Amnesty International: Europe has endangered asylum seekers
Amnesty International has accused the European Union of failing to protect asylum seekers who want to reach Italy through the Mediterranean. The organization has also criticized Europe’s cooperation with the Libyan Coast Guard.
“The European Union is knowingly moving toward one of the deadliest years near its own shores,” this is the language used by the non-governmental organization Amnesty International in Berlin regarding the new EU regulations on asylum seekers.
René Wildangel, Middle East and North Africa expert at Amnesty International, said the European Union can only end the “mass death” of asylum seekers in one case: when it considers more ships and staff for maritime rescue operations and finally provides legal and safe ways for asylum seekers to enter.
In 2015, the European Union increased the capacity of its maritime rescue units and expanded the area covered by these forces to near the shores of Libya. As a result, fewer asylum seekers drowned in the Mediterranean waters.
According to a report by Amnesty International, but in the meantime, the European Union has focused its efforts on combating human trafficking and the movement of refugee boats from Libya toward the Union. According to Amnesty International, migrants face greater danger in entering the European Union and more of them also drown.
Greater European cooperation with the Libyan Coast Guard means that more asylum seekers are returned to Libya; a place that is not safe for them. According to Amnesty International, these asylum seekers are detained in Libya and subjected to harassment, are assaulted and tortured.
Amnesty International has emphasized that migrants rescued by European maritime rescue groups must be taken to safe places. Libya is currently not a safe place for them.
Today, Thursday, June 6 (June 15), the interior ministers of EU countries will gather in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, to discuss the EU’s new policy on refugee matters. It is expected that discussions will also take place on the possibility of strengthening the Libyan Coast Guard.
Late last month, Italy threatened to close its ports to asylum seekers. The government of this country said that if EU member states do not help Italy with their specific programs, it will ban the use of refugee rescue ships from Italian ports and return boats to the shores from which asylum seekers have departed.
Source: DW
