PREVENTING LOSS OF LIFE AT SEA

It is now evident that facilitation networks in Libya have taken advantage of the areas of being patrolled by the Italian authorities in Central Mediterranean, adapting their modus operandi in a way that has increased the profitability of their illegal business. Facilitators in Libya have been increasingly making use of boats that are unseaworthy. Moreover, boats are dangerously overcrowded, which increases the risk of fatalities, and with not enough fuel to even reach the island of Lampedusa, the risks these migrants take are enormous. Furthermore, the migrants are given no food or water and they are often not provided with life jackets and if they are, there are very few of them available. In order to maximise capacity aboard the boats the migrants are segregated and some migrants are confined below deck in what is often the engine room, this exposes the migrants to fumes during the journey which has led to migrants dying from asphyxiation aboard overcrowded boats. It is worth noting that children, pregnant women and elderly people are increasingly present in such overcrowded boats. This modus operandi used by facilitation networks relies on the intervention of the Italian Navy in the vicinity of the Libyan coast, when migrants make a distress call for assistance after a few hours of navigation. The number of detected irregular migrants is now reaching unprecedented levels.

Most irregular migrants departing from Libya are motivated by humanitarian factors coming from conflict areas or being subject to persecution and other reasons sufficient to ground an application for asylum. For these reasons, many of them, such as Eritreans and Syrians, are not returned to their countries of origin. This aspect is known by facilitation networks and contributes as a ‘push factor’ on the Central Mediterranean route. In addition, many of these migrants only lodge their claim for asylum in the intended countries of final destination, such as Germany and Sweden, and not in Italy.

Despite the huge efforts of the Italian authorities involved in search and rescue operations and saving many lives at sea, the number of fatalities is constantly increasing and it is the highest in the region, particularly around the Pelagic Islands.

Maritime crossings have become inherently more dangerous. This means that the risk of loss of life at sea during maritime crossings in the Central Mediterranean has increased despite the enormous collective efforts by the Italian authorities and the assistance provided by private vessels.  Nearly triple the number of migrants entered the European Union in 2014 compared to the previous year, mainly due to refugees fleeing war in Syria.

The massive pressure of irregular migration in the Central Mediterranean area has stretched the reception centre capacities of Italy. In addition, many migrants who claimed asylum, have absconded the reception and asylum centres and moved on, towards their preferred destination countries, namely Sweden, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Frontex Required Structural Changes

The rescue machine is not working and will not work unless Europe does not structurally change the efforts it has provided: Operation Triton (Frontex run maritime border patrol) does not have a mandate for relief and research at sea. The Frontex Agency is responsible for border control; they are the policemen of Europe however their responsibility is not to take part in rescue missions. Europe today does not have the means nor evidently, the political will to implement a strategy to rescue at sea. Europe needs to move towards changing the Frontex Regulations - including search and rescue at sea or provides an Agency who has this as its specific goal. The European Union cannot only call to the responsibility of the Member States, but it must finally put in place a suitable rescue system, next to the already tested system of border control.

According to Frontex there are between 500,000 and one million migrants ready to leave Libya. An increasingly violent and chaotic situation in Libya, a key jumping off point for migrants, has helped prompt the huge hike in the number of asylum seekers trying to reach Europe.

Frontex simply does not have the resources required to cope with the surging numbers. If Frontex is expected to carry out more operations, it needs more resources and staff, and the commitment from Member States to make their means available. Frontex capacity is not sufficient by itself to tackle this enormous problem.

Hundreds of people have died in recent months as waves of migrants from North Africa and Middle East conflict zones try to reach Europe, fuelling criticism of rescue efforts.