As survivors laid bare the full horror of last weekend's catastrophic shipwreck near Libya, a draft statement for the summit seen by AFP committed leaders to "undertake systematic efforts to identify, capture and destroy vessels before they are used by traffickers."
The EU's top diplomat Federica Mogherini "is invited to immediately begin preparations for a possible security and defence policy operation to this effect, in accordance with international law," the draft added.
A diplomatic source said EU members were preparing to approve the statement, reflecting the union's readiness to take more decisive action against people smugglers, who pack rickety boats to overflying with people fleeing conflict and hardship in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Monday evoked the possibility of "targeted interventions" against the Libya-based smugglers that would fall short of a full military intervention.
"You can't be serious about this problem if you don't take Prime Minister Renzi's proposals seriously, though you have to go through the legal and operational issues," said a senior European official on the condition of anonymity.
If approved, the operation would be the first time EU governments used military force to fight illegal migration.
"No one is talking about boots on the ground," a diplomatic source cautioned, adding that a potential requirement for UN backing would depend on the reach of the mission. "This isn't a war."
EU leaders go into Thursday's summit under huge pressure to both check the tide of migrants landing on European shores and provide greater succour to those whose boats run into trouble at sea.
The draft also proposes that member states provide resettlement to 5,000 migrants, but this is a small fraction of the number that arrive on the shores of southern Europe each year.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday contrasted his country's hosting of two million refugees from Syria with the EU's approach of "letting the boats sink and leaving them to their deaths".
The vast majority of the Libya shipwreck's estimated 800 victims were locked in the hold or the middle deck of the 20-metre (66-foot) converted fishing boat when it collided with a Portuguese cargo ship responding to its distress signal.
One of the 28 survivors described nightmarish conditions on board.
"Those who had the least money were stuffed into the hold at the bottom, and locked inside," a Bangladeshi teenager identified as Abdirizzak told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.
When the first collision happened in pitch darkness, scenes of pure terror ensued.
"Everyone was screaming, pushing, punching, elbowing -- terrified. From below we could hear those who were locked in shouting 'Help, Help!'"
Prosecutors in the Sicilian city of Catania said they had asked a judge to charge the boat's Tunisian captain with illegal confinement as well as culpable homicide, causing a shipwreck and aiding illegal immigration.
The skipper, Mohammed Ali Malek, 27, is alleged to have been drinking and smoking hashish while steering the boat. A Syrian crew member Mahmud Bikhit, 25, is also in custody.
The exact number of victims may never be known as the wreck sank in one of the deepest parts of the Mediterranean.
A further 1,106 migrants landed on Italy's shores Wednesday after being picked up at sea by the coastguard, bringing the total currently housed in reception centres around the country to 70,507, according to the interior ministry.
British Prime Minister David Cameron is reportedly ready to offer the services of a Royal Navy warship which could seek to prevent migrant boats from leaving Libya.
But experts question whether such action, modelled on Australia's approach to its migrant crisis, could be done without UN authorisation.
EU governments have already agreed to double the resources available to a maritime border patrol mission, but that has been attacked as too little, too late by refugee and rights groups.
"Today we know that the fact that there is no effective rescue operation in place, has not reduced but rather increased the number of people who try to cross the Mediterranean," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said Thursday.
Sunday's disaster was the worst in a series of migrant shipwrecks that have claimed more than 1,750 lives this year -- 30 times higher than the same period in 2014 -- and nearly 5,000 since the start of last year.
If current trends continue, there could be 30,000 deaths at sea this year and Italy will have to process 200,000 migrants landing on its soil, according to projections by aid groups.
Italian officials believe there could be up to one million refugees from Syria, Eritrea and sub-Saharan Africa already in Libya hoping to board boats.
AFP
dailystar.com.lb
23/4/15
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Libya anarchy fuels boom in migrant smuggling...
ReplyDeleteLibya's chaos has turned it into a lucrative magnet attracting migrants desperate to make the dangerous sea voyage to Europe. With no central authority to stop it, business is booming, with smugglers charging ever more as demand goes up, then using the profits to buy larger boats and heavier weapons to ensure no one dare touch them.
It's a vicious cycle that only translates into more tragedies at sea.
With each rickety boat that sets off from Libya's coast, traffickers rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars. So assured are they of their impunity that they operate openly. Many even use Facebook to advertise their services to migrants desperate to flee war, repression and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.....ctvnews.ca
23/4/15
Immigration: sommet européen exceptionnel, opération militaire en vue...
ReplyDeleteRéunion extraordinaire des dirigeants européens à Bruxelles ce jeudi après-midi. Au menu un seul sujet: les récents drames en mer Méditerranée, plus de 1000 morts en quelques jours après le naufrage de bateaux remplis de migrants. C'est le Premier ministre italien qui a voulu cette réunion d'urgence et il a prévenu : il ne veut plus de paroles, Mattéo Renzi demande des actes. Certaines associations humanitaires doutent déjà de la volonté réelle des dirigeants européens de réviser leurs politiques en la matière.....rtbf.be
23/4/15
Tripoli: "Non accetteremo incursioni Europa"...
