Category Archives: EU and EU Organizations

by | 03 Aug 2009 · 15:44

Italy Forcibly Repatriates More Migrants to Libya (News)

14 migrants, after being rescued by an Italian fishing boat and after a renewed Maltese-Italian dispute over where the rescued migrants should be taken, were taken on board an Italian government vessel which in turn transferred them to a Libyan navy vessel.  The migrants were first spotted by a Frontex aircraft operating from Malta.

“The incident yet again sparked the ire of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), who through its spokesperson Laura Boldrini insisted that both Malta and Italy should assume their international responsibilities and be humanitarian.  The UNHCR spokesperson implored both states not to forcefully repatriate the migrants to Libya.”

Click here for article.

Leave a comment

Filed under Frontex, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News

by | 27 Jul 2009 · 22:24

Drop in Numbers of Migrants Leaving Senegal (News, Statistics)

Frontex reports a significant drop in the numbers of clandestine migrants arrested in Senegal: from 2,743 in 2007 to 494 in 2008 to 33 so far this year.

“Senegal signed a cooperation agreement with Europe in September 2006 in order to reverse the number of illegal immigrants from west Africa heading for Spain’s Canary Islands, one of the main entry points into Europe.”

“These days, emigrants are more likely to be leaving from Gambia and Guinea Bissau, according to a Frontex official.”

Click here for article.

Leave a comment

Filed under Data / Stats, Eastern Atlantic, Frontex, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, News, Senegal

by | 27 Jul 2009 · 22:06

EU May Fund “Accommodation Centres” In Libya (News)

EC Vice-President Jacques Barrot said that the EU and Belgium will offer “a financial package of 80 million euros to enable Libya deal with the perennial problem of illegal migration through its territories.”

”He said from the financial package, Libya was expected to use 20 million euros to build accommodation centres for asylum seekers while Brussels would increase its financial aid to Libya to 60 million euros to enable Tripoli manage the illegal immigration through its territories.”

”According to Mr. Barrot, the EU will reach an agreement with Libyan authorities under which people seeking political asylum in Europe can do so from Libya.”

Click here and here (francais) for articles.

1 Comment

Filed under European Union, Libya, Mediterranean, News

by | 27 Jul 2009 · 21:56

EC Asks Italy for Explanation Regarding Forced Returns (News)

EC Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot said “the commission had asked the Italian government for explanations on how some boats with irregular migrants, some asking for humanitarian protection, were returned to Libya.”  The EC is trying “to determine whether Italy is breaching obligations set down in international and EU law.”

“We want to know exactly and in detail what happened and what kind of operations were carried out, Barrot’s spokesman said on Monday (20 July). Italy has not been given a deadline by which to reply to the Commission.”

“The UNHCR says at least 900 people have been picked up and sent back to Libya since May, when Italy began its new policy of intercepting boats and returning would-be immigrants.”

“However, Barrot appears to believe that the incident will not be repeated.  I’ve been reassured that there is no perceived need for such operations, because, thanks to [the] agreement between Italy and Libya, far fewer illegal migrants are coming in, he said after meeting [Italy’s interior minister Roberto] Maroni.”

Click here and here and here for articles.

Leave a comment

Filed under European Union, Italy, Libya, Mediterranean, News

by | 27 Jul 2009 · 21:31

New Surveillance Plane for Frontex Operation “Nautilus IV” (News)

Luxembourg has provided a leased maritime patrol airplane, a CASA 212, to the Armed Forces of Malta for use during the ongoing Frontex operation “Nautilus IV” in the central Mediterranean.  The German Police continue to provide several Puma helicopters to Frontex.  The helicopters operate from Malta.

Click here and here and here for articles.

Leave a comment

Filed under Frontex, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta, Mediterranean, News

by | 27 Jul 2009 · 21:18

EC to Consider Voluntary Intra-Europe Resettlement Programme (News)

A formal proposal for the programme will be presented to member states for approval in September.  “Malta and Italy are insisting that [the programme] should be compulsory, in order to force member states to share the burden of the southern EU member states, [EC Justice Commissioner] Barrot said this was not possible under the EU treaties and would therefore have to be on a voluntary basis.”

“The pilot project for a burden-sharing mechanism has specifically been tailored for Malta. Mr Barrot said the project would be operated on an experimental basis in the hope that it could eventually become a permanent instrument of EU solidarity.  Specific reference to such a burden-sharing mechanism is also made in the draft Stockholm Programme presented earlier this year by the Commission.”

