Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Frattini: deaths of migrants at sea are 'European failure'

The European Commission's Franco Frattini has shown deep frustration over how EU capitals are failing on promises to give boats and helicopters to tackle illegal migration in the Mediterranean, calling African deaths at sea a "European failure."

"I need genuine cooperation," the home affairs commissioner said on Wednesday (6 June), adding it is "a matter of urgency" to translate recent political commitment, given in writing, into action.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • Malta sparked controversy over its refusal to allow a Spanish boat with rescued Africans to dock (Photo: European Commission)

Within two weeks, the bloc's external border agency Frontex is set to kick off a new series of patrols in the Mediterranean coastal area – known as operation Nautilus – in order to halt the influx of illegal immigrants, crossing over from North Africa to Europe. However, the agency has only 20 boats and four helicopters at its disposal.

"Where are the others?" Mr Frattini asked, telling EU interior ministers that "what has been promised, must also be delivered."

Frontex had been promised 115 boats, 25 helicopters and 23 planes as well as a variety of other technical equipment by no later than April - when EU southern and south-eastern borders (Canary Islands, Lampedusa, Malta) begin to face increasing pressure due to favourable weather conditions.

On top of that, only four countries – Malta, Greece, France and Germany – have pledged to take part in operation Nautilus, expected to last the entire peak of the illegal immigrant season.

"This summer will be as dramatic as the summer of 2006…full of many attempts by desperate people to get to Europe," Mr Frattini said in his appeal to EU interior ministers, who will meet next Tuesday (12 June).

The Spanish Canary Islands alone saw over 30,000 immigrants arriving by sea last year - six times more than in 2005, while Italy and Malta were also heavily targeted. Almost all migrants were packed into small wooden boats. Thousands are believed to have been lost at sea.

Mounting pressure

But EU interior ministers are likely to hear the word "solidarity" more and more often, as Mr Frattini is also set to push for new clear rules on who should be responsible for search and rescue operations in international and non-EU waters.

The move comes in response to the series of scandals involving the EU island of Malta .

In late May, 27 Africans spent three days clinging to tuna nets about half way between Malta and Libya, while the two countries wrangled over who should take them in. The migrants were eventually rescued by an Italian vessel.

In another case, Malta refused to give authorization to a Spanish tugboat with 26 African men rescued near Libyan coast to dock, with the country's home affairs minister Tonio Borg saying "Malta cannot take in all the migrants who say they do not want to go back to Libya."

"The obligation to save lives at sea comes from international tradition that no country has ever violated in such a manifest way," EU commissioner Frattini was cited as saying following the case on Sunday (3 June), but today he backtracked from earlier tough-worded comments.

"If somebody dies at sea because we didn't manage to get there in time to save him, then it is a European failure," he said.

According to the commissioner, Malta will table a proposal to have a burden-sharing and solidarity system on patrolling search and rescue areas of international waters, as the current law of the sea stipulates that lives must be saved no matter what, but it does not say who should be responsible for illegal immigrants afterwards.

"Malta cannot be responsible alone. Burden-sharing means that Malta should participate, but also that other member states should participate," said Mr Frattini.

EU Parliament set to sue EU Commission over Hungary funds

The European Parliament will likely take the European Commission to court for unblocking more than €10bn in funds for Hungary last December. A final nod of approval is still needed by European Parliament president, Roberta Metsola.

EU Commission clears Poland's access to up to €137bn EU funds

The European Commission has legally paved the way for Poland to access up to €137bn EU funds, following Donald Tusk's government's efforts to strengthen the independence of their judiciary and restore the rule of law in the country.

Opinion

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Opinion

I'll be honest — Moldova's judicial system isn't fit for EU

To state a plain truth: at present, Moldova does not have a justice system worthy of a EU member state; it is riven with corruption and lax and inconsistent standards, despite previous attempts at reform, writes Moldova's former justice minister.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us