Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/460957
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 11 FEBRUARY 2015 8 News Syria, Iraq, Boko Haram and Libya keep pushing refugees north Autobuses de Leon contract to be published in 'due time' Transport Minister Joe Mizzi in lengthy reply to parliamentary question on tabling of new public transport service contract MARTINA BORG THE contract signed between the new public transport service pro- vider, Autobuses de Leon, and the government will be published in "due time", Transport Minister Joe Mizzi informed parliament. He was replying to a question raised by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi, who asked when the contract would be tabled. But Azzopardi received more than just a brief reply – as is usually the case in answer to written PQs – in this case Mizzi indulged in a two-page answer. The transport minister said that the contract would be tabled "once the public receives the information it needs, without the Opposition's interference". Mizzi accused the PN of wanting to confuse the people and reassured the MP that the Labour government would not take 11 months to publish it, "as the previous government did with the Arriva contract". The minister said that the Arriva contract was signed on 20 Novem- ber 2010 and was tabled in parlia- ment on 3 October, 2011. Parts of it were never published. He said that an "extensive inform- ative campaign" would be launched in March: "As opposed to the previ- ous administration, we want to do things properly. Instead of allowing the Opposition to cast doubts, let us not forget that we are here today be- cause of Arriva's dire financial situ- ation." The transport minister said Arriva had asked for a further €45 million in subsidies in order to introduce new routes, while Autobuses de Le- on will be receiving €29 million to operate the same routes. He said that while Arriva wanted to liquidate its Maltese company, the government intervened and the Malta Public Transport Services Ltd was set up, saving workers' jobs while offering commuters a reliable operation. Mizzi claimed that contrary to statements by the Opposition, there had been an increase in bus patron- age. Mizzi also insisted that there was a drastic drop in complaints filed with the company, and de- nied that the company had stopped some night routes – these had been stopped before under Arriva, he said. He criticized the Opposition for attacking the Spanish company Au- tobuses de Leon unjustly, calling it "provincial" and saying that it would employ very few people, with em- ployees being Spanish rather than Maltese. "Not only is this untrue as Maltese employees were not fired from their positions, but calls for more workers are currently being issued," Mizzi added. He said the Opposition had hin- dered proceedings when the con- tract between Autobuses de Leon and UBS had not been extended due to a disagreement between the com- panies. "The Spanish company made ar- rangements to ensure that services could resume without causing an inconvenience to passengers. The Opposition, through its media, tried to give the impression that mini- buses were being used rather than coaches, whereas these mini-buses had been in use for a long time. "The company has confirmed that it is carrying out inspections of the everyday situation and that no prob- lems have yet been reported. In the meantime, more low-floor buses are currently arriving, and these are be- ing added to the existing fleet." Mizzi also accused the Opposi- tion of using disabled people as a political football, having ignored the fact that Arriva itself endorsed a policy forbidding scooters on buses. "KNPD and Transport Malta have followed my initiative, organized a series of tests for motorized wheel- chairs and mobility scooters. The tests were carried out both on the new buses supplied by Malta Pub- lic Transport and buses which have been in service for four years." Mizzi added that the results of the test showed that motorized wheel- chairs could be used on the buses with ease, whereas mobility scooters could not be used on the vehicles. However, some mobility scooters, including those having three wheels could be used on the buses. KNPD and Transport Malta have therefore said that they will issue stickers to identify mobility scooters that can use buses from those that cannot. 29 sub-Saharan Africans died of hypothermia in severe winter con- ditions on Monday, in a tragedy marking an ominous and early start for 2015 to the Mediterrane- an "human smuggling season". The victims were members of a group of 105 immigrants picked up by the Italian Coast Guard off Lampedusa. "What happened shows the ne- cessity of life-saving operations in the Mediterranean," said William Lacy Swing, Director General of the International Organisation for Migration. "Bigger ships, like those used in the Mare Nostrum operation, could have easily res- cued these migrants." Italy's Mare Nostrum was killed off last year, replaced by an EU operation, Triton, which does not match it. The migrants had been saved by Italian patrol boats which could not accommodate them all below decks and the hypothermia set in because of the long time it took for the craft to make land. The UN refugee agency on Tues- day called on the European Union to beef up search and rescue ca- pacity in the Mediterranean. UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said UNHCR was both deeply saddened by the news, and concerned about the manner of the deaths – "all but seven of which appear to have occurred on board the rescue vessel, with people dy- ing of hypothermia," he said. "While we applaud all involved in the