Italy pursues talks with European and Libyan leaders after leaving over 600 rescued migrants stranded at sea.
In a meeting in Tripoli with Libyan deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeq and interior minister Abdulsalam Ashour on 25th June, Italy debated plans to open new processing centres in Libya.
Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini made the trip to Libya shortly after concluding an emergency meeting in Brussels on 24th June with 16 leaders from European countries including: Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Malta.
The EU states gathered to discuss which countries should take in migrants that travelled across the Mediterranean. Consequently, this conversation is paramount as the UN Refugee Agency estimates that 80,000 people will arrive in Europe by sea in 2018 if current trends continue.
Pedro Sanchez, Prime Minister of Spain said that the discussions were, “frank and open” but also said,
“We don’t have any concrete consequences or conclusions”.1
The emergency meeting was called after Italy, led by interior minister Matteo Salvini, leader of Lega Nord – Italy’s anti-immigration party, refused entry to the rescue boat MS Aquarius, which had 629 migrants, including 100 children aboard.2 Just as provisions were about to run out, Spain declared the Aquarius could dock in Valencia, and that those on board would be welcome.
This was one of many incidents in which people have been stranded on boats in the Mediterranean Sea, and sadly, stands to not be the last. The search and rescue ship ‘Lifeline’ is due to dock in Malta after being stranded at sea for 5 days with 233 migrants aboard.3
Libya: point of departure for the long journey to Europe
Libya is by a large stretch the most popular departure nation from which migrants and refugees start a fearless and desperate journey to Europe. The numbers are vast. The IOM estimates that there are 348,372 internally displaced people in Libya.4
MSF figures show that in 2016 5,000 people died in the Mediterranean with another 2,000 tragically losing their lives there in 2017. With these figures, and the number of individuals who die before getting to the boats, it seems that Libya is turning into ‘a mass grave for those who journey there.’5
Those who survive and are intercepted en route are moved to a centre where they are often left ailing and vulnerable in cramped and unsanitary detention centres. Detention centres in Libya are estimated to hold up to 20,000 people who have been intercepted by the Libyan coastguard6. The Libyan coastguard has also been using increasingly forceful measures to stop people crossing, and last summer they were responsible for more than 40% of the migrants rescued or intercepted.
The plight of people in detention centres has been highlighted by the UNHRC7 as well as by a 2017 Amnesty report8 which concluded that European governments should be held accountable for complicity in the abuse of refugees and migrants in Libya. The report found that European governments, most notably the government of Italy, were complicit with Libyan actors through their policy of containment of refugees.
Italy tightens policies
Italy’s decision to take the step towards opening processing centres in Libya and other countries is one of a 10-point plan discussed by European leaders at the meeting in Brussels on 24th June.
The reception to the idea has so far been lukewarm, and demonstrates one of many controversial decisions that have been made by the new Italian interior minister, Matteo Salvini.
In the Tripoli meeting on the 25th June, Salvini said:
“Reception and identification centres should be set up in the south of Libya,”
He concluded that these centres would,
“..help Libya as well as Italy block migration”.9
Despite sea arrivals to Italy having decreased by 78% each year10, the government’s recent responses to refugees and migrants have taken a turn towards the far-right.
Matteo Salvini’s extreme views were put under the spotlight when he was recorded saying that Italy needed a “mass-cleansing” of migrants from “entire parts” of the country.11 He demanded tighter controls and a census of the Roma community.
Not only are his far-right leaning sentiments a clear reverberation of the current mood in Europe towards migrants and refugees, but they also demonstrate how extremism and populism are winning the hearts and minds of the European public, at the expense of a humanitarian response.
The plan put forward by Salvini aims to facilitate the processing of EU asylum applications outside of the territory. Nonetheless, Salvini’s tactless move does not create a solid solution. If anything, it overlooks the existing problems with rescue and interception missions and detention centres, by brushing European complicity in these issues under the carpet.
1 https://news.sky.com/story/eu-leaders-hold-frank-and-open-talks-at-emergency-migration-summit-11415942
2 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/world/europe/italy-migrant-boat-aquarius.html
3 https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/26/europe/migrant-ships-maersk-lifeline-intl/index.html
4 https://www.iom.int/countries/libya
5 https://www.msf.org.uk/article/refugee-crisis-how-do-you-solve-problem-libya
6 https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/12/libya-european-governments-complicit-in-horrific-abuse-of-refugees-and-migrants/
7 http://www.unhcr.org/uk/news/latest/2018/5/5af303d24.html
8 https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/12/libya-european-governments-complicit-in-horrific-abuse-of-refugees-and-migrants/
9 https://www.afp.com/en/news/205/italys-salvini-libya-migrants-limbo-sea-doc-16l8ws2
10 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/25/matteo-salvini-calls-for-migrant-reception-centres-in-southern-libya
11 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/italy-matteo-salvini-video-immigration-mass-cleansing-roma-travellers-far-right-league-party-a8409506.html