Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-04-01-Speech-3-217"
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"en.20090401.17.3-217"2
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"Madam President, the European Commission was dismayed to learn of the loss, on Sunday evening in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Libya, of a ship carrying migrants bound for Europe. According to some sources, this ship had 257 people on board, the vast majority of whom are missing.
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, two weeks ago I went to Lampedusa and Malta. I must say that I was able to see and hear for myself the tragedies of those people who are encouraged in this way by unscrupulous smugglers to risk their lives by crossing maritime areas. I think I can say that we must, in the light of this latest incident, take these problems very seriously and awaken an essential awareness in each of our Member States of the gravity, and growth too, of these phenomena, which are putting people’s lives at risk in appalling conditions.
This is why I would like to thank the European Parliament for having requested this statement from the Commission. I have made it to the best of my knowledge and belief, and I repeat before Parliament my personal commitment in the coming months to avoiding a repeat of such tragedies.
The Commission wishes to express its compassion for the victims of this human disaster and its anger in the face of this tragedy. It was doubtless caused by many factors, but the primary responsibility must lie with those criminal organisations that are directing this deadly illegal traffic from the coasts of Libya and who are growing rich at the cost of human misery. The Commission finds it intolerable that this phenomenon, which seems to be intensifying over the course of the years, continues to grow. It invites all the parties concerned to mobilise their efforts to bring it to an end.
Libya has an essential role to play here. It must make a more determined and effective commitment to the fight against the traffickers operating on its territory, to the prevention of illegal departures from its coasts, to the search and rescue of ships in distress in the waters under its control, and to the offer of international protection to those migrants who require it, in accordance with its obligations under the 1969 OAU convention on the protection of refugees, to which it is a signatory.
Over the last few years, the European Commission has asked the Libyan authorities several times to assume their responsibilities and to introduce effective measures, in cooperation with the European Union and its Member States. I have to say that we have offered increased financial assistance to Libya, and it is evident that the Libyan authorities need to use this assistance to improve the fight against the trafficking of migrants and others on their territory and to strengthen the controls at their southern border. The Libyan authorities must also develop a system for receiving migrants that complies with international law.
It is true that the European Union is ready to cooperate and to contribute to the interception and, if necessary, to the rescue of ships in the Mediterranean. The launch, in the coming months, of Nautilus and Hermes, the two naval operations organised and financed by Frontex, the European external borders agency, will cost around EUR 24 million. The Commission invites all the Member States of the European Union to cooperate in the implementation of these two actions. The Member States must also show solidarity in practice with Italy and Malta, which are very exposed to the flow of migrants from Libya. Furthermore, Libya must assume its responsibilities as regards the readmission of illegal migrants who have crossed its territory.
We have noted that the Italian authorities believe it will be possible, from 15 May, to begin joint patrols with the Libyan navy in Libyan territorial waters with the aim of intercepting or assisting illegal vessels. We welcome the support given by the Italian authorities to the development of Libyan naval capacities for this purpose.
However, in addition to these emergency measures, the Commission believes that a priority action must be applied to the whole human dimension of these problems. Migrants who entrust their lives to unscrupulous traffickers are, in the vast majority of cases, people fleeing war or persecution. We hope that the events of recent days will create an awareness, in all of our Member States, of how serious this problem is, and that, together with the Member States and with the support of the European Parliament, we can thus prepare a Stockholm Programme that dedicates a large part of its priorities to this global approach to migration. The global approach is necessary for drawing up a long-term strategy for managing migratory flows that will take greater account of the circumstances and requirements of countries of origin.
In addition, this strategy must allow us to go further in the dialogue with the African partners, especially in the framework of the Rabat Process, in the framework of the relationship between the European Union and the African Union. Together we must identify joint responses to this challenge and also seize the opportunities offered by legal migration, which could, in fact, be an opportunity both for Europe and for countries of origin. This strategy must also mobilise additional resources by increasing cooperation with countries of origin and of transit in order to strengthen their capacity for dismantling human trafficking organisations and for dealing with migrants in a dignified way in which their rights are respected.
Finally this strategy must allow us to manage and organise the arrival of legitimate asylum seekers on Member States’ territory more effectively by further integrating the development of refugee protection capacities in our cooperation with third countries."@en1
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