The NGO SOS Méditerranée calls for the urgent adoption of a European solidarity mechanism to avoid blockages of migrants lying at sea. This call comes on the eve of a European Council of Interior Ministers and Justice scheduled for Thursday and Friday, under the French presidency of the European Union, which had set itself the task of advancing discussions on migration issues.
The NGO SOS Méditerranée, which has rescued nearly 1,000 migrants in distress at sea since the beginning of the year, called on Wednesday June 8 to the urgent adoption of a mechanism of European solidarity to avoid the long stranding on board of people who are already traumatized.
” There is a dire need for a predictable and sustainable disembarkation mechanism for people rescued in the central Mediterranean “, pleaded the founder of SOS Méditerranée, Sophie Beau, aboard I’ocean vikingthe humanitarian ship chartered by the NGO in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Long blockages in the #centralMed ahead of the summer could lead to more deaths at sea.
European States gathered in upcoming Council meetings must agree on viable solutions
to ensure respect for maritime law & dignity of survivors.Read our press release https://t.co/8KtZn71gMK
– SOS MEDITERRANEE (@SOSMedIntl) June 8, 2022
In May, during his last mission in the central Mediterranean, one of the deadliest migratory routes in the world, theocean viking rescued some 300 people, including a three-month-old baby and six pregnant women, but had to wait about ten days before being designated a safe port, in Sicily (Italy), to disembark these survivors.
Lots of mental pain
Every year, thousands of people fleeing conflict or poverty try to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean from Libya, whose coasts are some 300 kilometers from Italy. ” It is absolutely necessary that there be a solidarity mechanism that is put in place, that is predictable, that is to say that we know in advance where people will be directed, once they are landed in a safe port “, generally in Italy or Malta, countries on the front line, pleaded Sophie Beau in Marseille, where the headquarters of the NGO is based.
” The Italian authorities must be able to know how many people will be sent to a particular country, and in advance, so that there are no case-by-case discussions for each rescue as is the case. today “, with blockages that stretch out to sea, she continued.
” This blockage at sea is obviously a lot of psychological suffering for the people stuck on board, as illustrated by this person who jumped into the water during the last rotation “said Ms. Beau.
Covid is changing the game
In autumn 2019, a small number of EU countries had supported a temporary mechanism for the distribution of asylum seekers and migrants rescued at sea to help Italy and Malta cope with arrivals and to avoid the long blockages at sea of rescue vessels.
This pre-agreement said to “ Valletta » saw countries like France, Germany, but also Portugal or Ireland commit, alongside Italy and Malta, to receiving some of the migrants disembarked in Italian or Maltese ports. But the Covid epidemic has turned the situation upside down and SOS Méditerranée supports the relaunch of a predictable and sustainable mechanism.
” Seeing that there are millions of people from Ukraine who are welcomed in Europe, it shows that it is possible “, estimated Sophie Beau, pointing out that the number of people rescued in the Mediterranean is much lower.
Since the beginning of the current year, 17,000 arrivals of migrants crossing from Africa have been registered in Italy, according to the Italian Interior Ministry.
(With AFP)