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MW 9 September 2015

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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 SEptEmbEr 2015 7 News āċŏ0.101.(ŏ!,%./ŏ* ŏ!"1.%/$)!*0ŏ+.'/ŏ+"ŏ(+'ŏĂČŏ(0/ŏăĂŏĒŏăăČŏ0ċŏ1(Ě/ŏ $1.$ŏ.!Čŏ+/,%1ŏ%*ŏ*ŏ*2%.+*)!*0((5ŏ.%!* (5ŏ**!.ŏĨ!"ċŏŏĂćĥĂĀāąĩċŏŏ Ăċŏ+*/0.10%+*Čŏ!.2%!/ŏĒŏ%*%/$%*#ŏ+.'/ŏ0ŏĂĊČŏ.%-ŏ +$**5ŏ0*%Čŏ/% ŏ%*ŏ*ŏ *2%.+*)!*0((5ŏ.%!* (5ŏ**!.ŏĨ!"ċŏŏĂăĥĂĀāąĩċŏ û!./ŏ(+/!ŏ+*ŏĂĊ0$ŏ!,0!)!.ŏĂĀāĆČŏ0ŏĀĊċăĀ$./ċ (!/!ŏ!//ŏ0$!ŏ!ġ0!* !./ŏ".+)ŏ333ċ!0!* !./ċ#+2ċ)0ċ ŏ ŏŏĂŏŏ least 133 Syrian refugees Saving Syrians The civil war in Syria has been going on since 2011, leading to some four million Syrian refugees f leeing to neighbouring Turkey (1.8 million), Lebanon (1.17 mil- lion), Jordan (629,000), Egypt and Iraq. According to UNHCR, 52% of Syrian refugees are less than 18 years old. According to the refugee agen- cy, around 53,000 Syrians arrived in Southern Europe by June 2015. 5,300 new asylum applications were registered from Syrians in Southern Europe, over three times more than the same period of 2014. The majority of arrivals were in Greece, rising to 44,709 com- pared to the 6,363 last year. During the first six months of this year, 784 individuals arrived to Malta, 94 by boat and 690 via regular means. 77 of those who came regularly were Syrians. 251 who applied for asylum in 2014 came via regular means. According to UNHCR, 78 Syr- ians applied for asylum in Malta in 2015, some 10% of the total ap- plications. By June, there were 81 decisions on Syrians: two were granted ref- ugee status, 74 received subsidi- ary protection, four cases were closed and one was rejected. Rec- ognition rate of Syrian applicants in 2014 stood at 98.5%. A deadly month The International Organisa- tion for Migration confirmed that September continues to be a deadly month in the Mediter- ranean. IOM's Missing Migrants Project recorded 58 new fatalities at sea in just the first four days of the month. One was of an infant in Greek waters; two more deaths were reported in the Western Mediterranean near the Straits of Gibraltar, and the remainder be- tween North Africa and Sicily, off the coast of Libya. IOM pegs total deaths of mi- grants bound for Europe by sea today at 2,760, or over 500 more than were recorded on those same routes at this time in 2014. Flavio di Giacomo of IOM Italy reported Sunday that 107 mi- grants were brought to Lampedu- sa on two Italian coastguard ships. Witnesses explained the survi- vors were on a rubber dinghy on a rough sea. Of the 107 migrants rescued, almost all came from Sub-Saharan Africa, including 41 women from Nigeria. Apparently the smuggler pilot- ing the vessel was not experi- enced. Survivors said he made a wrong manoeuvre and a wave threw into the water those who were on the bow. Migrants told IOM staff that people on board begged to go back to rescue those f loundering, but the smuggler re- fused. On Monday the Italian navy re- ported that its salvage operations continued to recover bodies from a shipwreck that occurred on 18 April. Italian navy vessels have now recovered 118 bodies found in the fishing boat that found- ered off the Libyan coast. The vessels "Turmoil" and "Termite" are said to be bringing 60 newly- recovered corpses to the port of Augusta this week. On the Greek island of Lesvos, an unprecedented number of new arrivals have contributed to growing difficulties. According to IOM staff in the island, over 12,000 migrants reached the is- land between September 1 and 5. It is estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 migrants on the island remain unregistered. A new-born Syrian baby boy was found dead early on Satur- day after his parents reached the steep shores of the Greek island of Agathonisi in a boat from Turkey. Due to the weather conditions, the boat crashed onto the rocks and overturned. The survivors were transferred to Agathonisi island, while the infant's family was moved to Samos for medical treatment. mdalli@mediatoday.com.mt Inspirational tour Having cleared the entire dis- tance of England and Wales, 50- year-old Hilary Galea-Lauri, a partner at KPMG, has now start- ed the last leg of his cycling chal- lenge in Scotland. Hilary is cycling the traversal of the whole length of Great Britain (covering some 1,600 kilometers in no less than 12 days) between its two extremities – in the south- west (Lands End) and northeast (John O'Groats) – raising money for Inspire Foundation which, to date, has exceeded €8,000 of the €10,000 target he set. His trip so far has seen him scale altitudes of some 7,000 feet on any one day with gradients as high as 16%, besides navigating through difficult terrain. He has had to overcome daily obstacles in addition to facing the chal- lenge itself. In his own words: "One never knows what the day ahead will bring with it. After all, a challenge of this sort is an outdoor activity with the elements at times work- ing against you. It requires, above all, a resolute mindset to do what one needs to do to get through the day, rest the night and set off the next morning with no rest days." Despite the heavier fatigue he is now starting to experience as a result of long consecutive days on the saddle, his perseverance continues to prevail. He appeals for everyone's generosity to help him help Inspire and, in particu- lar, raise at least another €1,500 which will then see him mark the target funds he aims to collect by way of donations towards In- spire's beneficiaries. Donations to support Hilary and ultimately Inspire can be made online via www.inspire.org.mt or by sending an SMS with 'Hilary' in the text to 50618926 (€6.99) or 50619215 (€11.65). Gharb man, 77, crashes car into wall AN elderly motor- ist lost control of his car in Zabbar in an accident yesterday at 3:45pm, leaving his passenger in a critical condition. The accident hap- pened on Triq Villa Abate in Zabbar. Police said the Gharb motorist, 77, lost con- trol of his car, a Toyota Argo, and kept veering right into a wall. In his car was a female passen- ger, also aged 77. The couple were hospi- talised at Mater Dei Hos- pital, where the woman was certified to be in a critical state but the health of the motorist is so far unknown. Magistrate J. Demicoli is leading investigations with Zabbar district po- lice.

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