As requested by Italy, the ambassadors of the Political and Security Council of the EU started to discuss the question of the landing of migrants/refugees rescued by the operation EUNAVFORMed Sophia, at a session attended by the command of the operation, Enrico Credendino.
The talks, which began on Wednesday 18 July, continued on Friday 20 July and were still ongoing as we went to press. The situation is “extremely complex”, a source told EUROPE.
Italy no longer wishes automatically to be the landing country. Italy considers that the current provisions of the EUNAVFOR mission are no longer applicable, said the Italian Foreign Minister, Enzo Moavero Milanesi, in a letter to the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini.
Under the operating plan of EUNAVFORMed Sophia, which is based on the rules of the operation Triton (now Themis), landing must be carried out in the nearest safe port, in other words for Sophia, given its theatre of operation, Italy. However, this country considers that the Sophia operating plan should have been updated when operation Triton ceased.
As a precursor to crisis, a few weeks ago, Italy procrastinated before allowing an Irish boat operating in the framework of Operation Sophia to land on its territory. Even last year, the prolongation of the Sophia mandate was held up by Rome, which tried unsuccessfully to get its landing rules changed.
“Even if Italy does not secure a change to the landing regime, once it stops allowing boats to land, they will no longer be able to operate”, a source explained, which would jeopardise the whole operation. The operation's mandate runs until 31 December 2018 and its strategic revision is due to start in the week commencing 23 July.
EUNAVFORMed Sophia is not strictly speaking a rescue operation, but since June 2015, it has rescued nearly 45,000 people (as of 28 June).
In a letter dated 19 July to the Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, stressed that the EU had no competence to determine the place/safe port to be used for landings following a search and rescue at sea operation.
Juncker went on to say that amongst other things, the operation was vital to allow Libya to carry out more effective counter-measures against illegal immigration and to take its responsibilities in search and rescue operations, in line with the applicable international law. It is therefore in our common interests that any change concerning our ongoing activities is assessed with all due attention, he added, with Rome pushing for Libya to take on a greater role in tackling illegal migration.
In an interview with Bild published on 20 July, the Libyan Prime Minister, Fayez al-Sarraj, appealed for more resources for the country's coastguards, whose methods have come under fire. “Every day, we save hundreds of people off the coasts of Libya, our boats are permanently on mission”, he explained, adding: “we need more financial and logistical support so that we can be quicker and more effective in our rescue operations” (our translation). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant and Carmen Garcia)