News

11, January 2018

Armed robbers steal millions from Ritz Paris hotel ⁰

Axe-wielding robbers stole jewelry on Wednesday possibly worth more than $5 million from a store in the famed Ritz Paris hotel, police said.

Five thieves carried out the heist at the luxury hotel in late afternoon. Three were arrested while two others got away. There were no injuries.

“The loss is very high and remains to be assessed,” one police source said. Another put the figure at 4.5 million euros ($5.38 million), but said that a bag had been recovered possibly containing some of the loot.

The hotel first opened in 1898 and was the first Paris hotel to boast electricity on all floors and bathrooms that were inside rooms.

A picture shows the facade of the Ritz luxury hotel in Paris on January 10, 2018, after an armed robbery. (By AFP)

Armed heists targeting jewelry stores are not uncommon in the ultra-chic avenues near Place Vendome in central Paris where the Ritz is located.

Place Vendome, with its opulent window displays of jewelers and high-end watchmakers, has been the scene of several audacious daytime raids.

Security had been boosted in the area, which also houses France’s Justice Ministry, in 2014 after several daring armed raids on Place Vendome in which jewels worth between 420,000 and two million euros were seized.

The landmark Paris Ritz hotel re-opened its palatial doors to guests in 2016 after nearly four years of renovations and a major fire.

The hotel founded by Swiss entrepreneur Cesar Ritz in 1898 is storied as the lodging of choice of Marcel Proust, Charlie Chaplin, Coco Chanel and Ernest Hemingway, who has a small bar named after him.

In more recent history however, the Ritz has become known as the place where Britain’s Princess Diana spent her last hours before a car accident in a tunnel in the French capital while being pursued by paparazzi.

(Source: Agencies)

10, January 2018

Ambazonia: Banks, travel agencies and shops are closed in Bamenda ⁰

Cameroon’s English-speaking regions are observing a three-day “dead city” protest against the arrest of a number of separatist leaders in Nigeria last week, local media reported.

At least 10 Cameroonian separatists, among them leader Julius Tabe, were arrested in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, the activists said in a statement on Sunday.

In protest of the move, the English-speaking separatists urged the population to stay at home from Monday through Wednesday.

“For fear of reprisals, we remained at home. Everything is calm on the streets … Banks, travel agencies and shops are closed. Only security forces are patrolling the streets,” Musa Abu, a Bamenda resident told Anadolu Agency late Monday.

The strike also affected the reopening of schools that had been scheduled for Monday, Jan. 8.

“The school was opened early in the morning, but the students did not come. We were forced to close it, otherwise the building would have been burned by activists,” Tatou Godlove, the principal of the Bafut High School in the Northwest Region said.

Ayaba Acho, the so-called defense minister of the self-proclaimed Republic of Ambazonia, said Nigeria should not extradite “our leaders” to Cameroon, because they “are not” Cameroonians.

“They are Ambazonians,” he said referring to the Northwest and Southwest Regions. “We are in the process of increasing contacts with the Federal Government of Nigeria for their release”.

The government has also shut down the Internet in the two English-speaking regions in the Central African state.

Protests have been going on for more than a year in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions. The Anglophone minority say they are being marginalized by the Francophone majority.

The protesters are calling for a return to federalism or the independence of the English-speaking Cameroon, which the demonstrators refer to as the “Republic of Ambazonia”.

French Cameroon gained its independence From France in 1960. In 1961, a federal state was set up when British Cameroon gained its independence from Great Britain and joined French Cameroon.

The federal state was later dissolved in favor of a unitary state in 1972.

Since then, English-speakers say they are being marginalized, forced to use French in public institutions and schools, and also use the French-Cameroon legal system in courts.

www.aa.com.tr

10, January 2018

Ivory Coast soldiers loot arms from elite base ⁰

Soldiers in Ivory Coast’s second largest city looted weapons from the base of an elite military unit overnight before setting it on fire, leaders of the faction said on Wednesday.

The soldiers, who were involved in a series of mutinies last year that tarnished the image of Ivory Coast, one of Africa’s fastest growing economies, accuse the elite unit, known as the CCDO, of spying on them.

Residents of Bouake reported late on Tuesday hearing gunshots and heavy weapons fire between the rival factions, though they said the situation on Wednesday was calm after some early sporadic gunfire and businesses were operating normally.

