EU considers 'how to stop people from coming to Europe'

Created: 11/25/2022, 12:12 p.m

By: Jana Stäbener

In the case of refugees in the Mediterranean, the EU wants to work more closely with countries of origin such as Libya.

For Amnesty International, this is “even more isolationism”.

Recently, 250 refugees had to wait in the port of Catania on ships belonging to the German "Humanity 1" and the Norwegian "Geo Barents".

The Italian authorities only let people ashore after days.

According to the EU Commission, more than 90,000 people have come to the EU via countries such as Libya and Tunisia since the beginning of the year.

Therefore, on Monday, November 21, the authority presented the “EU Action Plan for the Central Mediterranean” on how to deal with “illegal migration” across the Mediterranean in the future.

On Friday afternoon, November 25, the interior ministers of the EU states will discuss the plan.

Franziska Vilmar, asylum law expert at Amnesty International in Germany, criticizes the action plan to

from IPPEN.MEDIA

Migrants sit in a rubber dinghy on the Mediterranean Sea 72 kilometers from Al Khums, Libya.

(Archive image) © Olmo Calvo/dpa

EU action plan on refugees crossing the Mediterranean wants to prevent "unlawful departures".

"We have to keep in mind that a clear majority of the people who arrive today via this central Mediterranean route do not need international protection," said the responsible EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson, according to the

.

Many of the people, who come mainly from Egypt, Tunisia and Bangladesh, want to earn money in the EU.

In total, more than 100 million people are fleeing the world.

The first point of the action plan is therefore to work more closely with countries of origin and transit.

According to the 20-point action plan, at least 580 million euros are to be invested in order to prevent “unlawful departures”.

According to item three of the plan, they want to “strengthen the capacities of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya”.

Point eleven envisages setting up "quick, targeted repatriation campaigns with the support of Frontex".

National activities of EU states are also to be brought together in a "Team Europe Initiative" and better coordinated.

They also want to make better use of the solidarity mechanism (i.e. to better support countries like Italy with many boat people).

And they want to develop a special framework and guidelines for private sea rescue with the International Maritime Organization.

Italy's Interior Minister, Matteo Piantedosi, was satisfied with the announcement from Brussels, according to

.

About IPPEN.MEDIA:

The IPPEN.MEDIA network is one of the largest online publishers in Germany.

At the locations in Berlin, Hamburg/Bremen, Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Stuttgart and Vienna, journalists from our central editorial office research and publish for more than 50 news offers.

These include brands such as Merkur.de, FR.de and BuzzFeed Germany.

Our news, interviews, analyzes and comments reach more than 5 million people in Germany every day.

With his art, the artist Banksy also draws attention to the devastating conditions during the flight across the Mediterranean.

Here are 12 Banksy graffiti that have a stark political message.

EU discusses 'how to stop people coming to Europe', according to Amnesty

, the situation is particularly complicated by the

fact that the new right-wing government in Rome would prefer not to allow private rescue ships with migrants to go to Italian ports at all.

You can also see that in the action plan, Franziska Vilmar, asylum law expert at Amnesty International in Germany, told

Basically, Amnesty thinks it's good that the interior ministers are dealing with sea rescue in the Mediterranean.

A clear commitment from the International Maritime Organization to this would also make sense.

But: “We don’t need a kind of code of conduct like the one we fought against in 2017, because it tends to hinder rescue ships from their work even more.”

Vilmar criticizes: "The action plan does not say how the EU can become a safe haven." Instead, the EU speaks of "illegal migration" and "unlawful departures".

"She discusses more or less 20 points on how to prevent people from coming to Europe." Above all, the fact that she wants to work more closely with the Libyan coast guard and other third countries on migration control is problematic.

It means a stronger focus on Frontex, "ie even more isolation policy".

Amnesty International also criticized the violence at the EU border in Greece, through which even people had to lose their lives.

also read

Putin before the fall?

“There are intrigues around”

On Russian state TV: military expert attacks Baerbock

"People in the Mediterranean need to be saved, no matter what their reason for coming"

“The fact that Italy's interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, is satisfied with the action plan says a lot.

Since the change of government in Italy, disembarking those who have been rescued has again become a major problem there.” The AfD congratulated Giorgia Meloni on her election victory in Italy.

You can see that in the incident a few weeks ago in Catania.

Amnesty International does not understand the statement made by EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson.

"People on the Mediterranean must be saved, no matter what the reason for their coming to Europe," Vilmar makes clear.

Labor migrants or not: “In order to curb the dangerous flight via Mediterranean routes, the EU must create legal routes for refugees and migrants.

That would also pull the rug out from under the feet of smugglers.” This requires a “robust, state sea rescue organization”.

Things cannot go on as before, where sea rescue is not only left to the NGOs, but where the EU and countries like Italy also criminalize them and hinder their work.