Amnesty International’s response to the crisis in the Mediterranean. Demotix/Randi Sokoloff. All rights reserved.On 23 April 2015, a special meeting of the European Council on the situation in the Mediterranean set out the EU’s response to the shocking deaths at sea of those seeking refuge in Europe. The statement of the European Council opens with the acknowledgement that “the situation in the Mediterranean is a tragedy”.
This acknowledgement displays some sympathy, but lacks an acknowledgement of responsibility. These deaths are shocking in their scale, proximity and needlessness. But most of all, they are shocking in their predictability. When Italy ended its ‘Mare Nostrum’ sea rescue operation, and the EU’s more limited Triton programme took over, the gaps in maritime search and rescue operations were apparent. Moreover, we also knew that demand for refuge in Europe would increase once spring came, given the current scale of global displacement, in particular from Syria.
The statement is not only disappointing for a failure of ambition in meeting the extent of the global refugee crisis, but also deeply concerning in both the aims its sets out, and the means it suggests the EU will use to achieve those aims.