Click here for article.

Leave a comment

Filed under Frontex, Malta, News

by | 27 Jul 2009 · 21:08

Libya Seeks €200-€300 million From EU in Exchange for Assistance With Migrants (News)

EC Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot plans to travel to Libya after the summer holidays to discuss EU – Libyan cooperation regarding migrants who transit Libya for Europe.

Barrot hopes to visit Libya with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres.  “’I know his administration is not very keen (on the trip), but he understands the problems,’ he said.  The UN refugee agency has harshly criticised bilateral agreements signed between Italy and Libya to turn back would-be refugees.”

“’[Libya is] demanding impossible things,’ he said, explaining that Tripoli has put ‘enormous’ financial demands on the EU in exchange for its help. ‘We proposed 20 million euros, but they are asking for 200 to 300 million,’ sources in Barrot’s entourage said.  Tripoli says it needs the funds to monitor its border with Niger and Chad.”

Click here for article.

Leave a comment

Filed under Frontex, Libya, Mediterranean, News

by | 27 Jul 2009 · 20:57

Dublin Regulation Will Not Be Revisited Until 2014 (News)

EC Vice-President Jacques Barrot said that the common European asylum system should be implemented by 2012 at the latest, but the “revision of the Dublin Regulation, which stipulates that migrants apply for asylum in the first EU member state they enter and has resulted in disproportionate pressure on Greece and other southern EU states, will not be considered until 2014.”  Greece and other certain other southern EU states seek an earlier revision to the Dublin Regulation.

Click here and here for articles.

Leave a comment

Filed under European Union, Greece, News

by | 27 Jul 2009 · 20:50

European Refugee Fund May Be Used for Economic Migrants as Well as Asylum Seekers (News)

During the recent EU interior and justice ministers meeting in Stockholm, EC Vice President and Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot agreed “to extend the European Refugee Fund to apply to all incoming migrants, not just those meriting asylum. As a result, several million euros in aid will be set aside for Greece and other Mediterranean states to spend on additional reception centers, food and medical supplies and social support for migrants.”

Click here for article.

Leave a comment

Filed under European Union, Greece, News

by | 22 Jul 2009 · 07:57

Frontex to receive technical assistance from ICMPD (news)

“On 27 June, Frontex established a basis for cooperation with the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) via an exchange of letters between Ilkka Laitinen, the Executive Director of Frontex and Gottfried Zurcher, Director General of ICMPD. The aim of the agreement is to enhance cooperation between the two organizations in the promotion, development and implementation of integrated border management projects in EU Member States and Third Countries” – said Ilkka Laitinen.”

“The two organisations will focus on improving the management of migratory flows via cooperation in the field of training, research and capacity-building activities for the border guards of EU Member States or those of third countries.”

Click here for Frontex press release.

“The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) was founded in 1993, upon the initiative of Austria and Switzerland. The organisation was created to serve as a support mechanism for informal consultations, and to provide expertise and efficient services in the newly emerging landscape of multilateral co-operation on migration and asylum issues.”

“ICMPD today is an international organisation with eleven Member States (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland), sixty staff members at its Vienna Headquarters, a mission in Brussels and regional offices and representatives throughout Europe, CIS, Northern Africa and the Middle East. ICMPD holds UN observer status. The purpose of ICMPD is to promote innovative, comprehensive and sustainable migration policies and to function as a service exchange mechanism for governments and organisations.”

Click here for ICMPD web site.

Leave a comment

Filed under Frontex, News

by | 21 Jul 2009 · 19:58

Sénégal et l’Espagne: coopération dans le contrôle de l’émigration clandestine vers l’Europe (News)

“Le Sénégal et l’Espagne [qui] collaborent depuis 2006 dans le contrôle des flux d’émigrés clandestins vers l’Europe … ont signé mardi à Dakar un accord prolongeant d’un an la coopération de leurs deux pays dans le contrôle de l’émigration clandestine…. ”

“Avec le FRONTEX, nous avons pu réduire considérablement ce fléau’’, a affirmé Cheikh Tidiane Sy [le ministre sénégalais de l’Intérieur].”

“Le FRONTEX, avec lequel collabore la police sénégalaise, a permis de réduire fortement les flux d’émigrés clandestins en provenance d’Afrique subsaharienne, pour rejoindre l’Europe.”

Click here for article.