(Source: Reuters)

10, January 2018

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe assassination: How Cameroon ‘plot to kill Ambazonia leader’ FAILED ⁰

The formation of the Interim Government prompted the Biya regime and its think tank to convene an important meeting that held in Mvomeka’a. President Biya wanted to know the General XX including some of the members of the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. A senior Anglophone political elite approached Biya during the deliberations and suggested that Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, the Interim Head of State of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia be eliminated. The suggestion, coming from a Southern Cameroonian surprised even some CPDM hardliners. (See http://www.cameroonintelligencereport.com/nigeria-to-expel-the-interim-president-of-the-federal-republic-of-ambazonia/)

Yaoundé decided to put the Nigerian ambassador Lawan Abba Gashagar under pressure. To be sure, the Nigerian High Commissioner to Cameroon was either responding to questions coming from the Minister-Secretary General at the Presidency or meeting the Minister for External Relations over the activities of the Interim Government in Nigeria. Etoudi at some point requested that the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, should arrest and repatriate President Ayuk Tabe from Nigeria to Cameroon to stand trial. In a correspondence to President Buhari via Minister Rene Sadi, President Biya politely accused the Buhari administration of aiding the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Amabzonia.

Biya maintained that a Nigerian interest group was assisting the Ambazonian leader to travel out of the country to Europe and America extensively. President Buhari sent a letter to Biya stating that the Federal Republic of Nigeria has no intention of supporting Southern Cameroonians. The Nigerian ambassador handed over the Buhari letter and issued a statement to that effect in Yaoundé.

Yaoundé has never trusted Abuja and so it secretly staged a military operation deep inside Nigerian territory that attracted wide condemnation from the outspoken governor of the Cross River State of Nigeria. The Biya regime denied the cross border raids and stepped up the pressure on Ambassador Lawan Abba. The Mvomeka’a meeting had an inner caucus that resolved to assassinate President Ayuk Tabe including at least four Ambazonia cabinet ministers. Anglophone Secret Service officers were dispatched to join the thousands of Ambazonian refugees in Nigeria and 10 of them who are originally from the Manyu County deceived the Interim Government that they had actually defected from the Cameroon army.

President Ayuk Tabe gave standing instructions that the 10 so-called former soldiers of La Republique be properly auditioned before any integration into the secretariat for defense. This instruction was never followed. 4 among the ten knew that if Sisiku Ayuk Tabe was eliminated, a Manyu son will be appointed Prime Minister and Head of Government. Little did they know that from the very first day they introduced themselves as soldiers who had defected, the Nigerian Secret Service kept them under severe surveillance.

The 4 moved to other parts of Nigeria and had access to intelligence information on the activities of the Interim Government. They could afford 4 and 5 star hotels in Lagos and Abuja and had planned to kill the Interim President and members of the Governing Council in Abuja. The 4 reportedly entered Abuja and disappeared from the Nigerian security radar. Our sources in Nigeria say, the Nigerian Secret Service, the DSS were in that area where the Nera Hotels is located but were not on their normal ongoing show of force. Immediately Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides entered the hotel, the DSS drove in and staged the arrest. Further efforts to establish contact with the Ambazonia leaders have remained unsuccessful. As it stands now, we can confirm that the leadership of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia is in protective custody. The DSS Buhari-led operation was principally targeted at securing the president and his cabinet.

The arrest is yielding the desired result to the liberation struggle as it has attracted the US, the French and the British governments. The Nigerian DSS has launched a manhunt for the 4 Cameroon government security agents.

The world now knows that the Biya administration has practically abandoned its call for dialogue with Southern Cameroonians in search of a brute route to eliminate the Ambazonian leader. The situation is very tense at the moment in Southern Cameroons as death threats are being issued to Nigerian citizens. None of the so-called Anglophone political elites have demanded the withdrawal of troops from the territory as their presence is raising the level of tension that already exists in the country.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

9, January 2018

Pushed to extremes: Cameroon’s escalating Anglophone crisis ⁰

Fifteen months back, when a group of Anglophone lawyers went on strike in Cameroon, few would have predicted how far and how quickly events would escalate.

Back then, in October 2016, the lawyers were objecting to the appointment of French-educated judges to their courts. A few other frustrated groups joined them later in peaceful protest against other government actions they perceived to be discriminating against the country’s English-speaking regions.