ReplyDelete.....Ma sull'ipotesi che l'Europa si attivi per bombardare le imbarcazioni, Tripoli alza la voce: "Il governo di Tripoli non accetterebbe mai che l'Europa bombardi presunte basi di trafficanti di esseri umani. Tripoli si opporrà'", ha detto il ministro per gli Affari esteri del governo di Tripoli, Muhammed el-Ghirani. Ghirani ha sostenuto che nessuno dall'Europa ha mai consultato Tripoli su tali azioni, mentre la stessa Europa ha dichiarato varie volte di non voler riconoscere lo stesso governo di Tripoli. "Come saprete se verrà colpito un innocente o uno scafista?", ha chiesto il ministro. Il ministro ha parlato in un'intervista al giornale maltese Times of Malta. "Abbiamo fatto il nostro meglio per fare in modo che l'Europa collaborasse con noi per affrontare l'immigrazione illegale, ma loro continuano a dire che non siamo un governo riconosciuto. Non possono semplicemente decidere di agire. Devono parlare con noi", ha aggiunto el-Ghirani..............repubblica.it
23/4/15
Caccia a scafisti e soccorsi: ecco le ipotesi a Bruxelles...
ReplyDeleteL’Europa rinuncia per il momento a parlare apertamente di un apparato comune di «search and rescue» di migranti nel Mediterraneo, perché la grande maggioranza degli Stati teme ancora di scatenare il «pool factor», cioè la possibilità di attrarre barconi anziché scoraggiarli. Per cercare di evitare altre catastrofi e tenere fede alle promesse di una guerra ai trafficanti, si punta su un’idea più pragmatica. Si tratta «almeno di raddoppiare» i mezzi di Triton, senza estenderne il mandato operativo oltre le attuali 30 miglia, e lasciare che la legge del mare faccia la sua parte: chi c’è ripesca gli affogati, anche senza investitura formale. Così si rafforza l’azione. E si evita un’ipotesi «Mare Nostrum Ue» che i più continuano a non volere. Nonostante tutto.
I lavori di preparazione del vertice europeo sull’immigrazione, chiesto dall’Italia e convocato per oggi a Bruxelles, finiranno in mattinata, ma ieri più fonti riferivano che la decisione «neutra e quantitativa» su Triton appariva presa. In serata è girato un testo di conclusioni «molto ecumenico». Approva il decalogo definito in Lussemburgo, raddoppia «almeno» i fondi per Triton, creando i presupposti per un progetto pilota da almeno 5000 rifugianti aventi diritto da accogliere in Europa e incaricare Federica Mogherini, alto rappresentante per la politica estera, di dare un senso allo «sforzo sistematico» per la distruzione dei barconi. Col mandato dell’Onu. Ma anche senza.
Italia e i Paesi di frontiera
Italia, Malta, Grecia spingono con forza, la solidarietà risulta essere diffusa. I distinguo principali dovrebbero cadere dopo il minuto di silenzio dei leader in programma alle 4 del pomeriggio. Roma risulta aver già invitato una richiesta di mezzi per consolidare Triton e «quattro o cinque Paesi» sono pronti a mettere navi e aerei (e la bozza di conclusione prevede che lo facciano).....lastampa.it
23/4/15
Libya's rival government says would confront EU attacks on traffickers...
Delete(Reuters) - The group controlling Libya's coastal capital Tripoli said it would "confront" any unilateral European Union moves to attack sites used by people-traffickers, urging the bloc to consult it over plans to deal with a migration crisis.
Muhammed el-Ghirani, foreign minister of the group that is a rival to Libya's internationally-recognized government, said it had repeatedly offered to help deal with migrants leaving its shores, but its proposals had been rebuffed.
His comments, made in an interview with the Times of Malta published on Thursday, underlined the challenges facing EU ministers meeting in Brussels to find ways to stem the numbers risking their lives traveling from Libya, a country mired in political chaos........reuters.com
23/4/15
Funerals for 24 people killed in the worst ever recorded capsizing of a migrant boat in the Mediterranean have been held in Malta...
ReplyDeleteMore than 800 people died in Sunday's disaster. Italian police say the captain crashed the boat by mistake against a merchant rescue ship.
The number of deaths in such incidents has now reached 1,750 so far this year.
EU leaders are holding an emergency summit later to find ways to stem the number of people risking their lives....bbc.com
23/4/15
EU rescue ships head for Libya, as migrants die also in Balkans...
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - British and German warships made ready to sail for waters off Libya as Europe ramped up rescue operations in the Mediterranean after up to 900 desperate migrants drowned last weekend on a boat heading for Italy.
Yet hours after European Union leaders agreed in Brussels on Thursday to treble funding for EU maritime missions and pledged more ships and aircraft, 14 clandestine migrants were killed when a train ploughed into dozens of Somalis and Afghans making their way in darkness along a rail track in a Macedonian gorge.
The incident highlighted the variety of routes that growing numbers are taking to escape war and poverty in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and chance their luck in a wealthy region that offers, at best, a chilly welcome. EU governments remain deeply at odds over how to share out the care of those who make it.......reuters.com
24/4/15