The Clandestine Central Mediterranean Passage

Author(s): Naor Ben-Yehoyada

Source: Middle East Report, No. 261, ILLICIT CROSSINGS (Winter 2011), pp. 18-23
Published by: Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP)
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Illegal attherefugee
migrants center
InLampedusa. mashid
mohadjerin/redux

Clandestine Central Meiterranea Passage

Naop -Yehoyada

78 nauticalmilesseparatetheTunisiantownof UN and EU estimateswere lower,but the perceptionof

al-Huwariyya at the head of the Cap Bon peninsula crisiswas set.) Aroundthe same time,familymembersof
About fromCapo Feto at thesouthwestern tip of Sicily.An LeilaTrabelsi,wifeoftheoustedPresidentZine El Abidine
Italy-boundvoyage between the two points,on thestraight Ben Ali, weresaid to have arrivedin southwestern Sicily
line headed roughlynortheast-east, takesabout 13hoursat aboard one of the "super-speedboats" knownto transport
an averagespeedofsixknotsundersail.A speedboatmoving prominentpersonsand Cosa Nostramembersbetweenthe
at 30-45 knotswould traversethe same distancein about twocoasts.The politicalmoment,however, wasnottheonly
twohours. connectionbetweenthesetwosetsofillicitcrossings.Both
In 2011,as Tunisiaeruptedin revolution, bothspeedboats the plebeianand thepatricianformsof travelevolvedout
and a fleetofslowerboatssetoffforItaliansoil,a flowthat of the historyof contrabandand clandestinenavigation
led the Italiangovernment to declarea stateof emergency. betweenSicilyand Tunisia.
From Januaryto mid-February, when Rome raised the
alarm,some44,000 migrants werereportedto havelanded Sailors and
Smugglers
on Sicily,theItalianmainlandor theislandof Lampedusa,
offtheTunisiancoast southeastof Cap Bon.1 (Subsequent Until the late 1990s, Tunisians were not among the
passengersalong thesesecretroutes.Tunisiansdid travel
NaorBen-Yehoyadaisvisiting inthe
lecturer Department andpost- to
ofAnthropology of them remainedtherewithoutresi-
doctoral research
visiting attheCenter
fellow forMiddle
Eastern atHarvard Italy,and some
Studies
University. dence permits(permesso The trip,however,
di soggiorno).

