EU Leaders Moves To Check Migrants Deaths In The Mediterranean

Posted by African Examiner Europe, Latest Headlines, News, U.S./Canada, Uncategorized Monday, May 11th, 2015

Efforts initiated by the European Union (EU) Leaders to check lingering crisis associated with the transit of migrants to the continent via sea, has begun to manifest as the body pleaded Monday to the United Nations (UN) to dismantle the syndicates that responsible for the illegal human movement.

EU Foreign Policy Chief, Federica Mogherini at the briefing, said the body needed to count on the UN support, in using force against smugglers so as to save lives, indicating that EU’s first priority was to “save lives and prevent further loss of lives at sea”.

Specifically, the EU proposal demanded reinforcing search and rescue efforts; tripling financial resources for this purpose over the next two years; disrupting smuggling networks and bringing the perpetrators to justice as well as efforts to identify, capture and destroy their (human smugglers’) vessels.

Reports indicated that Libya, where many smugglers believe to be operating, has kicked against the proposal.

It would be recalled over 1800 people have been killed this year when being smuggled to cross the Mediterranean. The number is about 20 times over the casualties recorded in similar disaster, the same time, last year – 2014.

UN has equally estimated that no fewer than 60000 people have attempted to cross the Mediterranean in the ongoing fiscal year.

Migrants are fleeing due to conflicts, unemployment, poverty, insurgency, in countries including the war torn Syria, Eritrea, Nigeria and Somalia.

Similarly, about 500 members of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim community were rescued Sunday, in a boat, which had on board, mostly women and children while traveling off northern Indonesia.