Fast-forward to today, however, and that initial modest impetus has spiralled into Cameroon’s most alarming internal conflict since independence. In recent months, scores of civilians have been killed. Armed attacks have led to the deaths of at least sixteen army and police officers. The government has deployed the elite Rapid Intervention Battalion, which is usually found combatting Boko Haram, to the area. And thousands of refugees have fled to Nigeria, with the UN Refugee Agency expecting up to 40,000 more.

Pushed to extremes

From the start of the crisis, the government’s instinct has been to respond to protest and grievances with force. The initial demonstrations in late-2016 were met with mass arrests and the deployment of security forces. In January 2017, there was brief hope that dialogue would lead to a resolution. But these talks fell apart as the government banned the umbrella group with which it was negotiating and detained its leaders.

Since then, the government has not looked like returning to the negotiation table. It has arrested around 1,000 people, according to activists. It has empowered the police, gendarmes and army to use heavy force. And it has shut off the region’s Internet for months at a time on at least two occasions.

These actions have had a high human cost. “Cameroonians in the hundreds have lost their lives needlessly while expressing themselves and their ambitions for Cameroon,” says Barrister Akere Muna. “Others remain incarcerated under circumstances that might well have been avoided by the simple choice of dialogue over confrontation and repression.”

Moreover, many argue that rather than stifling dissent, the government’s strategy has made the situation more volatile and extreme.

What began as more specific grievances regarding the perceived imposition of French in courts and schools has escalated into demands for greater autonomy, federalisation and even secession. Meanwhile, the repression of largely peaceful protests has contributed to the emergence of armed groups calling for secession. Even moderate voices have been pushed to more extreme positions, and Cameroon has seen attacks on security forces and growing threats of a violent insurrection.

On 1 October 2017, members of the Southern Cameroonian Ambazonia Consortium United Front declared the independence of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. The government responded with what the UN criticised as “excessive use of force”. Its crackdown along the border with Nigeria caused thousands to flee. In response in November and December, separatists launched a number of attacks against defence forces that resulted in several casualties.

Combating separatists

In his address on 31 December, 2017, President Paul Biya sought to reassure the nation and project strength.

“I have issued instructions that all those who have taken up arms, who perpetrate or encourage violence should be fought relentlessly,” he said. “The security operations conducted to that end have already yielded excellent results. They will continue unabated, but without excesses.”

However, many Cameroonians are concerned that the conflict will deepen and spread. As the government’s crackdown continues, there are suggestions that militant elements within the secessionist groups are gaining in strength, number and resolve. On 5 January, several separatists were arrested across the border in in Abuja, Nigeria.

In December, Brigadier General Donatien Melingui Nouma, commander of the troops in the South West region, revealed that some of his troops had defected to the separatists. He also claimed: “We know that they are trained by foreigners, including some white mercenaries whose nationality I would not mention.”

Uncertain times for Cameroon

This ongoing crisis is occurring at a particularly difficult time for Cameroon. In the north, it is still contending with the menace of the Boko Haram insurgency and the thousands of refugees it has created. In the east, it faces a challenge from the presence of displaced persons and rebels from Central African Republic. A drop in commodity prices has contributed to a significant drop in economic growth figures. Meanwhile, the country is set to hold four sets of elections – municipal, parliamentary, senatorial and presidential – this year.

Amidst this uncertainty, many are calling for dialogue to resolve the Anglophone crisis. However, there are few indications that constructive steps are being taken to establish such talks. Minister of Communication Issa Tchiroma Bakary has said repeatedly that the government is ready to negotiate but only on the condition that issues related to the structure of the state are not discussed. That effectively rules out activists’ primary demands for federalism or significant structural change.

As the crisis deepens, international leaders such as UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland have increased pressure on President Biya to engage in talks. It remains to be seen if this will have any effect. If it does not and the government’s current military approach continues, many expect activists’ demands, grievances and strategies to get increasingly desperate, militant and extreme.

www.africanarguments.org

9, January 2018

Boko Haram, Anglophone Crisis Delay Voter Registration in Cameroon ⁰

Voter registration is underway in Cameroon ahead of nationwide elections later this year, however the electoral body is encountering both voter apathy and challenges due to insecurity in some parts of the country.

The staff of Cameroon elections management body ELECAM move from shop to shop at the busy Mfoundi market in Yaounde convincing potential voters to have their names registered on electoral lists.

