Image copyright AFP Image caption Thousands have made the risky crossing to Italy this year

An Italian prosecutor says he has evidence some of the charities saving migrants in the Mediterranean Sea are colluding with people-smugglers.

Carmelo Zuccaro told La Stampa (in Italian) phone calls were being made from Libya to rescue vessels.

Organisations involved in rescue operations have rejected accusations of collusion, saying their only concern is to save lives.

Italy is the main route for migrants trying to reach Europe.

Almost 1,000 people are thought to have drowned in waters between Libya and Italy this year, according to the UN refugee agency.

Nearly 37,000 people have been rescued over the same period, a surge of more than 40% from last year, the figures say.

"We have evidence that there are direct contacts between certain NGOs [non-governmental organisations] and people traffickers in Libya," Mr Zuccaro is quoted as saying in La Stampa.

He said that telephone calls were being made from Libya and rescuers were shining lamps to direct smugglers' vessels and turning off transponders so boats could not be traced.

But he did not say he would open a criminal investigation.

Mr Zuccaro's comments come amid growing criticism of NGO activity in the Mediterranean, including one leading politician saying it was tantamount to providing a taxi service to Europe.

But Chris Catrambone, who co-founded the Migrant Offshore Aid Station NGO to rescue migrants, told Reuters news agency "more would die if we weren't there".

Correction 8 May 2017: The comment about a "taxi service" was incorrectly attributed to border agency Frontex in an earlier version of this story.</s>Carmelo Zuccaro, the chief prosecutor for the Italian port city of Catania, told "La Stampa" newspaper on Sunday that he has evidence that NGOs are directly working with human smugglers to bring migrants into Italy.

Zuccaro did not offer many details about the evidence his office obtained and did not say whether there would be a criminal investigation.

"We don't know if and how to utilize this information in the judicial process, but we're certain enough of what we're saying: (there are) telephone calls from Libya to some NGOs," said Zuccaro, echoing similar comments he made last month.

Humanitarian aid groups have previously denounced the claims and said if it were not for their work, many more lives would be lost.

"Now and for some time already, the NGOs are saving lives in the sea," Amnesty International official Gianni Rufini told Italian news agency ANSA.

The Italian coast guard has worked alongside NGOs and private vessels just off the coast of Libya to rescue migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe. They rescued thousands of migrants in flimsy dinghies and small wooden boats over Easter weekend.

Zuccaro said that not all NGOs that work with the Italian coast guard in the Mediterranean are working with human smugglers.

The trip from Libya to Europe is very dangerous, and usually done on flimsy crafts, such as this deflated, sinking rubber dinghy in the Mediterranean

"For the suspect (NGOs), we must understand what they do; for the good ones, instead one must ask if it's right and normal that European governments leave the task of decided how and where to intervene in the Mediterranean to them," said Zuccaro.

There has been a dramatic uptick in migrants attempting the dangerous trip from Libya to Italy so far this year. About 36,000 migrants have been rescued in the Mediterranean Sea in 2017, an approximately 44 percent increase at this point in the year from one year ago. At least 1,000 migrants have died attempting the sea crossing so far in 2017, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Zuccaro said that up to 250,000 migrants could arrive on Italian shores by the end of the year if the pace continues.

Italian Prime Minister Paolo warned against criminalizing NGOs on Friday, saying they "save lives and should be thanked."

Populists agree with claims

Italy is due to have their next general election before summer 2018. With decreasing support for the NGOs in Italy, the populist parties and leaders are also denouncing the work of the NGOs.

Luigi Di Maio, a top leader in the populist 5-star Movement, said the NGOs are "in cahoots with human traffickers," adding, "we want light shed on this, to know who finances (the NGOs)."

The party also called the NGOs work a "taxi service" for migrants, similar to claims from the Northern League and Forza Italia parties known for their populist policies.

Many Italian polls currently give the 5-star Movement a slight lead over the ruling center-left Democratic Party.

Watch video 01:13 Onboard a refugee rescue ship

kbd/bw (AP, Reuters)</s>An Italian prosecutor has evidence of phone calls between Libyan people smugglers and aid groups operating rescue boats, he told newspaper La Stampa, amid growing criticism of non-governmental groups saving refugees off the Libyan coast.

Carmelo Zuccaro, the chief prosecutor of the Sicilian port city of Catania, did not say he would open a criminal investigation, and he gave no details about the evidence.

