{"id":323067,"date":"2017-08-24T18:04:39","date_gmt":"2017-08-24T17:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/uk-plan-to-block-libya-migrants-like-treating-virus-with-painkillers-sea-rescue-charity-tells-rt\/"},"modified":"2017-08-24T18:04:39","modified_gmt":"2017-08-24T17:04:39","slug":"uk-plan-to-block-libya-migrants-like-treating-virus-with-painkillers-sea-rescue-charity-tells-rt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/uk-plan-to-block-libya-migrants-like-treating-virus-with-painkillers-sea-rescue-charity-tells-rt\/","title":{"rendered":"UK plan to block Libya migrants like \u2018treating virus with painkillers,\u2019 sea rescue charity tells RT"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.com\/files\/2017.08\/thumbnail\/599ef978dda4c8ac3f8b4567.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>        Boris Johnson\u2019s pledge to help Libya stem the flow of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean into Europe \u201cfalls short of being humane,\u201d a leading Italian sea rescue group has told RT.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The foreign secretary announced on Tuesday while on a visit to Tripoli that he would pledge \u00a39 million (US$11.5 million) to support the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) in<em> \u201creducing the number of illegal migrants heading for Europe.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Libya has been in crisis ever since the UK-backed ousting of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, which left the country divided between two opposing factions.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cLibya is the front line for many challenges which, left unchecked, can pose problems for us in the UK \u2013 particularly illegal migration and the threat from terrorism,\u201d<\/em> Johnson said.<\/p>\n<p>Besides encouraging an unspecified<em> \u201cpolitical process,\u201d<\/em> the UK government will also help on a practical level by ensuring the Libyan coastguard can<em> \u201csecure their own borders, reducing the number of illegal migrants heading for Europe.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The announcement, however, has been met with widespread opposition amid claims it will merely trap refugees in a warzone.<\/p>\n<p>According to the UN, people in Libya risk the horror of being sold as slaves, raped and tortured at the hands of human traffickers, meaning that any attempt to return them to the country when spotted in international waters is a violation of international law.<\/p>\n<p>Up to half a million children are currently residing in camps in northern Libya.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jmzXpDYhOPw\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Migrant rescue organization \u2018Il Corpo Italiano di Soccorso dell&#8217;Ordine di Malta\u2019 (C.I.S.O.M), or the \u2018Knights of Malta\u2019 in English, hit out at Johnson\u2019s pledge, arguing it would do little to stop the hundreds of thousands of migrants attempting to reach the EU.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to RT, Director Mauro Casinghini compared the UK approach to<em> \u201ctrying to cure a virus with paracetamol.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The exodus of people from the North African state is <em>\u201conly the final part of the problem,\u201d<\/em> he argued, suggesting the UK should instead seek to eradicate the crisis at its roots.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cLike when there is a water leakage, there is no point covering it with clothes and paper \u2026 what you have to do is find where the leak is coming from,\u201d<\/em> Casinghini said.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of blocking refugees inside a warzone, Casinghini said a better solution would be to direct aid funds to Libya\u2019s southern border to support migrants transiting there through Africa.<\/p>\n<p>Saying the country has become the site of a grave <em>\u201chumanitarian crisis,\u201d<\/em> the C.I.S.O.M director said responsibility for managing the biggest migrant crisis since World War Two should not be shouldered by one country alone, and that all EU nations must support the effort.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cOnly through the power of collaboration, integration and hospitality may the problem be resolved,\u201d<\/em> Casinghini said.<\/p>\n<p>C.I.S.O.M spokesperson Letizia di Tommaso also blasted the proposal, saying it amounts to a <em>\u201cmoral abjection.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cBlocking refugees rather than helping them falls short of being humane,\u201d<\/em> Di Tommaso added.<\/p>\n<p>Up to 915,000 refugees have been saved from drowning in the Mediterranean in the past 25 years thanks to operations led by the Italian coastguard.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ClaireGilbodyD?lang=en\">By Claire Gilbody-Dickerson, RT<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/uk\/400787-refugees-libya-italian-rescue\/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=RSS\">RT<\/a>. This piece was reprinted by <a href=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\">RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission or license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Boris Johnson\u2019s pledge to help Libya stem the flow of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean into Europe \u201cfalls short of being humane,\u201d a leading Italian sea rescue group has told RT. The foreign secretary announced on Tuesday while on a visit to Tripoli that he would pledge \u00a39 million (US$11.5 million) to support the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":323068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-323067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}