Page 6 - aruba-today-20250207

A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 7 February 2025
Greek rights groups call for criminal charges over deadly 2023

migrant shipwreck

By ELENA BECATOROS The ombudsman said
Associated Press Monday its report noted
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — “a series of serious and re-
Rights groups are demand- proachable omissions in
ing criminal charges be the search and rescue du-
brought against members ties by senior officers of
of Greece’s coast guard the Hellenic Coast Guard
over a deadly 2023 migrant which constitute clear in-
shipwreck, after the coun- dications” for establishing
try’s ombudsman released a case against the officers
a report noting “clear indi- for endangering the lives of
cations” that officers had the Adriana’s passengers.
overlooked the danger The independent body be-
posed by the boat that gan its own investigation in
sank. November 2023 after “the
The Adriana, a massively direct refusal of a disciplin-
overcrowded fishing trawl- ary investigation by the
er, had been heading from Coast Guard,” it said.
Libya to Italy with an esti- The Shipping and Island
mated 500-750 people on Policy Ministry, under whose
board when it sank in in- jurisdiction the coast guard
ternational waters west of lies, rejected the ombuds-
Pylos in western Greece in man’s report, accusing it
June 2023. Only 104 people Survivors and other members of the Pakistani community in Greece hold a banner with pictures of “attempting to shift the
survived, while 82 bodies of victims of one of the worst migrant boat tragedies during a protest by the Movement United conversation from the crim-
were recovered. The rest Against Racism and the Fascist Threat, or KEERFA, outside the naval court in Piraeus, near Athens, inal smuggling networks to
went down with the trawler on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. the members of the coast
in one of the deepest parts Associated Press guard, who fight day and
of the Mediterranean. face disciplinary action for in international waters but wanted to continue sailing night for the protection of
An independent investiga- overlooking the dangers within Greece’s area of re- to Italy. But several survivors the country.”
tion by Greece’s ombuds- posed by the trawler. sponsibility for search and said passengers had been It accused the report of fre-
man into the shipwreck The coast guard, which had rescue. calling for help repeatedly, quently favoring versions
concluded this week that been notified about the At the time, the coast and said that the boat cap- of events that called into
there were “clear indica- boat by Italian authorities, guard said the Adriana’s sized during an attempt by question the coast guard’s
tions” that eight senior had been shadowing the captain had insisted he did the Greek coast guard to actions “without the slight-
coast guard officers should vessel for hours as it sailed not want assistance and tow it. est credible evidence.”q

Mexico deploys the first of 10,000 National Guard troops to U.S.

border after Trump’s tariff threat

By MEGAN JANETSKY he would delay imposing Trump has declared an which has rippled to other government figures, mak-
Associated Press crippling tariffs on Mexico emergency on the border parts of the country as crim- ing it one of the biggest re-
CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico for at least a month. In ex- despite migration levels inal groups fight to control ceivers of border reinforce-
(AP) — A line of Mexican change, Mexican President and fentanyl overdoses sig- the lucrative migrant smug- ments in the country, sec-
National Guard and Army Claudia Sheinbaum prom- nificantly dipping over the gling industry. ond only to Tijuana, where
trucks rumbled along the ised she would send the past year. The U.S. said it On Tuesday, the first of 1,949 are slated to be sent.
border separating Ciudad country’s National Guard would, in turn, do more to those forces arrived in bor- During U.S. Secretary of
Juárez and El Paso, Texas, to reinforce the border and stop American guns from der cities, climbing out of State Marco Rubio’s trip
on Wednesday, among the crack down on fentanyl being trafficked into Mex- government planes. Guard through Latin America
first of 10,000 troops Mexico smuggling. ico to fuel cartel violence, members in the Wednes- where migration was at
has sent to its northern fron- day patrol confirmed that the top of the agenda the
tier following tariff threats they were part of the new top American diplomat
by President Donald Trump. force. thanked the Mexican gov-
Masked and armed Na- “There will be permanent ernment for the forces, ac-
tional Guard members surveillance on the border,” cording to a statement by
picked through brush run- José Luis Santos Iza, one of the Mexican government.
ning along the border the National Guard lead- The negotiation by Shein-
barrier on the outskirts of ers heading off the deploy- baum was viewed by ob-
Ciudad Juárez, pulling ment in the city, told media servers as a bit of shrewd
out makeshift ladders and upon the arrival of the first political maneuvering by
ropes tucked away in the set of soldiers. “This opera- the newly elected Mexican
trenches, and pulling them tion is primarily to prevent leader. Many had previous-
onto trucks. Patrols were drug trafficking from Mex- ly cast doubt that she’d be
also seen on other parts of ico to the United States, able to navigate Trump’s
the border near Tijuana. mainly fentanyl.” presidency as effectively as
It comes after a turbulent At least 1,650 troops were her predecessor and ally,
week along the border Mexican National Guard members patrol along the Mexico-US expected to be sent to Ciu- former President Andres
after Trump announced border in Ciudad Juarez, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. dad Juárez, according to Manuel Lopez Obrador.q
Associated Press