World

On a medical ship off the Italian coast, rescued migrants are colouring in a map of Africa, where many started their perilous journeys toward Europe.  

The countries are brightly coloured in yellow, green, purple and red. Libya however, a common transit country from sub-Saharan Africa into Italy, is black.

For many of the migrants, the country evokes painful memories: abuse, torture and trafficking. 

Libya has been singled out as a dangerous country for migrants, and a UN report last year revealed “crimes against humanity” inflicted on the most vulnerable.

For some aboard the Geo Barents ship run by medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the dangers are all too familiar. 

“I was tied up, beaten, electrocuted,” said 25-year-old Eritrean refugee John, who gave only one name. 

He explained how he fled authoritarian Eritrea in 2018, crossing through Ethiopia and Sudan before arriving in the southeastern Libyan city of Al Kufra four years ago. 

“I was abducted from Al Kufra and sold to traffickers. And then to others,” he told AFP. 

He eventually escaped, boarding a dinghy headed for Italy, from which he was rescued in April by the Geo Barents.

He like others has received medical care on board the ship, where migrants also spend time doing activities like the map colouring exercise. 

John colours Libya in black to signify the pain he experienced during his time there. 

“There is no government in this country,” he said. “No laws.” 

– ‘Lots of beatings’ – 

John is one of the tens of thousands of migrants who attempt the dangerous and often deadly crossing from Libya to Italy every year. More than 31,000 made the journey by sea last year, according to UN figures. 

Many stream to Libya from elsewhere in Africa, boarding precarious vessels to cross the Mediterranean toward Italy. 

AFP could not independently verify details of John’s account, but MSF doctors on the Geo Barents say many migrants arrive with chilling reminders of their time in Libya. 

“We see a lot of them with actual physical evidence of violence, injuries that cause long-term problems,” MSF doctor Mohammed Fadlalla told AFP. 

“We commonly see bullet wounds, burns, evidence of electrocution, lots of beatings.” 

Many migrants land in the hands of traffickers in Libya who demand hefty sums in exchange for their freedom. Attempts to escape can be a death sentence.

The Geo Barents helps those lucky enough to flee, trawling the waters of the central Mediterranean near Italy and Libya in search of migrant boats.

It stops in Italian or international waters — never Libyan waters — and takes in migrants in need, sometimes for as long as two weeks, before they are sent to Italy.  

Fadlalla said medics on the ship often use scars or bruises to piece together what happened to the migrants — a kaleidoscope of trauma used to compile accounts of human rights violations. 

Others need extensive mental and emotional support.

“A lot of these survivors who have suffered this torture have psychological difficulties as well,” said Fadlalla. 

“Fear, difficulty sleeping, flashbacks, anxiety, depression.”

– ‘Robbed, beaten’ – 

Libya, wracked by conflict since the 2011 overthrow of dictator Moamer Kadhafi, has gained a notorious reputation for migrants on the dangerous route to Europe. 

A UN fact-finding mission last year found some of the abuses faced by migrants there could be classified as “crimes against humanity”. 

“Violations against migrants are committed on a large scale by state and non-state actors, with a high level of organisation and with the encouragement of the state,” one of the UN experts, Chaloka Beyani, wrote.

Lawyer Jelia Sane, who specialises in refugee law and human rights, condemned European governments for intercepting migrant boats coming from Libya, urging them to offer safe and legal routes. 

“The evidence of the plight of refugees and migrants in Libya can no longer be ignored,” said Sane, from London’s Doughty Street Chambers.

And for those who have been tortured, access to “full rehabilitation services, as required by international law”, should be offered, she said.

Senegalese migrant Eladj Ndiaye still bears the evidence of such abuse. 

The 19-year-old has scars on his scalp and under his lip from when he was beaten with a glass bottle by his captors. They held him for several weeks in Libya, he said.

“Everywhere in Libya you are robbed, you are beaten,” he added.

Despite the known risks — and mounting evidence of abuses — migrants continue to trek toward Europe. 

Eritrean refugee John knew what he could face, but went anyway. 

“We know it’s dangerous. But we want to join Italy,” he said. 

The US embassy in Cuba began issuing visas on Tuesday for the first time since alleged sonic attacks against diplomatic staff more than four years ago.

Washington closed its consular services in the Cuban capital in 2017 after US personnel and their families suffered from mystery illnesses subsequently known as “Havana Syndrome.”

The closure was a huge blow to many Cubans hoping to emigrate to the United States and escape the economic woes of their island nation.

“Welcome to the embassy after so much time,” said a Cuban employee to a small group of people waiting for their appointments in the consular section.

The United States announced two months ago it would begin a “limited” and “gradual” reopening of its embassy and consular services.

It was closed in September 2017 after then-US president Donald Trump hit out at the alleged sonic attacks.

A US government report in 2020 said the illnesses suffered by staff and their families were most likely caused by “directed, pulsed radio frequency (RF) energy.”

“We’re hoping that everything goes well. I’ve been waiting three years for this to rejoin my daughter” who is in the United States, said one man who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I haven’t seen her for seven years.”

Following the embassy closure, Cubans wishing to emigrate to the United States were obliged to overcome numerous obstacles, among them being forced to travel to Colombia or Guyana to submit a request.

Many instead opted to make the perilous journey through Central America and Mexico and enter the United States as undocumented migrants.

The US customs office says more than 78,000 Cubans entered the country from Mexico between October 2021 and March this year.

According to existing immigration agreements, the US should authorize 20,000 immigrant visas a year to Cubans, something it has not been fulfilling.

