The Boston Globe - 19.08.2019

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2019 The Boston Globe TheWorld A

By Hannah Knowles

WASHINGTON POST

An increasingly likely ‘‘no-

deal’’ Brexit could wreak far-

reaching havoc on Britain’s

economy, infrastructure, and

social fabric, according to clas-

sified government documents

leaked to a British newspaper.

Food and social-care prices

would rise, while medical sup-

plies could face severe delays

given the fact that most of Brit-

ain’s medicines come through

English Channel crossings, the

Sunday Times says the docu-

ments indicate. Border delays

would interrupt fuel supplies.

Ports would only partially re-

cover after three months of se-

vere disruptions, leaving traffic

at 50 to 70 percent of the cur-

rent flow.

Those are just a few of the

impacts predicted by ‘‘Opera-

tion Yellowhammer,’’ which the

London paper says was com-

piled this month by Britain’s

Cabinet Office and available to

those with security clearances

on a ‘‘need to know’’ basis.

The leak comes as Brexit

critics warn that crashing out of

the European Union without an

agreement will damage the

British economy, devalue its

currency, and create instability.

British leaders have sought un-

successfully since the 2016 Br-

exit vote to pass a ‘‘divorce’’

plan. Newly elected Prime Min-

ister Boris Johnson is set to

meet with German Chancellor

Angela Merkel and French Pres-

ident Emmanuel Macron this

week to press his case for a new

Brexit deal. At the moment, ne-

gotiations are at a standstill.

Opposition lawmakers have

been discussing ways of poten-

tially stopping a no-deal Brexit,

including bringing down the

government by calling a vote of

no confidence in the Johnson

administration in early Septem-

ber. It’s unclear whether John-

sonwouldwinsuchavote.

Johnson, a leading voice in

the Brexit movement, has

promised to get his country out

of the EU — deal or no deal —

within his first 100 days in of-

fice and said a redo of the 2016

independence vote would un-

dercut public faith in the coun-

try’s democracy.

The Yellowhammer docu-

ments provide a sobering view

of what Johnson’s plan could

mean for Britain, describing de-

lays across borders and new

barriers to trade that would af-

fect travelers, disrupt the flow

of goods, and lead to unrest.

According to the Sunday

Times, the Yellowhammer re-

port predicts the need to re-

store a ‘‘hard border’’ with lim-

ited, controlled crossing points

in Ireland, which could cause

protests and block roads. John-

son has maintained that a ‘‘can-

do spirit’’ can help avert such a

change. But the Yellowhammer

findings anticipate measures to

avoid a hard border will proba-

bly ‘‘prove unsustainable.’’

Simon Coveney, Ireland’s

deputy prime minister, tweeted

that Ireland was ‘‘respectful’’ of

Britain’s decision to leave the

EU but reiterated Ireland’s po-

sition that a hard border be-

tween the Republic of Ireland,

which is in the EU, and North-

ern Ireland, which is in the UK,

‘‘must be avoided.’’

US House Speaker Nancy

Pelosi, Democrat of California,

recently said there would be

‘‘no chance’’ of Congress ap-

proving a US-UK trade deal af-

ter Brexit if it undermined the

1998 Good Friday agreement,

which established the relation-

ship between the Republic of

Ireland and the United King-

dom.

By Anna Momigliano

and Raphael Minder

NEW YORK TIMES

ROME — An aid group oper-

ating a search-and-rescue ship

that has been stranded off the

coast of Italy for weeks with

more than 100 migrants on

board said Sunday that the situ-

ation had become a “full hu-

manitarian crisis.”

The group sounded the

alarm even as Spain and France

offered to allow some or all of

the migrants to disembark.

About 150 migrants, most of

whom are African, were picked

up by the Spanish aid ship

Open Arms on Aug. 1 off the

coast of Libya. The vessel has

been waiting ever since to dock

on the southern Italian island

of Lampedusa, but Italy’s far-

right interior minister, Matteo

Salvini, has refused to let the

migrants come ashore.

On Saturday, Italy partly re-

lented, allowing unaccompa-

nied minors to disembark in

Lampedusa. On Sunday, the

Spanish government offered to

take in the more than 100 re-

maining migrants. But the

charity operating the boat,

Open Arms, said the situation

was far too critical for them to

risk the long journey to Spain.

Four migrants have jumped

into the sea, hoping to swim the

30 miles from the ship to

Lampedusa, according to Laura

Lanuza, a spokeswoman for

Open Arms. They were rescued

and taken back onboard.

“They have been sleeping,

living, and doing everything on

the deck, with only two bath-

rooms for over 100 people. This

isnothuman,”shesaid.

A video posted on Twitter by

the founder of Open Arms, Os-

car Camps, showed the desper-

ate migrants making a swim for

the shore. He wrote, “We

warned a few days ago: Desper-

ation has its limits.”

In a separate Twitter post,

Camps noted that in offering to

let the boat dock at Algeciras,

the Spanish government was

offering “the farthest-away port

of the Mediterranean.”

The Spanish offer came as

France, too, said Sunday that it

would take in some of the mi-

grants. Olivier Gerstlé, a

spokesman for the French Inte-

rior Minister, said Sunday that

France had offered to take in 40

migrants from the Open Arms

rescue ship as part of a distribu-

tion agreement among Europe-

an countries.

The offers came during a

confrontation between aid

groups and Salvini, who sees

Open Arms and another ship

called the Ocean Viking — car-

rying 350 asylum-seekers, of

whom 103 are said to be minors

— as floating campaign ads for

his hard-line approach.

On Wednesday, an Italian

administrative court ruled

against Salvini’s order to block

access for the refugees on the

Open Arms ship. He responded

by issuing a new order the same

day, denying the ship permis-

sion to dock.

By Rahim Faiez
and Cara Anna
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KABUL — The suicide
bomber stood in the middle of
the dancing, clapping crowd as
hundreds of Afghan children
and adults celebrated a wed-
ding in a joyous release from
Kabul’s strain of war. Then, in a
flash, he detonated his explo-
sives-filled vest, killing dozens
— and Afghanistan grieved
again.
The local Islamic State affili-
ate claimed responsibility for
the deadliest attack in the capi-
tal this year, with 63 killed and
182 wounded, while outraged
Afghans questioned just how
safe they will be under an ap-
proaching deal between the
United States and the Taliban
to end America’s longest war.
Stunned families buried the
dead, some digging with their
bare hands. One wounded sur-
vivor, Mohammad Aslim, still
wore his bloodied clothes the
day after the blast late Saturday.
He and his friends had already
buried 16 bodies, among them
several close relatives, includ-
ing a 7-year-old boy.
The emergence of the Islam-
ic State affiliate in recent years
might be the greatest threat to
Afghan civilians as the United
States and Taliban seek an
agreement to end nearly 18
years of fighting. While the
United States wants Taliban as-
surances that Afghanistan will
no longer be used as a launch
pad for global terror attacks,
there appear to be no guaran-
tees of protection for Afghans.
The attack comes as the
United States and the Taliban
appear to be within days of a
deal on ending the war after
several rounds of talks this year.
Afghanistan’sgovernmenthas
been sidelined in those talks as
the Taliban refuse to negotiate
with what it calls a US puppet.

IslamicState

claimsit

carriedout

Kabulattack

FRANCISCO GENTICO/ASSOCIATED PRESS

A crew member of the Open Arms Spanish humanitarian boat comforted a migrant on the

deck of the vessel moored off the coast of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, Italy, Sunday.

MigrantshipspurnedbyItaly

infull‘crisis,’aidgroupsays

Leakedmemosays

UKwillfacechaos

inano-dealBrexit

Economic,social

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