A bi-lateral meeting between Italy and Malta is scheduled for Thursday, 13 May. Italy’s Interior Minister Roberto Maroni reportedly has said that he will try to convince Malta to recommit to the Frontex sea patrols. Maroni expressed concern that the lack of participation by Malta in the patrols will have negative consequences because it will create a break in what was a united front in the Mediterranean.
Click here (EN) and here (IT) for articles.
There is nothing really unexpected in the Frontex General Report for 2009. If anything, it disappoints with its limited information.
The number of illegal border crossings at EU borders was smaller by a third in 2009 compared to 2008 and Frontex’s budget increased by 25% to € 88.3 million.
Frontex continued to devote the biggest single portion of its expenditures to maritime enforcement. Almost 40% of Frontex’s total budget, over € 34 million, was spent on sea operations in 2009. This constitutes 55% of the operational budget. The Report notes that this cost is due to the high operating costs of ships and surveillance aircraft.
Expenditures for Frontex facilitated return operations sharply increased by 500% in 2009 to almost € 5.5 million.
Limited Information in the Report – The Report explains that Frontex made a decision in 2008 to decrease the level of detail provided in the General Report. Frontex’s justification is that the Report “is mainly directed towards the general public” and the reduced level of detail “is more suited to this audience.” This practice was unfortunately continued in the 2009 Report.
General Statistics – Overall there were 106,200 “detections of illegal border-crossings” at EU external land and sea borders in 2009. This represents a 33% decrease in overall detected crossings relative to 2008, with a 23% reduction of detections at sea and a 43% reduction at land borders.
The reductions are attributed by Frontex to the economic crisis and to bilateral “collaboration agreements with third countries of departure” such as Libya, Senegal, and Mauritania.
Applications for international protection within the EU were 2% fewer in number than in 2008 and were approximately 50% of the 2001-2002 peak when 420,000 applications for international protection were filed.
Cooperation with Non-EU / Non-Schengen Countries – The Report states that cooperation with third countries, including neighbouring countries and countries of origin, is the critical element in “integrated border management.” It describes Operation HERA as Frontex’s most successful joint operation due to close cooperation with West African countries, particularly Senegal and Mauritania. On other fronts, “considerable progress” was made with Turkey consisting of Turkey’s appointment of a “first point of contact for Frontex related coordination issues” and preparation of a draft text of a possible Working Arrangement agreement. “Ad hoc operational co-operation” was pursued when a targeted country was not willing or able to enter into a formal Working Arrangement with Frontex. An “overriding priority” for Frontex in 2010 is the development of “structured operational co-operation with neighbouring Mediterranean countries.” The Report acknowledges the existence of the bilateral migration agreement between Italy and Libya, but says nothing about its provisions other than to say that there were “contrasting interpretations of the International Law of the Sea” between Member States. There is no criticism in the Report whatsoever of the Italian push-back practice. It is obviously difficult for Frontex to criticise Italy, but was it not possible to note that most people and organizations who have considered the push-back practice have concluded that the practice violates international law?
New Partner Organisations – Frontex formalised a co-operation plan with Europol in October, a Working Arrangement with Interpol in May, a co-operation plan with IOM in February, and made a tripartite agreement with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA) relating to maritime surveillance.
More to follow: I will post a second summary with additional information from the General Report pertaining to the specific sea operations for which information is provided within the next day or two.
Click here for the Report.
Filed under Aegean Sea, Data / Stats, Eastern Atlantic, European Union, Frontex, Greece, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mauritania, Mediterranean, Reports, Senegal, Spain, Turkey
The Icelandic Coast Guard ship Ægir will be participating in Frontex patrols off the Senegalese coast from May to October. Iceland will also provide at least one surveillance plane, a TF-SIF, to the Frontex mission. While not an EU member (at least not yet), Iceland is a Schengen country. The Coast Guard will reportedly use funds paid by Frontex for the mission to also partially fund helicopter rescue services in Iceland.
