Smugglers of Refugees Throw Albanian Children Into Sea

LECCE, Italy â€”  The crew of a raft carrying illegal immigrants from Kosovo and Albania threw refugee children into the Adriatic to try to avoid capture, Italian authorities said Saturday. Police dived into the sea to rescue all nine, including babies.

The drama was part of a chaotic exodus that brought more than 300 refugees to southern Italy in three days. Interior Minister Giorgio Napolitano decried the episode on Saturday, saying it was evidence of the “total absence of scruples� among criminals smuggling the refugees for pay.

Italy is just across the Adriatic from Yugoslavia, where a government offensive against ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo has sent hundreds of refugees fleeing the country. Kosovo is in southern Serbia, one of Yugoslavia’s two republics.

Overnight between Thursday and Friday, crew members of a rubber raft carrying about 30 refugees started throwing children into the waves in their rush to unload before being intercepted by authorities from Lecce, a town on the heel of the Italian boot.

“The crew had pistols. They threw the children in the water because the police from Lecce were drawing near,� one woman told RAI state television. “They threw in a baby of 4 months.�

One woman was thrown in the water still clinging to a boy’s hand, while other parents screamed.

“We almost couldn’t believe our eyes. There was a moment we couldn’t move,� said Giovanni Saraceno, police captain in the town.

Authorities rescued the children and detained the group; doctors examined the children Saturday and found them in good health.