Brussels, 06/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - With Italy, which has been overrun by arrivals of immigrants on its coasts, getting ready to take over the reins of the Council of the EU on 1 July, the home affairs ministers, meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday 5 June, once again discussed ways of preventing human tragedies such as the one off the coast of Lampedusa in October 2013, which left 366 migrants dead.
More specifically, the ministers were presented with a European Commission document listing actions taken by the task force set in place following the shipwreck off the coast of the Italian island on 4 October 2013. But “no new decisions have been taken”, an observer stated.
Italy took advantage of the ministerial meeting to call on its partners to support it in its Mare Nostrum patrol operation off the coast of Libya, the cost of which is becoming very high, a source reported.
The member states acknowledge that the situation in the Mediterranean is a source of “deep concerns for all member states, as there are indications that the current trend will continue and the situation risks even further deteriorate”, the JHA Council writes in its final statement. It went no further than extremely general conclusions, calling on the Commission to continue to “implement relevant actions to meet the main challenges related to asylum and immigration”. The Council reiterates that this subject of asylum and immigration should be discussed at the level of heads of state and government in Brussels on 26 and 27 June at a summit given over to the future of policies with a bearing on justice and home affairs. A “strategic” document is to be prepared ahead of this meeting.
Since the beginning of this year, the number of illegal immigrants arriving in the EU has increased by 48%, according to the agency Frontex. In the last 24 hours, the Italian navy announced that it had rescued nearly 2,500 migrants from 17 vessels. This flux of arrivals which may increase even further with the summer and favourable weather conditions. (SP)