Libya Red Crescent

As many as 300 migrants are feared to have drowned earlier this week when the boat in which they were heading for Europe capsized off the Libyan coast, according to officials and news reports in several countries.

Libyan coastguards said they rescued more than 20 people from the vessel, but recovered only a similar number of bodies

Seven volunteers from the Tripoli branch of the Libyan Red Crescent Society (LRCS) were detailed to assist the authorities; others remained on standby late Tuesday.

Blankets, food and relief items from LRCS stocks were distributed to rescued migrants after they disembarked on the Tripoli quayside.

Libyan television showed a second boat carrying some 350 migrants arriving back in Tripoli after it broke down offshore and was taken in tow.

Reports say two other migrant boats left Libya over the weekend, probably heading for Italy, but they have not yet been located.

Trans-Mediterranean

Although the capsized vessel was caught in bad weather, the arrival of spring in the northern hemisphere and calmer seas have historically seen an upsurge in the number of boat migrants in the Mediterranean region. Most try to reach Italy and Spain from North Africa, or the Spanish Canary Islands from north-west African countries like Senegal and Mauritania.

But some observers say there has been less of a winter lull this year amidst the global economic crisis.

Libya, which has long land borders with its neighbours, is regarded as a “transit country” for many thousands of African migrants seeking to reach Europe.

After this week’s disaster, LRCS Secretary General Solayman Elegmary reaffirmed his “concern at the increasing vulnerability of migrants, who in most cases are fleeing poverty and violence, and the dangers they face trying to reach Europe.”

Elegmary called for an “integrated global and trans-Mediterranean approach to migration issues, involving both Europe and Africa”.

Hypothermia

In the Canary islands most recently, a boat carrying more than 60 Africans landed safely at La Tejita beach, Tenerife, on Sunday. Two people were treated for hypothermia, but the others were said to be in good health.

Irregular migration has also confronted the Spanish Red Cross Society (SRCS) with one of its greatest peacetime humanitarian challenges, and it established a national standard for the work at the start of this decade.

The SRCS benefited from the experience of patrolling some 450 tourist beaches every summer and its volunteers in the Canary Islands know the archipelago’s coastal geography intimately. Working with the coastguard, they are often the first to meet boat migrants when they make landfall.

“It’s clear the number of arrivals is on the increase in the period between May and October due to fine weather and calm seas,” according to Juan Antonio Corujo, who is responsible for the SRCS National Emergency Unit on the Canary Islands.

“Our response services are now on standby. We can activate a rapid response within a twenty-minute time frame and we can quickly address a number of potentially deadly situations encountered by migrants.”

The Spanish government said earlier this year the number of migrants reaching the Canary Islands dropped to 9,181 in 2008, from 12,478 in 2007 and 31,678 in 2006.

Boat migrants arriving on the Italian island of Lampedusa, by contrast, which is closer to North Africa than Sicily, nearly tripled in 2008, according to the International Organization for Migration – up to some 31,000 last year from 12,000 the year before.

There is still not even an approximate figure for the number of migrants who have died in the attempt to reach Europe illegally by sea – no government or agency is collating data on deaths at sea and in the Sahara to produce a total for the entire region.

Experts who have studied the history of such migration, however, believe the death toll must be in the tens of thousands.

Vulnerable, misinformed

“This tragedy highlights the reason why work with migrants in transit countries is a priority for the International Federation,” said Thomas Linde, the IFRC secretary general’s special representative on migration.

“These migrants tend to be particularly vulnerable and often are misinformed about the risks inherent in the sea crossing.

“Whether to migrate or not is a personal decision, but sensitizing potential migrants about the risks can prevent human suffering.”

An authoritative report several years ago by the Migration Policy Institute said nearly 2,000 people were estimated to have died in 2004 alone attempting to cross from North Africa to Italy, mainly Lampedusa.

This, in all likelihood, was the route the Libyan boats that sank in the past 48 hours were attempting.

The UN high commissioner for refugees, António Guterres, on Tuesday expressed “great sorrow at the tragic loss of life”, describing the incident off Libya as the latest example of a global phenomenon in which desperate people take desperate measures to escape conflict, persecution and poverty.

“In today’s globalized world,” said Guterres, “money moves freely, goods tend to move more and more freely, but the obstacles to the movement of people are still in place and, to a certain extent, increasing.”

1 April 2009  By Alex Wynter

Source : International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

Nothing distinguishes five-year-old Yousuf from the other children kicking the ball at lunchtime in the playground of Al-Ouruba kindergarten. That evening, he is still kicking the ball, this time with a much older audience, mostly Red Crescent staff and volunteers at a gathering organized by the Libya Red Crescent Society (LRCS). Yousuf is one of 417 Libyan children living with HIV/AIDS.

These children are not the only ones suffering from the disease. Ministry of health data in five North Africa countries, Algeria, Tunis, Morocco, Libya and Egypt, shows that cases are on the rise and that the disease is creeping slowly but steadily in an area that seemed immune to it some years back due to conservative sexual traditions and cultural and religious restrictions on premarital sex.