Before starting its Frontex patrols, the ship delivered charitable donations from Iceland for ABC Children’s Aid, an Icelandic charity with programmes in Dakar.
Click here, here, and here for articles.
Filed under Eastern Atlantic, Frontex, Iceland, News, Senegal
LIBE members are scheduled to vote on Monday, 10 May, regarding a request to the JURI committee to approve an ECJ challenge to the new Frontex sea border surveillance rules. Draft Agenda item 4: “Comitology measure on sea border surveillance (FRONTEX): Request to JURI concerning referral to European Court of Justice.” The vote is scheduled to follow a report by Commissioner Cecilia Malmström to LIBE regarding the Commission’s work since its entry into office.
Click here for draft agenda.
Filed under European Union, Frontex, News
The Council decision on the surveillance of sea external borders has been published in the EU Official Journal: “COUNCIL DECISION of 26 April 2010 supplementing the Schengen Borders Code as regards the surveillance of the sea external borders in the context of operational cooperation coordinated by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union.”
Malta has strenuously objected to certain provisions within the new rule and has said that its decision not to host Frontex’s Central Mediterranean enforcement operation, Operation Chronos, was due to the disembarkation provisions contained in the new Frontex rule. It should be noted that Malta has more recently said that its decision not to participate in Operation Chronos was due to the lack of need for the operation given the “success” of Italy’s push-back practice.
Malta’s objection to the guidelines is largely focused on the following provision in the rule for sea border operations:
“2. Disembarkation
2.1. The operational plan should spell out the modalities for the disembarkation of the persons intercepted or rescued, in accordance with international law and any applicable bilateral agreements. The operational plan shall not have the effect of imposing obligations on Member States not participating in the operation. Without prejudice to the responsibility of the Rescue Coordination Centre, and unless otherwise specified in the operational plan, priority should be given to disembarkation in the third country from where the ship carrying the persons departed or through the territorial waters or search and rescue region of which that ship transited and if this is not possible, priority should be given to disembarkation in the host Member State unless it is necessary to act otherwise to ensure the safety of these persons.”
Commissioner Cecilia Malmström pointed out during her recent official visit to Malta that the rule could be interpreted by the member states participating in an operation so as to provide for disembarkation of migrants at a location other than the host state.
(HT to Steve Peers (Univ. of Essex) via Bernard Ryan on Migration and Law Network list serve.)
Click here for the Council Decision.
Filed under European Union, Frontex, Malta, Mediterranean, News
A Spanish parliamentary delegation from the Foreign Affairs Committee has completed an official visit to Senegal where they visited the Spanish-Frontex mission based in Dakar and met with Senegalese government officials. The Spanish delegation included Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Congress of Deputies, and Jorge Moragas, coordinator of the Presidency and International Relations for the Partido Popular.
Duran i Lleida noted that no boat has succeeded in reaching the Canary Islands in recent months and that this is due to the Spanish presence in Senegal in the form of the National Police and Civil Guard. The Spanish presence in Senegal along with support from Frontex carries out ongoing surveillance and patrols known as Operation Hera.
Duran i Lleida is quoted as saying that “Thanks to the work of the Spanish National Police and Civil Guard and collaboration with security forces, Senegal has managed to curb illegal immigration.” He writes on his blog (in Catalan) that “for many years, Senegal is a country that has exported more illegal immigration. … Spanish authorities decided to negotiate with Senegal the conditions for ending illegal immigration. … Here in Dakar there is a unit of the Guardia Civil and [Spanish] police force with naval and air means that control, in collaboration with the Senegalese, the possible departures of illegal immigrants.”
Click here (ES), here (ES), and here (ES) for articles.
Frontex’s 2009 General Report is available on the Frontex web site. I have not had a chance to review it yet.
Click here for the report.
The Malta Independent reports that Maltese MEP Simon Busuttil has been appointed the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the review of the law establishing the Frontex agency. “As a rapporteur, Dr Busuttil will draw up the position of the European Parliament, including amendments to the proposal of the European Commission to change the agency’s legal framework. The changes must be agreed by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.”
