The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, replied to the President of the Italian Council, Giorgia Meloni, on Monday 6 March, who had previously asked her in a letter also addressed to the Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, for strong action on migration to prevent tragedies such as the shipwreck off the coast of Crotone on 26 February.
Ms von der Leyen refers in her letter to the “moral duty” of Europeans to prevent these tragedies and outlines to Ms Meloni the actions envisaged (beyond the work on the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’) to prevent departures and reduce human trafficking.
She speaks of renewed support for North Africa, in particular Tunisia and Egypt. Further assistance will be provided for maritime border management and search and rescue authorities in Libya.
With regard to the humanitarian corridors requested by Italy, Ursula von der Leyen highlighted the EU refugee resettlement programme, which will offer 50,000 reception places and receive €500 million in funding by 2025. Assisted voluntary return programmes in Africa, particularly from Libya, will also be strengthened.
In addition, anti-smuggling partnerships will be launched with Tunisia and Egypt, as is already being done with Morocco and Niger, the President writes.
Referring to the tragedy off the coast of Crotone, the President stressed that discussions would continue within the European Contact Group on Search and Rescue at Sea to establish a framework for cooperation between coastal Member States and flag Member States of search vessels. An update will be given at the European Council on 23 and 24 March, Ms von der Leyen said.
In her letter, Ms Meloni called for lasting solutions to eradicate the illegal trafficking of human beings.
“It is fundamental, above all, to distinguish the reception of refugees and displaced persons from related migration policies from those who, understandably, ask to come to Europe for economic reasons”.
“We need a single European refugee policy that provides support outside the EU’s borders for people affected by wars and disasters, as well as legal and safe humanitarian corridors for refugees that European States decide to accept on their territory”.
However, “for immigration, which is a totally different issue from that of refugees, the only possibility of entry must be the legal immigration quotas that each State decides to establish”.
Questioned on Wednesday 8 March as part of a press briefing, the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, regarding the Crotone tragedy, absolved the Frontex agency, which, based on the images available, could not see that the boat was in distress or carrying so many people.
Link to Ms von der Leyen’s letter: https://aeur.eu/f/5op (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)