"We don't know if we can use this information during a trial," he said.

He was not immediately available for comment on Sunday.

Italy has become the main route for migrants seeking to reach Europe, with 181,000 arrivals last year and some 4,600 estimated deaths at sea.

So far this year arrivals are up more than 40 percent on 2016, and as many as 1,000 have died, the International Organisation for Migration says.

Mr Zuccaro launched a fact-finding investigation into the work of NGO boats in February, and in March told Italy's parliament he was "convinced" smugglers were in direct contact with rescuers, though at that time he said he had no proof.

NGOs, including Save the Children, Proactiva Open Arms and SOS Mediterranee, have rejected the accusations, saying their only objective is to save lives.

Mr Zuccaro's comments come two days after Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement said NGOs were providing a "taxi service" for migrants, adopting a tough anti-immigrant line similar to right-wing parties such as the Northern League and Forza Italia.

Italy is due to hold a general election before next summer, and most polls show the 5-Star Movement has a narrow lead on the ruling centre-left Democratic Party. EU border agency Frontex has also criticised the NGOs, saying they make it too easy for smugglers.</s>ROME, April 23 (Reuters) - An Italian prosecutor has evidence of phone calls between Libyan people smugglers and aid groups operating rescue boats, he told newspaper La Stampa, amid growing criticism of non-governmental groups saving refugees off the Libyan coast.

Carmelo Zuccaro, the chief prosecutor of the Sicilian port city of Catania, did not say he would open a criminal investigation, and he gave no details about the evidence.

"We don't know if we can use this information during a trial," he said.

He was not immediately available for comment on Sunday.

Italy has become the main route for migrants seeking to reach Europe, with 181,000 arrivals last year and some 4,600 estimated deaths at sea. So far this year arrivals are up more than 40 percent on 2016, and as many as 1,000 have died, the International Organisation for Migration says.

Zuccaro launched a fact-finding investigation into the work of NGO boats in February, and in March told Italy's parliament he was "convinced" smugglers were in direct contact with rescuers, though at that time he said he had no proof.

NGOs, including Save the Children, Proactiva Open Arms and SOS Mediterranee, have rejected the accusations, saying their only objective is to save lives.

Zuccaro's comments come two days after Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement said NGOs were providing a "taxi service" for migrants, adopting a tough anti-immigrant line similar to right-wing parties such as the Northern League and Forza Italia. Italy is due to hold a general election before next summer, and most polls show the 5-Star Movement has a narrow lead on the ruling centre-left Democratic Party. EU border agency Frontex has also criticised the NGOs, saying they make it too easy for smugglers.

Humanitarian rescue boats wait just outside of Libyan territorial waters. Migrants are packed by smugglers onto flimsy rubber boats that struggle to make it to international waters before sinking. "More would die if we weren't there," Chris Catrambone, who co-founded the MOAS NGO to rescue migrants with his wife Regina, told Reuters.

During a visit to Canada on Friday, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni cautioned against criminalising NGOs, saying they "save lives and should be thanked". (Reporting by Steve Scherer; editing by Susan Thomas)</s>The Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) ship MV Phoenix sails out of Valletta’s Grand Harbour, Malta, May 2, 2015. ― Reuters picROME, April 23 — An Italian prosecutor claims charity boats rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean are in direct contact with people traffickers in Libya, reigniting a bitter row over what the aid groups defend as vital, life-saving operations.

In an interview with Italian daily La Stampa, Sicily-based prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro made his most specific claims yet over NGO activities off Libya, which the EU border agency Frontex recently described as tantamout to providing a “taxi” service to Europe.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) active in the rescue effort include long-established groups such as Doctors without Borders and Save the Children, and smaller, newer operations such as the Malta-based MOAS.

They have all dismissed suggestions of de facto collusion with traffickers as a baseless slur on volunteer crews whose only mission is to save lives in the absence of EU governments acting effectively to do so.

Over 1,000 migrants are feared to have died in waters between Libya and Italy so far this year, according to the UN refugee agency. Nearly 37,000 have been rescued and brought to Italy.

“We have evidence that there are direct contacts between certain NGOs and people traffickers in Libya,” Zuccaro was quoted as saying by La Stampa.

“We do not yet know if and how we could use this evidence in court, but we are quite certain about what we say; telephone calls from Libya to certain NGOs, lamps that illuminate the route to these organisations’ boats, boats that suddenly turn off their (locating) transponders, are ascertained facts.”

