The recent news that 800 migrants died in the Mediterranean is
a tragic reminder that Europe has still failed to come up with a proper plan
for the humanitarian crisis taking place on its southern shores. Lampedusa was supposed to be a wake-up call,
alerting us to the scale of the crisis and its human cost. Every year thousands die crossing the
Mediterranean Sea in the hope of finding safety and a better life. Wars in Libya, Syria, Iraq and Somalia have
thrown our neighbourhood into chaos.
While the brunt of the burden is borne by the neighbouring countries,
the numbers have exploded, with 3,000 dying in the attempt last year.
In the wake of Lampedusa, the Italian Navy launched its Mare Nostrum mission, patrolling the Mediterranean as both a border security and a
humanitarian mission to prevent more death along our shores. The mission was a
success, but it was an expensive one for the Italian state to bear in facing
what is essentially a European crisis.
The Dublin Regulation system was set in place so that asylum
seekers would have to apply for asylum in the EU state that they arrived
in. This was to prevent “forum
shopping”, where asylum seekers might try to apply in other Member States. The
upshot is that Member States with an external border – such as Italy, Malta and
Greece – have borne the brunt of the burden. Indeed, in Greece things have
become so bad that their facilities and treatment of asylum seekers has been
found to be in breach of human rights. Proposals to share the burden more
equitably between the North and the South in Europe have rarely received much
sympathy from the Northern Member States.
Operation Triton, an EU mission led by Frontex, the border agency,
replaced Mare Nostrum last year. The EU mission has only a third of the budget of the Italian mission, with 7 boats, 2
planes and 1 helicopter – hardly an adequate patrol for the sea lanes of North
Africa. Border patrol and surveillance, rather than search and rescue, is the
focus, though as this case shows rescues will be attempted.
There was strong opposition to Triton having the same search
and rescue mission as Mare Nostrum. Shockingly, the UK position was that saving
lives would make Europe a more attractive destination – effectively arguing
that the dangers and death faced by migrants is a good deterrence. It seems
that Europe is worryingly content to let its values stop at the border. With
thousands dying every year just off our coast, you would think that Triton
would be upgraded to a full Mare Nostrum-style mission.
