Appalled by the death of 29 migrants who drowned in the lower deck of their boat last week, the European Commission is calling for more solidarity by member states.
The migrants, whose corpses were brought to Malta, formed part of a group hundreds of migrants who fled Libya on a boat that started taking in water on Friday, nine hours from land. The majority were rescued and taken to Italy. An infant and an adult perished on their way to hospital.
However, harrowing new details of the tragedy are emerging in an Italian court, with five men accused of murdering dozens and throwing them overboard.
Italy is doing an excellent job with Mare Nostrum, saving thousands of lives
Just as the boat with the bodies was being towed into port on Sunday, Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia tweeted that the European Union must take action because Malta and Italy could not be left alone to deal with the situation.
When contacted, the European Commission’s spokesman on home affairs, Michele Cercone, said: “The European Commission is appalled by this last tragedy and expresses its condolences to the families of the victims. Italy is doing an excellent job with Mare Nostrum, saving thousands of lives.
“When it comes to the role played by the EU, we have to make a clear distinction: the European Commission has provided all the financial and logistical support allowed by the powers conferred by the member states. As far as member states are concerned, on the contrary, more can surely be done in terms of solidarity.”
Asked to clarify, he said that other member states not experiencing rising migratory and asylum pressure could do more to help and support those that were dealing with the phenomenon.
Asked whether the Commission would be taking any immediate action, Mr Cercone said that, if Italy had recently been able to better cope with the increased migratory pressure, it was also thanks to the help provided under many forms by Brussels, as recognised by the Italian authorities themselves. Italy received more than €500 million between 2007 and 2013 to monitor its borders and manage migration and asylum issues. For the 2014-2020 budget period, Italy would be receiving more than €315 million.
A lot was done to support Malta within the framework of the migration and asylum policy, he added: €3.7 million in emergency funding was granted to the island last year and in the 2007-2013 period, Malta received €85 million under four funds that fell under home affairs.
“For 2014-2020, more than €17 million from the asylum, migration and integration fund have been allocated to Malta.”
‘Concrete measures and action’
1. Emergency funding up to €50 million to finance ongoing maritime operations rescuing migrants at sea.
2. Operational phase of Eurosur, launched last December, to strengthen information exchange and cooperation within and between member states and contribute to saving lives at sea.
3. Increased Frontex presence in the Mediterranean.
4. Concluded mobility partnerships with Tunisia and Morocco to open up more channels for regular migration, thus reducing irregular migrants’ pressure, and increase the joint fight against the networks of traffickers and smugglers.
5. Signed a readmission agreement with Turkey that will be crucial to ease irregular migratory pressure in the next years.