Migration phenomenon after ECHR ruling

The European Court of Human Rights decided that Italy violated the European Convention of Human Rights by intercepting and returning to Libya in 2009 a group of Somalis and Eritreans without examining whether this would constitute a real risk to their lives.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees defined the decision as a landmark judgement on push-backs in the Mediterranean Sea. It noted that the ruling provides significant guidance to European states in their border control and interception practices, representing a turning point in terms of state responsibilities and the management of mixed migration flows.

Italian interceptions of vessels on the high seas and the return of the migrants to Libya were being carried out in accordance with the agreements Italy made with Libya that had come into force in February 2009. The picture now is completely different. The Libyan regime of the time is no longer there and the new leadership appears to be adopting a different approach.

However, the phenomenon of migrants originating from the North African country, most of them probably aiming to somehow try to reach the European continent, particularly Italy, has not gone away. Indeed, the unfolding, and still very fluid, situation there may even push more people to decide to settle elsewshere.

Libyan officials are on record saying that illegal immigration had resumed since the end of the anti-Gaddafi revolt. They pointed out that, apart from Africans infiltrating through the southern borders, there is also the problem of thousands of people from Syria entering the country through the Massad terminal on the border with Egypt. This led Libyan Home Affairs Minister Fawzi Abdelali to ask the European Union for assistance in dealing with these new immigration flows.

The UNHCR has stated that its strategy in 2012 with regard to Libya will focus on re-establishing protection and assistance for refugees and asylum-seekers and also identifying durable solutions in the new Libyan context. In the absence of Libyan legislation and asylum mechanisms, the UN agency will conduct and strengthen registration and refugee status determination and pursue durable solutions, including resettlement, voluntary repatriation and local integration.

This is good news. It is something The Times has editorially stressed the need of and augured for. It is encouraging to hear the UNHCR speaking of positive signals from the National Transitional Council, of a framework of a newly-established relationship with the authorities, of the signing of an agreement by both sides and of its readiness to assist the Libyan authorities to establish national asylum institutions and, potentially, accede to the 1951 Refugee Convention.

This has to be the way forward. More so in the light of what has been said by the European Court of Human Rights. While observing that Libya had not ratified the Refugee Convention and noting the absence of any form of asylum and protection procedure for refugees in the country, the European Court stated that it could not subscribe to the Italian government’s argument that the UNHCR’s activities in Tripoli represented a guarantee against arbitrary repatriation.

Whichever way you look at it, the phenomenon presents the urgent need to see the Libyan authorities, the UNHCR and the EU putting their heads together to identify how best to address the matter in the best interest of all concerned, primarily to promote the safety and human rights of the vulnerable. The Libyan leadership and the UNHCR deserve the help of all countries truly appreciative of the value of human life and the fundamental importance of human rights.