A man registers for the elections in Bafoussam, Cameroon, Jan. 5, 2018.

Business lady Winifred Bwei, 34, decides not to sign up.

“Last election year [2013], I went to vote,” she explained. “I saw that somebody had already voted. I saw my name that somebody had already voted [as me] and I was not the one and political parties are complaining that elections are always rigged by the ruling government so I don’t think my voting would change anything.”

Cameroon plans to hold local council, parliamentary and presidential elections starting in September. If held separately, the polls could continue into October.

Few see much suspense as President Paul Biya seeks re-election. He is one of Africa’s longest ruling heads of state. The ruling party has controlled parliament and most local councils for decades.

ELECAM officials, who are appointed by the president, have dismissed allegations of rigging as unfounded.

Besides the voter apathy, election workers are struggling with insecurity in several parts of the country.

Cameroon is currently experiencing tensions in its two English-speaking regions where separatists have declared independence for a new state they call Ambazonia. The yearlong crisis has led to bouts of violent unrest.

FILE – Demonstrators carry banners as they take part in a march voicing their opposition to independence or more autonomy for the anglophone regions, in Douala, Cameroon, Oct. 1, 2017.

Voter registration has been suspended in some places like Manyu Division in southwestern Cameroon where there have been regular clashes between the military and armed separatists.

Meanwhile, the central African state also continues to battle Boko Haram in its Far North region. The suicide bombings that re-intensified in mid-2017 have abated, but many people are yet to return home.

As of November 30, the U.N. Refugee Agency reports a total of 240,000 internally displaced people in Cameroon, nearly all of them in the Far North.

FILE- Cameroonian internally displaced queue at a camp in Kolofata, in the extreme north of Cameroon, for a food distribution provided by the International Red Cross Committee (ICR) on Feb. 22, 2017.

Paulin Djorwe, official of the opposition political party the Movement for the Defense of the Republic, says the Boko Haram conflict has left people unable to register to vote.

He says many potential voters are unable to acquire national identity cards because police identification stations in some border zones were closed due to Boko Haram terrorism. He says if the elections management body ELECAM and the government want many more people of voting age to register, they should reopen the identification offices.

ELECAM says it can only move into conflict zones in the north and some villages and towns in the anglophone regions to begin voter registration once the military declares those areas safe.

FILE – This photo taken June 17, 2014 shows Cameroonian soldiers standing next to pick up trucks with mounted heavy artillery in Mora, northern Cameroon.

The electoral body aims to register 10 million from the estimated 12 million people in the country aged 20 and above and eligible to vote. So far, 6.5 million voters have registered.

Abdoulaye Babale, head of ELECAM, says they will intensity their efforts.

“We are developing a new strategy,” he said. “In rural areas, generally people take their time. We are going to have caravans informing them long in advance and then we implicate the traditional rulers and the civil society to help us because time is against us. In major cities, we also have our caravans and [we will] multiply our stations in order to catch as many voters as possible.”

No date, or dates, for the polls have been set. Voter registration is scheduled to end the day President Paul Biya makes that announcement. The president can postpone the elections if calm does not return to hotspots.

Source: VOA

9, January 2018

African Bar Association issues statement following recent arrest of Ambazonian leaders ⁰

Unlawful arrest /abduction of Cameroonian refugees by Nigerian Security agents

On behalf of the African Bar Association, I write to bring to your esteemed attention and to formally protest the unlawful arrest and abduction of scores of Cameroonian refugees resident in Nigeria by Security agents believed to be from the department of State Security, the Military intelligence or other security organs of the Nigerian State.

Information of this unfortunate incident which reportedly occurred in Abuja on Saturday was made available to the African Bar Association by some of the refugees who witnessed the abduction and managed to escape .

Honourable Attorney -General Sir, it may interest you to know that most of the abductees are Lawyers and registered members of our Association.

Furthermore, these individuals had their privacy invaded and whisked away without a warrant or any explanation at all and taken into custody at an unknown location.

Needless to say that the political problems in the Republic of Cameroon are notorious and in the domain of the international Community with the attendant consequences.

We make bold to say that Nigeria as a respectable and responsible member of the international community has Legal obligations under the United Nations Convention on Refugees, the African Charter on human and people’s rights and several other international and local legislations that gives rights to refugees and other endangered civilian Nationals of other Nations which must be taken into account at all times as Nigeria has obligations to protect these rights.

