Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1496177
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 APRIL 2023 NEWS >ĞƚƚĞƌŽĨ/ŶƚĞŶƚŝŽŶ dŚĞŝƌĞĐƚŽƌĚĂŵtŽŽĚůĞLJ͕ϬϭϭϴϮϬϴ͕ĚĞĐůĂƌĞŚŝƐŝŶƚĞŶƚŝŽŶ ƚŽƌĞŐŝƐƚĞƌĨŽƌĂŶŵƉůŽLJŵĞŶƚŐĞŶĐLJůŝĐĞŶĐĞŝŶĂĐĐŽƌĚĂŶĐĞ ƚŽĂƌƚŝĐůĞϮϯŽĨƚŚĞŵƉůŽLJŵĞŶƚĂŶĚdƌĂŝŶŝŶŐ^ĞƌǀŝĐĞƐĐƚ͕ ϭϵϵϬ;Đƚyys///ŽĨϭϵϵϬͿ͘ dŚĞĂĐƚŝǀŝƚŝĞƐƉƌŽƉŽƐĞĚƚŽďĞĐĂƌƌŝĞĚŽƵƚĂƌĞƚŚĞĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ͗ ϭͿZĞĐƌƵŝƚŵĞŶƚŽŶƐƵůƚĂŶĐLJ ϮͿ/ŶƚĞƌǀŝĞǁŝŶŐ͕ƐĞůĞĐƚŝŽŶĂŶĚƉůĂĐĞŵĞŶƚƐŽĨĐĂŶĚŝĚĂƚĞƐŝŶ ĞŵƉůŽLJŵĞŶƚ ϯͿdŚĞZĞĐƌƵŝƚŵĞŶƚŽĨƉĞƌƐŽŶƐĨƌŽŵĂďƌŽĂĚƚŽĞŵƉůŽLJŵĞŶƚ ŝŶDĂůƚĂŽƌŝŶĂŶhŵĞŵďĞƌƐƚĂƚĞ͘ ϰͿZĞĐƌƵŝƚŵĞŶƚŽĨƉĞƌƐŽŶƐŝŶDĂůƚĂĨŽƌĞŵƉůŽLJŵĞŶƚŝŶDĂůƚĂ ŽƌŝŶĂŶhŵĞŵďĞƌƐƚĂƚĞ ϱͿĚǀĞƌƚŝƐŝŶŐŽĨƚŚĞĨŝůůŝŶŐŽĨǀĂĐĂŶĐŝĞƐ͘ ϲͿ<ĞĞƉŝŶŐĂƌĞŐŝƐƚĞƌŽĨĂƉƉůŝĐĂŶƚƐĨŽƌĞŵƉůŽLJŵĞŶƚ͘ ƉƉůŝĐĂŶƚĚĚƌĞƐƐ ĚĚƌĞƐƐ͘ϮϴdĂƚŽŽŝŶĞ͕dƌŝƋ/ůWŝƚŝƌƌŽƐƐ͕DŽƐƚĂ͕D^dϰϰϭϯ By decree given by the Civil Court, First Hall on the 17th of January, 2023, on the application of Vella Wright Natalie Mary Louise (ID 298201L), Tuesday, 25th April, 2023, at half past eleven in the morning (11.30 a.m.), has been fixed for the sale by auction to be held in Room Number 78, Nearby the Courts Archives, Level -1, Courts of Justice, Triq ir-Repubblika, Valletta, of the following property: The tenement with numbers two hundred and sixty one/ two hundred and sixty two (261/262), in Triq il-Kbira, Balzan, which consists of a shop Class Four (IV) situated on the semi basement level, underlying third party property, with access from a stairs leading to the street. The main commercial space leads access to all the rooms including the bathroom, the kitchenette and the box room. The tenement has a measurement of about sixty three square metre (63sqm), and is subject to the passage of rain water and drainage drains, as may be necessary for the services of the property forming part of the same block, and all the block is bounded south with the street, west with property that abuts onto Triq San Franġisk and east with property that abuts onto Triq Wied Ħal Balzan, free and unencumbered and includes all its rights and appurtenances and is valued at one hundred thousand euro (€100,000). The said tenement is the property of Emanuel Baldacchino & Co. Limited (C44700) and Emanuel Baldacchino (ID 368682M) in his personal name and qua garanti in solidum with Emanuel Baldacchino & Co. Limited (C44700). N.B. The said tenement will be sold as described in the acts of judicial sales number 34/2022. Registry of the Superior Courts, this Friday, 3rd March, 2023 Gaetana Aquilina For the Registrar, Civil Courts and Tribunals CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 A €500 'administration fee' is also levied, which is probably the money made by the criminal or- ganisations off each smuggled person. In Libya, the migrants are then assigned to boats that embark on the perilous journey across the Mediterranean in an attempt to reach Italy. Migrants are given the flight tickets at the airport and these can only be bought in cash from a particular travel agency. Intel- ligence suggests that smugglers take the migrants' passports and book the flights on their behalf. The information comes from intelligence gathered by Fron- tex, the European border agency, and Italian and Maltese police debriefing sessions with rescued migrants. A report giving de- tails of this smuggling network was presented to the European Commission and made available to EU home affairs ministers last year. Eyebrows were raised over the past year on the sheer number of Bangladeshi migrants attempt- ing to cross from Libya to Italy in boats that often end up in dif- ficulty. On 12 March, one such boat capsized in bad weather around 177km northwest of Benghazi with 47 people on board. In the incident, 30 people went missing and 17 were rescued by the Italian coastguard after an in- itial attempt by a merchant vessel failed