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did not requiremuch secrecy,if any.The Tunis-Palermo In the early 2000s, as they had before,clandestine
and Tunis-Trapaniferrylines were the main means of migrantsaimed forthe coast of Sicily,the nearestpoint
transportation, at leastforthoseTunisianswho helda valid of accessto the "Schengenarea"and itsjob opportunities.
passport.OtherTunisiansfoundboth workand a ride to What good would it do a NorthAfricanto alightupon
Italyon Sicilian trawlersthatanchoredin Tunisianport. thesmallerChannel islands,ifthatmeantanother,no less
Sicilian captains in searchof cheap fuel or undisturbed illegalvoyageto Sicilyor the mainland?But enforcement
fishingin TunisianwatersoftenhiredTunisiancrewmen pressurein theChannelof Sicilywas increasing, as theEU
to mediatetheexchanges.The Sicilianfishingfleetplayed built the capacityof Frontex,its bordercontrolagency,
a dual role forwould-be migrants:Its easilyapproached to curb the flowof illicitmigrantsinto Italy and across
sailorsgot theTunisiansaboard the trawlers,and thenits other EU borders.2The Italian (and other EU) navies
vesselscarriedthemacrossthechannel.In thebusinessof startedto patroltheChannel,interdicting theclandestine
clandestinemigration,transporters and passengerswere migrants'boats,arrestingthe migrantsand sendingthem
somewhatinterchangeable.Many of the Sicilian fleets to Lampedusa,whichhas becomethehub fordetentionof
Tunisian crewmenwere originallypassengers,who later North Africansand othersseekingundocumentedentry
arrangedforthepassageof friendsand relatives,who still intoEurope.In 2002, accordingto ItalianInteriorMinistry
laterbecame co-workerson the trawlers. documents,arrivalson Lampedusacountedfor53percent
In 1999,Italyaccededto theSchengenAgreement, which of all landingsin Sicilyand the Channel islands;by 2006
createdthe "Schengenarea," the borderlesszone of the thesmallislandssharehad risento over84 percent.3 In the
EuropeanUnion, but imposed new visa restrictions
upon sameperiod,theproportion ofillegalmigrants apprehended
non-EU citizenscomingfromoutside. Landing in Sicily in seaportsin Sicilyand theChannelislandsclimbedfrom
becameboth moredifficult - it requireda visa- and more about 10 percentof thenationalarresttotalto 92
percent.4
desirable,sincetheislandwas now themainsteppingstone Also to curb the risingmaritimeflow,Italyestablished
to gainfulemployment in Europe. TemporaryStay and AssistanceCenters,which, as char-
Thereafter,clandestinetravelbecametheruleratherthan acterizedby a 2005 AmnestyInternationalreport,were
the exception.Such transitof the Mediterraneanoften "the instrumentselectedto enable the provisionsforthe
dependedon the illicitnetworksthathad previouslybeen repatriation of alienswho haveenteredItalyillegallyto be
in
engaged smuggling, whether of cigarettes,drugs and carried out more In Italian,the facilitieswere
effectively."
raw
drug-related materials, or arms and ammunition. At namedCentride Permanenza Temporanea,literally, Centers
first,theseprofessionalsmugglers, who oftencollaborated of TemporaryPermanence,an oxymoronicappellation
with and were shieldedby varioussegmentsof the Cosa thatcapturestheeffectof the"repatriation instrument" in
Nostra around the central Mediterranean,dominated practice.Would-be immigrantscaught by police before
the marketforthe Tunisia-Italyvoyage.AfterSeptember or upon landfallwereheld in such centersin Lampedusa,
il, 2001, the connectionsbetweenthese smugglers(and Sicilyand theItalianmainland.Since theavailablespace in
other transgressive seafarers)and theirpolitical patrons Lampedusawas too smallforauthoritiesto keep captured
in Italy led the authoritiesto oppose some, but not all, migrantsforlong durations,theywere oftentransported
kindsof infiltration of Italianterritory: Terrorism was cast to othercentersin Sicilyor the Italian mainland- closer
as a more menacingthreatthan illicit migration.In an to theiroriginalpointsofdestination.YetundertheItalian
attemptto preventthe former, stateofficialswerewilling immigration lawsof1998and 2002,detaineeswhoseidentity
to overlookthe latter.From the late 1990s, then, more was notestablishedcould notbe heldformorethan15days
and moreTunisiansand otherNorthAfricansmade the (a period extendedto 60 days after2002, to six months
surreptitiousvoyageto Italy,takingadvantageoftheexisting in 2009 and to a yearand a halfin June2011).Afterthe
infrastructure and its protectionfromthe interference of detentionperiodexpired,thesepeople had to be released
theauthorities. with an oftentoothlessinjunctionto leave the territory.
Northboundmigrants quicklyreasonedthatthisprocedure
Perilous Voyages made it sufficient to disembark in Lampedusa,sincethere
theyhad a fairchanceof beingsentto the mainlandafter
Nowadays,thebig-timesmugglers havelosttheirmonopoly a relativelyshortstay.The UN High Commissionerfor
on themigranttraffic. The tripitselfis notdifficult,so even Refugeeshad also set up shop on Lampedusa,and many
amateursailorscan make it, and the means of transport migrantsbegan applyingforrefugeestatus,which allows
have proliferated. In the words of one smuggler,"Every thepossibilityof permanentsettlement in a hostcountry.
kid who can steala boat can makeit to Sicily.People take Those migrantswith the means and connections to
out theirboats motorshaftwhen theygo home, so that securesafepassageall thewayacrosstheChannelwerestill
theywill findthe boat the nextmorning."How did this headingforSicily.But theyweregraduallybecomingthe
changecome about? minority, as the rag-tagarmadasof smallerboats adjusted

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 Lampedusa: A Primer

Amanda Ufheil-Somers

than52,000would-be migrants havelandedonthe Espresso described being forcedtositinrawsewagefrom blocked

