Friday

29th Mar 2024

Magazine

Saving migrants with cameras

  • The European Border Surveillance system, Eurosur, went live in December (Photo: Frontex)

For a brief while in October it seemed the EU might be shocked into doing something about the recurring immigration horror on its southern coastline.

Over 350 people drowned when a boat from Africa capsized near the Italian island of Lampedusa.

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

  • European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and home affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom pay respects to refugees who drowned near the Italian island of Lampedusa (Photo: Flickr - Palazzochigi)

It was the largest incident of its type in a sea which has been called a "graveyard" for the number of lives it claims of people trying to reach Greece, Malta or Italy.

Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, visibly moved, granted the dead Italian citizenship and paid for funerals.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and home affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom also came to pay respects.

Barroso said the tragedy shows it is "indispensable" for the EU to step up its efforts on migration and pledged €30 million to help Italy resettle those who come.

He was heckled by crowds on the tiny Island.

Throwing money at the problem is easier than trying to persuade EU countries to make migration reforms.

Under EU rules, the country where a migrant first enters the Union has to process their asylum application, putting a disproportionate burden on southern countries.

Italy, Malta and Greece have been calling for solidarity from northern states for years.

But despite the Lampedusa tragedy, it did not take long to return to business as usual.

At an EU summit on migration two weeks later, German Chancellor Angela Merkel thumbed her nose at calls for change. "I'd like to remind you the we have quite a large number of asylum seekers that we have accepted [in Germany]," she told press.

The summit agreed to examine EU rules next June instead.

In truth, there is no quick fix to the fundamental problem. People will stop fleeing to Europe only when there is no more conflict or poverty in their home countries.

In the meantime, some EU countries are, quite literally, creating a fortress Europe. Bulgaria wants to build a 30km wall along the Turkish border. Greece already has a wall.

EU institutions have also made "border security" a big priority.

The EU foreign service is training militias in Libya to stop people getting into the boats in the first place.

The European Commission wants to put more patrol boats, planes, high-tech surveillance equipment and, in future, drones, into the Mediterranean zone to intercept them before they arrive.

Malmstrom's border control agency, Frontex, has a new mandate to do search and rescue operations in an area "covering the whole Mediterranean, from Cyprus to Spain."

In December, 18 EU countries also activated Eurosur, the European Border Surveillance System.

Eurosur co-ordinates border surveillance information from participating states. Each one sends near-live data feeds to Frontex, which raises the alarm if it gets a warning about smugglers or irregular migrants.

Each one sends near-live data feeds to Frontex, which issues alerts if they spot any trouble when it comes to drug smuggling, human trafficking and migrants.

The EU says that Eurosur will help save lives. But critics say it is just another, "virtual," wall.

This story was originally published in EUobserver's 2013 Europe in Review Magazine.

Click here to read previous editions of Europe in Review magazines.

Fortress Europe: a Greek wall close up

A 12.5km fence rolled with barbwire along the Greek Turkish border is part of a larger initiative to secure Europe from migrants seeking a better life.

Environment, Ukraine imports, fish and Easter this WEEK

This week, expect no more than talks on environment, agriculture and fisheries, including discussions between the Polish and Ukrainian governments over angry protests by Polish farmers objecting to cheap grain imports from Ukraine.

EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK

This week, EU leaders come together in Brussels for their usual two-day summit to discuss defence, enlargement, migration and foreign affairs. EU ministers for foreign affairs and EU affairs will meet earlier in the week to prepare the European Council.

EU summit prep work and von der Leyen's Egypt visit This WEEK

MEPs will hold a debate with EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen about the next European Council on Tuesday. Later this week, on Sunday, von der Leyen will be in Egypt for talks regarding a potential 'cash-for-migrant-control' deal.

Opinion

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

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