Zuccaro is the head of a five-strong pool of prosecutors in charge of investigating all the legal aspects of the migrant crisis, from trafficking to illegal exploitation of migrant labour on Italian farms and rackets in the provision of reception facilities.

La Stampa reported that prosecutors were looking into whether some of the newly-established NGOs involved in rescue operations may be financed by the traffickers themselves as a way of making it easier to guarantee their human cargoes would get to Italy.

The organisations involved have all dismissed the charges against them and expressed concern that they are being targeted by an orchestrated smear campaign.

One group, SOS Mediterranee, told AFP last week it had “never, not once” been put in touch with a migrant boat via smugglers. — AFP</s>Italy is the main route for migrants trying to reach Europe from Africa

Some of the charities saving migrants in the Mediterranean Sea are colluding with people-smugglers, according to Italian prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro. He told La Stampa that phone calls were being made from Libya to rescue vessels and rescuers were shining lamps to direct smugglers’ vessels and turning off transponders so boats could not be traced.

As reported by the BBC, organisations involved in rescue operations have rejected accusations of collusion, saying their only concern is to save lives.

Italy is the main route for migrants trying to reach Europe from Africa. The United Nations refugee agency estimates that almost 1,000 people are thought to have drowned in waters between Libya and Italy this year.

Nearly 37,000 people have been rescued over the same period, a surge of more than 40% from last year, according to UN data.

“We have evidence that there are direct contacts between certain NGOs [non-governmental organisations] and people traffickers in Libya,” Zuccaro is quoted as saying in La Stampa.

In response, Chris Catrambone, who co-founded the Migrant Offshore Aid Station NGO to rescue migrants, told the Reuters news agency that “more would die if we weren’t there”.

In a separate report, The Telegraph noted that Zuccaro’s comments came two days after Italy’s anti-establishment 5-Star Movement said NGOs were providing a “taxi service” for migrants, adopting a tough anti-immigrant line similar to far-right Northern League and right-wing Forza Italia.

During a visit to Canada on April 21, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni cautioned against criminalising NGOs, saying they “save lives and should be thanked”.</s>An investigation of humanitarian groups operating migrant rescue ships in the Mediterranean has turned up evidence of contacts between some NGOs and Libyan-based human smugglers, a prosecutor based in Sicily said in comments published Sunday.

Anti-migrant politicians immediately demanded to know who finances rescue ships run by NGOs.

Catania Chief Prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro was quoted as saying in an interview with La Stampa newspaper that his office’s probe has revealed “evidence that there are direct contacts between some NGOs and human traffickers in Libya.”

Several nongovernmental organizations have operated rescue boats in the Mediterranean just outside Libya’s territorial waters.

Humanitarian advocates said that if it weren’t for them, countless more migrants would perish at sea.

“Now and for some time already, the NGOs are saving lives in the sea,” Amnesty International official Gianni Rufini told Italian news agency ANSA. He challenged those suspecting deals between NGOs and smugglers to produce proof.

Under maritime rules involving distressed boats, Italy’s coast guard, which coordinates operations in the search-and-rescue zone between Sicily and Libya’s territorial waters, frequently calls on private vessels near foundering dinghies or fishing boats crowded with migrants. In the past, nearby cargo ships were called to help. But increasingly an expanding number of NGO vessels are plucking migrants to safety.

Zuccaro didn’t specify how the evidence was obtained.

“We don’t know if and how to utilize this information in the judicial process, but we’re certain enough of what we’re saying: (there are) telephone calls from Libya to some NGOs” and other evidence, the prosecutor was quoted as saying.

Compared to the same period in 2016, the number of migrants rescued at sea and brought to Italy so far this year has jumped about 44 percent, to about 36,000.

Zuccaro predicted as many as 250,000 migrants might be rescued at sea this year and taken to Italian ports, if the pace continues.

Populist politicians raised an outcry about what critics have dubbed NGO “taxi services” for migrants.

NGOs are suspected of being “in cahoots with human traffickers,” said Luigi Di Maio, a top leader of the populist 5-Star Movement. “We want light shed on this, to know who finances” the NGOs.

Echoing politicians from the far-right Northern League, Di Maio cited fears there might be “criminals” among the migrants.

