(ANSAMed) - PALERMO, JULY 6 - Activists from Boats4People, an
international network of refugee associations, today called for
sensitivity training of sailors on helping people in distress at
sea, and for denouncing migrant rights abuses by states, NATO,
and the EU Frontex Program in court.
The activists spoke at a press conference aboard the
Holofernes, a schooner which left from the ARCI anti-racist
meeting at Cecina Mare (Leghorn) and is traveling to Monastir,
in Tunisia, where preparations for the 2013 Social Forum are
underway.
The objective is to call attention to the plight of Mediterranean boat people, their deaths at sea and the abuses of human rights carried out in the name of anti-immigration. The Holofernes is carrying two videomakers, two Italian journalists, the Tunisian representative of families lost at sea, Karouk Ben Libha, and three international activists, led by Captain Marco Tibiletti. ''We came up with the project a year ago, after the war in Libya and the massive exodus from neighboring countries,'' Boats4People coordinator, Nicanor Haon, explained. ''We chose Palermo because it has always been a symbol of openness and multiculturalism. Also because there are still hundreds of migrant detainees in Sicily, while the Cap Anamur and Tunisian crews who rescued them are being criminalized.'' (ANSAMed).
The objective is to call attention to the plight of Mediterranean boat people, their deaths at sea and the abuses of human rights carried out in the name of anti-immigration. The Holofernes is carrying two videomakers, two Italian journalists, the Tunisian representative of families lost at sea, Karouk Ben Libha, and three international activists, led by Captain Marco Tibiletti. ''We came up with the project a year ago, after the war in Libya and the massive exodus from neighboring countries,'' Boats4People coordinator, Nicanor Haon, explained. ''We chose Palermo because it has always been a symbol of openness and multiculturalism. Also because there are still hundreds of migrant detainees in Sicily, while the Cap Anamur and Tunisian crews who rescued them are being criminalized.'' (ANSAMed).
