MP slams 'shameful' decision to stop Mediterranean search & rescue operations

image - UNHCR

In a year which has seen more than 2,500 refugees - many fleeing ISIS - drown in the Mediterranean, news that the Foreign Office has decided to stop search and rescue operations, has been greeted with grave concern by refugee and human rights groups. Sarah Teather MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees, described the decision as "shameful".

The official Italian sea and rescue operation, Mare Nostrum, is also due to end this week.

A limited joint EU 'border protection' operation, codenamed Triton and managed by the European border agency, is to be launched on 1 November, the Guardian reported yesterday. But Triton will have only a third of the resources of the Italian operation that is ending. It will not include search and rescue operations across the sea and will just patrol within 30 miles of the Italian coast.

In the past 12 months, an estimated 150,000 people fleeing war zones in the Middle East and North Africa, have been rescued from small overcrowded boats. Many were suffering from dehydration. One woman gave birth on the journey. Several refugees died on the arduous trip.

In a House of Lords written answer, the new Foreign Office minister, Lady Anelay, wrote: “We do not support planned search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean,” she said, adding that the government believed there was “an unintended ‘pull factor’, encouraging more migrants to attempt the dangerous sea crossing and thereby leading to more tragic and unnecessary deaths”.

Anelay said: “The government believes the most effective way to prevent refugees and migrants attempting this dangerous crossing is to focus our attention on countries of origin and transit, as well as taking steps to fight the people smugglers who wilfully put lives at risk by packing migrants into unseaworthy boats.”

Sarah Teather MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees, said: “This decision is deeply depressing. We would rather let people drown for nothing other than baseless political motives. It shows that when it comes to immigration, the Government has plumbed new depths of inhumanity.

“We cannot pretend this problem has nothing to do with us and wash our hands as people die. It is the policies we are pursuing, attempting to turn Europe into a fortress with no safe routes in, that is forcing migrants into risking their lives. We are forcing people to choose between dying in their own war torn country and drowning in the sea. 
 
“While we agree to bomb ISIS and dish out weapons to other groups in the Middle East, we offer no protection to those fleeing the conflict. Instead we have to listen as Ministers claim that UK towns are “under siege” from migrants.
 
“Last month I visited Lebanon, where nearly a quarter of the population are now refugees from the region. The hospitality I witnessed there was inspiring. How depressing that the UK’s response, rather than to extend a hand of welcome, is to turn our back on the biggest refugee crisis for over half a century. We should all be ashamed.”

The British Refugee Council chief executive, Maurice Wren, said: “The British government seems oblivious to the fact that the world is in the grip of the greatest refugee crisis since the Second World War.

“People fleeing atrocities will not stop coming if we stop throwing them life-rings; boarding a rickety boat in Libya will remain a seemingly rational decision if you’re running for your life and your country is in flames. The only outcome of withdrawing help will be to witness more people needlessly and shamefully dying on Europe’s doorstep.

“The answer isn’t to build the walls of fortress Europe higher, it’s to provide more safe and legal channels for people to access protection.”

Philip Amaral, Jesuit Refugee Service Europe Advocacy and Communications Coordinator said: "Every day that the European Union dithers on creating safe and legal ways for protection for asylum seekers coming to Europe, more people die".

"These tragedies happen because the EU has failed to establish a system that enables people to come to Europe safely, legally and with dignity."

On 1 October, during a private meeting with a group representing survivors of one of the migrant boats which capsized off the coast of Lampedusa island a year ago, drowning 500 people, Pope Francis called on the men and women of Europe to ‘open the doors of their hearts’ and welcome migrants who risk their lives at sea to flee war and poverty."

See yesterday's Guardian report here: www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/27/uk-mediterranean-migrant-rescue-plan  

See also: ICN 2 October 2014
After meeting Lampedusa survivors Pope tells Europe: Open the doors of your heart' www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=25666