As Italy Navy to Libya, ICP
Asked UN of Salame's Praise, After 72 Hours, This, &
Oxfam
By Matthew
Russell Lee, New
Platform
UNITED NATIONS,
August 11 – Italy has been a
member of the UN Security
Council for seven months and
ten days during which it has,
for example, insisted that
during the Council's visit to
Cameroon the Anglophone crisis
did not come up (while its
President Mattarella met
35-year president Paul Biya),
and has declined Inner City
Press' request for comment on
the UN World Intellectual
Property Organization's work
on a cyanide patent for North
Korea, the sanctions committee
on which it chairs. In July
Matteo Renzi came out, if only
briefly, moving to the right
on migration, before taking
excerpts of his book off-line.
On August 8, Inner City Press
asked UN Spokesperson Stephane
Dujarric, UN transcript here:
Inner City Press: I wanted to
ask first about Libya and the
new envoy, Mr. Ghassan
Salamé. He's been quoted
in Italy as praising Italy's
naval mission off Libya.
And I wanted to know, since
I've asked you before, here's
a lot of the controversy in
refugee circles, refugee
rights circles, about this
mission, which is basically to
back up the Libyan Coast Guard
in driving ships back to
land. Is this really the
Secretary-General's
position?
Spokesman: We'll check
his quotes, because I haven't
seen them. So, before I
comment on what he said, I'll
check the quotes. But 72 hours
later, there was no
answer,despite a second
request on August 9. And so
Inner City Press asked yet
again on August 11, and after
the briefing Dujarric's office
sent this: "In reference to
your question on Libya at the
noon briefing, this is what
Mr. Salame said: 'It would be
unrealistic to ignore the
seriousness of the smuggling
of migrants and the UN intends
to address this issue through
its agencies and through a UN
international conference on
irregular migration. I believe
that each country has the
right to protect its borders,
but I also believe that the
way of controlling borders is
through cooperation between
neighbouring countries. I am
calling on cooperation between
neighbouring countries to
address this challenge.
I am certainly aware that
discussions have taken place
regarding this issue in Libya,
but I believe cooperation and
transparency in Libyan-Italian
relations is a very
constructive way in treating
this issue, and I see that on
this issue we are on the right
track of strengthening this
cooperation to address this
challenge.'" Compare to
ANSA's coverage, and this from
Oxfam: "“These testimonies
paint a horrifying picture of
desperate people who have
risked their lives to escape
war, persecution and poverty
only to be confronted with
unimaginable cruelty in
Libya,” said Oxfam’s UK deputy
CEO Penny Lawrence. The report
comes some seven months after
Italy signed a deal with the
Presidency Council to curb
migration. The agreement, set
out at the Malta summit in
February, included a policy to
return migrants to Libya for
subsequent repatriation to
their home countries. The pact
was heavily criticised by
international NGOs." Antonio
Guterres, where are you? We've
asked twice, and both times
been told, "Europe." On August
2, Inner City Press asked the
UN Spokeman Stephane Dujarric,
UN transcript here:
Inner City Press: given
particularly the
Secretary-General's interest
in issues of migration and
refugees, there has been a
vote in the Italian Parliament
to approve the deployment of
the navy to participate with
the Libyan Coast Guard and
essentially just physically
block people from going.
And so, given… I guess I just
wondered, does he have any
response? I know it's a…
you know, of the range of EU
approaches, this is one of the
more aggressive. Does he
think it's a good idea to be
sending your navy to stop
people from trying to migrate
to your country?
Spokesman: I don't have
anything on that. I
will, I need to take a look at
the report a little closer
before commenting.
Five hours
later, nothing. On August 3,
Inner City Press asked again,
UN transcript here:
Inner City Press: yesterday
I’d asked you about the vote
in the Italian Parliament
about, to send the Navy.
And now there’s already been a
case now where the Italian
Navy has picked up an NGO
rescue ship, a self-described
rescue ship, and, and, you
know, taken it away and had it
stop its activities.
What’s the Secretary-General’s
thinking on these
developments?
Spokesman: We’ve talked
to our colleagues at UNHCR who
are, who are in the lead on
this. They’re trying to
get a bit more details from
the, from the Italians as to
how this will be applied in
terms of the, the presence of
the Italian Navy in, in Libyan
waters.