MEP Busuttil is quoted as saying: “If we want an internal EU area without borders then we should share the responsibility of protecting our external borders. Co-ordination of our air, land and sea borders must improve.” “In Malta we know that Frontex has not performed up to our expectations and I am keen to use the Maltese experience in order to improve the agency where it did not work well.” “Nevertheless, I am mindful of the fact that this agency is not there just for the Mediterranean but for all of Europe and for all of Europe’s borders, including its air and land borders. I will therefore be taking a holistic approach.”
Click here for article.
Filed under European Union, Frontex, Malta, News
Eurostat released asylum statistics for 2009 showing that the largest total numbers of applicants were in France, Germany, and UK and the largest per capita numbers of applicants (relative to member state population) were in Malta, Cypress, and Sweden.
From the Press Release:
“In 2009, there were nearly 261 000 asylum applicants registered in the EU27, or 520 applicants per million inhabitants. The main countries of citizenship of these applicants were Afghanistan (20 400 or 8% of the total number of applicants), Russia (20 100 or 8%), Somalia (19 100 or 7%), Iraq (18 700 or 7%) and Kosovo under UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (14 200 or 5%).”
“In 2009, the highest number of applicants were registered in France (47 600 applicants) followed by Germany (31 800), the United Kingdom3 (30 300), Sweden (24 200), Belgium (21 600), Italy (17 500), the Netherlands (16 100), Greece (15 900) and Austria (15 800). When compared with the population of each Member State, the highest rates of applicants registered were recorded in Malta (5 800 applicants per million inhabitants), Cyprus4 (3 300), Sweden (2 600), Belgium (2 000) and Austria (1 900).”
“In some Member States, a large proportion of the applicants came from a single country. The Member States with the highest concentrations were Malta (60% of the applicants came from Somalia), Lithuania (54% from Russia), Poland (54% from Russia), Hungary (38% from Kosovo under UN Security Council Resolution 1244) and the Netherlands (37% from Somalia).”
Click here for Eurostat News Release.
Click here for Times of Malta article.
Filed under Data / Stats, European Union, News
As noted on Euromed-Migrasyl, in an interview with Der Spiegel, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, has suggested that the EU pay Libya €5 billion “to combat illegal immigration”:
“SPIEGEL: In recent years, thousands of people have drowned as they tried to flee from Africa across the Mediterranean to Europe. What can you do to help end this tragedy?
Gadhafi: The European Union should annually pay Libya €5 billion ($6.6 billion) via a special fund to combat illegal immigration. We have a precisely calculated plan to solve this problem.
SPIEGEL: What kind of plan is this?
Gadhafi: We will organize housing and employment projects in the refugees’ African countries of origin so they remain there. We will do the same for those who are already in Libya, give them a place to live and create jobs for them. Furthermore, we are bolstering our border security on land and water with modern radar equipment and vehicles.”
During the interview Gadhafi also called for dissolution of Switzerland and said that his “closest friend in Europe is Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.”
Click here for Der Spiegel article.
Click here for second article.
Filed under European Union, Italy, Libya, News, Switzerland
Times of Malta reported on Monday that Maltese MEP and LIBE Committee member, Simon Busuttil, who is the EPP coordinator on LIBE, has received a positive legal response to his question regarding whether sufficient grounds exist to bring a legal challenge against the Council and the Commission in regard to the recently approved Frontex sea operation Guidelines. This report follows by a few days Commissioner Malmström’s first visit to Malta and the reaffirmation by Malta that it will not host Frontex’s Operation Chronos.
The Times of Malta states that “The EP’s legal unit advised there were enough grounds to take the EU Council and European Commission to court on the basis that the rules exceed the two institutions’ powers under the EU Treaties.” MEP Busuttil was quoted as saying “I have already gone on record saying that I will not let this one go and this legal advice opens the way to court proceedings to invalidate these rules. I am reasonably confident that the European Parliament has a good case and the European Commission would do well to take this possibility into account and start thinking about Plan B.”
