Day: January 23, 2022

AMSTERDAM, Police in the Dutch city of Amsterdam discovered a stowaway hidden in the nose wheel of a cargo plane arriving from South Africa, a spokeswoman said Sunday.

The unidentified man is believed to have slipped on board the plane before it left Johannesburg, Royal Dutch Military Police spokeswoman Joanne Helmonds said.

“The man was found alive in the nosewheel section of the plane and was taken to hospital in a stable condition,” she said.

The man was not identified, but officials said he is believed to be between 16 and 35 years old, news outlet reported.

Helmonds said police had opened a probe into the incident.

“It is quite remarkable that the man is still alive,” he said.

Flight times between Johannesburg and Amsterdam average about 11 hours.

Stowaways on flights to the Netherlands are rare, he added, noting that previous attempts had involved would-be migrants from Nigeria and Kenya.

Last year, border police discovered the body of a Nigerian man in the landing gear of a plane arriving at Schiphol airport.

A spokesperson for freight carrier Cargolux confirmed that the stowaway had been on a flight operated by Cargolux Italia.

“We are not in a position to make any further comment until the authorities and the airline have completed their investigation,” the spokesperson said.

According to flight data, the only Cargolux freight flight from Johannesburg to Schiphol on Sunday also stopped in Nairobi, Kenya. It is unclear whether the man boarded the plane in South Africa or Kenya.

When the plane landed, members of the airport ground spotted the man and immediately notified authorities. Dutch police and emergency services confirmed that the man was alive but had a low body temperature, Helmonds told news outlet.

The man was revived and stabilized at the airport and then taken to a hospital in Amsterdam, Helmonds said.

“When the man has recovered and cleared by the hospital, he will then be processed at the Asylum Seekers Centre where his status will be determined if he indeed is looking for asylum,” Helmonds told the news outlet.

 

Source: Nam News Network

The rapidly spreading omicron variant is testing the ability of U.S. authorities to keep tens of thousands of migrants healthy at crowded detention centers, where COVID-19 prevention measures were virtually nonexistent at the beginning of the pandemic but have since improved.

More than 2,540 people tested positive for COVID-19 Friday in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 198 immigration detention centers nationwide, according to ICE data, an increase of more than 792% from 285 cases reported on January 3.

The surge comes amid a nationwide increase in infections because of the more transmissible omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Even so, ICE officials say they have come a long way since 2020 with COVID-19 protection for migrants in their custody.

“In terms of improvement, the agency is more communicative than they were before. But honestly, we are still seeing apprehensions and detentions in the same way that we saw at the beginning of the pandemic. … There’s more procedures put in place [such as] request releases, which wasn’t the case before,” said Elena Noureddine, who heads the detention program at PAIR, a Boston-based nonprofit that provides free legal representation for asylum-seekers and detained immigrants.

2020 to 2022

In March 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, ICE would not say whether detainees were being tested for COVID-19. There were few if any opportunities for social distancing, no masks were given to detainees, and vaccines were yet to be available.

At that time, an ICE spokesperson said there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 among those held in its network of detention centers, for-profit prisons and county jails. Confirmation of COVID-19 infections was challenging, with testing in its infancy.

In January 2022, an ICE official told VOA that the agency is now testing all migrants for COVID-19 during the intake screening process. After testing, they are housed separately from the general population for 14 days and monitored for symptoms. Those with symptoms are isolated and given the “appropriate medical care to manage the disease,” ICE said, in accordance with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.

“New arrivals who have negative test results and remain symptom-free can join the general detained population after the 14-day intake period,” ICE told VOA via email.

Staff and detainees are required to wear masks even after vaccinations, per ICE pandemic response rules.

As for vaccines, 48,246 detainees had each received at least one dose of vaccine as of January 5, according to the agency’s spokesperson, and 671 had received boosters. ICE has offered vaccines to migrants since July, when 27,670 migrants were in detention, and boosters since November, when 21,462 were in detention.

At-risk releases

Since the pandemic began, the American Civil Liberties Union has been working to make sure detained immigrants are protected from COVID-19, according to Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project.

“We filed lawsuits arguing for the release of people — especially those who are medically vulnerable to COVID-19 — to be released from detention so that they could actually be in their homes and have safe social distancing,” she added.

The University of California-Davis estimated in March 2021 that 42.5% of ICE-detained immigrants had at least one chronic medical condition and that 95.6% had access to a stable home.

Cho told VOA that thousands of people who were medically vulnerable to COVID-19 were released from detention to family members in the U.S. as a result of ACLU litigation. VOA requested more specific numbers on medically vulnerable migrant releases but hasn’t heard back.