rescue effort – which took place in high seas and poor weath- er conditions and resulted in 106 lives being saved – this is an exam- ple of why it was felt important in October 2013, following tragedies that occurred then, to underline the need for a much more effec- tive and improved rescue capac- ity in the Mediterranean to cope with the scale of the problem," he added. The boat was intercepted 100 miles off the Italian coast, in inter- national waters, an area where the European Union's Triton border protection force does not operate, with all rescue operations in the area therefore being carried out by the Italian Coast Guard. Significantly higher crossings Edwards said that the number of refugees and migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean on smug- glers' boats in the first few weeks of this year was "significantly higher" compared to the same period last year. In January alone, 3,528 arrivals were reported in Italy, compared to 2,171 in January last year. Including the lives lost on Monday, 50 deaths have been recorded compared to 12 by this point last year. "Additionally worrying is that, with Monday's incident, there are indications that more people were attempting to reach Italy last night. As well as the dinghy carrying over 100 people, nine other peo- ple were recovered from two other near-empty dinghies [off Libya]. The fate of the others believed to have been aboard these boats is not known," Edwards said. Although the 3,528 migrants crossing the Med last month rep- resented a drop from the number of arrivals registered in Decem- ber (6,732), IOM officials in Rome note that these figures are very unusual for the month of January. Last year, during the same period, migrant arrivals were 2,171, while in 2013 they were just 217. These deaths, along with nearly 200 others in waters off Africa, Turkey, Cuba and the Arabian Pe- ninsula mark one of the deadliest beginnings of any year in recent times, in terms of worldwide fa- talities of migrants. By comparison, IOM reported just 41 deaths at this point in 2014 – a year when over 5,000 migrants perished worldwide. January and February traditionally are slow months on migrant routes, which grow more active as spring, and calmer seas, approach. Syrians escaping through Libya The weather conditions were extremely difficult – Sea Force 7 with 25 foot waves – when two small units of the Coast Guard ap- proached the migrants' inf latable. Many of the migrants, all of them African, were in extremely poor physical condition, due to exhaus- tion and exposure, and died soon after being picked up. The survivors were transferred to the Italian island of Lampedusa, where they are receiving medical treatment. IOM staff are now also on the island to provide assist- ance. Last month Libya – where unrest and political instability are ram- pant – was the main departure point. The main country of origin of the migrants is still Syria (764), followed by Gambia (451), Mali (436), Senegal (428), Somalia (405) and Eritrea (171). While many Syrians arrived at the beginning of January from Tur- key on the cargo ship "Ezadeen", many others arrived from Libya as well. According to testimonies gathered by IOM officials, many Syrians travel to Libya through Sudan, which they reach by plane from Turkey. The route through Algeria – pre- viously used as one of the main transit countries to Libya – is not available any more, after the Al- gerian authorities imposed a visa requirement on all Syrians trying to enter the country. The route by sea from Turkey has also apparently been stopped. In January, the few cargo ships that tried to leave for Europe were blocked by the Turkish authorities after their departure. Many Syrians are therefore stuck in the southern Turkish port of Mersin waiting to embark to Italy, while some reports suggest that an increasing number of Syrians are now trying to reach Europe through Greece. "The wars and the difficult geo- political conditions in the region suggest that we can expect the f low of migrants and asylum seek- ers to continue for some time," said Federico Soda, IOM Chief of Mission in Italy. "The boat arrivals in Europe are the result of many deteriorating situations, including the Syrian War, the Libyan crisis, the pres- ence of Boko Haram in Nigeria and the crisis in Iraq. "What happened on Monday," he added, "is further proof that sea crossings may be fatal. The Ital- ian Coast Guard carried out a very brave rescue operation, far from the Italian coast, in rough seas. Unfortunately their vessels were too small to provide the necessary emergency assistance on board to people who were rescued in very bad physical condition, some bare- ly alive." Soda insisted Europe must "be ready to assist those who are risk- ing their lives at sea, by expanding the geographical limit of action of the EU's Triton operation, and to find possible alternatives to those migrants who do not have any choice but to leave their country. "This last tragedy proves how important Mare Nostrum was as a life-saving operation. The Medi- terranean must be patrolled with the necessary means and resourc- es for both security and rescue-at- sea operations, and Europe should react in a more efficient and better resourced way to such a humani- tarian emergency," he added. Migrants die of hypothermia off Lampedusa in desperate crossing A 54-year-old Yazidi woman tells UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie of her ordeal after being kidnapped by militants in northern Iraq. She was recently released with other older women, but her daughter is still being held. The woman's husband died in the Iran-Iraq war 34 years ago. UNHCR / A. McConnell