Melonis asylum course: Expert calls for a different approach - "Have to prevent people from getting into boats"
Created: 2022-12-09 04:50
By: Florian Naumann
Migration expert Gerald Knaus doubts Italy's new sea rescue course at IPPEN.MEDIA.
A "strategy" is needed.
Also from Germany.
Berlin/Munich – Post-fascist Giorgia Meloni has been Italy's head of government since the end of October.
The slide to the right in Rome did not show the feared serious consequences in all areas.
But when it came to migration, Meloni quickly made an initial effort: for days, ships carrying people rescued from distress at sea lay off Italy's coasts and in ports, and going ashore was denied.
Meloni also had threats for sea rescuers ready.
And now?
The migration expert Gerald Knaus - known as the "father of the EU-Turkey deal" - on the
one hand indirectly criticized Giorgia Meloni's course at the request of
Merkur.de from IPPEN.MEDIA .
However, he thought ahead - and also sees the German federal government as having a duty to curb the deaths in the Mediterranean and the migration dispute.
Knaus called for a "strategy" from Chancellor Olaf Scholz' traffic light coalition.
He sees a quick “repatriation” of people with no prospects of staying as a mandatory part of a solution.
Melonis Italy: Expert Knaus warns - "treat incoming people badly" is not a solution
Migration expert Gerald Knaus indirectly criticizes Italy - and calls for a "strategy" from Olaf Scholz.
© AFP/Imago (montage)
“It is always right to save lives.
That should be out of the question for civilized democracies," Knaus clarified: "But sea rescue alone does not mean that no more people die.
This will only succeed if politicians prevent large numbers of people from boarding the boats at the same time.”
The lesson of the past is clear: the more people take over the Mediterranean crossing in small boats, the more lives will be lost.
The year 2016, for example, not only saw the most rescues, but was also the deadliest in the central Mediterranean to date.
The migration expert let criticism of Italy's course slip through in two respects: "People don't set off because private sea rescuers are on their way," emphasized Knaus.
Also, "treating incoming people badly" is not a key to solving the problem.
The thesis of the Austrians: those willing to migrate set off “when word gets around that you can come to Italy without a need for protection”.
The largest groups of arrivals in recent years, North Africans and Bangladeshis, have little chance of asylum.
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Sea rescue: rescuing people – but also "returning" those who have no chance?
If the federal government is now actively involved in sea rescue, "it must also think ahead," Knaus demanded on
Merkur.de
.
“The strategy has to be: We have to save as many people as possible.
But we also have to quickly bring people back with no prospects of staying so that fewer people take this dangerous route in the future.”
Sea rescue alone does not mean that no more people die.
This will only succeed if politicians prevent large numbers of people from boarding the boats.
Migration expert Gerald Knaus at IPPEN.MEDIA
Talks are needed with Italy and Malta about a strategy against dying in the central Mediterranean - without resorting to Libya.
The country has been shaken by serious conflicts, and refugees there are also experiencing humanitarian emergencies and violence.
Instead, Knaus named two concrete starting points:
Meloni and Italy's migration course - Two suggestions to improve the situation in the Mediterranean:
“There are International Organization for Migration programs that are bringing non-refugee people from Libya back to countries like The Gambia.
People whose asylum applications are to be examined are sometimes flown to Niger or Rwanda to carry out procedures there.
These programs need to be expanded
.”
“We also need agreements with third countries that take people back once they have been rescued by EU states in the Mediterranean, as an alternative to the current cooperation with Libya.
The coalition agreement provides for
comprehensive agreements with third countries
.
You have to finally tackle this in order to stop dying.”
As early as the end of 2021, Knaus had called for agreements with third countries in an article for
IPPEN.MEDIA
in order to create “humane borders” in the EU for the first time.
The expert also named specific content for such agreements at the time.
Knaus wrote of a "last chance".
However, the traffic light coalition has not achieved a breakthrough since then.
However, the federal government and the Greens in Bavaria have recently considered setting the course for more labor migration.
With Melonis taking office, the starting point for negotiations could have deteriorated.
Meloni will “not make any concessions to other vulnerable groups such as migrants,” warned political scientist Alice Engl in an interview with
Merkur.de
.
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Gerald Knus
Gerald Knaus is one of the most distinguished researchers on the subject of migration in German-speaking countries.
He is co-founder of the think tank European Stability Initiative, but has also worked for international organizations himself.
Knaus is considered the "father" or "architect" of the EU-Turkey deal, which is still important for Central Europe today.