tiny Italianisland of Lampedusa in 2011. Roughly half toilets,
sleeping on flea-infestedmattresses and the
witnessingdaily
More ofthearrivals areyoungTunisian menlooking forjob slapping andbeating bytheguards, members ofthecarabinieri,
opportunities inEurope.MostoftheothersareSahelians, sub- Italy'smilitarized gendarmerie.2 TheItaliangovernment sought
Saharan Africans orSouthAsiansfleeing theviolence inLibya.In to improve detention conditions in2006 undertheauspicesof
many cases,they wereforced ontoboatsbyLibyan soldiers,as part Praesidium, a program jointlyfunded with theEUthrough which
ofthe"invasion" Col.Muammar al-Qaddafi promised shouldhis representatives oftheInternational Organization forMigration, the
rulecomeunder NATO Thestaggering
attack.1 number ofarrivals UNHighCommissioner forRefugees andtheItalian RedCrossare
does notinclude theestimated 1,500whostarved, suffocated or tasked with screening migrants forasylum claims, providing legal
drowned inthecentral Mediterranean trying to reach Europe's advice and supplying humanitarian assistance. (Thisarrangement
nearestshore. hassincebeenexpanded toother detention sitesinSicily andItaly.)
Lampedusa-a rocky, 12-square mileisland70 mileseastof TheContrada Imbriacola wasbuilt
facility outside oftown in2007.
Tunisia
and184milesnorth ofLibya - ishome to5,000year-roundDesigned fora maximum capacity of800,ithasheldas many as
residentswhoaresupported bytourism anda dwindling fishing 3,000people, somesleeping onmattresses instairwells andothers
Forthepasttwodecades,theislethasalso beena main outside.
industry. InFebruary 2009detainees protesting overcrowding and
destination formigrants tryingto reach Italyby sea. Each year abusive treatment starteda fire
that destroyed part ofthe facility.In
thousands ofpeoplearestranded inopenwaterinovercrowdedJanuary 2009, a decommissioned NATO communications base on
boatsorzodiacs(inflatable
fishing motorboats). Thelucky ones thewestendoftheislandwasconverted intoa facility
forwomen,
arerescued by theItalianor Maltese coast or
guards, bypassing unaccompanied minors and asylum seekers. Because the siteison
boats.Theboatoperators
fishing sometimes sabotage their
vessels Italian
military property,lawyers andaidworkers havelimited access
tomakethemlessseaworthy andenhance their chancesofrescue. tothosedetained there.3
Thebodiesofthosewhodonotsurvive thejourney sometimes wash Priorto2011,nearly allofthearrivals inLampedusa haddeparted
uponthetourist beaches where policeeventually collectthem.Most from Libya. In2009and2010,Italy drastically reduced thenumber
fishermen havestopped reportingthebodiestheypullupintheir ofarrivals onLampedusa through a "pushback"policy that forced
netstoavoidthepaperwork. migrant boats to return to A
Libya. "friendship pact"signedin
Conditions ontheislandformigrants are"austere" to
(according August 2008 exchanged Italianmilitary equipment, training and
a WikiLeaked StateDepartment cable) atbest. Until 2007, thosewho $200 million peryear in infrastructure investments for increased
reachedtheislandorwererescued atsea wereheldata facility at security ofLibya's landandseaborders andthetransfer ofinterdicted
theairportjustsouthofLampedusa's onlytownbefore beingtrans- migrants toLibyan detention facilities.
Inviolation ofinternational
ferred
tolarger inSicilyormainland
facilities Italian
Italy. journalist lawsprotecting politicalrefugees, Italian andMalteseauthorities
FabrizioGatti spenta weekatthisdetention centerinSeptemberescortedshipsto Libyanwatersor transferred migrants from
2005 posingas a Kurdish immigrant. Hissubsequent exposin damaged boatstoLibyan shipswithout conducting identitychecks.
Human Rights Watch hasreported thatdetainees inLibya - which
Amanda Ufheil-Somers isassistant
editor
o/Middle EastReport. hasnoasylum law - havebeensubject torampant physical abuse,

theircompassestowardLampedusaand otherTemporary thantheboat pilot,and moreof themigrants weremaking

StayCenterlocations.In thewordsof an Italianobserver, theirwayto Europewiththeintention ofdemanding asylum.
"The main outcomeof increasedcontrolsseemsthusto be Unlikeprevious whojustwanteda decentjob,the
generations,
the differentiation
and diversification
of migrationroutes, first
stepthesepeopletookonceon Europeansoilwas to seek
ratherthan the reductionof irregularmigrationand the a meeting withrepresentatives
oftheUN HighCommissioner
defeatof criminalorganizations."5 forRefugees.In orderto encounterthe UNHCR, it was
The increasedvolumeof traffic in the Channelof Sicily frequently
enoughto be interdicted
byan EU navalvesseland
had anotherunintendedconsequence.Growingnumbersof takento Lampedusa.Thegoalofpastmigrants to makeactual
passengerswere"trans-migrants,"
hailingfromcountriesother undetected landfallbecameredundant.

