa, on Friday.

Another migrant boat capsized on October 3, 2013 killing more than 350 migrants less than 600 meters from Lampedusa.

Recent disasters have occurred when boats overcrowded with desperate migrants capsize in the Mediterranean Sea. Source: UNHCR

Increasing number of people from Africa and the Middle East are fleeing war and poverty in search of a better life in Europe.

About 32,000 migrants have arrived in Italy and Malta so far this year, said UNHCR.

On average, about 1,000 migrants have been killed, mostly by drowning, over the past 25 years.

Related Links

• Dozens Killed as Yet Another Migrant Boat Sinks October 12, 2013
• Hundreds Killed in Another Migrants Boat Disaster October 3, 2013

—|o|o|—

Other Global Disasters/ Significant Events

NSA collects millions of e-mail address books globally: Report

T”he National Security Agency is harvesting hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal e-mail and instant messaging accounts around the world, many of them belonging to Americans, according to senior intelligence officials and top-secret documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden,” said the report.

NSA collected about 680,000 e-mail address books from Yahoo, Hotmail, Facebook, Gmail and others in a single day, or 250 million per year. Read more...

—|o|o|—

Big tech companies plan to track you even more aggressively

Biggest tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and a dozen others “are assembling new forms of online tracking that would follow users more aggressively… Microsoft is developing such a system, following, apparently, in the footsteps of Google.”

Read more….

—|o|o|—

The Shutdown of the U.S. Government and “Debt Default”: A Dress Rehearsal for the Privatization of the Federal State System?

Read more…

Dozens Killed as Yet Another Migrant Boat Sinks

Global Disasters/ Significant Events – October 12, 2013

Yet another migrant boat sinks off Italy in last week’s Déjà vu

At least 36 people were killed when a boat carrying more than 200 migrants capsized and sank in the Mediterranean sea, said reports.

The boat capsized about 120km off the Italian island of Lampedusa, where at least 339 people drowned on October 3, when their boat capsized and sank less than 600 meters from the island.

Last week’s disaster occurred when a boat similar to the one above caught fire as it headed toward Lampedusa Island, south of Sicily. Source: UNHCR

Today’s incident was the third migrants boat disaster in the Mediterranean in two weeks. Thirteen people drowned off the southern coast of Italy on Monday September 30 after they attempted to swim ashore from a foundering vessel, said UNHCR.

In August, six migrants drowned after they jumped out of a boat off the coast of Sicily and attempted to swim ashore.

In July seven immigrants drowned as they held on to a fishing cage that was being towed to shore.

13 immigrants drowned off the coast of Sicily on Monday after they attempted to swim ashore from a foundering vessel. Photo credit: Reuters.

Sicily and the surrounding islands are ideal portals for desperate refugees and illegal immigrants from Libya, Tunisia, sub-Saharan Africa in search of employment and a better quality of life, said UNHCR.

Related Links

• Dozens Killed in Yet Another Migrants Boat Disaster October 3, 2013

Planet Dust Bowl

20 Million Tons of Dust in the Air

Minimum dust content in the atmosphere higher than 20 million tons: FIRE-EARTH

Thanks (!) to human induced climate change, exacerbating droughts, dust storms and a few other natural mechanism, as well as deforestation and increased agricultural damage …, the atmosphere contained a minimum of about 20 million tons of dust during the past 12 months, FIRE-EARTH estimates.

[NOTE: The estimate does not include particles from smoke and burning fossil fuels, or ash and other volcanic materials.]

Dust over the Mediterranean

A large plume of dust from the Sahara, extending about 700km, drifts northward across the Mediterranean Sea toward Greece. Natural-color imageas captured by MODIS instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite on November 10, 2010.  Download large image (3 MB, JPEG) . Click image to enlarge. Source: NASA E-O

Dust covers the Gulf of Alaska, again

Dust blows off the coast of Alaska covering the Gulf of Alaska for the second time in as many weeks. “Although dust storms often arise from sand seas, such as those of the Sahara or the Arabian Peninsula, dust can also result from the interactions of glaciers and bedrock.” The natural-color image was acquired by MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite on December 1, 2010. Download large image (1 MB, JPEG). Source: NASA E-O.

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• Australia: Uranium Dust Threat Real?
• And dust to dust …
• The Mesopotamian Dust Bowl
• Image of the Day: Sandstorm in Saudi Desert

Other resources:

• Dust, Smoke, and Haze
• Satellites Search for 770m Tons of Dust in the Air

Ethiopian airliner ‘shot down by Israeli missile’

Ethiopian jet crashed into the Mediterranean

Informed sources advise the blog that the plane may have been shot down by an Israeli missile.

