Malta points the finger at a Syrian airline for the increase in departures from eastern Libya. In the last few hours, the Interior Minister of Valletta, Byron Camillerihe actually accused Cham wings To bring thousands of Bengali migrants to Benghazi, who then go to Europe. In this way, the increase in flow generated by the Libyan coasts is linked to the activities of the Syrian airline. For this reason, Camilleri himself called on the EU to act Middle against Cham Wings.
The words of the Maltese minister
Malta is also experiencing the recent increase in crossings along the Central Mediterranean route. The island primarily suffers from downhill runs Cyrenaica. A new phenomenon that has been observed for about a year and that represents a novelty in the study of the phenomenon of migration. Actually, we used to leave almost exclusively from western Libya Tripolitania that is, where the criminal groups of human traffickers have been entrenched in the territory for years.
The relative stability of the east of the country, controlled by General Haftar since 2014, has been a kind of guarantee over the past decade. But now the criminal groups in this country have understood that they can earn money and finance themselves with the macabre human market. And so the alarm went off in Valletta.
At a hearing in Parliament yesterday, Interior Minister Camilleri had no doubts about the origin of the new migratory flows. The responsibility lies with the company Cham Wings. Founded and managed by the Syrian entrepreneur Issam Shammoutthe airline is the first private operator in Damascus in the aviation sector since 2014.
According to Camilleri, planes taking off from Syrian airports are responsible for the transfer of thousands of citizens Bangladesh in Cyrenaica. In this way, therefore, Bengali migrants come into contact with human traffickers and then have the opportunity to embark to Europe. “The first question we Europeans must ask ourselves is: how many people must die before we all agree to fight traffickers?” said Camilleri.
The fight about traffickers According to the representative of the Maltese government, it has to happen first brakes which encourages departure and brings migrants along the Libyan coast. “That is why – he added – we have asked the European Commission to take direct action against human trafficking from Dhaka in Bangladesh to Libya and Europe, involving a private Syrian airline called Cham Wings.”
Why Malta accuses Cham Wings
Such allegations are not new to the Syrian airline. In 2021, the European Commission itself sanctioned Cham Wings for its involvement in the Belarusian route of immigration. Indeed, in the autumn of the same year, thousands of Middle Eastern migrants exerted pressure along the Polish and Lithuanian borders. At the origin of this unprecedented migratory flow is the precise transfer of thousands of Syrians and Iraqis by air to Minsk. Many of the flights to the Belarusian capital were operated by Cham Wings.
However, the sanctions were lifted the following year, also due to the suspension of flights to Belarus ordered by the Syrian airline. The company defended itself at the time, claiming it was unable to operate one Distinction, on board their planes, between ordinary passengers and migrants. Perhaps it is this precedent that brought Malta’s allegations to life.
If on the one hand it is true that Bengali nationals are among the most numerous on board the boats heading towards the archipelago and Italy, on the other hand their transfer to Libya via Damascus seems to be a new fact. In the report ofom, the international organization for migration, last year there was talk of transfers of Bengali citizens mainly through Turkey. In fact, there are many flights in between dhaka And Istanbul. From here, many have the opportunity to take a plane to Tripoli.
However, there is no trace of stopovers in Syria. Also a large part of the Bengalis leaving Cyrenaica turns out Resident for years in Libya or from nearby Egypt. From here it is very easy to get to Tobruck by land thanks to the permeability of the borders between the two North African countries.