Tag Archives: Maritime Surveillance

by | 01 Mar 2011 · 16:35

Update from Today’s LIBE Committee’s Discussions re Central Mediterranean

The Hungarian Presidency and LIBE have released summaries regarding today’s LIBE Committee meeting.  Here are some points from the two summaries:

  • Commissioner Malmström emphasized that, so far, migrants had not started coming to Europe from Libya, but the EU had to prepare for this possibility;
  • Frontex Director Laitinen made it clear that the region should not be seen as a whole, but as separate countries with separate problems;
  • Laitinen underlined that from Tunisia only economic migration could be seen so far, but for the moment, as Tunisian authorities have regained control of the migration flow, this had stopped, as well. Since 26 February, no migrants had arrived to Lampedusa.
  • Laitinen also stressed that Italy was not the only entry point for migrants from North-Africa. Greece should not be forgotten in this context.  Low-cost flights from North-Africa to Istanbul were operating, bringing many migrants who then were trying to enter the Schengen area through the Greek-Turkish border;
  • Laitinen said that the possibility of extending Hermes to address Malta’s needs was being examined. More money and staff might be needed if the current emergency persists;
  • MEPs urged Member States to accelerate work on the “asylum package” and stressed the need for solidarity as regards relocating migrants;
  • Malmström said that most of the current migration from Tunisia to Lampedusa appears to be for economic reasons;
  • Malmström said that “Frontex and Member States may not push away people in need of international protection”;
  • MEP Simon Busuttil (EPP, MT) said the three main priorities in Libya are halting violence, sending humanitarian aid and planning for a possible immigration emergency. “What if a mass influx turns into Europe, is there a plan in the drawer to be pull out if this happens?” “Member States show no appetite for relocation.”

Click here and here for the two articles.

Leave a comment

Filed under European Union, Frontex, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia, Turkey

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 01 Mar 2011 · 16:08

Laitinen in Malta for Discussions

Frontex Director Ilkka Laitinen is in Malta today for discussions with Maltese officials about the situation in Libya and the possibility of a new migrant flow from Libya.  It seems that the discussions concern the expansion of Joint Operation Hermes Extension or the creation of a new joint operation based in Malta.  Before leaving Brussels earlier today, Laitinen said that “although the situation is fluid and until now no flows of asylum seekers to Europe has resulted, Frontex was preparing for such an eventuality.”

Click here (EN), here (IT) and here (IT) for articles.

Leave a comment

Filed under European Union, Frontex, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 01 Mar 2011 · 06:53

Live Coverage, 1 March, 09:00, LIBE Meeting re Situation in the Central Mediterranean

LIBE will reconvene today, 1 March, 09:00-10:30, to discuss “the situation in the central Mediterranean…. They will consider the democratisation process in the region and its impact on migration flows and EU immigration and asylum policy. In attendance: Hungarian Presidency representative, H.E. Peter Györkös, Cecilia Malmström, Commissioner for Home Affairs and Ilkka Laitinen, Executive Director of Frontex, the EU border security agency.”

Click here for live coverage.

Leave a comment

Filed under European Union, Frontex, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 28 Feb 2011 · 15:31

Blog du Monde Diplo: une démonstration de force navale; une petite armada converge en direction des côtes libyennes

Du blog de “Défense en ligne” écrit par Philippe Leymarie: “Guerre civile en Libye et options militaries.”

“Alors que le Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU réuni vendredi dernier a décidé d’un embargo sur les armes et de sanctions contre le régime Kadhafi, la violence de la répression en Libye a incité les pays européens, qui n’envisagent pas d’intervention militaire pour le moment, à entamer une démonstration de force… navale, qui a pris forme en quelques heures, avec une célérité inhabituelle. Une petite armada converge en direction des côtes libyennes, dans ce qui pourrait, à terme, devenir une véritable opération, mêlant la dissuasion à l’humanitaire. …

“Dans la pratique, le déploiement de cette petite armada pourrait également constituer un cordon de sécurité afin d’éviter une fuite en masse par la mer de Libyens ou d’immigrés africains vers l’Europe – donnant plus de consistance à l’opération de surveillance « Hermès », entamée (sous la pression notamment de l’Italie, en première ligne) par l’agence européenne Frontex….”

Cliquez ici pour l’article complet.