Zuccaro distinguished between a rash of newcomer groups established for the purpose of rescuing migrants at sea and long-established humanitarian organizations.

“For the suspect ones, we must understand what they do; for the good ones, instead one must ask if it’s right and normal that European governments leave the task of deciding how and where to intervene in the Mediterranean to them.”

The European border agency Frontex also has military vessels from several countries that help rescue migrants.

Last week, Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni praised NGOs for saving migrant lives, but said prosecutors were right to investigate any possible contacts between NGO groups and the Libyan-based smugglers.</s>Charity boats rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean are colluding with traffickers in Libya, an Italian prosecutor was quoted as saying Sunday, stirring up a simmering row over aid groups’ role in Europe’s migrant crisis.

In an interview with Italian daily La Stampa, Sicily-based prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro made his most specific claims yet over NGO activities off Libya, which the EU border agency Frontex recently described as tantamount to providing a “taxi” service to Europe.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) active in the rescue effort include long-established groups such as Doctors without Borders and Save the Children, and smaller, newer operations such as the Malta-based MOAS.

They have all dismissed suggestions of de facto collusion with smugglers as a baseless slur on volunteer crews whose only mission is to save lives in the absence of EU governments acting effectively to do so.

Over 1,000 migrants are feared to have died in waters between Libya and Italy so far this year, according to the UN refugee agency. Nearly 37,000 have been rescued and brought to Italy.

“We have evidence that there are direct contacts between certain NGOs and people traffickers in Libya,” Zuccaro was quoted as saying by La Stampa.

“We do not yet know if and how we could use this evidence in court, but we are quite certain about what we say; telephone calls from Libya to certain NGOs, lamps that illuminate the route to these organisations’ boats, boats that suddenly turn off their (locating) transponders, are ascertained facts.”

Zuccaro is the head of a five-strong pool of prosecutors investigating criminal aspects of the migrant crisis, from trafficking to illegal exploitation of migrants on Italian farms and via prostitution to rackets in the provision of reception facilities.

La Stampa reported that prosecutors were looking into whether some of the newly-established NGOs may be financed by the traffickers as a way of making it easier to guarantee their human cargoes get to Italy.

The organisations involved have all dismissed the charges against them. They fear they are being targeted by a smear campaign designed to get them out of the way.

One group, SOS Mediterranee, told AFP last week it had “never, not once” been put in touch with a migrant boat via smugglers.

Under an EU-backed strategy, Italy is currently trying to beef up Libya’s coastguard in the hope more boats can be prevented from getting out of Libyan territorial waters and the migrants returned to holding camps in the troubled country.

The strategy has been described by rights groups as a breach of Europe’s obligations under international refugee conventions.

And it has so far made little headway towards closing down the Libya-Italy migrant route.

Rome said Friday it would be providing Libya with ten new coastguard boats but a cooperation deal covering holding camps and repatriations is in limbo after it was suspended by Libya’s Court of Appeal.

The number of people leaving Libya in the hope of starting a new life in Europe is up nearly 50 percent this year compared with the opening months of 2016.

With most departures coming in the warm summer months, the trend points to around 250,000 people arriving over the course of 2017 – a forecast Zuccaro described as “an under-estimate”.

Some 500,000 migrants were registered in Italy in the three years spanning 2014-16.

And pressure on the country’s reception facilities has increased in the last year as a result of neighbouring countries tightening border controls, making it harder for migrants to move further north.

Tensions at bottleneck border points were underlined when Ventimiglia, a town on the Riviera border with France, issued an order banning locals from distributing food to migrants.

The order, similar to one issued in Calais in northern France, was withdrawn on Sunday in a move welcomed by aid groups who hope it will have a bearing on a court case against French activist Felix Croft.

Prosecutors have asked for a prison term and 50,000 euros fine for Croft, 28, for trying to help a Sudanese family from Darfur to cross the border into France in July 2016.

“This is excellent news. You cannot use the law to persecute solidarity, however it is expressed,” said Patrizio Gonnella, president of Antigone, a civil rights group. Croft is due to learn his fate on Thursday.</s>Charities and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) operating rescue missions in the Mediterranean are “colluding” with criminal people-smugglers to bring migrants to Europe, according to Italian authorities.

Prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro told La Stampa that phone calls were being made from Libya to NGO vessels offshore, helping smugglers complete the final leg of the journey in a billion-dollar European smuggling operation.

