Alarm at plan to end Italy’s Mare Nostrum rescue operation



Plans to end the Italian navy’s Mediterranean rescue operation and replace it with a smaller EU force will result in “more deaths”, according to human rights groups and MEPs.

The Italian navy’s search and rescue operation Mare Nostrum – which translates as “our sea” – will finish at the start of November, having rescued roughly 100,000 migrants attempting to reach Europe in under a year.

Mare Nostrum will be succeeded by an EU border force named Triton that human rights groups and MEPs say is inadequate to deal with the increased number of refugees fleeing countries such as Libya, Syria and Eritrea.

More than 3,000 people have died attempting to reach Europe across the Mediterranean so far this year – more than double the previous peak in 2011, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Michael Diedring, secretary-general of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, labelled the decision “crass” and “inhumane”. Mr Diedring said: “People will continue to come. It is a dangerous sea. The boats that are being used are barely seaworthy. There will be more deaths.”

Triton will be operated by the EU’s border force Frontex and will focus on monitoring the bloc’s borders, limiting its operations to 30 nautical miles offshore. Unlike Mare Nostrum, Triton will not have an explicit search and rescue mandate, and will operate with a third of the Italian operation’s budget.

Amnesty International, the human rights group, said it was “deeply alarmed” by the move. “One can only question how many lives will be saved by an operation with a border surveillance mandate,” said Nicolas Beger director for Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office.

Some member states have argued that a comprehensive search and rescue operation encourages migrants to risk the dangerous crossing, according to people involved in discussions. But MEPs insist that limiting the scope of the rescue operation will do little to deter people fleeing war-torn states such as Libya and Syria.

Franziska Keller, an MEP for the Greens, said: “The reason people are on the move is not going to stop simply because Mare Nostrum is going to stop. There might be more people dying.”

Frontex have issued a call for equipment from member states, although there are doubts about the willingness of some member states to contribute to the scheme. Italy has repeatedly called on the EU to share the burden of monitoring the Mediterranean. Angelino Alfano, minister of the interior for Italy, said that a “significant number” of EU members had agreed to supply equipment, but declined to say who.

Mare Nostrum has proved politically controversial in Italy, with anti-immigration parties arguing that it has encouraged people to risk the crossing and complaining about its near €10m per month cost. By contrast Triton will have a budget of €2.9m per month.

The Italian operation was set up in response to the Lampedusa disaster, when more than 300 migrants drowned off the coast of the Mediterranean island in October last year. Smugglers charge migrants fees of up $4,000 to attempt the dangerous crossing from countries such as Egypt, Syria and Libya. Last month, 700 people died after two boats carrying migrants sank – in one case because it was deliberately sunk by its smugglers.

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