Leave a comment

Filed under Analysis, European Union, Frontex, Libya, Mediterranean, United Nations

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 28 Feb 2011 · 01:00

Laitinen to Visit Malta to Discuss New Frontex Mission

The Malta Independent reported yesterday that Frontex Director Ilkka Laitinen will visit Malta shortly “with a view to organising a Frontex mission that would be hosted by Malta but, [Justice and Home Affairs Minister] Dr Mifsud Bonnici stresses, not under the infamous guidelines that are being disputed [before the European Court of Justice] by Malta, Italy and the European Parliament.”  Dr Mifsud Bonnici said “I have also made it a precondition that if we are to host this Frontex mission, it would not be under those guidelines and there is an agreement on that.”

Malta’s primary objection to the Frontex Sea Border Rule is likely due to provisions which require that intercepted migrants be taken to the country hosting the Frontex mission under certain circumstances.  The relevant provision provides:

“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 has previously said that the Sea Border Rule guidelines can be negotiated by member states on a mission by mission basis and that before a mission starts participating member states can 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.

Click here for Malta Independent article.

Click here for previous post regarding Malmström’s comments.

Leave a comment

Filed under European Union, Frontex, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 27 Feb 2011 · 04:26

More Assets Dedicated to Frontex Joint Operation “Hermes Extension”; More EU and NATO Naval Forces Present in Central Mediterranean

The assets dedicated to Joint Operation Hermes Extension continue to increase, although at present there are only two coastal patrol boats (Italian) participating in the Frontex  mission.  Ten surveillance aircraft will soon be deployed.  See the table with the list of resources below.

While the naval assets dedicated to JO Hermes Extension are minimal, there is a growing number of EU and NATO naval ships in the Central Mediterranean.  Nicolas Gros-Verheyde (writing on the Bruxelles2 blog (FR)) has counted 14 naval ships from EU states that are present in the waters near Libya; the ships consist of destroyers, frigates, electronic surveillance ships, and supply and support ships.   Additionally, Turkey has two naval ships in the area.

Some of the naval ships have already been used to evacuate European and other non-Libyan nationals from Libya.  What additional activity the EU ships may engage in remains to be seen.  They may become involved in military activities (presumably with UN authority (?)) and/or they may play a yet undetermined role should there be a sudden flow of migrants and asylum seekers from Libya.  If there is a sudden and significant migratory flow, the naval ships should function in a search and rescue manner, but there is always the possibility that if faced with large numbers of migrants, the navy vessels may be used to interdict, blockade, or otherwise to try to prevent migrants from leaving Libya.

Click here for link to Frontex update regarding deployed assets.

Click here and here for Bruxelles2 postings. (FR)

Table: Resources available to JO Hermes Extension 2011 as of February 25, 2011.

Italy (HMS) 2 Coastal Patrol Vessel, 1 aircraft, 5 experts, 2 cultural mediators
Austria 1 expert
Belgium 2 experts
Denmark 3-5 experts
France 10 experts, 1 aircraft
Germany 2 experts, 2 aircrafts
Hungary 2 experts
the Netherlands 1 aircraft, 2 experts
Portugal 7 experts, 1 aircraft
Romania 6 experts
Sweden 1 expert
Switzerland 2 experts
Spain 4 experts, 1 aircraft (at a later stage)

Leave a comment

Filed under Algeria, Data / Stats, European Union, Frontex, General, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 25 Feb 2011 · 16:05

ECRE Statement: Safe haven for people fleeing bloodshed in Libya

ECRE issued a statement earlier today.  Here is the full statement:

As the situation in Libya is worsening and the world is watching the atrocities of Gaddafi’s regime, European governments are stepping up efforts to evacuate their citizens outside the country. The repression is brutal and just as British, Turkish, Egyptians and other foreigners, some Libyans and refugees from sub-Saharan countries unable to go back and stranded in Libya will need refuge from violence and human rights abuses.

At this historical moment, on the other side of the Mediterranean, the EU needs to live up to its obligations to protect those fleeing the violence.

With or without Frontex, border control operations carried out at sea cannot result in persons being returned to Libya without assessing in a fair asylum procedure whether they are in need of international protection.

