US war ship picks up 40 migrants off coast of
Libya, now what? by Ann Corcoran
6/16/18.
Could the illegal aliens be brought to the US? Overshadowed
by the huge controversy surrounding the rescue boat ‘Aquarius’ this past week, is the news that a
US naval vessel has picked up 40 migrants off the coast of Libya, and as of
this writing is stuck with them.
Other
so-called ‘rescue boats’ won’t take them fearing that they will be blocked from
landing in nearby European ports.
The
most detailed story I could find is at The
Daily Beast from two days ago: Migrants Are Stranded
on a U.S. Warship With Nowhere to Go
ROME—There is a perfect Italian word for the situation the American
warship USNS Trenton finds itself in right now. Intrappolata. It means
trapped, entangled and ensnared in a situation that is is going to prove very
tricky to get out of.
On Tuesday, the Trenton, a Spearhead-class high-speed transport that is
part of ongoing 6th Fleet military operations off the coast of Libya, came upon
a migrant boat in distress and disintegrating. People were in the water. Several
corpses were floating nearby. The Trenton called for help and, along with the German
non-governmental organization Sea Watch whose ship was patrolling nearby, the
American crew carried out the rescue of 40 African migrants and observed what
appeared to be 12 people in the water who had died. The living are all on the American ship. The anonymous dead were left to the
mercy of the elements.
“On
June 12, 2018 USNS Trenton, in accordance with its obligations under
international law, rendered assistance to mariners in distress that it
encountered while conducting routine operations in the Mediterranean Sea,” the
Sixth Fleet said in an earlier statement. “Forty people have been recovered and are being
provided food, water, and medical care on board Trenton. U.S. authorities are
coordinating with our international partners to determine their ultimate
disposition.”
A better word than “coordinating” would be “negotiating,” because right
now political and diplomatic confusion reigns over the lives of people trying to
make the incredibly dangerous voyage from North Africa to southern Europe.
On
Wednesday, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini made it very clear that
Italy’s ports would remain closed to all but Italian-flagged ships if they
carry rescued migrants. The
political wrangling puts the Trenton in a particularly problematic situation. The German-flagged NGO that helped
with the rescue is worried that if it agrees to take the migrants off the
Americans’ hands, it could end up in a standoff like the Aquarius.
Ahhhhh! Send them to America? The U.S. warship certainly doesn’t want
to pull out of military exercises to bring the Africans all the way to Italy.
It could hand them to the Libyan Coast Guard, but that’s not a “safe harbor” as
mandated by maritime law. Or, since the Americans are the ones who rescued the
migrants, they could send them to the United States. Under current
circumstances, that seems unlikely.
Much more
here. See my complete ‘Invasion of
Europe’ archive. We
are reminded again that the invasion of Europe will impact America!
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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