EU 'still failing to deal with migration crisis' as death toll rises
The crossing between Libya and Italy is the deadliest sea route in the world and the death toll for the current year has already reached 219 people. Regardless, nearly 10,000 people attempted to use this route to reach Europe in March alone. Total arrivals to Italy in the first quarter of 2016 are almost double what they were in the same period in 2015. But before people even reach the Mediterranean, many are left traumatised due to traffickers’ abuse in North Africa.
The EU’s response to the Lampedusa drownings this time last year and the Mediterranean crisis as a whole has yieldedsuccessive emergency summits, resulting in the beefing up Europe’s border security and a ‘hotspot’ plan for Italy and Greece where asylum claims are expedited with a focus on swift rejections.
Three hotspots have been functioning in Sicily since September 2015, but the European and Italian authorities in charge of them have yet to agree a clear legal framework and on how they are run. This leaves a serious gap in clarity on how this system is ensuring respect for Italian, European and international law. The Italian parliament was challenged on this – no response has been forthcoming.
Vincent Koch, Oxfam's Regional European Migration Response Coordinator said: “We have desperate people in desperate need and in desperate situations and the EU’s answer is to put their political interests before the safety and dignity of human beings.
“The EU’s approach to migration is adding to the overall death toll in the Mediterranean and ruining people’s chances of leading safer lives.”
The expedited approach of the hotspots is yielding faster decisions and more expulsions, but as a result many people are being shut out of the asylum system, left stranded and even more vulnerable.
One migrant from Gambia, called Bakari, said: “After two days, they gave us the paper [the return order] and they put us out on the street without any explanation. There were seven of us, and we slept at the train station in Catania for three months.”
People left like this are at risk of trafficking and exploitation, and fear often prevents them from seeking help. According to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, this allows those responsible for exploiting migrants to act with impunity - with women left particularly vulnerable to abuse - while people who seek to assist undocumented migrants can face criminal charges.
“Migrants are increasingly being left in a legal limbo with nowhere to go and at risk of exploitation and abuse. It is a lose-lose for far too many people, who are deemed lucky because they survived the Mediterranean crossing unlike the 800 people who drowned in the Lampedusa tragedy last year. Put simply: the European Union has to do better than this as the death toll is rising,” said Koch.
ENDS
Notes:
Download a copy of Oxfam's report EU Hotspots Spread Fear and Doubt (contact Kai for an advance copy)
View and download photos of Oxfam's refugee response in Europe
Shortly before midnight on 18 April 2015, a boat carrying over 800 refugees and migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea south of the Italian island of Lampedusa. Despite the efforts of Italian naval and coastguard ships and the Maltese Navy, only 28 people were saved. Some of the passengers who died were as young as 10 years old. The boat, which left from Tripoli in Libya, reportedly capsized when migrants rushed to draw the attention of a passing merchant ship. At the time, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said it was probably the largest loss of life during a migrant crossing to Europe.
According to the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, migrants detained in the country often face torture, beatings, and forced labour. Recently four migrants were shot dead and 20 wounded while trying to escape from a detention centre.
Oxfam is calling for the EU and Italian government to:
- Clarify immediately how the procedures used within the hotspots approach are in accordance with law at European and national level and how oversight is conducted, including recourse to appeals.
- Ensure that, in accordance with law, every person is informed about his/her rights, including the right to ask for international protection, in a form and language they can understand.
- Bring identification and registration procedures in line with full respect of human rights. Use of force to coerce compliance with identification and/or fingerprinting procedures must not be permitted.
- Guarantee that no one is pushed back or expelled without a specific examination of his/her individual situation by the proper authority, which cannot be a law enforcement officer.
- Put an end to de facto detentions. No one must be detained in reception centres for the sole purpose of ensuring his/her identification. Guarantee access to independent organisations that can provide aid, including psychosocial support, and monitor the respect of human rights. This includes on the ships used for search and rescue operations, at disembarkation points, and inside the centres where identification takes place.
- Put in place specific protection procedures for vulnerable people, including unaccompanied minors, women travelling alone, pregnant women, traumatised or ill people, and people with disabilities.
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