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THE EUROPEAN UNION may be unwittingly funding abuse of Libyan refugees through its support for border control mechanisms, Amnesty International has claimed.
The group says an EU-funded programme to support the troubled country’s international borders may be forcing vulnerable people into holding centres where they are routinely abused.
While the EU’s programme in Libya has been intended to help curb “illegal migration” across the borders – mostly to Italy, which has colonial ties with Libya and which has housed many refugees – the programme also means keeping asylum seekers in temporary accommodation.
Amnesty said it visited seven of these ‘holding centres’ earlier this year, and found evidence of ill-treatment – and in some cases, torture.
In at least two of the centres, detainees said they had been shot with live bullets during some riots, while in other cases detainees said they had been subjected to beatings with water pipes and electric cables.
In another instance, a man was shot in the foot and tied to a bed where he was hit with the butt of a rifle in his lower back. Four months later he remains unable to walk, or even stand up.
Over 25,000 people have been deported from Libya in the last year, on the basis that they are considered to have entered the country illegally – but people ready for deportation are housed in the centres for months at a time, without legal aid.
At the time of Amnesty’s visits, a total of 5,000 people were being held in 17 holding centres, which Amnesty also says have poor hygiene standards where many suffer from conditions like chronic diarrhoea.
In one centre, 80 detainees were held in a courtyard in the sun to treat an apparent scabies infection which left them with itchy hands and genitals. However, the patients then became dehydrated because of their exposure to the sun.
“The torture and ill-treatment we uncovered at ‘holding centres’ is unacceptable and is a stain on the record of post-Gaddafi Libya,” said Amnesty International Ireland director Colm O’Gorman.
“EU funding should be used to promote and protect human rights in Libya. It is deeply troubling that EU money appears to have been used to support detention centres where thousands of foreign nationals are unlawfully held.”
Amnesty had asked the EU and its member states not to enter into further agreements to fund Libyan border control without assurances that Libya’s interior ministry offers a guarantee to uphold the human rights of people who may be housed in its centres.
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I can pay and I can see the point of a bill for infrastructure but I will NOT pay for quangos. Bonus’s or work gyms.gold plated pensions or the 200k wages that was signed off for Tierney. .Makes me sick
Don’t forget the 45 senior staff who will receive a €10 k allowance a year.
Cant pay,won’t pay,boi .
Can pay, you can’t be arsed you mean.
I’m so broke I even have the revenue following me on twitter,boi.
Exactly can pay won’t pay. I will pay. Having lived abroad I paid water charges. We should have been doing it years ago to upgrade the network.
I have no problem at all with this charge per say and will be paying.
If you want to moan about unjust charges try the USC.
But as it that effects the middle it’s not such a hot topic in dole areas where most of the dirty protests happen.
‘Dirty protests’?
What are you on about?
Go on YouTube look for Dublin says no .
Can pay, already pay, not paying again!
So you have no clue what a ‘Dirty protest’ is.
You wish to pay that is your right,as it is the right of others to refuse. Less of the slander though as it negates any point you’re trying to make.
Used to pay – Never paying again !
Not slander at all. Observations.
Show me road blocking protests in malahide, Sutton, blackrock sandyford. I will show you more in tallaght coolock finglas.
I’ll pay. I’ll join any valid protest about usc or higher vat costs etc
I want to know who makes the most comments on The Journal.
Why?
Interesting question. I don’t know if we have a way of checking that to be honest, but I’ll ask our Tech team and see if it can be done.
I read the comments every day. I feel like I know some of these people. I love Franks outrageous comments about IS and the U.S.A.
Fair enough,Jack ;)
For the record ..Gearld is my favourite poster on here ..
My favourite would have to be myself.
Is that a typo Qwerty ?
That’s easy Jack it’s the SF multi named trolls who have done a class job on the manipulation of this site ( just watch how many red thumbs I get!)
Judging by the articles above, to paraphrase Bill Clintons election campaign ‘Its the Water, stupid’, and 2015 won’t be any different….
Hmm..the main issue seems to be uncertainty about privatization of IW by a future administration to cover debts and unforeseen hikes in water prices. It took a lot of fighting this govt by a lot of people to even get the price reduced from a crazy €4.88/m3. The future is the problem. Everything including car tax is highly expensive in this country. Why would water not go that way?
Mary Lou started the year on a high and gave people so much hope, however she lost a lot of credibility on the Mairia Cahill allegations, people expected more.
Just smoke 6 less fags a week or 3 cans of Dutch Gold a week and pay up! You wouldn’t want the tax payers paying for everything would you?
As a taxpayer I already pay,so quite happy to refuse to pay a second time.
But you happily pay lots of other things twice
Jason such as what?
Did you have to give up the Dutch Gold ,tractor1000 ?! You poor sod!
Health care – prsi, PAYE. Electricity – your bill, Pso levy, green charge. Dental – prsi, PAYE and the cost if the visit.
Jason all the more reason not to pay for water twice ,thanks for that.