As of late December, an estimated 5,200 medically vulnerable immigrants remained in detention, according to reporting by CBS News. ICE told VOA it “continues to evaluate its detained population … to determine whether continued detention is appropriate.”

Problems remain

Cho of the National Prison Project said that the government has acted during the pandemic to protect detainees from COVID-19 infections, but that work remains.

“People report having difficulty getting masks, getting tested for COVID-19. They report difficulty with getting vaccines. … They are describing conditions where people, especially those medically vulnerable, don’t feel safe. They’re describing conditions where in some detention facilities they get one disposable mask a week to wear the entire week,” Cho said.

In most cases, an ICE official told VOA, each migrant receives a vaccine in custody. But the average stay in ICE custody was 37 days during fiscal 2021, meaning most migrants were no longer in custody to receive their second shots.

The ICE spokesperson told VOA that the agency encourages migrants to be vaccinated and boosted. But in July, Axios reported that three in 10 detainees declined the COVID-19 vaccine when asked to sign consent forms.

Noureddine of Boston-based PAIR said part of the explanation of the skepticism among detainees is a fear that the government is asking them to sign documents as a way to get them deported.

“I’ve had clients call me saying, ‘I was presented with a document. I think it was about the vaccine. I’m not sure.’ [Then] I check with ICE and they told me it was to get the vaccine, but there was a lot of confusion,” she added.

Source: Voice of America

Milan, AC Milan lost more ground on league leader Inter Milan and also lost another important player ahead of the derby as it drew 0-0 against Juventus at San Siro.

 

Key forward Zlatan Ibrahimović limped off in the 28th minute with an apparent Achilles tendon problem. The 40-year-old Ibrahimović will likely join several other regulars on the injury list, AP reports.

 

Milan slipped to third in Serie A, below Napoli on goal difference. Head-to-head is the first tiebreaker at the end of the season. Milan is four points behind Inter, having played a match more, and meets the Nerazzurri in its next match after the international break.

 

Juventus moved to within one point of the top four and the Champions League spots.

 

The match at San Siro is a classic fixture in Italian soccer between two age-old rivals. There were only 5,000 spectators allowed into the stadium this time because of coronavirus restrictions but there were hundreds of fans outside to welcome the Milan team, chanting songs and setting off flares.

 

The Rossoneri had the best chances and more of the play, but both teams struggled to carve out clear scoring opportunities.

 

Juventus drew 1-1 with Milan in Turin in September. It was the first time in 30 years that both league matches between the two have ended in a draw.

 

Lorenzo Insigne sent a clear message to Napoli fans after scoring in a 4-1 win over bottom club Salernitana.

 

The Napoli captain celebrated by pointing to the badge on his jersey and clearly saying to the camera, in Italian, “I love you, I will always love you.”

 

It was the 30-year-old Insigne’s first goal since signing a pre-contract agreement to join Toronto FC at the end of the season.

 

Napoli took the lead in the 17th minute when Elif Elmas chested a ball to Juan Jesus, who fired into the bottom right corner. It was initially disallowed for handball by Elmas but awarded after a video review.

 

Federico Bonazzoli netted a surprise equalizer for Salernitana but Napoli restored its lead on the stroke of halftime when Dries Mertens converted a penalty after Elmas had been brought down by Frédéric Veseli.

 

Amir Kadri Rrahmani extended Napoli’s advantage shortly after the break and added a fourth six minutes later as Veseli gave away another penalty, this time for handball after Insigne’s shot ricocheted off his side and onto his arm.

 

The Salernitana defender was sent off after being shown a second yellow card and Inisgne converted the penalty to move level with Diego Maradona on 115 goals for the club.

 

Salernitana remained stuck at the bottom of the table, eight points from safety.

 

New signing Sérgio Oliveira scored his second goal in as many league games for Roma to help it win 4-2 at Empoli.

 

Tammy Abraham scored twice and Nicolò Zaniolo also netted for Roma, which recorded its last three goals in the space of four first-half minutes.

 

José Mourinho’s Roma moved above Lazio and Fiorentina into sixth.

 

Former Cagliari forward Riccardo Sottil scored against his old club to salvage a 1-1 draw for 10-man Fiorentina.

 

Sottil netted in the 75th, 10 minutes after Alvaro Odriozola had been sent off for handball. João Pedro had headed in the opener for Cagliari at the start of the second half.

 

Both teams also had penalties saved.

 

Cagliari remained 18th, but moved to within a point of safety. Spezia moved to eight points above the drop zone after beating 10-man Sampdoria 1-0 in a relegation battle. Torino drew 1-1 with Sassuolo.

 

Source: Bahrain News Agency