Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières has issused a short report on its activities in Italy, Greece, Malta, and Morocco: “Migrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers: Vulnerable People at Europe’s Doorstep”.
Click here for the link.
Category Archives: States
MSF Report on its Mediterranean Activities (Reports)
UNHCR: Mediterranean Migrant Situation Unnaturally Calm (News)
The numbers of migrants reaching Malta and Italy are significantly smaller than last year’s numbers. UNHCR spokeswoman Laura Boldrini said that the current situation is “so calm it’s almost unnatural.” The assumption is that the recent Libya-Italy agreement and resulting (and unknown) actions by Libya are a cause of the reduced numbers.
MaltaToday reports that “[b]etween April and May, just two vessels carrying a total of 99 migrants arrived [in Malta and] no landings occurred in June. Over the same period in 2008, some 872 African migrants landed on Malta…”
“Similarly, at …Lampedusa, [Italy] arrivals have declined 33% and 95% in April and May respectively, compared to the same period in 2008, according to UNHCR.”
“A source from the [Maltese] Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs told MaltaToday that recent crackdowns had led to a drop in illegal immigration. Among these were reports in the Italian media that Libyan boat factories had been shut down by the authorities there, leading to criminal organisations making use of rubber dinghies and fishing vessels, an indication of a more haphazard trafficking organisation.”
“[I]t is not yet certain what sort of action is being taken by joint [Italian-Libyan] patrols and Frontex operations, and whether immigrants are being forcibly returned – in breach of international law – to Libya without being given the right to apply for asylum.”
Click here for article.
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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.
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Filed under European Union, Libya, News
French Navy Completes 5th Frontex Mission (News)
Le PSP Arago ©Marine nationale (France)
A French Navy ship, the PSP Arago, has completed what is reported as the Navy’s fifth Frontex mission. The PSP Arago was based in the Aegean Sea 3-29 June 2009 and operated out of several Greek ports. It reportedly intercepted over 200 migrants in 7 interdictions; the migrants were turned over to Greek authorities.
French naval ships have participated in Frontex missions since 2008. French naval surveillance airplanes have participated in such missions since 2006.
Click here for article (Le portail des sous-marins).
Click here for the Préfecture maritime de la Méditerranée web site: Intervenir – Participation aux missions Frontex.
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IOM and World Islamic Call Society Seminar (6 July Tripoli) (Conferences)
The seminar will address the Italian Government-funded project known as Prometeo – Promoting Management and Expertise for Trafficking Eradication and Opposition. Participants include the Libyan Government and local NGOs, WICS, the International Organization for Peace, Care and Relief (IOPCR) and Al Wafa.
Click here for IOM notice.
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Filed under Colloques / Conferences, Italy, Libya, Mediterranean
Italy Forcible Returns 89 More Migrants to Libya (News)
The 89 migrants, including woman and children, were reportedly first taken on board the Italian Navy patrol boat Orione which took them to an off-shore oil production platform owned by Agip located within Libyan territorial waters where the migrants were transferred to a Libyan vessel which then took them to Libya.
COE Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg criticised the action. “[It is] absolutely right” that not everyone who arrives in Italy has the right to asylum, but ”they certainly have the right to ask for it”. ”With [their immediate return to Libya], this is denied to them, as is the possibility that their claims are evaluated according to the principles of human rights.”
Click here and here and here for ANSA, Di-Ve, and Times of Malta reports.
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Filed under Italy, Libya, Mediterranean, News
Greece Says Situation in Eastern Aegean is Out of Control (News)
Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Valinakis met with European Commission Vice President Barrot and asked for urgent assistance in regard to situation in the Eastern Aegean, saying that illegal migration has “spiraled our of control.”
The Dep. FM asked for immediate assistance to include:
“ intensifying and strengthening joint operations and patrols under FRONTEX along our “sea borders, with more European resources (maritime, air, specialised experts).
“ further financial support for tackling emergencies.
“ implementing immediate and practical measures that would relieve insular areas from the pressure such as using a ship of sufficient tonnage as a first reception and transport centre for illegal migrants.”
The Deputy FM indicated that Greece has raised these proposals in Stockholm with the new Swedish EU Presidency and would seek to raise these at the European Summit in October.
Click here for Foreign Ministry statement.
