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THE WAR
>From: "Giuliano"
Milan, April 19
Hello,
It\\\'s at least a week I wanna write about the western movies going on since
a month in the Straits of Otranto, but I never could find the time. Well,
today the confrontation among Italian Coast Guard, Albanian people
smugglers and -- starring in the role of victims -- migrants from all over
the world ended in the most logic way, and the deadly toll so often
required to cross the Wall of Fortress Europe was paid again.
Migratory waves through the Straits of Otranto reach a cyclical peak in
spring and summer. This because in winter the snow on the Turkish and
Albanian mountains make it difficult to reach the Albanian shores, and
stormy sea conditions discourage most people smugglers from trying to cross
those bloody 80 sea miles -- but not always, and the tragedy of this last
30 - 31 December (59 deads as a migrants boat sunk in a storm) is there to
remember us that there\\\'s no limit to desperation.
Nevertheless, during the winter thousands of migrants reach loosely the
beaches around Vlore. They come alone, or with their families, and wait for
weeks the opportunity of going to the other side. In clear winter days,
they can see the Italian coast -- sometimes it looks amazingly close: I\\\'ve
been living in Puglia, the Straits of Otranto region, for 2 years, and I
remember that when dry winds from Greece blow, the Albanian coast looks so
close that one might think to reach it with a couple of hours swim.
But it\\\'s just an illusion -- especially in these globalized times. The
Italians know all this pretty good. They are aware of the migratory
pressure on the Albanian side, since their police forces are there as
"observers".They know that people smuggling is one of Vlore\\\'s most
flourishing industry after the Albanian civil war of 1996 smashed into
pieces the dreams of welfare of an entire population. And they reinforce
their repressive mechanism, knowing very good that the 5 - 8 years of jail
recently threatened to people smugglers cannot discourage the people
smugglers from trying. No, the "skafisti" are not discouraged at all; but
they are afraid of being cought, of course, so the migrants become even
more a merchandise, something hot to deliver as soon as possible. This
brought the undeclared war of the Straits of Otranto to levels of cruelty
never reached since the Kater I Rades tragedy -- 87 migrants dead in 1997
as an Italian warship collided and sunk an old Albanian boat trying to
pass.
Well, expect another tragedy like that in the next few months: the elements
are all there. Read below, and tell me if I\\\'m wrong.
THE WAR
March 10: A crazy race between an Italian Coast Guard ship and an Albanian
"skafo" loaded with 39 migrants ended with a collision among the two ships.
According to the Italian Coast Guard, there were no casualties, the
migrants were rescued and the two people smugglers were arrested. As it
sems, the race reached terrifying moments as the Albanian "skafo", equipped
with two 350 HP motors, tried all kind of manoeuvres to escape the Italian
ship. In the same day, 152 migrants were arrested on the Italian shore
after the "skafisti" downloaded them, while 31 migrants were deported from
Brindisi.
Source: "Il Manifesto" and other Italian newspapers
In March, the average of migrants coming from Albania reached peaks of 190
people a day -- this data concerns only the migrants cought, of course. In
March also 3 large ships loaded with 300 and more migrants arrived from
Turkey on the Jonic coast of Calabria. But in March, the press was
distracted by the elections due for April 16, so those mass arrivals were
confined into few lines on the Italian chronicles, and a deep media silence
fell on the Straits of Otranto.
April: pre-elections days. The Italians show even more their muscles. On
April 14, they literally and openly invaded the Albanian home waters --
anyway, who the hell is going to tell them anything? Their EU friends? The
United Nations? They do what they want in the Adriatic sea!!
Here\\\'s an ANSA message arrived that day (ANSA -- Italian press agency).
Write me if you need the originals in Italian.
IMMIGRATION: VLORE: ITALIAN COAST GUARD CHASE BACK 7 ALBANIAN SKAFOS
"Vlore, April 14 -- Italian Coast Guard ships in service duty in Albanian
waters chased back last night 7 skafos loaded with clandestines. The
operation took place in front of the Vlore bay, from which the departures
of the illegal immigrants have strongly intensified in these last days. The
7 skafos were complexively carrying more than 200 migrants. Yesterday, the
same Italian ships chased back other 13 skafos, which were complexively
carrying more than 300 clandestines."
So, more than 500 "clandestines" -- how many women and children that makes?
-- could try the lifelong emotion of a Grand Prix in the Straits of
Otranto. It\\\'s a miracle that there were no casualties -- but pay attention:
the only alternative source to the Italian Army and Coast Guard are the
migrants themselves. If they are not cought, as it was the case, nobody can
tell what really went on.
But yesterday, the migrants WERE cought. They were 14, and they told this
story:
"To escape the Italian ships patrolling the Albanian shores, we had to run
into the water and quickly climb into the skafo. We were completely wet as
we departed, and we took our clothes off while the skafo accellerated and
violently zigzagged to reach the open sea. We were freezing, many of us
kept on falling because it was impossible even to keep sitting. The skafo
proceeded at amazing speed. All along the crossing we could see the lights
of the Italian ships around us, but they kept away. Then, when we neared
the Italian shore, the "skafisti" got very nervous. We knew that when they
would have told us to jump out we had to obey -- they are armed -- but they
assured us that it would happen only in shallow waters. But as soon as we
slowed down to approach the coast, an Italian ship came out trying to close
the way back to the skafo. We don\\\'t know where it was hidden, but all in a
sudden there was this ship closing the way back. The "skafisti" lost their
head. Yelling, they throwed everybody outboard -- there were still about
100 meters missing to the shore. One young boy started crying -- he could
not swim! The skafisti did not care: he was thrown out as well. He grasped
to the skafo, holding the grip with all his strenght. In a moment, the
skafisti beat his hands. He had to release the grip. He drowned. A quarter
of an hour later, we were all arrested by the police."
The skafisti made it. After throwing most people out, they turned the skafo
and went back toward Albania with at least 10 migrants onboard which did
not manage to jump off in time.
The name of the killed boy is Kalin Mohammed Fati, 26, Iraqi kurd.
Maybe there will be another casualty: a young man, age 20/ 25, was taken to
the hospital of Lecce with brain emorragy due to some kick he involuntarily
received during the crossing. Other 3 people werre taken to the hospital
for the same reason, although with lighter wounds.
This is the direct consequence of those 8 years of jail threatened to the
skafisti. The evening before (April 17) the same thing happened to 37
Turkish Kurds -- among whose, 9 children from 1 to 4 years old. They could
swim, luckily. But Kalin was coming from a mountain village, and he had
never seen the sea in his life.
Sources: "Corriere della Sera" and Manifesto of April 20. "ANSA" of April
19.
>>From the beginning of the year, 409 migrants were deported from Puglia.
Other 109 were ordered to leave Italy within 15 days.
LAST MINUTE LAST MINUTE LAST MINUTE NEW:
A new ship with 342 migrants arrived this morning in Calabria. As it seems,
it was intercepted by the Italians in international waters and forced to an
Italian port. The crew and the commander were arrested. The migrants were
taken to a camp. This is all for the moment -- more news will come in for
sure, but I have to leave for Jena tomorrow and cannot follow them.
See you
Giuliano