Cuba is suffering its worst economic crisis in almost 30 years, in large part due to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent decrease in tourism.

President Joe Biden urged voters Tuesday to defend their “fundamental” rights after a leaked Supreme Court draft on ending nationwide legal abortion sparked a political firestorm around one of America’s most divisive ethical issues.

If confirmed by the court, the ruling would categorically overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade case, which enshrined abortion rights across the country — ensuring the hot-button question will dominate the November midterm elections for control of Congress.

In practice, it would mean that abortion laws were left up to individual state legislatures, with as many as half of the country’s states expected to introduce bans or new restrictions.

Abortion is the fiercest fought of all the so-called culture war battles, and Republicans have pushed hard for years to overturn Roe — something that became almost inevitable once three conservative justices were appointed under Donald Trump, shifting the Supreme Court’s political balance sharply to the right.

Biden, whose Democrats have been forecast to lose their narrow control of Congress in November, issued a rallying cry to the left, warning that restricting abortion rights will be only the beginning.

“I believe that a woman’s right to choose is fundamental… and basic fairness and the stability of our law demand that it not be overturned,” Biden said in a written statement.

“It will fall on voters to elect” officials who back abortion rights, he said, vowing to work to pass legislation in Congress that codifies Roe v. Wade — a goal impossible to achieve unless far more Democrats win seats.

Speaking to reporters, Biden went further, calling the draft ruling “radical” and warning of a “fundamental shift in American jurisprudence” that could put into question the future of gay marriage and “how you raise your child.”

“It would mean that every other decision relating to the notion of privacy is thrown into question.”

– ‘Roe v. Wade is going to go!’ –

The leaking of the draft ruling was unprecedented, knocking another hole in the once hallowed reputation of the top court as the one apolitical branch in the US government.

Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed that the document released by the Politico news website was authentic, although he cautioned that this did not necessarily represent the court’s final decision. Roberts ordered a probe into the leak.

Crowds of protesters from both camps descended on the Supreme Court building, with anti-abortion activists chanting “abortion is violence. Abortion is oppression” as well as “Hey Hey Ho Ho Roe v. Wade is going to go!”

In Roe v. Wade, the court ruled that access to abortion is a constitutional right. In a subsequent 1992 ruling, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the court guaranteed a woman’s right to an abortion until the fetus is viable outside the womb, which is typically around 22 to 24 weeks of gestation.

Most developed countries allow abortions on request up to a gestational limit, most often 12 weeks. 

Roe v. Wade makes the United States one of a handful of nations to allow the procedure without restriction beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy — although many others allow it past that point for specific reasons.

The court had been expected to decide this June on challenges to Roe v. Wade.

The Republican National Committee said it was time for abortion decisions to revert to state governments.

“The far left wants unelected judges to impose a radical, one-size fits all abortion policy, leaving Americans without a voice. The Republican Party will always stand for the sanctity of life,” it said.

– ‘Wrong from the start’ –

The draft opinion was written by Justice Samuel Alito and according to Politico has been circulating since February inside the court — now dominated 6-3 by conservatives.

The 98-page draft majority opinion calls Roe v. Wade decision enshrining the right to abortion “egregiously wrong from the start.”

“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Alito writes in the document, labeled the “Opinion of the Court.”

“It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

The Guttmacher Institute, which backs abortion rights, has said 26 states are “certain or likely” to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

Democratic governors of several states including California, New Mexico and Michigan swiftly announced plans to enshrine abortion rights into law even if the court overturns Roe, with California Governor Gavin Newsom tweeting: “Women will remain protected here.”

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will embark Thursday on a tour of Central America and Cuba, as his country braces for increased flows of US-bound migrants from the region.

Lopez Obrador is expected to use the rare foreign trip to promote his vision of regional economic development.

The four-day tour will include stops in three of the main countries where migrant caravans originate: Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

The Mexican leader has urged the United States to invest in economic development in Central America to generate jobs so people do not need to flee poverty.

US President Joe Biden “agrees that the causes must be addressed,” Lopez Obrador told reporters after they spoke by phone on Friday.

But Central America is still waiting for several billion dollars pledged by Washington, he added.

Migrant flows could further increase if Biden succeeds in ending a pandemic-era rule known as Title 42 used to quickly expel migrants, purportedly on health grounds.

Opponents see the rule as no longer justified, but Republicans and even some in Biden’s own Democratic Party warn that lifting the measure will trigger an uncontrolled surge across the border.

Title 42 was set to expire May 23, but a court order means it remains in place for now.

In 2021 alone, Mexican authorities detected more than 300,000 irregular migrants.

US Customs and Border Protection have registered 7,800 undocumented migrants a day along the border with Mexico in recent weeks — almost five times the average in 2014-2019.

“It’s a serious mistake to think that everything is reduced to unemployment,” since migration has other causes such as criminal violence and climate change,” said Gerardo Gonzalez, a researcher at Mexico’s Colegio de la Frontera Sur.

“The flow’s unstoppable. They can deploy police and the military — migrants always find a route.”

The situation has generated friction with Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who is running for re-election in November.

Abbott reached an agreement on anti-immigration measures with several Mexican counterparts after tightening controls on cargo traffic at the border — moves Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard branded “extortion.”

In Cuba, Lopez Obrador hopes to replicate his “Sembrando Vida” (Sowing Life) program, which provides economic grants to agricultural producers.

With the island facing its worst economic crisis in decades, Mexico’s president has repeatedly urged the United States to end its trade embargo.