Spain pushes for migrant management

At a recent two-day Euro-Africa Summit, more than 80 leaders from both continents – 41 of them from Africa – stated their commitment to fighting human trafficking, which was described as ‘a new form of slavery’. The plan stresses cooperation among countries to fight the trafficking mafias, improve border controls, encourage legal immigration, help migrants return home, reduce the cost of the money transfers they send back to their families, and address the latest causes of illegal immigration. The fight against illegal immigration was not originally on the summit agenda, but organizers say they decided to add it following both the tragedy near the Italian island of Lampedusa last October, when hundreds of migrants drowned, and the massive runs on the fences separating Morocco from the Spanish North African exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in recent months. Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said it was important “to give youngsters in Africa an alternative to irregular immigration, even as we cooperate to stop this tragedy with proper management of migratory flows, more efficient border control and unflinching persecution of those who continue to get rich on human trafficking.” Reports say Madrid is pressuring the EU to negotiate agreements with African nations that will tie economic aid to cooperation in fighting irregular immigration. The summit conclusions did not explicitly establish this link, but observers said they were confident that the criteria would be taken into account when the time comes for the EU to provide €28 billion in aid to Africa between 2014 and 2020. “Migrating should be an option, not an obligation for survival,” added the Spanish leader.

Migration watchdog posts new asylum bill in Russia

The Russian Federal Migration Service (FMS) is preparing a bill to ease the integration of forced migrants into society while preventing the abuse of the right to seek asylum, according to news reports. In a summary of the bill posted on Russia’s database of legal initiatives, the watchdog said it intended to create ‘favorable conditions for social, economic and cultural integration of forced migrants’, but, at the same time ‘prevent abuses by foreigners and stateless persons … of their right to seek asylum’. If passed, the bill would come into force between 2015 and 2016. Citizens of Ukraine, hit by a protracted political crisis, have become the largest group of asylum seekers in Russia in recent weeks, states Ria. According to the Federal Migration Service there has been a noticeable increase in applications for Russian citizenship from Ukrainian citizens residing in the country. In February alone, migration from Ukraine to the nearby Rostov region increased by 53 percent, while exodus to the Kursk region rose by 71 percent, showing signs of a looming ‘humanitarian catastrophe’, according to Ria reports on the border guard service.

Global intelligence analysts warn on supply chain terrorism

Threats to supply chain security are constantly evolving, and BSI has recorded a number of important changes to the threat landscape facing supply chains around the world in 2013, revealing that supply chain trade interruption exceeded $300 billion in 2013. With a few notable exceptions, the countries BSI rated High or Severe for cargo theft continued to see significant losses and violent cargo theft incidents, specifically in Italy, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa. BSI also noted a number of important shifts in the tactics used to smuggle illegal drugs and other contraband via introduction into cargo shipments, as well as several entirely new global trafficking flows. Trade interruption incidents such as strikes, protests, and adverse weather events significantly impacted regional and global trade in 2013 and exceeded a quarter trillion dollars globally. Supply chain terrorism continued to plague a number of countries, particularly Colombia, India, the Philippines, and several nations in Africa and the Middle East. BSI’s 2013 Screen Global Intelligence Report provides an overview of the threats, risks, and trends identified by BSI Supply Chain Solutions’ Intelligence Team over the past year. The report includes a breakdown of the supply chain security situation in each region of the world, with special attention paid to threat rating changes and trends BSI Analysts observed in 2013. BSI’s report is filled with numerous cargo and trade disruption statistics, illustrative graphs covering emerging drug flows and cargo theft incidents, and informative supply chain risk and trend data and analysis.