New migration routes to Europe are opening up in the Mediterranean Sea, adding to the EU’s border woes as it battles the crisis in Belarus.
EU border guards said crossings in the central Mediterranean, the sea route to Italy, almost trebled last month compared with pre-pandemic levels.
While boats taking that route typically set off from North Africa, border agency Frontex said a “significant development” this autumn was the number of people making the longer journey from Turkey to Italy.
Smugglers are evading sea patrols by using luxury vessels to transport migrants, it is feared. Police are investigating links to Turkish and Italian gangs and have arrested several Ukrainian ship captains.
The sailboats used by smugglers are thought to carry up to 100 migrants below deck before being abandoned on the Italian coast.
The shorter hop from Turkey to Greece has declined in popularity, said Frontex, with crossings in the eastern Mediterranean down 76 per cent this year compared with 2019.
But the 6,240 crossings reported on the route to Italy last month were up 186 per cent from October 2019, the agency said.
In another development, Egyptians became one of the largest groups of people travelling to Italy, mainly by setting off from Libya.
Tunisians and Bangladeshis were the other main nationalities making the dangerous crossing.
The developments in the Mediterranean add to the EU's problems as another previously quiet route, the eastern border with Belarus, is now a political flashpoint.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is suspected of masterminding the rush to enter Poland. Thousands of migrants are stranded at the border, many of them from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The EU sought to shut the route down on Tuesday by threatening to blacklist airlines involved in smuggling people to Europe.
Airlines could be banned from the EU’s airspace and denied the right to refuel in Europe if they are believed to be involved in trafficking.
“The viable route to Europe is through a legally paved pathway, not an irregular forest trail,” said EU home affairs chief Ylva Johansson.
About 8,000 people have tried to enter the EU from Belarus this year, Frontex said, compared with only a few hundred in 2020.
Other migrants have tried to enter via the Western Balkans, a term for non-EU members including Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia.
About 40 per cent of illegal crossings in October occurred on this route, with most of the migrants coming from Syria, Afghanistan and Morocco.
The decline in eastern Mediterranean crossings was partly offset by an increase in arrivals to Cyprus.
In the west, journeys from North Africa to Spain were up from 2020, but down on pre-pandemic levels.
Elsewhere, the number of journeys to Spain’s Canary Islands, off the coast of West Africa, was far higher than in 2019.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make
When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.
“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.
This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).
|
Age
|
$250 a month
|
$500 a month
|
$1,000 a month
|
|
25
|
$640,829
|
$1,281,657
|
$2,563,315
|
|
35
|
$303,219
|
$606,439
|
$1,212,877
|
|
45
|
$131,596
|
$263,191
|
$526,382
|
|
55
|
$44,351
|
$88,702
|
$177,403
|
RESULT
Kolkata Knight Riders 169-7 (20 ovs)
Rajasthan Royals 144-4 (20 ovs)
Kolkata win by 25 runs
Next match
Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders, Friday, 5.30pm
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