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Filed under Aegean Sea, European Union, Greece, News
Deaths in Aegean and Atlantic (Cadiz); Rescues in Mediterranean (News)
Several rescued, 1 dead, 1 missing in Aegean Sea off Turkish coast. Click here for article.
14 Rescued off Algerian coast. Click here for article.
At least 4 dead, others missing off of Cadiz. AFP reports that up to 30 others may have been on a small boat that sank near Cadiz.
“At the start of June, the Spanish government pointed out no migrants had reached the Spanish Canary Islands, another major entry route for Africans into Europe, and cited agreements with several African countries.”
“A record 31,678 people from sub-Saharan Africa reached Spain’s Canary Islands in 2006 on small boats from Africa, but the figure dropped to 1,318 in the first quarter of 2009.”
Click here for article.
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Filed under Aegean Sea, Algeria, Data / Stats, Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean, News, Spain, Turkey
Rescatan a medio centenar de inmigrantes en las aguas de Murcia, España (News)
“Un total de 54 inmigrantes de origen argelino llegaron poco antes de la medianoche a puerto tras ser interceptadas las cuatro pateras en las que viajaban en aguas de Murcia…
Además “Salvamento Marítimo interceptó tres pateras en las que viajaban 39 inmigrantes cuando navegaban a unas 30 millas de las costas de Cartagena.
Y “una patrullera de la Guardia Civil que participaba en las labores de rescate localizó otra embarcación con 15 personas a bordo en la zona entre Portman y Cavanna.”
Click here for El Mundo article.
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Filed under Mediterranean, News, Spain
Italian Chamber of Dep. Speaker Fini Criticises Summary Repatriation Policy (News)
ANSA reports that Gianfranco Fini’s comments made in Madrid at a forum organised by the El Mundo newspaper “appeared to put the speaker, who belongs to Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party, at odds with the government’s controversial policy of immediately returning immigrants rescued in the Mediterranean to Libya.”
“Fini was praised for his stance by the [Italian] opposition Democratic Party’s Deputy House Whip, Gianclaudio Bressa, who said it was ‘’good to establish that Fini is on (our) side of the debate’.
“… Italy has sent back over 600 would-be migrants since the launch of the policy on May 6 as part of a historic friendship deal with Libya, the main stepping-off point for immigrants.
Click here for the article.
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Filed under Italy, Mediterranean, News
L’Algérie dénonce le traitement sélectif et sécuritaire de l’émigration clandestine par l’UE (News)
“Lors du forum Crans Montana à Bruxelles, Abdelaziz Belkhadem, ministre d’Etat et représentant personnel du président de la République Bouteflika, … déplore la dualité qui caractérise les positions de certains pays européens en la matière.
“« Bien que l’Union européenne préconise une approche qui se veut globale, le socle législatif et réglementaire s’oriente davantage vers une démarche sélective et sécuritaire perceptible à un double niveau »…
“M. Belkhadem, a relevé la dualité qui caractérise l’engagement pris par nombre de pays de la région (euro méditerranéenne) lors des différentes conférences régionales et internationales consacrées à la migration. Il a même assuré qu’à un moment où l’ensemble de ces conférences ont conclu à la nécessité du traitement global et équilibré de la migration, les solutions sécuritaires ont leurs limites. ”
Click here for article.
Click here for the Crans Montana 20th Yearly Forum web site.
Click here for statement on the Portail du PM (Algérie).
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ECRE Memo to Swedish EU Presidency re Asylum Policies (Statements)
On the eve of Sweden’s assumption of the EU presidency, ECRE has sent a memorandum to the Swedish Government relating to EU asylum policies and the Stockholm Programme, scheduled to be finalized in late 2009 towards the end of the six month EU presidency.
Excerpts from the ECRE memo:
“… ECRE urges Sweden to take a rights-respecting approach during its Presidency and to seek to uphold Europe’s longstanding human rights tradition, and to play a leading role in promoting fair and humane European policies towards asylum seekers and refugees.
“In recent years the EU has increasingly focused on measures aimed at preventing and combating irregular entry. Many of these border control measures lack the necessary mechanisms to identify individuals in need of protection and allow their access to the territory and subsequently to an asylum procedure. This is leading to the violation of the principle of non-refoulement at Europe’s borders and is having a major impact in preventing refugees from seeking asylum in Europe.