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 theft andextortion.4 By2010,annualarrivals in Lampedusa had arriving between April andOctober. Mostofthetransport boatswere
from
dropped 24,000 to fewer than 5,000. and
unseaworthy, overcrowding caused several shipsto capsize
with
Therapprochement Qaddafi's regime developed as Italian or sink. Twenty-five men died in July of suffocation or beatings
andEUpolitics becameincreasingly hostile to immigration, espe- when they were not allowed to leave the hold of an overladen boat.
ciallyfrom southern neighbors. Spanish agreements with Morocco Although Italybrokered a dealwith theLibyan National Transitional
andSenegaleffectively closedmigration routes through GibraltarCouncil as early as June2011reaffirming theagreement tocontrol
andtheCanaryIslands,whileFrontex, theEU'sborder control illicitimmigration alongtheterms established under Qaddafi's rule,
agency, mounted Joint Operation Poseidon to patrol the eastern a mass repatriation project has not been established. Most of the
Mediterranean. (The"friendship pact" included Frontex funds to migrants who left Libya remain in detention centers in Italy,with
bolsterthesecuritization ofLibya'slandborder as well.)Anti- uncertain prospects forgaining asylum inEurope.
immigrant were
politics key tothe election of Italian
Prime Minister Relations between Lampedusa residents andmigrants havedeterio-
SilvioBerlusconi in2008;hiscoalition government's biggest partner rated since
considerably early 201 1 . Inprevious years, Lampedusans
is theNorthern League,a party thathasorganized civilian street often participated inrescue missions andmayor Bernadino deRubeis
patrols innorthern citiesthattarget immigrant neighborhoods for criticizedthegovernment's "pushback"policy. Thehumanitarian
monitoring. Berlusconi's government strengthened lawscriminal-crisisontheislandoverthepasttenmonths hasconverted anger at
izing migration (which alsoaffect Roma), increased prison sentences thegovernment's immigration policies intohostilitytoward migrants.
andfines for thoseconvicted ofimmigration violations, andextended OnSeptember 20,Tunisian detainees protesting forced repatriations
themaximum length of initialdetention to 180 days. These policies starteda fireatthe Contrada Imbriacola center.Hundreds ofmigrants
havetransformed Lampedusa from a "door to Europe" into a first fledand made their way to the town where they the
spent night outside.
for
andlaststop many migrants. The following day, clashes broke out intown between policeand
Politicalunrest inNorth Africa, however, hasstrained theanti- protesters. Island residents pelted migrants with rocks as they tried
immigration infrastructure. Thefirst voyages of2011 beganafter the toescapeattacks from riotpolice; Rubeis toldthemediaitwasa "war
fallofZineElAbidine BenAli'sgovernment inTunisia onJanuary scenario" while brandishing a baseball bat.5
14.Relaxed border security andthedevastated tourism industry had After theviolence inSeptember, detainees onLampedusa were
18,000
prompted people to brave a winter
dangerous crossing by the evacuated within a few days. Some were deported to Tunisia, others
endofMarch. With theTunisian government- anditsrepatriation weretaken todetention centers inSicilyandseveral hundred were
- in
agreement disarray, Italytransferred thousands of migrants held on floating atthe
prisons port of Palermo for days before being
toother detention sites,as wellas temporary camps,inSicilyand transferred tomorepermanent holding facilities.
OnOctober 1, Italy
southern Italy.Many weregranted six-month work visasinthehope declared Lampedusa's port unsafe, directing allintercepted migrant
that theywouldmoveontoFrance orelsewhere inEurope, butother boatstoSicily fordocking. Only oneboatisknown tohaveleft Libya
EUstatesrefused torecognize thedocuments. InearlyApril, Italy sinceQaddafi's deathonOctober 20;Avesselcarrying 50 migrants
reached anagreement with thetransitional government inTunisto sentdistress signalsonNovember 8 and9. Atpresstime, theboat
beefupcoastalpatrols andaccepttheimmediate repatriation ofnew hadnotbeenfound.
Tunisian arrivals,though thosealready inItaly wouldbeallowed to Forthetimebeing, itseems,Lampedusa's doorisfirmly closed.
stay forsix months. These permits were extended tothe end of 201 1
Endnotes
after negotiations inAugust.
1.
Whenthearmedrevolt againstQaddafi's government beganin 11nternationalHeraldTribune
,March8,201
2 Fabrizio
Gatti, Clandestino
"lo, a Lampedusa," 7,2005.
October
L'Espresso, ThankstoPino
March, hundreds ofmigrant workers fleeing Libya further stretchedMarchettiforlocating sources.
Italian-language
thecapacity ofLampedusa's immigration facilities.
Departures from 3ClaireRodier, Mission
"Fact-Finding inLampedusa, 25-27,
February 2009,"Euro-Mediterranean
HumanRightsNetwork,
April15,2009.
Libyaaccelerated after NATObeganitsaerialbombardment, with 4Human RightsWatch,PushedBack,Pushed Around {New York,
September
2009).
27,000migrants (including several thousand women andchildren) 5Yasha Maccanico, Fire
"Italy: and LoathinginLampedusa," October
Statewatch, 17,
2011, p.1.