An Ethiopian Airlines jet with 90 people on board crashed into the Mediterranean sea earlier today.

An Ethiopian Airlines 737-800.  Photo released by Boeing. Image may be subject to copyright.

The plane crashed shortly after take-off from Beirut international airport at about 2:00am local time on Monday, airport sources said, Reuters reported.

“The Boeing 737-800 disappeared off the radar some five minutes after taking off, shortly after its scheduled departure time of 2:10 a.m. (7:10 p.m. EST), during a thunderstorm and heavy rain, the sources said. It was heading for Addis Ababa.”

Eyewitnesses say the plane exploded midair and they saw a “ball of fire” in the air before the plane crashed off Na’ameh village, a few kilometers south of Beirut, according to various sources.

“(The crash) site has been identified three-and-a-half km (two miles) west of the (coastal) village of Na’ameh,” officials said, Reuters reported.

There were Eighty-three passengers and seven crew onboard the airliner, according to the plane’s manifest, Reuters reported sources as saying.

“About 50 passengers were Lebanese nationals, three with dual nationalities: British, Canadian and Russian. Most of the others were Ethiopians. Hundreds of Ethiopians work as domestic helpers in Lebanon.”

The plane had flown to Beirut from Addis Ababa earlier in the night and was returning to Ethiopia.

Marla Pietton, wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon Denis Pietton, was on the downed plane, according to the French embassy.

“We saw a flash in the sky…  We saw a flash over the sea and it was the plane falling.” Another eyewitness told reporters.

Previous incidents of passenger jets destroyed by military shoot-down include:

• Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down by Soviet air force jet on September 1, 1983, over the Sea of Japan, west of Sakhalin island, after it entered prohibited Soviet airspace.

• Iran Air Flight 655 was shot down over the Strait of Hormuz by missiles fired from the U.S. Navy’s guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes, killing all 290 passengers and crew onboard, including 66 children, on Sunday 3 July 1988.

• On July 17th, 1996, TWA flight 800, a Boeing 747-131, which had just taken off from JFK airport heading to Paris, France, was struck by an “external object” believed to be a military test missile, exploded and fell into the Atlantic ocean, killing all 230 people onboard.

State-owned carrier, Ethiopian airline flies to about 60 destinations, and is said to have a “good” safety record. In 1996 one of the airlines’ planes was hijacked and later ditched into sea off Comoros killing 123 people. Another 52 people survived the incident.

Related Links:

• Top 10 Most Dangerous Airlines in 2009/2010

4m liters of crude spill into French nature reserve

There’s an irony behind every oil spill!

A fractured pipeline spills 4million liters of crude oil into French nature reserve

Four million liters of crude oil [4,000 cubic meters, or 25,160 barrels, weighing approximately 3,500 metric tons] has spewed from a fractured pipeline into a nature reserve adjacent to the Camargue national park, in southern France.

More than 2 hectares [5 acres] of Coussouls de Crau nature reserve is covered in crude oil. The reserve which is close to the town of Saint-Martin-de-Crau, in the south of France, was created in 2001 and is home to tens of thousands of birds. Photo: AFP (dated August 8, 2009). Image may be subject to copyright.

Owned by the usual gang of big polluters including France’s Total, U.S. giant ExxonMobil and Britain’s BP, the  pipeline was operated by the Societe du Pipeline Sud-Europeen (SPSE), which supplies oil refineries and a petrochemical plants in France, Germany and Switzerland.

The 40-year-old fractured underground pipe was a meter wide and buried 80 cm under the ground.

“This is a real ecological disaster,” junior environmental minister Chantal Jouanno told reporters after visiting the area in the far south of France. Reuters reported.

She held the pipeline operator, SPSE  responsible for the disaster, and added:  “We will have to draw the consequences for all the pipelines in France.”

Crude spill location map: Coussouls de Crau nature reserve, near the town of Saint-Martin-de-Crau, in  south of France. Map: Google. Original map may be subject to copyright.

The leak which occurred at about 8.30 am (06:30 UCT) has reportedly covered more than 2 hectares of the Coussouls de Crau nature reserve close to the town of Saint-Martin-de-Crau,  south of France.

“The site lies at the entrance to the Camargue park, a vast expanse of plains and marshland, famous for its wild horses and bulls, that [borders] the Mediterranean Sea.” Reuters reported.

Related Links:

• Old MacDonald Had a Fleet

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• Chevron should pay $27 billion in compensation
• US Govt Sues BP America
• Australia hit by another man-made disaster
• Large spill at Canada’s oil sands terminal