Mediterranean migration route: MEPs discuss how to curb an escalating death toll

Measures to curb the number of migrants drowning when heading for Italy across the Mediterranean will be the focus of a hearing in the Civil Liberties Committee on Wednesday.

Search-and-rescue operations, the relations between different actors in the region (e.g. EU i military vessels, Frontex i staff and NGOs), the need to fight people smugglers, and cooperation with the Libyan authorities will be some of the issues for discussion.

The Italian government recently urged the EU and other member states to help with the increasing influx of migrants and hinted that it may ban non-Italian NGO rescue ships from entering Italian ports. The European Commission asked the Italian authorities to draft a code of conduct for NGOs carrying out search-and-rescue operations.

Among the speakers invited are two senior officers of the Italian Coast Guard, Frontex executive director Fabrice Leggeri, as well as representatives of Doctors without Borders and Human Rights Watch.

Quick facts

Italy is the main Eu arrival point for migrants and asylum-seekers since the closure of the Balkans route and the EU-Turkey deal. In the first six months of 2017, already over 85 000 people have arrived at its shores, an increase of almost 10% compared to the same period last year.

According to UNHCR data, 2 253 persons have died or gone missing trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea between 1 of January and 30 of June, almost all of them (2 171) in the Central Mediterranean route to Italy.

Under the two emergency relocation decisions adopted in 2015, 34 953 asylum-seekers likely to be granted refugee status should be transferred from Italy to other EU countries, but so far only 7 615 have been moved (as of 10 July).

You can follow the committee meeting live

When: Wednesday, 12 July, 9.00 to 10.45

Where: Paul-Henri Spaak (PHS) 1A002, European Parliament (Brussels)