Never knew I paid for electricity twice must contact my supplier for a refund.
I’m shocked with that one !!
Norman; the money that you used to pay for water won’t being used for water anymore; it will being used to pay for something else. you are not paying twice, you are paying more.
Padraig I won’t be paying simple.
A proper user based charge I agree in principle with, but not for a quango with bonuses and over staffed by at least 50%.
Norman; there was a ” proper user based charge” until the protests..
Padraic read all my reply,a quango packed with cronies was never going to fly with the public.FG blinded by their own arrogance couldn’t see this.IW will cost many FG tds their seats.
But has the nose not been cut off to spite the face? The whole IW debacle has lurched from farce to farce, but I reckon setting up an entirely new water board and the necessary regulation, moving thousands of jobs from local authorities, and trying to fit meters across an entire country in that timescale is pretty difficult. usage based cost is progressive and I think correct but now we have the prospect of flat rate increases across the board for years to come.
Jason, there are tons of overpaid peoplle in the system raking it in. These are the ones collecing 2015 number plates Friday. How about some savings there instead? Bring an end to public-private apartheid terms and conditions and pay? Salaries here are way higher than other western eu countries.
Excellent economics Tractor – but now please deal with those who neither drink nor smoke …..
What do give up – food, heat, light ?
Why pay for an overpaid quango. If your happy to pay for that before even a pipe is fixed. Good for you. If your happy that millions were wasted . Taxpayers money. Your tax and USC good for you. Sure spend spend and its ok. Glad to see some people work hard pay tax and USC and don’t mind that this shambles has cost the country. Sure maybe pay for your air also seems you don’t mind paying for everything shambles or not.
Because Enda wants you too – that seems to be the only reason as far as I can see !
700,000 is an awful lot of non-payers #banjaxed
Abroad abroad so what. Not every country has to do things the same. In UK U pay council tax the same as our property tax and you get your refuse collection. Emergency services. Fire brigade included here you get nothing for it. Why didn’t they invest the money used to set up iw and the millions on Metering fixing the infrastructure .
Because setting up IW allowed them to remove the cost from the national deficit, thus “helping” the economy hit the targets agreed with the EU/IMF and attract investors into government bonds to lower the mid to long term borrowing rates, thus reducing the pressure on subsequent budgets and free up money for capital investment and tax cuts/welfare Increases. All of which, they hope, will give them the fiscal clout to buy the next election in Oct 2015.
Littleone, it’s a great question. The only reason might be to set up a new entity with billable customers so that company would have future market capitalization/potential for re-sale. Otherwise you’re right why not just spend the money they had on real projects? The previous administration spent a lot more than this one updating infrastructure.
Padraig, I dont fully buy the idea that this off balance costing makes all the difference to us meeting stated targets. The amount is too small w.r.t. overall budget. There is huge scope for making equivalent savings throughout the system and the govt. Has shied away from this as tax hikes are the easy target rather than vested interests…..the cost to run this state is still too high. Too many people make way too much money putting pressure on our finances. Seems like Kenny/fg talked big but delivered little on reform and labour gatekeeper howlin protected against reforms in order to protect core votes.
Average council tax in the UK is GBP 1,200 per year…whatever about paying property tax / water charges / bins etc in Ireland, we’re only paying about half that amount.
1200 covers bins, schooling and other stuff, on top of property tax, we pay seperate for all the rest, so when you compare us to the uk make sure you add in everything.
Lower vat rate in the UK,lower car tax no VRT. Not really comparing like with like now is it?
Off to the land of Milk and Honey with you so :)
Happy New Year.
If we keep excepting the lie as the norm, we are fu**ed.
FG also lost credibility using the dail to score political points. They could have been more vocal about people from this jurisdiction and not someone who should have gone to Westminster. Pity the government did not think people in this jurisdiction deserved all the dail time they wasted on someone who is from different jurisdiction. How long did it take for enda to meet her . A lot quicker than people here in this jurisdiction. Wonder why.
Mary Lou McDonald is easily on the Dana Rosemary Scanlon scale of annoying, only with less of the angelic ” butter doesn’t melt in her mouth look ” and more of the: ” I will respond to your question or comment in the most condescending and patronising tone I can find look”
Panti for Taoiseach!
I read the comments every day. I feel like I know some of these people. I love Franks outrageous comments about IS and the U.S.A. Agen Bola
Opinion: Water fluoridation is controversial, but trust evidence over scaremongering. Number of comments: 626?
But it is not fluoride alone but a compound of fluoride, take cyanide that is a compound of carbon and nitrogen which is found in all protein and in certain yellow diamonds but put together in a wrong way you end up with cyanide. The fluoride in drinking water is a by product of industrial waste that is too expensive to get rid off by any other means, so they use it in drinking water???
People do get enough fluoride in their diet from drinking tea, even some cheap brands of tea bags have too much flouride in them, so adding more as in drinking water might be harmful?
This is my first time i visit here and I found so many interesting stuff in your blog especially it’s discussion, thank you
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