I think UNHCR has had concerns
in the past and continues to
have concerns in the past with
the detention of, of detention
by Libya of refugees and, and
asylum seekers, often in
difficult, very difficult,
conditions.
We call on both the Italian
and the Libyan Governments to
ensure their increased
cooperation that people who
are rescued in Libyan waters
have access to safety,
assistance, proper reception,
and protection.
Inner City Press: Is the
Secretary-General aware of
this 'Save Europe' flotilla or
may just be a single boat?
Does he have a comment on
it? And, two, how is it
different in kind than what
Italy is doing?
Spokesman: Well, I mean,
I think we’ve seen the press
reports on Save Europe.
It’s an NGO, there are a lot
of people active. I
think the focus is primarily
on saving lives, on ensuring
that anyone who is on the
move, migrants, have their
rights respected, that they’re
treated humanely, that their
lives are, are saved.
But this is just a stopgap
measure.
We need, as we’ve said
repeatedly, we need this
Global Compact on, on dealing
with this mass movement of
people we’re seeing, seeing in
the world, and it’s agreement,
agreement between countries of
origin, countries of transit,
and countries of arrival.
Renzi
wrote: "I'd like for us to be
free from guilt. We have no
moral duty to welcome all the
people in Italy who are worse
off than us in the world. If
that happened, there would be
a kind of ethic, political,
social and even lead to
economic disaster,” he writes
in bold. In large capital bold
font, he goes on to write: “We
do not have the moral duty to
welcome them, let’s repeat
that to ourselves. But, we do
have the moral duty to help
them. And really, the moral
duty is to do so back where
they come from.” While none of
the many Italian
correspondents "led" by real
estate magnate
Giampaoli Pioli who are given
office space and full access
at the UN asked or were even
present at the July 10 UN noon
briefing, when after asking
about migration quotes by
Louise Arbour Inner City Press
sought to ask, UN spokesman
Dujarric declared Last
Question and brought in Wu
Hongbo. (In fairness we note
that Italy's Deputy Permanent
Representative was one of the
more attentive ambassadors on
the Security Council's recent
visit to Haiti.) Watch this
site. A month earlier on June
9 Italy sought to promote its
good works in an event at its
UN Mission, celebrating a
vague partnership between the
UN and the Community of
Sant'Egidio. In 2014, Inner
City Press reported
on Rwanda's complaint that the
UN's Herve Ladsous helped a
leader of the genocidal FDLR,
Rumuli (a/k/a IYAMUREMYE
Gaston, Victor Rumuri and
Michel Byiringiro), in
connection and conjunction
with a Sant'Egidio session in
Rome. Italy's UN Mission,
which has been asked to sent
all notices, spun what media
it allowed into its 47th
Street space without
mentioning this
controversy, and which
excluding the Press which has
reported on it. There's some
history,
and more to be said. Watch
this site. While the UN
Security Council visited
Cameroon during the 94 day
Internet cut off and said
nothing publicly about it (but
see below), Inner City Press
has obtained and has
exclusively published
on Patreon and now Scribd,
here Cameroon's "Urgent
and Confidential" letter to
the UN Security Council, about
weapons. Italy is a member of
the Security Council this
year, and on the morning of
May 18 including in light of
Italian President Mattarella's
meetings this year with
Cameroon's 34 year president
Paul Biya, Inner City Press
asked Italy's Mission to the
UN: "your Mission was part of
the Security Council's trip
including to Cameroon earlier
this year, during the
country's 94-day Internet shut
off to millions of people in
the Northwest and Southwest
(or Anglophone) regions. The
IMF, for what it's worth, told
Inner City Press the
government's Internet cut off
is among other things a
financial risk in 2017. Could
you comment on your Mission's
aware of the issue, during the
Security Council visit to
Cameroon and since, and on
whether you believe the
Secretary General and DPA, as
a matter of prevention of
conflict, may have a greater
role to play in this
long-standing, UN-related
conflict or dispute?" Eight
hours later, the Italian
Mission's spokesperson
Giovanni Davoli replied on
Cameroon that "the situation
you are mentioning was not in
the agenda of the UNSC visit."
