Musings From Abroad

Italy migrant pact with Albania not same as UK/Rwanda deal— Italy’s FM

Published

1 year ago

November 22, 2023

Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani has insisted that his country’s recent plan to build migrant camps in Albania cannot be compared to Britain’s controversial bid to send irregular asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The minister maintained that requests would be handled to fully protect refugees’ rights. Italy will construct two camps in Albania to receive and detain up to 3,000 migrants at a time. This is the first time that a non-EU country has agreed to accept migrants on behalf of a member state.

“Migrants will be treated according to Italian and European standards,” Tajani told a session of the lower house of parliament dedicated to the deal, which sparked criticism among the leftist opposition and human right groups.

“This Protocol is not comparable to the agreement between the United Kingdom and Rwanda,” Tajani said, referring to the British initiative, which UK’s top judges have declared unlawful.

Like Britain, Italy is also facing growing pressure from migrants crossing the Mediterranean, with a surge in arrivals compared to 2022. Almost 150,000 people have landed in Italy so far in 2023, against around 10,200 in the same period last year.

Britain had announced its plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda at 169,000 pounds ($215,035) per person. The cost of deporting each person to Rwanda would include an average payment to Rwanda of 105,000 pounds for holding each asylum seeker, 22,000 pounds for travel and accompanying, and 18,000 pounds for processing and legal charges. But its apex court ruled the plan as illegal earlier this week.

Only migrants who are illegally in Italy would be sent to Albania, Tajani informed lawmakers, provided that the coast guard or navy picks them up in international waters and verifies that no minors or expectant mothers will be allowed to stay there. He says that up to 18 months could pass while someone is waiting to be returned home.

He further revealed that Italy would pay 16.5 million euros ($18.00 million) for the initial costs and would cover all other costs, including those associated with constructing and maintaining the centres.

“We hope it can be approved in a time frame that is consistent with the urgency of tackling the management of growing migration flows,” he said.

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Musings From Abroad

Seeking to expand ties in Africa, Indonesia’s Prabowo attends D-8 economic meeting in Egypt

Published

21 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to the government, Indonesian President, Prabowo Subianto, travelled to Egypt on Tuesday to attend meetings of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, a group of eight significant Muslim developing nations.

To enhance collaboration between the nations spanning from Southeast Asia to Africa, the D-8 was formed in 1997 and consists of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey. Beginning in January 2026, Indonesia will serve as the group’s chair.

Prabowo said that he would meet with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the president of Egypt.

“Egypt is our close friend, our strategic partner and an important country in the Middle East,” he said before his departure, adding he would also meet the Egyptian business community.

He would go to Malaysia from Egypt and then return to Indonesia.

Since taking office in October, Prabowo has stated that his administration will uphold Indonesia’s long-standing non-alignment foreign policy.

Since winning the presidency earlier this year, he has been to more than 20 nations, including China, the US, Japan, and Russia.

Musings From Abroad

UN warns Sudan rebels may be getting weapons in Chad from UAE cargo planes

Published

5 days ago

December 14, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Flight data and satellite photographs reveal that dozens of UAE cargo planes have landed at a small Chad airstrip since Sudan’s civil war began last year, which some U.N. experts and diplomats fear is being used to transport guns into the fight.

At least 86 UAE planes have landed at Amdjarass airfield in eastern Chad since the war started in April 2023.

According to flight data and business records examined by Reuters, three-quarters of them were operated by airlines accused by the U.N. of transporting Emirati weaponry to a Libyan warlord.

The UAE, a key Western partner in the Middle East, insists it sends Sudan aid through Chad, not armaments.

The UAE denied “credible” allegations that it was supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group fighting the Sudanese army in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, via the Chad airstrip in January.

Reuters uncovered footage from Amdjarass this year, revealing two pallets loaded with khaki containers, some labelled with the UAE flag, on the tarmac.

Reuters is obscuring the footage’s date and provenance for fear of reprisals.

Three weapons specialists, two of whom were U.N. inspectors, said the containers were unlikely to convey humanitarian material, generally bundled in cardboard boxes coated in plastic and stacked high on pallets due to its lightweight. The footage shows metal containers packed low on pallets.

One U.N. weapons inspector said the contents were “highly probably ammunition or weapons, based on the design and colour of boxes,” but requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information.

He stated that right-hand pallet cases are long and slender, suggesting weaponry.

Reuters could not independently verify the containers’ contents. The filming date is being withheld to protect the source.

The UAE government told Reuters it has deployed 159 relief planes with more than 10,000 tonnes of food and medical assistance to feed its Amdjarass field hospital.

“We firmly reject the baseless and unfounded claims regarding the provision of arms and military equipment to any warring party since the beginning of the conflict,” the statement said.

To counter Islamist militants, the oil-rich Gulf kingdom has interfered in crises from Yemen to Libya since the Arab Spring protests of 2011. The UAE views Muslim Brotherhood and other groups as threats to internal stability.

In Sudan’s army, Islamists affiliated with deposed President Omar al-Bashir have long held power.

Senior RSF official Brigadier General Omar Hamdan rejected foreign help. He told Nairobi media on Nov. 18 that Sudanese firms made its guns and ammunition. The RSF declined to comment on this topic.