13, February 2020
Italian Senate votes to lift Salvini’s immunity, paving way for trial over migrant detentions 0
Italian senators voted on Wednesday to lift immunity for far-right leader Matteo Salvini, opening the way for a potentially career-ending trial over accusations he illegally detained migrants at sea last year.
The decision gives magistrates in Sicily the go-ahead to press charges over his decision to keep 131 rescued migrants blocked aboard a coastguard ship for six days last July as he waited for other European Union states to agree to take them in.
Salvini, the head of Italy’s League party who was serving as interior minister at the time, could eventually face up to 15 years in jail if found guilty at the end of Italy’s tortuous legal process. Conviction could also bar him from political office, dashing his ambitions to lead a future government.
‘Head held high’
Salvini had refused to allow rescued migrants off the Gregoretti coast guard boat – where they had been languishing for about a week in insalubrious conditions – until a deal was reached with other European states to host them.
A Catania court accused him of “abuse of power” in blocking them on board from July 27 to July 31 last year, and of illegally detaining them.
Salvini insists the decision had the backing of the government and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
Before the debate began, Salvini took to Facebook to say he had his “head held high, with the calm conscience of those who have defended their land and people”.
“If a man is not ready to fight for his ideas, either his ideas are worthless, or he is,” Salvini wrote, quoting Ezra Pound, a 20th-century American poet known for his fascist sympathies.
Political ambitions at stake
Last month, fellow senators from Salvini’s right-wing League party, granting their leader’s wishes, voted in a Senate commission in favor of lifting the immunity. That paved the way for Wednesday’s vote in the entire Senate.
Any criminal case against Salvini could derail his ambitions to soon become Italy’s premier and return his euro-skeptic populist party back to power.
Prosecutors in Sicily had investigated Salvini for the Gregoretti vessel case in July 2019. Several such standoffs played out in the Mediterranean Sea while Salvini was interior minister.
Eventually, the prosecutors shelved the case. But another judicial body, the Tribunal of Ministers, decided to proceed.
Salvini’s League is now in the opposition after he pulled his party out of Conte’s government in August in a failed bid for an early election.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)



















13, February 2020
More Southern Cameroons refugees flee to Nigeria, bringing total arrivals close to 60,000 mark, Buhari won’t talk!! 0
Almost 8,000 Cameroonian refugees have fled to Nigeria’s eastern and southern states of Taraba and Cross Rivers over the past fortnight, bringing the total Cameroonian refugee population in the country to nearly 60,000 people.
UNHCR, the UN refugee Agency, expects further arrivals as refugees inform that more people are still in remote border areas and could be on their way trying to reach Nigeria.
This latest influx took place just before Cameroon’s general elections last weekend as people fled ongoing violence between security forces and armed groups. The exodus comes on top of increased internal displacement witnessed in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions in the last quarter of 2019.
Refugees reported fleeing violence and some even arrived across the border with gunshot wounds. According to new arrivals, most come from areas near the border and have trekked across savannah and forests to reach Nigeria.
Local communities and governments are the first responders to this latest influx, providing food, shelter and household items that are desperately needed for those who have left everything behind.
Refugees who just arrived are currently being sheltered in public schools and health facilities or with local families. The 51,000 registered refugees that arrived prior to this latest influx are being hosted across some 87 local communities in the states of Akwa-Ibom, Benue, Cross River and Taraba. In addition, there are four settlements where UNHCR and humanitarian partners are providing protection, food, livelihood, shelter and healthcare.
“UNHCR is working closely with the Nigerian authorities to ensure that refugees are able to access shelter and basic services. Together we are supporting both refugees and their hosts given pressing humanitarian needs and to ensure there is no strain on local communities given their modest resources,” said UNHCR’s Deputy Representative in Nigeria, Roger Hollo.
“Refugees also need support to become self-reliant. With access to education, health services and labour markets, they can take care of their families and give back to the local communities hosting them.”
Food, shelter and health assistance remain urgent needs for new arrivals. Schools are also unable to accommodate all newly arrived refugee children, with some classrooms hosting more than 200 children at a time.
According to UN estimates, more than 679,000 people are currently internally displaced in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions, in addition to the almost 60,000 that have crossed the border, seeking asylum in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, UNHCR leads the international response to protect those forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution.
Source:UNHCR Ireland