due to the bad weather. Information suggests that the majority of people on board were Bangladeshi nationals. The incident prompted Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri to raise the issue in parliament three days later. Camilleri spoke about the chartered flights op- erated by Cham Wings without giving much detail. He also in- formed the House that Malta wrote to the European Commis- sion to take action against the air- line, which was facilitating people smuggling. Cham Wings Cham Wings is owned by Syrian businessman Issam Shammout. The airline is part of his family business, the Shammout Group, which is active in the automotive, steel, aviation, freight forwarding, construction, and real estate sec- tors. On 20 July last year, the EU lifted sanctions against Cham Wings, after the company was blacklisted in December 2021 for its alleged role in ferrying mi- grants seeking to cross illegally into Poland from Belarus that summer. However, a day later the EU placed Shammout on its sanc- tions list, calling him a "leading business person operating in Syr- ia". Shammout is contesting the sanctions against him at the Eu- ropean Court of Justice. Cham Wings, which does not operate to EU countries, remains subject to US sanctions and pres- sure is building within the EU to follow suit. Flight to Benghazi and the police notebook Benghazi in eastern Libya is the only entry point by air used by criminal networks that adopt this method of transferring migrants. Eastern Libya is administered by the House of Representatives, a parliament not recognised by the international community, and General Khalifa Haftar and his forces. The intelligence suggests the air link to Benghazi is also used for Syrian nationals, although both nationalities are smuggled sep- arately. Given the nature of the flights, the migrants do not have assigned seating and according to information gathered from rescued people, the crew's behav- iour on the aircraft is not pleasant towards passengers. Once landed in Benghazi there are no proper border control checks. Libyan officers check the passports and register the names in "a notebook". The migrants are then assigned to their respec- tive smuggler, who takes them to the safe house. Some attempt the dangerous sea crossing from Libya's eastern shores, while others are trans- ferred to the western Libyan coast for the shorter but no less perilous sea voyage to Lampedu- sa. Sources privy to the smuggling network have told MaltaToday that once in Libya, Bangladeshi and Syrians are paying higher rates than other nationalities. "This is leading criminal groups to prefer Bangladeshi and Syrian migrants over other nationali- ties on the Libyan corridor," they said. Third most common nationality According to the UN's refugee arm, UNHCR, 24,647 Bangla- deshi people arrived in Europe, mostly Italy, since January 2021. They account for 15.2% of all ar- rivals in the Mediterranean, mak- ing them the third most common nationality. Between January and Febru- ary this year, Italy received 1,342 Bangladeshi migrants. Rescue operations in which Malta was involved saw the arrival of around 200 Bangladeshi people last year, most of whom were deported. Bangladeshi nationals are not entitled to international protec- tion and those that enter Italy or Malta through these illegal chan- nels are sent back to their coun- try. Yet hundreds opt for this riskier route rather than legal channels because it gives them quicker ac- cess to Europe. Some rescued migrants have reported that the whole jour- ney from the Bangladeshi capi- tal Dhaka to Italy could last five days, which pales into insignif- icance when compared to the lengthier process involved when going through the legal channels. Each smuggled person pays €1,500 and €500 'administration fee' to criminal organisations