Click here for article.
Filed under European Union, Frontex, Malta, Mediterranean, News
Commissioner Cecilia Malmström was in Malta on 30 April for meetings with Maltese officials. Malta recently reaffirmed its decision not to host Frontex’s Operation Chronos. Malmström trip was planned before Malta’s announcement. There is no indication that Malta changed its position during Malmström’s visit.
Malmström was interviewed during her visit by the Times of Malta and said that the new guidelines governing Frontex enforcement operations at sea could be negotiated by member states on a mission by mission basis. The new guidelines require that intercepted migrants be taken to the country hosting the Frontex mission, but Malmström said there is the possibility before a mission starts that the participating member states agree on different rules of engagement, which might include the sharing of responsibility where not all intercepted migrants would be brought to country hosting the mission.
Presumably participating member states would not be permitted to negotiate substantive mission by mission changes to the guidelines so as to undercut the very reasons for which the guidelines were recently adopted.
Click here for Times of Malta article.
Click here for video of Times of Malta Interview.
Click here, here, and here for other articles regarding the visit.
Filed under European Union, Frontex, Malta, Mediterranean, News
The 14th Ministerial Meeting of the Africa-EU Dialogue was held in Luxembourg on 26 April. The meeting topics included preparation for the second Action Plan (2011-13) and the upcoming 3rd AU-Africa Summit which will be held in November 2010. For more information on the Africa-EU Partnership and Dialogue see the EC Development web site and the Europafrica web site. One of the eight thematic partnerships of the Dialogue is Migration, Mobility and Employment.
Click here for the Ministerial Meeting Communiqué.
Click here for the EC Development web article.
Click here for the 2007 Action Plan on Migration.
Click here for information on the Partnership on Migration, Mobility and Employment from Europafrica.net
Filed under African Union, Communiqués, European Union, News
Commissioner Cecilia Malmström held meetings in Italy yesterday and has meetings in Malta today. In her meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini she suggested that any possible future migration agreement between the EU and Tripoli ”would not follow the model of the [current migration] agreement between Italy and Libya.” ANSA reported she said that while it is ”important to try and begin dialogue” with Tripoli, ”if there is an agreement, it is clear that the fundamental condition for Libya must be adherence to the Geneva Convention or the equivalent among African states ”on the rights of political refugees.”
In regard to current practices, Malmström said that the right to seek asylum should be respected even when one is already at sea. (”Bisogna comunque – ha concluso la Malmstrom – rispettare il diritto di chiedere asilo quando si e’ gia’ in mare”.)
Click here (IT), here (EN), and here (IT) for articles.
Filed under European Union, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News
Malta previously said that it would not host Operation Chronos, Frontex’s annual central Mediterranean enforcement operation, formerly known as Nautilus, due to the recently approved guidelines governing Frontex enforcement operations at sea which require that intercepted migrants be taken to the country hosting the mission under certain circumstances.
But the Times of Malta is reporting that a Maltese government spokesperson said that the decision not to host Frontex is not because of the new guidelines, but is due to Malta’s view that there is no longer a need for Operation Chronos because of the success of the Italy-Libya migration agreement. “The reason why we decided not to take part in this year’s mission is that we feel there is no need for this year’s EU patrol. We have noticed that, following the introduction of joint patrols by Libya and Italy last year, the number of illegal immigrants reaching Malta has dropped significantly. We feel that, as long as this operation remains in place, there is no real need for another anti-migration mission on behalf of the EU.”
The Times article reports that 84 boats carrying 2,775 migrants arrived in 2008 and that this number was reduced in 2009 to 17 boats carrying 1,475, with the majority of arrivals occurring in the first half of 2009 before the Italian push-back policy was implemented.
Commissioner Cecilia Malmström travels to Rome and Malta this week for meetings with officials on asylum and migration issues.
Click here for article.
Click here, here, and here for earlier related posts.
Filed under Data / Stats, European Union, Frontex, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News
MIGRANTS AT SEA 