If the motive for these unlawful acts is to return the refugees to Cameroon, then Nigeria would be violating international Law that forbids Countries from returning refugees to the Countries they are fleeing from.

Cameroon right now is in total chaos with wide spread state sponsored terrorism, political persecution, intimidation, mass rape and murder particularly against the citizens of the Southern part of that Country which has led many to flee the dictatorship there to temporarily reside in Nigeria and other Countries within and outside the African Continent. It may interest you to know sir that Afba has been working hard with other likeminded Continental and international bodies to see that this crisis is resolved and normalcy returns to Cameroon but so far the Government of that Country has prefered Facism and Gestapo tactics to dialogue.

Sir, the African Bar Association as a responsible Professional Association cannot sit by and allow this type of situation to stand where Security operatives under whatever guise or directives violate Human Rights and international Law especially of members of our esteemed Association .

In the circumstances, the African Bar Association demands as follows :

(1)immediate release of all those abducted by Security agents of the Nigerian State.

(2)apology and adequate compensation to these innocent individuals for these grave legal infractions and

(3) thorough investigation into the circumstances which led to this unfortunate incident and adequate punishment for those found culpable.

While we trust in the ability and speedy attention of your good office to meeting these Lawful demands, we shall however not hesitate to approach the Local and international Courts to seek Legal redress if this matter is not resolved with the next 48 hours.

Meanwhile, please accept the assurances of the cooperation and high considerations of the African Bar Association.

Best Regards

Hannibal .E. Uwaifo

President

African Bar Association

8 Ribadu Road, S/W Ikoyi,

Lagos Nigeria

www.afribar.org

hannibal.uwaifo@afribar.org, neoncorporate78@gmail.com, contact@afribar.org, info@afribar.org

+234-8034352861

+234-8023075109

+234-8094110833

+234-818481000

9, January 2018

Audio leaked of Netanyahu’s son bragging about dad’s shady gas deal outside strip club ⁰

An audio recording of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son is leaked in which Yair can be heard drunkenly bragging about his father’s efforts to pass a shady gas deal outside a strip club.

In the audio track aired by Channel 2 News on Monday, Yair Netanyahu tells the son of an Israeli gas tycoon that his father pushed a controversial gas deal in parliament in favor of his father in 2015.

“Bro, you got to spot me. My dad made an awesome deal for your dad, bro, he fought, fought in the Knesset for this, bro,” said Yair to Ori Maimon, the son of the gas tycoon Kobi Maimon, outside the club. “Bro, my dad now arranged for you a $20bn deal and you can’t spot me 400 shekels?,” added Yari.

Yair can also be heard talking about strippers and how much money he and his friend have spent on them.

In the past, Yair had drawn media criticism over his lifestyle which is financed at the expense of taxpayers.

The recording was leaked at a time when Netanyahu is involved in two separate corruption cases, and investigators have questioned him multiple times.

The cases involve allegations that Netanyahu received lavish gifts from wealthy businessmen and negotiated a deal with a newspaper owner for more favorable coverage. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Congress president and Netanyahu’s long-time ally, Ronald Lauder, had given the premier and his son gifts, including expensive suits. The accounts prompted Israeli police to interrogate the prime minister.

Netanyahu is currently under probe over suspicions that he accepted 1 million euros (about $1.1 million) from accused French fraudster Arnaud Mimran for campaign funds during the 2009 elections.

There are also calls for Netanyahu to be investigated for his role in a billion-dollar deal to purchase three submarines from German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems GmbH.

8, January 2018

Yaounde’s extradition request: “Nigeria is not Equatorial Guinea” ⁰

The Federal Republic of Nigeria will not consider the extradition of the Interim President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia including nine of his top aides, whom the 84 year old Cameroonian dictator, Paul Biya has accused of destabilising La Republique du Cameroun, the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the Cameroon Concord News Group, Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai said on Sunday.

In an interview with CIR’s Asu Ashu Isong, Agbaw-Ebai said Biya regime officials have wasted time and money assembling evidence and even making a formal request. “The Buhari administration will not even evaluate the facts that Yaoundé submitted.