1 Comment

Filed under Frontex, News, Senegal, Spain

by | 14 Jul 2009 · 03:55

Significant Reduction in Migrants Reaching Canary Islands (News, Statistics)

Only 1,318 people reached the Canary Islands by boat over the first six months of 2009.  This low number contrasts with the record number of 31,678 who reached the Canary Islands on approximately 600 boats in 2006 and 9,181 migrants who arrived in 2008.

“The Spanish government credits the decline on increased maritime surveillance and agreements with several African nations that allows it to send migrants back.”

“Under the EU’s Frontex programme, Spain’s Civil Guard police patrol the waters off West Africa, in partnership with the authorities from Senegal and Mauritania.  In the first six months of 2009, these patrols diverted 762 migrants back to their points of departure.  Additionally, a single, satellite communications network, called Sea Horse, pools information between the two continents.”

Click here and here for articles.

Leave a comment

Filed under Data / Stats, Eastern Atlantic, Frontex, Mauritania, News, Senegal, Spain

by | 10 Jul 2009 · 07:41

Frontex: Italy-Libya Repatriation Agreement is “Effective” and Saves Lives (News)

Further to the previous post, in the same press conference, Frontex’s Arias-Fernandez seemed to characterise the repatriation agreement in a completely positive manner and, while conceding that the fate of migrants returned to Libya is unknown, Arias-Fernandez apparently did not express concern over the fact that migrants who are forcibly repatriated to Libya have no procedure by which to seek protection under international refugee law, EU subsidiary protections, or the European Convention on Human Rights.

Arias-Fernandez: ”From January 1 2009 to July 5, there were 333 illegal arrivals [by boat in Italy] according to our people in the field. For the same period last year there were 776. As for Sicily, including Lampedusa, the [number of migrants] passed from last year’s 14,806 to 6,760 this year.”

“From May 15 on … when the [Italy-Libya] agreements became effective, [Frontex] agents noticed even more of a decrease. The decrease in this last month and a half may have even reached -70%.  Based on our statistics, we are able to say that the agreements have had a positive impact. On the humanitarian level, fewer human lives have been put at risk, due to fewer departures. But our agency does not have the ability to confirm if the right to request asylum as well as other human rights are being respected in Libya.”

Click here for ANSA article.

Leave a comment

Filed under Frontex, Italy, Libya, Mediterranean, News

by | 09 Jul 2009 · 22:39

Frontex: Italy-Libya Agreement has “strong dissuading effect” (News, Statistics)

Frontex deputy director Gil Arias Fernandez said that the economic crisis has caused a drop in the number of migrants coming to the EU and that the Italy-Libya migration agreement has also had “a very strong dissuading effect.”  “When you see people who have spent a lot of money on their journey, who have faced great danger during the sea crossing, come back having been expelled from the country of arrival, you think twice before undertaking a similar voyage.”

Frontex reports a 16% reduction in the overall number of irregular migrants stopped at EU borders over the past year.  Sicily and Lampedusa experienced a 54% reduction in migrants over the first six months of 2009 compared with 2008 figures, 6,760 vs. 14,800.

Click here for article.

Leave a comment

Filed under Data / Stats, European Union, Frontex, Italy, Libya, News

by | 05 Jul 2009 · 21:55

Barrot Calls for Sharing of Asylum Burden and Single Asylum Procedure (News)

Jacques Barrot, EC Vice President for Justice, Freedom and Security, in an opinion piece about migrants and refugees written for the Times of Malta warned of risks that must be avoided, including the “risk … of believing that migratory flows and the right to asylum can be dealt with mainly at national level, without the need for very close coordination within Europe. Such fragmentation of migratory policies is an absurdity within the borderless Schengen area.”

Barrot said that he will soon be making “a large number of legislative proposals” to build upon the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum.  Barrot said that asylum seekers must be covered by a single procedure regardless of where the application is made and there need to be “solidarity between member states, to take the pressure off certain countries that are being overwhelmed by migration because of their geographical position.”

Barrot called for the Dublin Regulation to be amended so that asylum applications may be pursued in a member state other than the state of first arrival: “there is a vital need to think about how to set up a voluntary programme for the balanced distribution of refugees within Europe.”

Barrot also called for an international conference to be held in Libya during the Libyan Presidency of the African Union to discuss closer cooperation with countries bordering the Mediterranean “so as to effectively combat people traffickers and establish arrangements for the reception and protection of asylum-seekers which meet international standards.”

Click here for the article.

Leave a comment

Filed under European Union, Libya, News