Some European governments have warned of an exodus of biblical proportions. The truth is that what will happen is totally unpredictable. For the moment, those leaving the country seem to be travelling to Egypt or remaining elsewhere in the region. So far, according to the EU Border Agency Frontex, some 5.500 people, mainly Tunisians, arrived to Lampedusa in January and February. This is nowhere near the number that would make an asylum system of a country such as Italy collapse.

Even if the number of people arriving to Europe would increase dramatically, to the extent that an immediate and individual assessment of their protection needs would no longer be possible, the EU has already at its disposal the tools to ensure that people can reach a safe haven. The Temporary Protection Directive, adopted after the Kosovo crisis, allows Member States to grant immediately a protection status to persons who arrive in Europe in the context of so-called mass influx and makes it possible for Member States to better share responsibility through the relocation of refugees protected under this scheme to other EU countries.

In addition, the recently established European Asylum Support Office has the competence to deploy national asylum experts to EU Member States receiving high numbers of asylum seekers. Although the agency is not yet operational, ad hoc solutions can be found if need be.

Finally, the EU’s decision to suspend the negotiations with Libya on a framework agreement, which included cooperation in the field of immigration and asylum, is indeed the only sensible thing to do. Libya’s poor human rights record was well known when last year the European Commission agreed to offer the dictatorship € 50m over the next 3 years to reinforce Tripoli’s capacity to prevent migrants from entering the Southern border and from crossing the Mediterranean towards Europe. According to the European Commission, no money has been disbursed so far. The bloodshed in the country and the regime’s attempts to blackmail the EU by threatening with breaking its cooperation on controlling migration towards Europe, showed clearer than ever who the EU was willing to trust to control migration to Europe. This cannot go on.

Contact

Ana Fontal

Senior Press and Public Information Officer

Tel: +32 2 212 08 12

Mobile: + 32 (0) 486 531 676

www.ecre.org

Click here for link to statement.

Leave a comment

Filed under European Union, Frontex, Italy, Libya, Mediterranean, Statements, Tunisia

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 23 Feb 2011 · 05:30

Italy Warns that 300,000 Migrants May Seek to Flee Libya; Tunisians Continue to Reach Lampedusa in Moderate Numbers

After a meeting yesterday of the Prime Minister and the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defence,  Economy, Labour, Justice, and Interior, the government formed a standing committee to follow the crisis in Libya (“un comitato permanente sulla crisi libica”).  The committee will monitor the flow of migrants to Italy.  According to reports in the Italian press, the Italian Government believes that between 200,000-300,000 migrants may seek to reach Italy if conditions in Libya continue to worsen.  Three Italian naval ships, the San Marco, San Giorgio and Mimbelli, have been moved close to Libya in order to be ready to assist with the evacuation of Italian citizens should it become necessary.  Tunisian migrants continue to arrive in Lampedusa.  Over the past day approximately 200 arrived.

Click here, here, and here for articles. (IT)

1 Comment

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

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

by | 22 Feb 2011 · 16:05

Times of Malta: Frontex Preparing for “Unprecedented” Migrant Flow from Libya

The Times of Malta reports today that Frontex “has been given instructions to start preparing for a possible unprecedented influx of immigrants and asylum seekers fleeing Libya towards the EU, particularly through Malta and Lampedusa.” “‘The fact that the Libyan regime does not seem to be in control of the huge expanse of the 2,000-km long Libyan coastline might already pose a big danger of a flood of asylum seekers crossing by rogue boats towards Malta, Lampedusa and Sicily,’ the sources said.”  According to the article the planned response to a massive flow would involve all 27 member states.  EU spokesman for Home Affairs Michele Cercone confirmed that Frontex was engaged in planning for a migrant flow from Libya, but said he would not “speculate on details and suppositions.”  The article also states that “six EU Mediterranean member states [Malta, France, Cyprus, Spain, Greece, and Italy] will meet in Rome tomorrow in an urgent minisummit to devise a common stance on the immigration crisis facing the southern Mediterranean region, a day before official talks of EU justice ministers in Brussels.”

Click here article.

