Boat Bombing: the "Humanitarian" Mission Impossible?

EU Member States have agreed on a naval mission to target the networks of people smugglers in the Mediterranean - a victory for the EU High Representative (Mogherini), who notes that the decision was made in record time. The mission will be run out of Rome by an Italian admiral and will include intelligence gathering on the smugglers' networks, "detection and inspection" of smugglers boats and, if granted UN authority, the destruction of the boats.

 

It may be a great victory for Federica Mogherini to have steered this decision through so quickly, but it sounds like a humanitarian policy by way of Michael Bay: lots of warships and action, but hardly much depth. What drives people to make this desperate crossing goes beyond smugglers' networks. These refugees hand over their savings to the smugglers because so much of Africa and the Middle East is in chaos, meaning that smugglers can afford to lose the dingy boats they send them off on in the first place. Neither government in Libya seems to be enthusiastic about the EU plan, and the BBC reports that local communities and the Libyan coastguard may be involved in these networks - how will this essentially military mission deal with situations where the networks aren't staffed by bad guys drawn from Hollywood blockbusters?

 

The smuggling is a key part of the current problem, but its only part of it. With the EU's near abroad in flames, does it have a strategy to deal with the breakdown of states in its neighbourhood?

 

It's a bit much to expect a new Neighbourhood Policy over-night to deal with these crises, but there doesn't seem to be much indication of trying to muster political will for such ideas, never mind much planning. The current Neighbourhood Policy, with its Union for the Mediterranean and Eastern Partnership, looks like it was created for a bygone age with Libya and Syria in flames and a proxy war in Ukraine.

 

Now that the Commission's asylum quota appears to have lost any traction it might have had, this naval mission could be the only common policy on this crisis. This is a real danger because it doesn't actually help solve the problem; at best, it just manages the symptoms. It's not hard to imagine that over time countries will slowly withdraw their support for the mission as a drain on resources, and the whole mess will re-assert itself. We should not be satisfied with mission, but start working on the difficult and long term issue of helping the countries in our neighbourhood build stable and open institutions and prospering economies.

Solidarity over Refugees is a key test for European Values

The Commission is planning to propose binding quotas for Member States accepting refugees.  This would be a major break from the Dublin Regulation mind set, where asylum seekers can only apply where they enter the EU – a system that has put intolerable pressures on the Mediterranean countries to the benefit of northern Europe. The Commission plan aims to have an equitable division of refugees, taking into account a Member State’s population, economic situation, employment levels and the number of refugees already accepted by that Member State.

The European Parliament has also called for binding quotas to be put in place to share the influx of refugees more equitably, with a grand coalition of the EPP and S&D backing the motion. The situation highlights not only the moral imperative to act to help those trying to escape desperate circumstances, but also the fundamental tension between the Dublin Regulation’s “common border” approach and the lack of true common policies within the EU on asylum seekers.

Getting agreement on any binding quotas will be an uphill struggle. In the wake of the most recent Mediterranean tragedies, EU ministers failed to agree on 5,000, so the Commission number of 20,000 appears ambitious.  Though the UK, Ireland and Denmark would not be bound by such quotas (they have an “opt-in” in justice and home affairs matters, except for Denmark which has an opt-out), the UK’s new Conservative government was quick to make clear that it won’t accept mandatory quotas and would reject this and any other future Commission plan on quotas. Within the Schengen zone, Hungary has also raised objections. The Commission will have to be creative in balancing Member States’ concerns over sovereignty over borders and immigration while being bold enough to push for a system that will commit Europe to living up to its global responsibilities.