Across the Sea

[bemildred]

On the Moroccan Coast, nine migrants gaze across the Mediterranean Sea to Spain. Across the sea lies hope. There is a chance for freedom, a chance to carve out a good life. They have fled Syria, the Sudan, Yemen, Libya and other countries across the Middle East and North Africa. Poverty, war, terror, oppression and loss is all they can expect from their homeland.

Under the cover of darkness, at risk of capture, torture and/or death they fled. They subjected themselves to the brutality of a large human smuggling network, hid in tight spaces, traveled at length in silence and paid incredible fees. They kept cover under palm trees, moved along sand dunes and have slept very little. Tired, bone weary, hungry, but alive, they stand on the shoreline.

This is it. The last leg in a very long journey. But, the ancient Mediterranean is dangerous.

Choppy currents, large waves, great white sharks and other obstacles stand between the refugees and Europe. They have all heard the tales. They know thousands have drown on this eight mile voyage. But, just as thousands before them, they will risk their last breath and attempt to cross the sea with their families. Freedom is worth their last gasp of air.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/06/09/across-the-sea/

[KoKo]

1. Italy’s Migrant Scams Now More Lucrative Than Drugs--Italian Politicians/Businessmen Profit

ROME — Many of the more than 50,000 migrants who have landed on Italy’s shores since January, and many more of the 174,00 who arrived last year, unwittingly became the cover for a massive corruption racket that included kickbacks, bribes and bid fixing run by the very people they trusted to help them.

Money allocated to clothe and feed the migrants, who risked their lives for a better future, instead padded the pockets of Italian politicians and businessmen who admitted that migrant scams had become even more lucrative than drug trafficking, according to wire taps and interceptions from a court dossier complied by prosecutors investigating the Mafia Capitale or Capital Mafia in Rome.

The latest revelations came over the weekend when Giuseppe Castiglione, Italy’s undersecretary for Agricultural, and five others were officially notified that they were under investigation for their alleged roles in procuring goods and services that were apparently never provided for the thousands of asylum seekers staying at the over-crowded CARA Mineo refugee center in Sicily, which is the country’s largest structure.

Last week, 44 people were arrested in the growing migrant mismanagement scandal, many of them accused of essentially stealing from the poorest and most desperate of the migrants. Women’s centers and even foster home centers meant to protect children are embroiled in the scandal, which has become somewhat like unraveling a spider’s web. According to the authorities, shell companies and Rome’s city government entities essentially fed off each other while those in charge reaped profits.

Giovanni Salvi, the chief prosecutor in Catania, Sicily, who is cooperating in the Rome-based investigation, described the level of corruption when it comes to how migrants are managed as “simply reprehensible.” Salvi, who has been investigating a series of migrant scam allegations in Sicily, says bribes “robbed the migrants of vital services.”

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On Monday, Renzi told reporters at a G7 Summit in the Bavarian Alps that part of the problem was that Italy was saddled with the bulk of the migrant placement. “The EU migrant plan is not working,” he said. “We must acknowledge that the situation is all wrong, it is insufficient.”

Still, the exploitation of thousands of migrants during a period when there is no end in sight to the influx has understandably troubled refugee agencies. “It is despicable that often only the smallest part of funds destined for asylum seekers and refugees reach the intended recipients,” Laurens Jolles, the UNHCR’s regional representative for Southern Europe, said in a statement. “We thought such situations were caused by inadequacy on a local level. It is extremely worrying to learn that they often are caused by a wide and structured system of corruption.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/08/italy-s-migrant-scams-now-more-lucrative-than-drugs.html

[bemildred]

2. Yeah, I believe it.

Desperate people attract grifters in herds. Sometimes the grifters are desperate too.

[KoKo]

3. ...deleted double post

[KoKo]

4. There was More "INDY" News in the Vietnam Era ....

There was More "INDY News in the Vietnam Era" even with many fewer channels to report. But, then, there was a strong Print/Magazine Media, at that time which had a huge following.

Not that those News Outlets were totally free of ignoring "Truth" either...but, that we have to find alternate news sites and post to give "Another View" not heard in USA, these days...does seem disturbing.

There are those that say: "The Millennials are on the NET....they don't watch MSM and so they are getting REAL NEWS and THEY ARE OUR HOPE!

Yet, I really wonder if the "Millennials" aren't getting a bad deal with so much "Noise Machine of SoundBytes" with Twitter, Facebook and the rest ....Taking up so much space..for what often seems the "Trivial Celebrity Stuff." ???

But, then ...there really is some good push back coming out of those sites. And, "SEEKERS WILL SEEK" and some good folks there SEEKING along with the Doctrinaires. The "New News Generation" will adjust..