Brussels, 31/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Saturday 1 November, the Frontex agency's 'Triton' operation is due to be launched to help Italy in the south and south-east of the country manage the EU's external borders and rescue ships carrying immigrants who are in distress.
In line with what was suggested at the beginning of October in Luxembourg, the Italian Home Secretary, Angelino Alfano, confirmed on Friday 31 October that the Italian authorities' Mare Nostrum would definitely come to an end on 1 November. The Minister indicated that, “Mare Nostrum has carried out its work” and had cost the country €114 million since it was launched. The Italian navy has rescued more than 150,000 people during this operation. This task will be taken over by Triton, which shares a similar objective, explained the European Commission, because Triton will also help carry out rescues at sea when migrants in distress are sighted.
For the time being, Triton has only been planned for two months, the time to re-budget the operation for 2015 and draw up an initial balance sheet. Twenty-one member states will be taking part in it and in November and December Frontex will have four aircraft, one helicopter and seven patrol ships. The member states have also mobilised 65 naval officers in charge of helping register migrants. Italy will be piloting the Triton operation and migrants will be relocated to Italy or, “Malta in very exceptional cases, if security factors require it”, explained one source. Italy spent €9 million a month on Mare Nostrum, whereas Triton has a budget of €2.9 million a month. This budget could be revised upwards, explained Commission sources, which believes that it is unlikely that Triton will be extended to 2015.
The Commission continues to have doubts about the scope of surveillance in the Mediterranean Sea. On Friday, it appeared to be providing assurances that Triton's surveillance zone would be practically the same as that of Mare Nostrum. It said that the Italian merchant navy would continue to patrol the zones covered by Mare Nostrum and that with customary aviation support, surveillance would remain the same. The president of the European Parliament's civil liberties committee, Claude Moraes (S&D, United Kingdom), argued that the real situation is very different and that Triton would only be operating in a 30 nautical mile zone, with a third of the resources enjoyed by Mare Nostrum. He is calling for an examination into the resources provided by member states to the region to be carried out. (SP)