On the otherhand, the explosion of the clandestine enduremultiplevoyagesnorfora quantityoffueladequate

migrationbusinessalong the North Africancoast corre- forone.6The boatsalso beganto carrysatellitephones.To
spondedto a declinein theseaworthinessofthetransporting reacha TemporaryStayCenteron Italiansoil, all thatthe
ships.Manyoftheboatswereunfitforthevoyage,especially pilot needed to do was venturefarenoughonto the high
if overcrowdedwith passengers.The stock scenes in the seas and emit an SOS signal. EU naval vesselshave not
Channel changed fromhot pursuitof elusivesmuggling alwaysrespondedimmediatelyto such calls, despitetheir
vessels to search-and-rescueoperations,at least so the obligationto do so undertheUN Conventionon theLaw
officialsof Frontexliked to portraythem. Anticipating oftheSea (1982).ButEuropeanauthorities,anxiousto show
the
"rescue," smugglers needed neithera vesselthatcould the public that are on
they tough immigration, haveoften

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 arehelped
Migrants aboard
a coast vessel
guard astheir
small boat
passenger Inthewestern
IsIntercepted Mediterranean. caliz/panos
alfredo

dispatchedintercepting vesselsat sea on "rescuemissions," Itwastheprecariousness oftheseacrossing, alongwiththe

even withoutreceivinga distresscall.7And some Sicilian increasedtraffic, thattransformed thecentralMediterranean
skippers, evensomewho formerly carriedNorthAfricans to into a zone of arrestand transferto Italiansoil. The sheer
Italy,have reactedto thenew migrationpatternbyalerting numbers of migrantsrisking their lives to reach Europe
theItaliancoastguardwhenevertheysee a boat ofmigrants led EU and international officials, well as humanrights
as
at sea. The passengers'new politicalhorizonsand commu- organizations, to blametheboatoperators forabuseandfatal
nicationequipmentmean that,formany,Lampedusahas neglect.At the same time, human rights activistspresented
ceased to be thenorthboundvoyage'send. thedangersofpassageas proofofthefutility ofmakingsuch

