Saving lives at sea 'is an unqualified obligation'

A total of 210 migrants seeking a safe haven on Europe's shores were reported dead or missing in the Strait of Sicily alone last month, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The UNHCR is very worried about this loss of life. It is appealing to governments to strengthen the coordination and cooperation in rescue operations in order to ensure such incidents do not occur.

"A shipwrecked Somali refugee who recently reached Lampedusa reported that before leaving Libya the smuggler told him: 'This is your boat. When you get on this, you may reach Italy, Malta or die'," Paolo Artini, UNHCR senior regional protection officer in Rome, said.

Mr Artini was addressing a public hearing at the European Parliament, in Brussels on the tragedies of migrants at sea.

He pointed out that because of gaps in the legal framework governing rescue at sea, and insufficient cooperation among states, the UNHCR has had to assume greater responsibilities in this area by default.

The naval forces of southern EU countries in charge of search and rescue operations were doing a tremendous job in trying to avoid loss of life.

"The great majority of migrants and refugees, mostly from Africa, who 'land' in Italy or Malta are in fact rescued at sea several miles off the coast and then disembarked," he said.

According to figures released by the Home Affairs Ministry, the number of illegal immigrants arriving here between January and last month was 769, a drop of 198 when compared to the same period last year.

Mr Artini insisted that when it came to saving lives at sea, a narrow interpretation of what constituted a distress call and any protracted discussion on search and rescue (SAR) responsibilities should not be considered ethically acceptable.

"Saving lives at sea is an unqualified obligation, which should not be negatively affected by problems related to the subsequent steps of disembarkation and finding solutions for the people concerned," he said.

Fortunately, there were countries which rescued persons in distress in areas outside their zone of responsibility for search and rescue.

Quoting figures provided by the Italian Coast Guard, Mr Artini said that between January 1 and June 26, out of 3,758 persons rescued by the Italian Coast Guard, about 44 per cent (or 1,663) were actually rescued within the Maltese area of responsibility.

"It should be noted that Malta, despite its small size and limited capabilities, has a huge area of responsibility for search and rescue, larger than the land area of the UK," he said.

"However, this area coincides with Malta's flight information region, which generates considerable income from air traffic," he added.

The UNHCR has recommended to Portugal's EU presidency that migration and border management strategies had to be "protection-sensitive".

Linked to this objective, it has also started discussions on cooperation with Frontex.

"Considering the number of refugees in many countries in Africa and the Middle East, the number of arrivals by sea in the EU is relatively small.

"Problems related to these flows are manageable if there is a firm commitment by all those involved to work together and to share responsibility," he said.

"We should urgently do everything possible to make sure that there are no areas in the Mediterranean where the fundamental right to life can be disregarded."