“Nigeria is not holding back from doing anything, nor have they ever been,” Agbaw-Ebai said. “I have covered Nigerian politics and leaders since 1988 and they have always said, if you have evidence of X, Y or Z, please present it to us. Nigeria knows that Cameroon is not a trusted friend. Not even an ally.”

“Maybe the Jonathan Goodluck failure in managing the Boko Haram crisis that attracted Cameroon is deceiving Biya and his gang. Go and look at documented minutes of the Lake Chad Basin Commission for the last three decades before the coming of Boko Haram. Cameroon and Nigeria have never agreed on anything” Agbaw-Ebai added.

Our senior political man also opined that the Federal Republic of Nigeria has “very strict standards in order to protect people’s rights far better than Cameroon. Even after spending millions of US dollars, Biya cannot go through Nigeria’s legal process,” he said.

Mr. Biya appeared to be “fully in control” after the abduction in Abuja, Agbaw-Ebai said. “Obviously these are not terrorists. These are Southern Cameroons leaders who want President Biya to be held accountable for the genocide going on in Southern Cameroons and Biya will,” he said.

Asked why they are still being held in Abuja, Soter Agbaw-Ebai pointed out that “It’s a normal procedure that is done on diplomatic levels. One country accuses another of providing support to terrorists. The same “terrorists” were having an open meeting in the capital city of the accused nation! What do you expect? Nigeria is not Equatorial Guinea that Cameroon would dictate to them. Nobody is taking President Ayuk Tabe and his cream of advisers to jail or anywhere. Southern Cameroonians are bracing up for the next phase of the struggle.”

On a lighter note the Chairman stated that “When I listen to some Anglophones asking us to trust Biya and saying that Biya is lazy and stupid! I laugh hard because I know that Biya outsmarted Ayissi Mvodo and became Prime Minister! The same Biya turned against the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo and even slaughtered the people who could have protected Ahidjo. Biya completely finished Ambassador Mendouga, Inoni Ephraim, Titus Edzoa and Pierre Desire Engo!! Such a man is not stupid; such a man is not lazy. The Biya regime has people in Nigeria who are actively working against the struggle.

By Sesekou Asu Ashu Isong in London

8, January 2018

64 refugees feared dead in Mediterranean boat sinking ⁰

As many as 64 refugees are feared dead after a traffickers’ overcrowded rubber dinghy from Libya started sinking in the Mediterranean Sea, officials said Monday.

The Italian coast guard rescued 86 people from the boat hours after it started sinking Saturday morning due to a puncture. Specially trained rescue divers leapt into the water to pull dozens to safety, including those who managed to stay aboard the half-submerged dinghy as well as others already flailing in the cool waters around it. The bodies of eight dead women were also recovered.

Since trafficking dinghies are often crammed with far more than 100 refugees, fears quickly arose that dozens more could be missing in the sinking. UN officials said Monday that accounts from survivors bore out those fears.

An Italian coast guard search that went through the night didn’t find any more survivors or corpses.

Flavio Di Giacomo of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a tweet Monday that survivors interviewed by the agency in Catania, Sicily, after they arrived on a rescue ship said 150 people had been aboard the dinghy when it set out from the coast of Libya.

“Sixty-four migrants lost their life in the shipwreck (which) occurred last Saturday,” Di Giacomo said, adding that “probably 56 missing migrants” were lost at sea.

“Among them there were many children who are believed to have drowned at sea,” said Doctors Without Borders Sea on Twitter.

Catania Mayor Enzo Bianco told Italian Radio Radicale that among the survivors was a child who lost her mother.

“I watched a 3-year-old girl while she was starting to play at the port here. She was saved, grabbed at the last second by the coast guard in the sea,” the mayor said. “She was clinging to her mother and she saw her drown.”

Bianco said the child is now with her aunt, who was among the survivors.

The dinghy, half-submerged, had been spotted by an aircraft from a European naval mission combating refugee trafficking.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees have been rescued at sea and taken to southern Italian ports in the last few years, including nearly 119,000 last year. Another 3,100 drowned along the way in 2017, the IOM says.

They include refugees fleeing wars or persecution who hope to receive asylum as well as economic refugees, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, who aren’t eligible to be granted permission to live in Europe.

Italy is working with various groups and authorities in Libya to slow the flow of newcomers.

Di Giacomo couldn’t immediately be reached for further details on the weekend survivors.

(Source: Agencies)