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migration illegal.Peoplewillingto risktheseperilousvoyages in the Channel of Sicily,to both the formersubjectsof
would do anything to reachEurope. the fallen repressivestates and membersof the ousted
Theeffective end resultwasto breaktheroutebetweenthe dictatorialelites.For theescapingTunisianregimefigures,
two continentsinto two legs,each navigatedby a different landfallin Italysignifiedboth theend of theirpowerand
captain. Smugglersno longertransportedeveryonefrom salvationfromprosecutionforthecrimestheycommitted
departureto destination. Rather,they transportedthe to maintain it. In an irony of history,these seaborne
majorityof the Mediterraneanboat people to midpoints, flightsto Italy recapitulatedthe path taken by Italian
eitherat sea or in thesmallerChannelislands,wheretheir counterpartslike ex-PrimeMinisterBettinoCraxi, who
liveswereendangeredenoughto meritrescueand/orarrest tookrefugeinTunisiain the1990s.10Due to thecrackdown
bytheEuropeannavies,whichcompletedthejourney.In the on protestersby Ben Ali s police, in earlyJanuarymany
process,theundocumented migrants werereducedin theeyes Tunisiansrequestedasylumthemselves - exodusin place of
oftheEU to refugees orvictimsofhumantrafficking. -
When infiltration somethingtheyhad previouslybeen unable
themigrants wereseen in theseways,theEuropeanrespon- to demand. As of September,about 20,000 immigrants
sibilityto completethejourneywas legallyclarified, butthe fromTunisia and Libya have made it acrossthe Channel
politicalrisks to Europeangovernments were minimized. A of Sicily into Italian territory in 2011. For severalweeks,
person who did not fitone of these categorieswould findit Tunisians were accommodated in Lampedusa and Sicily,
harderto findsafehavenon theChannels northern shores, at leastofficially, because thechaos in theirhome country
muchlessacquirethepermesso di soggiorno. made it impossibleto deprivethemof temporaryrefuge,
To furtherlimit responsibilityfor irregularmigrants, or because the Italian authoritieswere not sure thatBen
European states forgedagreementswith North African Alis successorswould honor his agreementto take the
countriesbywhichany boat people capturedat sea could boat people back.
be takensouthratherthannorth.Already,bothTunisia(in Needless to say, the hospitalitywas short-lived.In
1998)and Libya(in 2007) had signedagreements withItaly, April 2011,the Italian governmentsecured the renewal
the main receivingcountryin the centralMediterranean, of readmissionagreements withTunisia and Libya. As of
compelling them to readmit their own nationals.These October, Italy has extended the extraordinary residence
agreements included sections under which North African permit for Tunisians who arrived prior to the signingof
(and Balkan) countries were required to increasethe patrol- the April5 agreement between the two countries,but it is
ling of their borders in return for Europeanfunding. These constantlyrepatriating North Africannationals.Tunisia
agreements werealso oftenfollowedbyrenewedmigration agreedto takeback its own nationalswho do not "qualify"
agreements, whichincludedmigration quotasand European forasylumin Europe;therebelsin Libya,thennot evenin
funding (channeled through Italian regions) for pre- controlof thewesternhalfof theircountry, assentedto the
migration in
training specifiedoccupations.8 Both countries, direct expulsion from of
Italy any "third-country national"
moreover, had beenmakinga practiceofacceptingboatloads who had departed from Libyan coasts, in accordance
of"third-country nationals"intercepted on boatsboundfor withthedraconian2008 pact.11
Italy.9But Italy accelerated this practiceupon conclusion
of theTreatyof Friendship,Partnership and Cooperation Endnotes
in
signed August 2008 with the of
regime Col. Muammar
1LaRepubblica
,February 2011.
13,
al-Qaddafi.By the termsof thisaccord,Italysecuredthe
2SeeGregFeldman,The
Migration
Apparatus: Labor
Security, and inthe
Policymaking European
abilityto escortboats capturedin the Mediterraneanto Union CA:Stanford
(Stanford, Press,
University 2011), ch.4.
especially
LibyanratherthanItalianports.As partof theagreement, 3"Documento relativo
programmatico alla diimmigrazione,
politica 2004-2006:
Rapporto
Libya received$5 billion in effectivecompensationfor delMinistro dell'Interno
alParlamento
sull'attivit
delleForzedipolizia,
sullo
stato
dell'ordine
the Italian colonial occupationof 1911-1943,in the form Brevi edella
sicurezza esulla
pubblica criminalit 2004."
organizzata, Quoted inLorenzo
Coslovi,
note viamare
sull'immigrazione inItalia
einSpagna (Rome: Centro Studi
diPolitica
of constructionprojects,studentgrantsand pensionsfor Internazionale, p.8.
2007),
Libyan nationals who had served in theItalianforces 4 Paolo
during Mediterranean," "The
Cuttitta, CaseoftheItalian
SouthernSeaBorders:CooperationAcross
the
Documentos
CIDOB 17(2008),
Migraciones p.46.
WorldWar II, as well as six patrolboats fromthe Italian
5Ibid.,
p.47.
navy,in returnforincreasedcooperationin stemmingthe 6 Paola Monzini,"Sea-Border The ofIrregular toItaly,"
flowsof "illegalmigration."By the summerof 2009, the Mediterranean Crossings: Organization Migration
Politics
12/2 2007),
(July p.178.
right-wing government in Italycouldreportthatclandestine 7Human Watch,
Rights Pushed
Back,PushedAround: Forced
Italy's ReturnofBoat
Migrants
andAsylumSeekers, Mistreatment
Libya's of and
Migrants Asylum Seekers
(New York,
September
migrationhad droppedby 92 percent. 2009),
p.41.
8Joint onBilateral
Seminar Labor
Agreementsand Other Forms ofRecruitment
ofForeign
Short-Lived Rupture Workers,
Migration
for Bilateral
Employment: ata Crossroads
Agreements (Paris,
2004),
pp.58-60.
9Cuttitta, 50-51.
pp.
The revoltsand regimechangesin Tunisia and Libya in 10Corriere della
Sera
,March19,
1994.
2011have reopenedthe routesof northboundmigration 11LaRepubblica 6,2011.
,April

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