To his credit, Swedish
diplomat Carl Skau tells Inner
City Press, "I can confirm
that the issue was raised by
the delegation in meetings."
We'll have more on this. On
May 17, Inner City Press asked
UN Secretary General Antonio
Guterres' spokesman Stephane
Dujuarric what if anything
Guterres is doing about
Cameroon. From the UN transcript:
Inner City Press: there are
people saying that António
Guterres' strategy of being
Secretary-General is to sort
of downplay the peacemaking
powers of it and engage in
quiet diplomacy. And I
guess the reason I'm asking
you is just objectively
speaking, compared to the
previous administration, there
are many fewer readouts,
there's less… there's less
being said. Maybe it's
to the good. But, does
he believe that… that this
approach is bearing fruit, and
if so, what fruit can you
point to?
Spokesman: I think the
Secretary-General is a
believer in the need for
discreet contacts to be had in
order to resolve crisis.
And I think it's something I…
well, I think we've all
observed since he's come into
office. And I think it's
an important tool and not the
only tool, but it's an
important tool in the tools
available to the world's top
diplomat.
Inner City Press: I want
to ask this very specifically
because I've asked you this a
couple of times. I keep
hearing from people at various
high floors that, in fact, the
UN is concerned about Cameroon
and not just the Internet, but
what seems to be a case of
preventive diplomacy.
So, I wanted to ask you, is
there anything actually being
done? Am I missing some
secret work that the UN…?
Spokesman: I think if…
well, if it's secret, it's
secret. Mr. [Francois
Lonceny] Fall has been
following and is the point
person for the UN on this
issue.
Fall is
failing. Or, Fall is the fall
guy for Guterres. ...
We
raise
the question:
how are UN
Resident
Coordinators
selected?
Inner City
Press reported
on Ban
Ki-moon's son
in law
Siddharth
Chatterjee
getting
multiple
promotion
under Ban,
including
being named UN
Resident
Coordinator in
Kenya by Ban
himself.
(Inner City
Press was evicted
by Ban's UN,
and remains
restricted
under Ban's
successor).
But shouldn't
Anglophone
Cameroonians
have some
input into the
UN's next
Resident
Coordinator in
their country?
This is a
project for
the Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
@FUNCA_info.
Watch these
sites and
feeds.
From the IMF's
March 9 transcript:
"There is a
question of Cameroon, from
Matthew Lee, "After the
Mission what is the status of
talks for a program; and since
the IMF cited civil unrest in
the neighboring Central
African Republic, please state
the IMF's awareness of civil
unrest and arrests in
Northwest and Southwest
Cameroon? And also known as
the Anglophone areas, and
their impact?"
So, the background here is, I
think important the context.
So, the Fund's engagement here
in the CEMAC Region, CEMAC is
the six Central African
Economic nations that comprise
the Central African Economic
and monetary community. They
met in Yaoundé on December
23rd. The Managing Director
was there. And in that
meeting, heads of state
discussed the economic
situation, the severe shocks
that have hit that CEMAC
region in recent years,
including the sharp decline in
oil prices, and decided to act
collectively and in a
concerted manner. And the
heads of state requested the
assistance of the IMF to
design economic reforms needed
to reestablish macroeconomic
stability in each country and
in the region as a whole.
So, again, context: I can tell
you that the funders already
sent missions to Gabon,
Republic of Congo. And a
reminder to you, that we
already have programs with
Central African Republic and
Chad. Okay?
Now, we also have sent a
mission to Cameroon, which is
the question. And we did issue
a press statement, which the
question referred to, just on
Tuesday. That was the Corrine
Delechat reference.
So, the specific question, to
turn to that. We are indeed
aware of the events in the
so-called Anglophone regions
of Cameroon. The macroeconomic
impact of any event that could
affect production and/or
consumption, is typically felt
with a certain lag. So, these
events started in November
last year, and thus are likely
to have not had a significant
impact on production in 2016.
For 2017, the risks to our
growth outlook include a
combination of external and
domestic factors, including
continuation of the
sociopolitical events in the
northwest and southwest
regions of Cameroon. And as
our press release the other
day indicated, our view is
that the medium-term outlook
for the Cameroonian economy
remains positive, subject to
the implementation of
appropriate policies."
We'll have more
on this. Watch this site.
***
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