“States have also developed a range of externalised migration controls beyond their borders, which allow people to be returned before they can ever reach European territory.
“ECRE stresses that Member States’ obligations under international and European refugee and human rights law do not stop at the physical boundaries of the EU. Member States cannot abdicate their principles, values and legal commitments by doing outside their borders what would not be permissible in their territories.
“The obligation of non-refoulement does not arise only when a refugee is within or at the borders of a state, but also when a refugee is under its effective or de facto control, including in international waters or those of another state. ECRE is therefore seriously concerned by the situation in the Mediterranean, especially reported pushbacks of possible refugees to third countries such as Libya.
“ECRE is also deeply worried about any proposals envisaging the setting up of external processing which would allow EU States to evade their obligations to protect refugees by shifting the responsibility to third countries with extremely dubious human rights records. While building protection capacity in third countries is a welcome objective, such cooperation must be additional to, and not a substitute for facilitating access to protection within the EU.
“EU states also need to place greater emphasis on developing protection-sensitive border controls, including through FRONTEX, the EU external border management agency. Oversight of FRONTEX activities should be strengthened through increased supervision of its activities, including consultation with and reporting back to the European Parliament concerning the agency’s work programme and activities. FRONTEX should also engage in a structured cooperation with asylum experts such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with relevant expertise, in order to facilitate operations that take account of protection issues.”
Click here for the ECRE Memorandum.
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Filed under European Union, Frontex, Statements, Sweden
Indian Court Begins Criminal Case in Connection with 1996 Incident Near Malta Where Over 170 Drowned (News)
Zee News reports that 2 Indian policemen and 18 others are scheduled to appear in court in Delhi on 30 June for the framing of charges relating to a smuggling operation that ultimately led to the drowning of over 170 Indians from Punjab on 25 December 1996 near Malta when they were being transferred from the ship Yiohan to a smaller vessel. The charges include human trafficking charges.
Click here for article.
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Filed under India, Mediterranean, News
Significant Reduction in Migrants Reaching Malta (News)
Times of Malta reports that there has been a significant reduction in migrants reaching Malta:
- “… Malta has so far this year received the smallest number of immigrants since 2003.
- “Only two boats containing illegal immigrants have landed in Malta in the past four months and not one asylum seeker has arrived on the island this month – compared with 575 in June last year.
- “… UNHCR spokesperson Laura Boldrini [said] ‘It’s difficult to say what is going on, especially since the flow of immigrants in winter persisted. According to what was reported, immigration control is part of the Italy/Libya friendship agreement… It is difficult to establish whether this will last,’…
- “… the promised joint patrols between Italy and Libya have not started, and human trafficking appears to have been stemmed at source.
- “The numbers are drastically down in Lampedusa and Sicily as well …. The number of fatalities has also dropped – around 340 people are believed to have died in the Sicilian channel in the first four months of the year, down from 640 in the same period last year.
- “… [Maltese] Armed Forces’ commander Carmel Vassallo also said he could not explain what had happened. ‘We are still going on with the Frontex patrol operations, but there is a drastic reduction. We are meeting no immigrants at sea.’”
Click here for article.
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Filed under Malta, Mediterranean, News
Swedish PM Expresses Doubts Over “Burden Sharing” Plan (News)
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt - Photo: Pawel Flato
In a press conference with the Maltese PM, Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt said
‘I know that Malta is pushing for more burden sharing to solve its immigration problems and that the Commission is also pressing on this point but, as you know, there are different views among member states on this. We will do our part and push a bit more. We do recognise that burden sharing can be a way forward. However, we also need to ensure that migrants are also welcomed in Europe. So, although burden sharing is important, there are difficulties and it is easier said than done.’
Maltese PM Lawrence Gonzi said that
‘Malta wants concrete help and we recognise the suggestions put forward by the European Commission and endorsed last week by EU leaders that the new Stockholm programme in the field of justice and home affairs will also include concrete measures on burden sharing among member states.’
According to the Times of Malta, “[i]n EU circles, Sweden is considered to be among the most sceptical member states when it comes to asylum and migration policy and, lately, was among the leading group of Nordic member states trying to water down the Commission’s initiatives to help Malta and other southern EU members facing major influxes of immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa.”
Click here for Times of Malta article.
Click here for Malta Independent article.
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Filed under European Union, Malta, News, Sweden
MIGRANTS AT SEA 