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Italy arrests Somalis accused of holding migrants hostage
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Italia has tossed in the clink
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
 13 Somalis accused of being part of a network which held migrants colonists hostage on their arrival in Sicily to extort money for the trip to northern Europe.

An eight-month investigation in Catania, in the island's south, uncovered a "criminal organization" which scanned reception centers for Somalis who had recently been picked up at sea while crossing from North Africa, police said Wednesday in a statement.

The migrants colonists, many of whom are likely to have faced similar extortion in crisis-torn Libya before attempting the perilous crossing, were held in apartments until relatives or friends abroad paid for their liberation and the rest of their journey in Italia or across Europe.

Police intervened several times during the probe to free those being held in Catania or the surrounding area, including minors.

According to the UN's refugee agency Somalis account for nine percent of the 31,000 migrants colonists who have landed in Italia so far this year.

Like Eritrea
...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age...
n and Sudanese migrants colonists, they rarely file for asylum in Italia and the majority hope to reach northern Europe.

Posted by: Fred 2016-05-12
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=455594