1 Comment

Filed under Cyprus, European Union, France, Frontex, Greece, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News, Spain

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 22 Feb 2011 · 04:52

Frontex JO Hermes Update

Here is the latest update from the Frontex web site:

“… Joint Operation Hermes 2011, originally planned to commence in June, was brought forward and started on February 20 with a provisional end-date of March 31 as an initial phase with a possible extension if needed. The Operational Plan was prepared on the basis of a Tailored Risk Analysis, created by Frontex at Italy’s request…. As with all Frontex-coordinated Joint Operations, the host Member State (Italy) will play the leading role. All maritime assets and crews will be provided by the Italian authorities and will patrol a predefined area with a view to detecting and preventing illegitimate border crossings to the Pelagic Islands, Sicily and the Italian mainland. Aerial assets made available by other Member States for enhanced border surveillance and search and rescue capability will support these sea patrols. Meanwhile, second-line border control will be supported through the deployment of debriefing and screening experts to identify migrants’ nationalities and to gather intelligence on people-smuggling networks. Further support may also be made available in the area of return operations.

Assets and experts made available by the Member States for Hermes 2011 joint operation:

  • Naval means: Italy
  • Aerial means: Italy, France, the Netherlands, Malta, Spain
  • Experts: Italy, Austria, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Malta, Portugal, and Spain …

The Europol Mobile Office is deployed on the spot in Lampedusa. Europol experts will also provide operational analytical support throughout the operation.”

Click here for full statement.

1 Comment

Filed under European Union, Frontex, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 22 Feb 2011 · 04:28

Interview with Frontex Director Regarding the 5000 Tunisians in Italy

Frontex Director Ilkka Laitinen was interviewed by Spiegel Online.  He expressed the view that Frontex’s main task in regard to the 5000 or so Tunisian migrants who have reached Italy over the past several weeks will be facilitating the return of most of them to Tunisia.  According to Laitinen, only a “very few” of the Tunisians have sought asylum protection.  He also said that Frontex “experts [had] come to the conclusion that the flight of the 5,000 had been planned for a long time. ‘Twenty human traffickers have already been arrested[.] They had just been waiting for the right opportunity.’”

While the view that most of the Tunisians who have arrived to date in Italy will not qualify for asylum or subsidiary protection is shared by many others, if and when people begin fleeing directly from Libya, whether they be Libyan or non-Libyan, there will almost certainly be a much larger number of qualified asylum seekers in any new migrants flows, especially if the Gaddafi regime remains in power.

Click here for article.

1 Comment

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

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 21 Feb 2011 · 06:58

Limited Migrant Landings Resume on Lampedusa

Several boats carrying over one hundred persons have arrived in Lampedusa over the past 24+ hours.  The new arrivals are likely due to better sea and weather conditions.  Tunisian authorities arrested 40 would-be migrants as they attempted to leave Tunisia by sea on Saturday night.

Click here (IT), here (IT), and here (FR) for articles.

Leave a comment

Filed under Frontex, Italy, Mediterranean, News, Tunisia

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

by | 21 Feb 2011 · 06:54

Malta Delays Decision to Participate in Operation Hermes

The Times of Malta reported on Sunday that the Armed Forces of Malta have not agreed to contribute assets or personnel to Frontex’s Operation Hermes.   AFM is still evaluating a request by Frontex to participate.

Click here for article.

Leave a comment

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

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 20 Feb 2011 · 18:39

Statement by Commissioner Malmström Regarding Today’s Launch of Operation Hermes

A short statement by the Commissioner regarding Operation Hermes was posted on the EU External Affairs web page today:  “…The mission is part of a broader framework of measures by the European Commission to manage these exceptional migratory flows. Other actions include cooperation with Tunisian authorities, identification of financial emergency envelopes and assistance by the European Police Office (Europol). … As part of the Hermes mission, experts from participating Member States will be deployed along with aerial and naval support to assist the Italian authorities. Human and technical resources could be increased according to future needs.  On the basis of the Operational Plan that was agreed with the Italian authorities, Frontex experts will assist in debriefing and interviewing migrants. Special attention is given to identifying those who may be in need of international protection. Frontex will also give aerial and naval support for border surveillance….”

Click here for full statement.

Leave a comment

Filed under European Union, Frontex, Italy, Mediterranean, News, Statements, Tunisia

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | 20 Feb 2011 · 18:06

Correction-Libyan Govt Summoned Hungarian Ambassador, Not EU Rep

According to a more recent Reuters Africa report, the Libyan threat to halt cooperation on immigration was communicated this past Thursday to the Hungarian Ambassador in Tripoli.  This information was then released by the Hungarian EU Presidency.

Click here for article.

1 Comment

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

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,