Süddeutsche.de - In
October, Europe was shaken when nearly 400 people drowned off
Lampedusa. A change in refugee
policy seemed the only right response. Since then, a lot has
happened. However, human rights were only a marginal issue.
By Alex Rühle –
During the night of 3 Octobre 2013, an old cutter approached the port
of Lampedusa which took off the Libyan port of Misrata three days
ago. There were more than 500 refugees from Somalia and Eritrea. As
soon as they saw houses, a few refugees set a blanket on fire. One of
the gasoline barrels tipped over, panic broke out, the ship capsized.
In
the days that followed, the European political elite flew on the
small Mediterranean island. When the President of the European
Commission Jose Manuel Barroso said he will not forget all these dead
all his life, 200 victims of drowning were already recovered.
A few hours later
the Italian Minister of Interior Angelino Alfano exclaimed, “It
must, must, must change.” The death toll has risen to 280 by that
time and the military had begun to lay out the bodies in three
impressive rows in the hanger of the airport. In the end, there were
339 coffins. The EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström
said, “This is an imageof a Union that we do not want.” She
announced to deploy a task force which is supposed to develop
immediate measures to prevent such disasters in the future. In short,
for a moment, it sounded as if something could change fundamentally
in European refugee policy.
It was a deeply
shameful moment indeed. When the burning cutter capsized, it was just
800 m away from the port where the İtalian Coast Guard is. In the
hours after the disaster, several ships passed the drowning refugees
or turned as everybody who rushes to help a castaway will be found
guilty of assisting illegal immigration. Those fishermen who dared to
pull out survivors nevertheless, told correspondingly the coast guard
refused to help.
Has anything
actually changed?
The whole issue was
also a disaster because it never has been shown Europeans quite
plainly how inhuman legislation is by now with which Europe secures
its borders. However, there were also several commitments from the
highest vantage point that something is finally going to change. What
has happened since then? How do the measures look like that the task
force decided on? Has anything actually changed?
That depends on
where you look at. Since then, a lot has happened at the European
borders: Early December, Eurosur (European Surveillance System) for
the monitoring of “problematic stream of people” according to
Brussels. This system will help to localise refugees by more
efficiently by using drone cameras, satellite search systems and
offshore-sensors.
Furthermore, the
budget for the Agent for Border Security Frontex has been increased
by 30m to help Italy to better monitor its borders. Until recently,
Frontex, which has the mission to keep illegal refugees away from the
EU, was involved in intercepting refugees at sea and send them back
to third countries. These “push-back” operations are illegal not
only according to the Geneva Convention but was also condemned as a
violation of human rights by the European Court of Justice in 2012.
Barbed wire for
exclaves
The Spanish
government decided in November to wrap its 6 m high fences around
Melilla, one of the two exclaves on Moroccan soil, with barbed wire.
This wire is furnished with sharp blades and barbs. Melilla had once
wrapped the wire around its city limits. After several refugees bled
to death, it was taken off in 2007. In the second exclave Centa, the
fence was extended far out into the sea to hinder refugees from
reaching Spanish territory from the beach of Morocco.
Is that it? Of
course not. The head of governments of the EU expressed to be “deeply
shocked” about the tragedy off Lampedusa. At a special summit, they
decided to “tackle the root causes of streams of migrants by
promoting with countries of origin and transit”.
This cooperation was
taken up immediately: The Azerbaijani and Tunisian government signed
a contract for a so-called mobility partnership. An agreement has
also been made with Turkey in which the EU is committed to facilitate
visa conditions for Turks. In return, Turkey takes back all refugees
arriving Europe via Turkey. Brussels says that refugees could then
apply for asylum.
However, the Turkish
asylum system in principle only allows EU members to apply. Turkey,
which is already financially and logistically overwhelmed with almost
1m Syrian refugees, becomes a trap for all real refugees. The
mobility partnerships are not one whit better. The really dirty part
of the refugee policy is in each case removed from Europe, external
borders and transit routes are closed down, in return, foreign aid is
provided.
The fact that human
rights are yet highly secondary is reflected in the fact that a
similar cooperation agreement within the scope of Eurosur with Libya
has been arranged. The Libyan government is to be informed about
refugee boats put to sail in Misrata or Tobruk. The Libyan military,
then, has to retrieve the ships. Libya has never signed the Geneva
Convention.
Unfulfilled
promises
There, it is common
practice to unload refugees somewhere in the dunes of the desert.
Fabrizio Gatti was travelling through the Sahara following black
Africans. There, he spotted refugee camps which remind more of a
concentration camp than any detention centre that would correspond to
European standards.
Speaking of European
standards: after the tragedy of Lampedusa, the European media looked
in at the local reception centre. This centre can accommodate 300
people who normally have to be brought to the mainland immediately.
However, most of the time, more than 1000 refugees are often stuck
for months in these camps and have to sleep in the open air. Here,
too, Italian Minister of the Interior promised immediate improvement.
That was in October.
Just before
Christmas, a man filmed in this very camp how newly arrived refugees
were forced to undress in the hall in front of guards and women to
get disinfected. The refugee filming stated that all refugees are
treated that way.
Of course, there is
a legitimate interest of the EU on migration management especially
the political pressure will raise in two respects: on the one hand,
the number of refugees is increasing. The UNHCR just wrote that in
2013, more people are fleeing as never before. On the other hand, the
European elections lie ahead.
A new approach?
Negative!
A few weeks ago,
Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta warned that, in this election,
the EU will get a nasty surprise. For the first time, more
Europsceptics than Euro proponents represent the European people.
Having a look at the refugee policy, the impression of right-wing
populists already driving their respective governments before them,
is undeniable.
How else it is
explainable that other approaches in European refugee policy such as
humanitarian visas, as required by the UNHCR for quite some time, are
not being discussed? Refugees would not have to confide in human
trackers.
Why is the Dublin II
Regulation still sacrosanct? This agreement says that a refugee can
only apply for asylum in the European country which he/she entered
first. Why are there still no common criteria for acceptance and
integration? And why does this continent not have the heart to
discuss new regulations for the immigration of qualified labour
despite the collective knowledge of collective aging of the
population?
Principal of
“Mare Nostrum”
By the way, the
Minister of the Interior Angelino Alfano, who demanded that in
Lampedusa everything must, must, must change, announced, 5 days after
his return from Rome, an upgrade of the coast guard. 5 warships, a
dock landing ship, 2 petrol boats, 2 frigates as well as long-range
helicopters and drones with optical and infrared cameras are supposed
to immediately put off all those “who believe that they can get
away with human trafficking with being punished”.
Alfano named this
operation “Mare Nostrum” (our sea); how the ancient Romans used
to call the Mediterranean. According to the human rights organisation
“A buon diritto”, more than 20,000 refugees died off the coast of
Italy between 1988 and 2013. In this respect, the name “Mare
Nostrum” is spot on. It is our sea. Ours only! Woe to the stranger
who enters there.
Translated by Aylin Satmaz
