Around 50 MEPs from S&D, Greens/EFA, The Left, and Renew Europe joined by an EPP member, wrote to the European Commission on Monday 26 April asking it to investigate the reasons for the drowning of 130 people off the coast of Libya on 22 April.
Expressing their “dismay” and pointing out that to date, at least 453 people have already lost their lives since January 2021 in the Mediterranean Sea, these MEPs note that they are calling for the establishment of a “European mission” and a “European fund for search and rescue at sea”. And they warn that the situation will worsen with better weather. “We cannot ignore what is happening at sea or shift responsibility to the Libyan coastguard. Saving life at sea is an obligation under international law and the EU and its Member States must respect this obligation and its principles”, they write to Margarítis Schinás and Ylva Johansson.
“We believe that this incident should be thoroughly investigated in order to clarify the responsibilities for the failure of coordination that led to the tragic loss of 130 lives, including the time and date of Frontex intervention”.
The MEPs note that in parallel to the actions of the Libyan coastguard, the “only action taken was the launch of a surveillance plane by Frontex, identifying the boat and informing all the authorities of the distress situation”, but not being able to intervene further.
The Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, said at another press conference on Tuesday 27 April that the sinking was “a European tragedy”. “We have to do everything to save lives and that’s why we need the Pact (Asylum and Migration) and more cooperation with third countries”.
Link to the letter: https://bit.ly/3gIluAk (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)