The RoRo Nivin, with Panamanian flag, rescued, last week, 81 maritime migrants but 79 of them refuse to disembark from the ship off the coast of Misrata in Libya. The migrants refuse to disembark in Misrata as a result of the fear of being sent back to Libyan detention camps.
The UN Security Council decided to renew for one year, its authorization allowing Member States to inspect vessels on the high seas off the coast of Libya, as long as there are reasonable grounds for suspicion that they are being used for smuggling migrants or human trafficking.
France, Portugal, Spain and Germany agreed to take in migrants from the Mediterranean rescue ship Aquarius sailing off the coast of Malta, France said, after Italy refused to let the vessel dock. According to Malta, a patrol boat will transfer the migrants in international waters and then to the island, from where they will be sent to the four other European Union states.
Panama Maritime Authority revoked the registration of the ‘Aquarius 2’, the one remaining charity rescue vessel still operating in the Central Mediterranean, which means that there will be no charity rescue ships off the Libyan coast in the near future, unless the vessel can find a new flag to sail under.
OPEC received about $567 billion in net oil export revenues in 2017, an increase of 29% from revenues in 2016. Increases in both crude oil prices and in net OPEC oil exports increased revenues in 2017, and EIA expects that revenues will continue to increase in 2018, according to EIA’s August Short-Term Energy Outlook.
Over 100 migrants lost their lives in early September after their rubber boats were wrecked off the coast of Libya, according to the MSF aid agency. The two vessels were carrying many people and had started from Libya. One of the boats engine failed while the other deflated.
To measure how nations are dealing with illicit trade, the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade commissioned the Economist Intelligence Unit to produce the Global Illicit Trade Environment Index. At the bottom of the overall index are generally developing economies, with Libya ranking last.
Italy has approved 10 new patrol boats and two larger ships for the Libyan coast guard, under the attempt of the Government to control migration. The new vessels will be deployed by the end of August. The ships were approved by the Italian Senate on Monday, August 6.
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has called for more accountability for human traffickers in Libya, after the UN Security Council added to its Sanctions List six individuals accused of leading smuggling and trafficking networks in the country, in early June.
Libya’s National Oil Corporation announced that it re-opened four oil terminals after General Khalifa Haftar handed over control of the ports. These ports are Ras Lanuf, Es Sider, Zueitina and Hariga. During this month, NOC had declared force majeure in the said ports, but now they started operations again.