Officially, the main cause of infection is injected drug use. But other reasons such as blood transfusion and commercial sex seem to play a part in this steady increase as societies in the region continue to open up socially and economically.

So far, few countries have taken the matter seriously, limiting their ability to wage a successful battle against this most devastating disease. A combination of cultural taboos on sex education, reproductive health, use of protective measures and denial are some factors behind this trend.

But within this dark scene of HIV/AIDS in the region, one can detect some significant pools of light. Parents of the Libyan children have established an NGO to deal with the issue, gather support and, most importantly, to dispel the stigma and fight discrimination levelled against their innocent children. « My kid did not do anything wrong, » says Akram, 35, secretary of the Association to Care for Infected Children. « He was being treated at a hospital and was only one and a half years old when he was infected. » Stigma is such a delicate issue and a source of fear that parents did not include the words HIV/AIDS in the name of their NGO. « The kids stayed in Italy for nine months, » Akram says. « They were treated like all other children, but they were able to feel the difference upon their return to Libya. »

The Association to Care for Infected Children found a very solid and supportive ally in the Libyan Red Crescent, which has been in the forefront to support the children and their families. This support culminated last month in the convening of a workshop in Benghazi, Libya to train trainers on combating HIV/AIDS. Sponsored by the Libyan Red Crescent and the Federation’s Amman Regional Delegation, the meeting hosted more than 30 participants from Libya, Egypt, Morocco, Tunis and Algeria.

The first of its kind for Red Crescent Societies in North Africa, the workshop revealed a positive development – National Societies in North Africa are fully aware of the disastrous consequences the disease might have in the region and are doing something about it. They feel that the time to stop the disease is now. And they are willing to assume a leading role in combating HIV/AIDS in their respective countries before the situation slides out of control.

« Infection rates in Algeria are alarming, » says Dr. Jamal Abdulnour, head of the health/AIDS department of the Algerian Red Crescent. « Infection percentages are as high as Tunis and Morocco combined. » WHO and UNAIDS estimate that there are 440,000 cases of HIV/AIDS in the Middle East and North Africa – a far cry from official government estimates that run only in the hundreds.

These alarming estimates and the plight of children like Yousuf are wake up calls for the region to start addressing the situation with open minds. In this context, participants in the Libya workshop decided that they would share knowledge on HIV/AIDS with their volunteers through intensive training courses. Volunteers will form an arrowhead to penetrate taboos and cultural resistance to dissemination of prevention methods to their peers. Hence, youth to youth education and raising awareness will be major contributions of Red Crescent volunteers to national prevention programmes in their respective countries.

Akram spoke to participants at the workshop, which also featured presentations by Libyan HIV-positive children. The youngsters showed an extremely positive attitude regarding their daily experiences and stigma. « I have many friends who know that I am HIV-positive and this does not stop them from being my friends, but sometimes this is a problem with people I do not know, » said a 15-year-old participant. « My friends and I play football together and we talk about my infection in order to dispel a lot of misunderstandings about HIV/AIDS. »

Such positive attitudes by children living with HIV/AIDS are not matched by similar public understanding. « Stigma results from ignorance about the nature of the disease, » said Leena Al-Hadid, a young trainer from the Jordan Red Crescent involved in the workshop. « Much more can be done to educate people on the disease, particularly on methods of transmission, to eliminate many wrong ideas about HIV/AIDS and change people’s perception of it. »

This is the second workshop of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It comes on the heels of a similar workshop held in Damascus last December. The two meetings are stepping stones on a long way to bring the fight against HIV/AIDS to the fore in the region.

On 8 May, World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, the Federation began a two year, worldwide campaign to fight stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS under the slogan, The Truth About AIDS. PASS IT ON… In an indication that taboos on HIV/AIDS are crumbling, a number of Red Crescent Societies in the MENA region, such as Iran, Jordan, Tunis, Morocco and Algeria launched activities, held press conferences and celebrations to highlight the campaign.

Among all the countries in the region, Iran has been playing a leading and open-minded role in the fight against AIDS. In Kirmanshah province, where many drug users have contracted the disease, the ministry of health has been providing treatment and clean needles to stop the spread of the disease. The Iran Red Crescent organizes awareness-raising activities among school and university youth and counselling sessions at some of its clinics.

Participants at the Benghazi workshop, which was opened by Solayman Eleghmary, secretary general of the Libyan Red Crescent, and Christer Aqvist, head of the Federation’s regional delegation in Amman, decided that learning through play and other interactive participatory approaches is useful in disseminating knowledge about the disease. Hence, card games and the Fleet of Hope, a Federation designed game, are being adapted to fit the cultural context of the region. The Arabic version will feature North African men, women and children in their national dress in order to bring the reality of HIV/AIDS closer to the minds of people in the region. This will be later adapted to fit each sub-region in MENA.

« HIV/AIDS is here and we have to deal with it, » says Dr. Omran Fituri, head of the Libyan Blood Bank and member of the National Committee for the Prevention of AIDS. « The situation can still be brought under control. Our task is to make sure that it does not turn into a disaster like in many other parts of the world. »

Source : International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)