"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"

Father God, thank you for the love of the truth you have given me. Please bless me with the wisdom, knowledge and discernment needed to always present the truth in an attitude of grace and love. Use this blog and Northwoods Ministries for your glory. Help us all to read and to study Your Word without preconceived notions, but rather, let scripture interpret scripture in the presence of the Holy Spirit. All praise to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Please note: All my writings and comments appear in bold italics in this colour
Showing posts with label Mediterranean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mediterranean. Show all posts

Monday, March 31, 2025

Migrants on the Move > 612 migrants rescued, 18 bodies recovered in Med; 6 migrants dead, 40 missing, 10 rescued off Lampedusa; 46% increase in English Channel migrants in 2 years

 

Tunisia rescues 612 migrants, recovers 18 bodies in overnight operations


Africa

Tunisia's national guard rescued 612 migrants and recovered 18 bodies off its Mediterranean coast, following multiple boat capsizings in the Sfax region. The rescued people, all from sub-Saharan African countries and including women and children, were attempting to reach Europe.



Tunisia's national guard said on Monday its forces had rescued 612 migrants and recovered the bodies of 18 others in several operations overnight off the country's Mediterranean coast.

Sharing images of some of those rescued, including women and children, after their boats capsized, the force said they were all migrants from sub-Saharan African countries attempting to cross the sea to Europe.

The survivors were rescued in several operations in the Sfax region to the east of the centre of the country after their boats capsized or broke down, according to the national guard.

Exhausted people including women and children, some of whom appear to be dead, can be seen in the images. Some are pictured clinging on to large buoys.

In another image, a woman struggles to hoist a child, his body rigid and apparently lifeless, aboard the rescue boat.

Maritime guard members "succeeded in thwarting several separate attempts to reach Europe clandestinely", the national guard said in a press release.

Along with LibyaTunisia has in recent years become a key departure point in North Africa for migrants making the perilous Mediterranean Sea crossing in hopes of reaching a better life in Europe.

Its coastline in some places lies fewer than 150 kilometres (90 miles) from the Italian island of Lampedusa, often their first port of call.

Each year, tens of thousands of people attempt to make the crossing.

Yes, and 2,000 to 3,000 die or disappear in the effort every year.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)





Italy: 6 illegal migrants dead, 40 missing in shipwreck off Lampedusa Island


EU open-door immigration advocates — from globalist leaders to people-smugglers — are to blame for the repeated drownings that happen as a result of the people-smugglers transporting mostly Muslim illegal migrants from African countries to Italy.

Illegals continue to make their way to Europe via Italy. Far too many Western countries have been lax about illegals from the Middle East and Africa for too long. Now these countries have only a slim chance to maintain their free societies into the future, given their own low birthrates. Consider that since 2015, over 2.39 million illegal Muslim migrants have reached Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea. And Muslim countries have high birth rates.

Even given the danger of crossing the Mediterranean in light of the six migrants who died and 40 more missing, in 2023 alone, over 2,000 people, including about 289 children, died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to get into the EU. In 2024, 2,200 died. But that hasn’t stopped them. In 2023, about 380,000 illegals arrived in the EU via the Mediterranean. Also, consider the tens of thousands that go missing or whom the EU lost track of.

“Migrants pay smugglers between 1,500 and 5,000 Tunisian dinars (roughly $500-$1,600) for a spot on the dangerous boats.” A PBS report in 2023 stated that “demand is still growing despite the risk, and not just for Italy,” but for Spain and Greece, too. The most generous EU countries for welfare benefits which encourage illegals are France, Finland, Belgium, Italy, Germany and Spain, in that order. As for Greece, it is an easy gateway to Western Europe, given its large coastline (the longest on the Mediterranean basin) and many islands.

A new EU migrant smuggling law came into effect three months ago, but it remains to be seen whether it will serve as a deterrent. Likely not, since the EU has never taken illegal migration seriously.



Six migrants die, 40 missing in shipwreck off Italy’s Lampedusa, UNHCR says

Reuters, March 19, 2025:


ROME, March 19 (Reuters)At least six migrants have died and 40 were missing after a shipwreck off the Italian island of Lampedusa, a spokesperson for the United Nations’ Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Wednesday.

The Italian coastguard said separately it intervened after being alerted to a rubber dinghy in distress on Tuesday, finding 10 survivors and six bodies. The coastguard said search and rescue efforts were continuing on Wednesday.

With bad weather making operations more difficult, the coastguard said it was being supported by aircraft supplied by the army and the police, as well as the European Union’s border agency Frontex.

A UNHCR spokesperson said survivors told rescuers that many among a group of 56 migrants – from Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Guinea and Mali – fell into the water due to bad weather a few hours after setting off from the Tunisian city of Sfax.

The rescued migrants were being assisted in Lampedusa by the UNHCR and its partner agency the International Rescue Committee (IRC), while the Italian Red Cross was providing psychological support, the spokesperson added….







UK: Illegal English Channel crossings soar to ‘record high’ despite repeated government promises to stop them


The UK government issued a statement in response to the boat crossings:

We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security. 

