Brussels, 21/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - The International Migration Organisation (IMO) confirmed on Tuesday 21 April that 800 people lost their lives when a boat capsized off the coast of Libya on Sunday. According to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the IMO, this is the largest single loss of life in the Mediterranean. It was following this disaster that European Council President Donald Tusk called an emergency European summit for Thursday 23 April.
“We can state that 800 people have died”, said Carlotta Sami, UNHCR spokesperson in Italy and IMO spokesperson Flavio Di Giacomo, confirmed that figure. The two organisations had spoken to survivors, 27 in all, who said that there had been Syrians, Eritreans and Somalis on board the fishing vessel. The survivors came from Mali, the Gambia, Senegal, Somalia, Eritrea and Bangladesh, the UNHCR and the IMO reported.
In Luxembourg on Monday 20 April, foreign and home affairs ministers met in emergency session to provide an initial reaction to this dramatic event (see EUROPE 11298). They agreed on a 10-point action plan to be put to the heads of state and/or government on Thursday for discussion and approval. Among the proposals is the strengthening of search and rescue activities in the Mediterranean by the Triton operation, which is led by Italy and the Frontex Agency. This proposal has already received the political support of ministers.
Triton, which was launched in November 2014, took over from the Italian Mare Nostrum operation, the purpose of which was essentially to assist migrants in distress in a zone close to Libya. Triton, however, has a budget of only €2.9 million - a third of Mare Nostrum - and two planes, one helicopter and seven vessels at its disposal. There was discussion in Luxembourg of doubling the resources available to Triton, European sources have revealed. Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos himself indicated this willingness to double Triton's resources and, more generally, to strengthen the Frontex Agency and to extend Triton's area of operation. Ultimately, however, no mention of any doubling of resources or extending the operation zone feature in the action plan.
There will, then, be no talk of resources before Thursday's European Council. “We didn't go into detail on figures. We are still not talking about a doubling”, said a source, adding that this is a task and a discussion for European leaders. According to diplomats who attended the meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, there was indeed agreement that funding for Triton should be increased. However, the announcement in the middle of the meeting that a European summit was to be held perhaps tempered the zeal of some, preferring to leave it directly to their governments to make progress on the issues of resources and operation zones.
It was also decided on Monday to set up a civilian-military operation similar to the EUNAVFOR Atalanta anti-pirate operation off the coast of Somalia to take over traffickers' vessels and destroy them. This suggestion, too, will be put to heads of state and/or government for discussion.
The action list then sets out a series of unspectacular measures, such as improving cooperation between Europol, Eurojust, the European Asylum Support Office and Frontex. These agencies should meet more regularly and look to gather more intelligence on the traffickers. The Asylum Support Office will be called on to deploy teams to help deal with asylum requests in Italy and Greece.
To accommodate the northern member states, keen to see that there is full compliance with the Dublin Regulation, which governs which member states are responsible for asylum seekers, the action list toughens up the rules on fingerprinting of asylum seekers. The fingerprints, which are sent to the Eurodac database, make it possible to track migrants through Europe and to determine the country by which they entered the EU.
The Commission and the ministers also approved the development of a new voluntary returns programme for migrants whose asylum application has been refused. Frontex would coordinate this programme. Ministers did not discuss quotas of refugees among the member states, High Representative Federica Mogherini said at the press briefing. They only agreed to discuss arrangements for an emergency measure to spread refugees around and a voluntary pilot programme for settling refugees in the EU. Here again, the figure of 5,000 places, which had been raised during the day, was not specifically mentioned in the action plan. Cooperation with third countries and finding a political solution in Libya also form part of the catalogue of action. On Tuesday 21 April, the General Affairs Council welcomed the plan. Greece and Italy broached the issue of the Dublin Regulation and use being made of all its flexibility, according to a source. Germany is prepared to take further refugees but wants a debate to encourage the other member states to do likewise.
The action plan is altogether insufficient for MEP Eva Joly (Greens/EFA, France), who tweeted that the ten points were “an insult to humanity”. The plan was quite warmly welcomed by the European association of merchant vessels which expressed its alarm some ten days ago over migration in the Mediterranean. It made clear, however, that the most immediate priority was to increase the resources of search and rescue operations.
Amnesty International said that the joint meeting on 20 April had shown that European ministers had really realised the seriousness of the situation and that the need for urgent action had been recognised. This was a positive step compared with the denial and empty rhetoric hitherto, it said in a press release. Amnesty made clear that the EU must put its pledges into action if any concrete effect is to be seen. (Solenn Paulic)