Crisis warnings sound as EU gears up for fresh refugee inflows
Fears of new challenges when sea waters warm and more people try to make it to Europe
Tens of thousands of people seeking better lives are expected to trek across deserts and board unseaworthy boats in war-torn Libya this year in a desperate effort to reach European shores by way of Italy.
More than 181,000 people, most so-called “economic migrants” with little chance of being allowed to stay in Europe, attempted to cross the central Mediterranean last year from Libya, Africa’s nearest stretch of coast to Italy. About 4,500 died or disappeared.
Hundreds already have taken to the sea this month, braving the winter weather. In the latest reminder of the journey’s perils, more than 100 people were missing off Libya’s coast over the weekend after a refugee boat sunk.
Some European leaders are warning of a fresh refugee crisis when sea waters warm again and more people choose to put their lives in the hands of smugglers.
“Come next spring, the number of people crossing over the Mediterranean will reach record levels,” Malta Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, whose country holds the European Union’s presidency, predicted. “The choice is trying to do something now, or meeting urgently in April, May ... and try to do a deal then,”
The 28-nation European Union (EU) already has a controversial deal to stem the flow of refugees from Turkey, which has agreed to try to stop the number of refugees leaving the country and to take back thousands more in exchange for billions of euros to help Syrian asylum seekers in Turkey, visa-free travel for its citizens and fast-track EU membership talks.
Outsourcing pact
Now, the EU wants to adapt this outsourcing pact to the African nations migrants who are leaving or jumping off from to reach Europe, despite criticism that the agreement sends asylum seekers back to countries that could be unsafe for them.
The bottom line is that the Turkey deal works. The number of people arriving in the Greek islands, for instance, plunged over the last year despite political wrangling over whether Turkey’s government was respecting the conditions to secure visa-free travel in Europe’s Schengen area, where passport checks are not required.
And EU nations have even fewer scruples about turning away migrants and refugees who take the central Mediterranean route to Italy since they mostly are job seekers who would be ineligible for asylum.
Niger, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Mali and Chad are all on the EU’s radar, and dealing with them is proving expensive. But the bloc’s arrangement with Turkey has shown that the best way of stemming refugee flows is to stop people taking to the sea. Libya and Egypt are the main refugee departure points, and pacts with them would probably have the biggest immediate impact.
Muscat wants to build on a deal Italy is trying to reach with Libya by adding EU funds and other support. He also thinks the EU’s anti-smuggler naval mission, Operation Sophia, should be extended into Libyan territorial waters to stop people in unsafe boats from reaching open waters.