The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.

The Labour government made an election promise to stop these crossings. To the British electorate, this promise was apparently convincing. Yet nothing was done after elections, and nothing will be done by the lying Labour government. When the British public complains about the fallout from the UK’s suicidal immigration policy, they are deemed “racists,” “Islamophobes,” and far-right, dangerous radicals.

Leftist globalists are in support of open-door (unvetted) migration; and the dismantling of Western traditions, customs and freedoms, to replace them with totalitarianism.



Channel Crisis: Illegal Boat Migration Soars to Record High in Britain

by Kurt Zindulka, Breitbart, March 26, 2025:

Illegal migrant crossings of the English Channel are occurring at a record pace since the start of the year, despite the left-wing Labour government’s pledge to end the crisis.

In less than three months, over 5,000 illegal aliens have been recorded reaching British shores after crossing the Channel in small boats launched from the beaches of France.

According to an analysis from the BBC, the number of crossings since the start of the year is an all-time high for the time period since the government began tracking such numbers almost a decade ago.

It came as 241 aliens were brought ashore on Saturday, taking the total for the year to 5,512. In comparison, at the same time last year, 4,306 had illegally crossed the waterway. By March 22nd of 2023, 3,683 illegals had crossed the Channel, and in 2022, 3,836 reached Britain via the illegal migrant route.

The 28 per cent increase in illegal crossings over last year may cast further doubt on Prime Minsiter Sir Keir Starmer’s promise to end the crisis.…

It is actually a 46% increase over 2022-23. Doubt? Is that a joke, or what?


Sunday, March 9, 2025

Migrants on the Move > 64 Migrants rescued off Tunisia; Family of 4 rescued from the Canadian winter

 

Tunisia rescues 64 illegal Muslim migrants from capsizing boat off eastern Mediterranean coast


The boat was filled with illegals, heading to Italy, with many likely to go from there to other, more welfare-friendly destinations in the EU. Leftists routinely bemoan the safety of illegals, which is indeed a concern, but they ignore the illegal activity itself.

In 2024, 30,000 illegals arrived in Italy: 61% from Libya and 32% from Tunisia. Libya has a 97% Sunni population, while Tunisia is 98% Sunni. This is what the term “Muslim invasion” of the West refers to. It has been steady and persistent for over a decade, across the EU and the UK. Given Western birthrates, and its leftist leaders, the writing is on the wall for Europe.

Tunisia rescues 64 migrants from capsizing boat off eastern Mediterranean coast

by3+ Massinissa Benlakehal, Associated Press, March 2, 2025:

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Authorities in Tunisia say 64 migrants were rescued from a boat that capsized off the country’s eastern Mediterranean coast after running out of fuel.

The country’s national customs agency said in a statement that maritime patrols sent to the capsized vessel rescued 64 people of various nationalities off the coast of Mahdia on Friday evening. No deaths were reported.

“The rescued migrants were trying to illegally cross by boat towards the European space,” the customs agency said.

Initial findings of the investigation suggest that the migrants had set off from an unnamed neighbouring country, likely to be Libya.

The migrants were taken to the port of Chebba, 37 miles (60 kilometers) north of Sfax, for further investigation.

More than 30,000 migrants set sail from Libya and arrived in Italy in 2024, according to UNHCR. The UN refugee agency said 61% of those arriving in Italy by sea came from Libya, followed by 32% from Tunisia….




Which is more dangerous? Crossing the Mediterranean or walking into Canada in the winter?


Family with kids aged 1 and 2 found frozen trying to cross Canada-U.S. border


A family with two young children who collapsed with hypothermia were rescued in the forest overnight Thursday after trying to cross the border into Quebec between the U.S. and Canada.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said they received a call at 3:15 a.m. from Quebec provincial police alerting them that two adults and a one and two-year-old located around Havelock, Que., needed urgent rescue from the woods after walking for hours overnight and getting lost.

The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) had received a 911 call shortly before from the mother.

RCMP spokesperson Martina Pillarova told Global News that emergency services were able to locate the family by keeping them on the 911 call and tracking their coordinates via GPS.

“They stayed on the line while we tracked them. They were in an area with lots of trees, so no vehicle or skidoo could pass through. Officers got to them by 4:15 a.m. by foot by following their footsteps in the snow,” said Pillarova.

Authorities say the family was found under a tree. The parents had lost their shoes in a river, and the infant and toddler were not properly dressed for cold, harsh Canadian winter weather.

The two adults, whose ages the RCMP could not confirm, had collapsed and were holding the two children. They were unable to move and had hypothermia, the RCMP said.

The mother was transported out of the woods by sleigh, both children were carried by officers and the father managed to get on to a side-by-side vehicle that was able to get to them.

Emergency services from nearby towns Hemmingford, Que., and Mooers in upstate New York were waiting for them a kilometre away.

They were transported to hospital in Châteauguay, Que., to be treated for hypothermia and are expected to recover.

Pillarova said the family will likely ask for refugee status and their case will be transferred to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). She could not provide any further detail on their origins.