7 in 10 migrants crossing Med are not refugees – UN
‘Unfolding tragedy’
SEVEN out of every ten migrants crossing the Mediterranean are not fleeing war, disaster or persecution, the United Nations says.
in a hard-hitting assessment, the UN refugee Agency (UNHCr) said the majority of those trying for a new life in Europe are economic migrants – not asylum seekers or others in need of protection.
Nearly 85,000 migrants have arrived in italy from conflict-ravaged Libya since the start of the year – a 19 per cent increase on the same period in 2016. Most have been rescued from rickety vessels put to sea by people smugglers.
At least 2,108 have died during the treacherous crossing, often by drowning.
But the UN findings, collated from october to december last year, will add to growing evidence that the influx is largely made up of economic migrants aiming for a better life – with only around one in three genuine refugees.
the UNHCr study added that many ‘who travel to Libya do so believing they can find jobs there, but end up fleeing onwards to Europe to escape life- threatening insecurity, instability, difficult economic conditions plus widespread exploitation and abuse’.
More than a million migrants are in Libya waiting to cross
Perilous: Migrants are rescued off the coast of Libya to Europe, senior British dipresponsibility.’ His remarks lomats warned earlier this came as France and germany year. Human trafficking gangs pledged greater help to are raking in billions of pounds italy after desperate pleas to by charging them to be smugshare the brunt of the migrant gled across the Mediterranean crisis. in flimsy dinghies and boats. Following a meeting in Paris,
yesterday Vincent Cochetel, the three nations – plus the UNHCr special envoy for the EU migration commissioner – central Mediterranean, said promised extra money and there was ‘no slowing down’ training for the Libyan coastamong the human convoys guard. it will also go towards moving to Libya to use it as a bolstering the north African springboard to Europe. country’s unprotected south
He said italy could not ern border, which is exploited continue to absorb the tens by people smugglers. of thousands of migrants But France rejected calls to landing on its shores – and open ports such as Marseille called on other nations to to rescue ships, branding the share the burden. proposal ‘counter-productive’.
He said: ‘it is unrealistic to An aide to French interior think that italy should have minister gerard Collomb said the responsibility to disemit risked encouraging more bark everyone. migrants to put their lives in
‘this is not sustainable. We danger by making the trip. need to have other countries the intensified European joining italy and sharing the effort comes after UN High Commissioner for refugees Filippo grandi described an ‘unfolding tragedy’ in italy, with 12,600 migrants and refugees pouring on to its shores last weekend.
the figures have raised concerns that the worst migrant crisis to engulf Europe since the Second World War is deepening, as the warm weather prompts a surge in those making the trip from Africa.
He said: ‘We are only at the beginning of the summer, and without swift collective action, we can only expect more tragedies at sea.’
People smuggling and migrant flows in Libya are on the rise, he said, predicting that Europe could face a greater influx in the future. He also called for a re - examination of the 2015 EU refugee relocation programme, which aimed to move around 160,000 asylum seekers from italy and greece to other European countries.
only about 20,000 have been relocated, while Hungary, Poland and the Czech republic have refused to take part.
the UNHCr is also pushing for a crackdown on the human traffickers who are helping fuel the migrant crisis – including imposing travel bans and asset freezes on known people smugglers.