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Lampedusa wreck: EU seeks Mediterranean migrant sea patrols

The European Commission has called for the EU to launch Mediterranean-wide search and rescue patrols to intercept migrant boats. The move by Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem was prompted by the deaths of at least 274

The European Commission has called for the EU to launch Mediterranean-wide search and rescue patrols to intercept migrant boats.

The move by Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem was prompted by the deaths of at least 274 migrants whose boat sank off Italy’s Lampedusa island.

She said this was a moment to show real European solidarity beyond words.

The alleged skipper of the Lampedusa boat, a Tunisian man, is being held in Sicily, suspected of manslaughter.

Ms Malmstroem told reporters after the meeting she had asked ministers from the 28 member states to allow a major operation by the EU’s Frontex border agency “covering the whole Mediterranean, from Cyprus to Spain“.

Much of what EU ministers are discussing has been in the pipeline for some time. The EU already has boats patrolling the sea. Now the suggestion is that more vessels should be deployed over a larger area. Similar measures were introduced in 2011 when the Arab uprisings led to an increase in people fleeing Libya and Tunisia.

Then there’s what the EU says is a better surveillance system that will help find vessels in trouble and also log and register illegal arrivals more effectively.

Perhaps, though, the best illustration of how Europe is approaching this problem can be seen in a “mobility partnership” signed by the EU and Morocco, which focuses on ways to limit illegal migration. On the one hand, the EU promises to grant more visas for Moroccan students, business leaders, and the like. On the other, Morocco is obliged to stop migrants leaving its shores for Europe.

Human rights groups have pointed to numerous occasions when they say the authorities have broken international law in attempting to do this. Morocco says it manages the issue in accordance with the law.

First reactions from EU member states were encouraging, she said.

“We will ask Frontex to make a concrete proposal and come back to us,” she said.

Frontex is currently helping Italy to intercept migrant boats, but the two EU operations in the southern Mediterranean have limited resources – a total of four ships, two helicopters and two planes.

The search and rescue patrols would “help better tracking, identification and rescue of boats, especially migrants’ boats”, the commissioner’s spokesman Michele Cercone said.

“It could help prevent tragedies like the one in Lampedusa,” he added.

The search for bodies from the boat that sank on Thursday off Lampedusa, between Sicily and Africa, continued throughout Tuesday.

Divers, who have already recovered dozens of bodies, brought up another 42, bringing the total number to 274. One of those brought to the surface was a child.

Many of the 500 people who were on board are still missing. The victims were mostly from Eritrea and Somalia.

The alleged captain of the ship, Khaled Bensalam, 35, is in custody in Agrigento, Sicily. Investigators suspect him of being responsible for the sinking and he could face multiple counts of manslaughter, though no charges have yet been laid, the BBC’s Rome office was told.

Until his arrest, he was with other survivors of the shipwreck at the reception centre in Lampedusa, Italian media report.

It is thought that other than the skipper, there was only one crewman aboard, and that he did not survive.

Limited resources

In Luxembourg, Ms Malmstroem asked EU member states to “give their political support and to make the necessary resources available”.

To read more click on the BBC link

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22 COMMENTS
  • temie October 10, 2013

    Solomon…u r just an idiot..brainwashed

  • solomon October 10, 2013

    @timei ya xerfi master zeleka enitay gibereni kibikeka eye.nisika ayikonkan eti bixerfi master zihabeka eyu bediluka.beal nisika kab hager miwixaka eri edikena eya bro

  • solomon October 10, 2013

    @timie and go back to shcool.but I will recommend to u take medical field instead of xerfi field men

  • Suleiman Salim October 10, 2013

    Roma, 10 ott. (Adnkronos) – “Sono veramente orgoglioso di essere cittadino eritreo, perchè un governo che, nonostante le difficoltà economiche, decide di assumersi le proprie responsabilità è un governo che ama il suo popolo”. Lo sottolinea all’Adnkronos Derres Araia, responsabile relazioni esterne della Comunità eritrea in Italia, commentando la decisione del governo eritreo di fornire ai superstiti della tragedia di Lampedusa l’assistenza necessaria e di provvedere alle spese per il rimpatrio delle salme.

    “Questa – prosegue Araia – è una notizia che fa onore a tutti gli eritrei. Non è facile per un paese che ha delle difficoltà economiche assumersi l’onere dei costi del trasporto delle salme, questo è un atto concreto che inoltre – osserva Araia – spazza via ogni polemica di questi giorni”.

    “L’Eritrea è un paese che ha delle forti tradizioni culturali, un paese che vuole seppellire i suoi figli in patria e il governo eritreo con quest’atto – conclude Araia- ha dimostrato grande amore per il suo popolo”.

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