“We have evidence that there are direct contacts between certain NGOs [non-governmental organisations] and people traffickers in Libya,” Zuccaro said, claiming the ships were shining lights to help guide the smugglers’ dangerous boats and disabling responders to hide migrant activity at sea from the authorities.

After their rescue missions are completed, the NGO ships go a considerable distance out of their way to bring their passengers to Europe rather than safe ports in nearby North Africa. European Union Border Agency (Frontex) chief Fabrice Leggeri has accused them of acting “like taxis” for illegal migrants.

Frontex has previously conceded, however, that all search-and-rescue [SAR] efforts currently have the effect of encouraging people to go out to sea, including their own, because they are invariably brought to a safe harbour in the EU and not returned to North Africa.

In its Risk Analysis for 2017, the agency admitted that:

Both border surveillance and [Search and Rescue (SAR)] missions close to, or within, the 12-mile territorial waters of Libya have unintended consequences. Namely, they influence smugglers’ planning and act as a pull … Dangerous crossings on unseaworthy and overloaded vessels were organised with the main purpose of being detected by EUNAVFOR Med/Frontex and NGO vessels. Apparently, all parties involved in SAR operations in the Central Mediterranean unintentionally help criminals achieve their objectives at minimum cost, strengthen their business model by increasing the chances of success. Migrants and refugees – encouraged by the stories of those who had successfully made it in the past – attempt the dangerous crossing since they are aware of and rely on humanitarian assistance to reach the EU.

Despite acknowledging that its current policies lead to more sea crossings and more drowning deaths, Frontex has declined to change them “because they stem from European values”.

This contrasts with the more practically-minded approach adopted by Australia when seaborne migration reached a comparatively modest high of 403 boats and 25,173 migrants in 2012-13.

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott responded to the crisis by launching Operation Sovereign Borders. The military-led mission which sees smuggler boats either turned back to their port of origin or escorted to a third country, where asylum applications are processed in secure facilities.

Operation Sovereign Borders has slashed illegal sea crossings to zero, and Abbott has urged EU leaders to follow his example.

“If you want to stop the deaths [and] you want to stop the drownings, you have got to stop the boats,” he declared in 2016.

“Effective border protection is not for the squeamish, but it is absolutely necessary to save lives and to preserve nations. The truly compassionate thing to do is: stop the boats and stop the deaths.”</s>"We have evidence that there are direct contacts between certain NGOs and people traffickers in Libya," Carmelo Zuccaro told Italian newspaper La Stampa."We do not yet know if and how we could use this evidence in court, but we are quite certain about what we say; telephone calls from Libya to certain NGOs, lamps that illuminate the route to these organizations' boats, boats that suddenly turn off their transponders, are ascertained facts," he said.Zuccaro is a member of a group of prosecutors investigating the trafficking and exploitation of migrants. He told Italy's parliament in March that he was sure traffickers were in contact with rescuers, but didn't have proof.EU border agency Frontex has long warned against NGO rescue boats, accusing them of encouraging traffickers. In December, the Financial Times reported on confidential Frontex documents which suggestedZuccaro goes one step further, claiminginstead of waiting for the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Center for directions. He has also raised questions aboutSome of theinclude Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontiers), SOS Mediterranee, Save the Children and Malta-based Mobile Offshore Aid Station (MOAS).that they are in collusion with traffickers. According to La Stampa, prosecutors are investigating whether some of the newer NGOs involved in rescue operationsThe anti-establishment 5-Star Movement party has also made accusations that NGOs are providing a "taxi service" for migrants. Luigi Di Maio, vice president of the Chamber of Deputies, a house of Italy's parliament,and defended his statements in a Facebook post. "There is an investigation of the judiciary in progress and there are two reports from Frontex that accuse NGOs not only of collusion with the smugglers but also of allowing criminals to directly use the boats of NGOs to transport the immigrants."Italy is part of anThis would see migrants being sent back to Libya, where recent reports have found migrants are being traded in slave markets.There were 181,000 arrivals in Italy last year, and so far in 2017 there has been an increase of 40 percent year-on-year, with as many as 1,000 migrants alleged to have lost their lives, reports Reuters, citing the International Organization for Migration.
An Italian prosecutor says there are "telephone calls" between people smugglers in Libya and some non-governmental organizations. Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, says the practices amount to a "taxi service". One NGO says "more would die" if they were not there.