A top United Nations official has expressed surprise at comments made by Foreign Minister Tonio Borg lauding Italy’s policy to send migrants back to Libya.
The problem is that no attempt is made to identify real refugees
Laurens Jolles, the UNHCR representative for Southern Europe, said Italy’s pushback policy was “clearly wrong”.
“I am surprised Dr Borg says there was nothing wrong because the European Court of Human Rights proved it was wrong. The policy is unacceptable,” Mr Jolles said yesterday. Last week, Dr Borg reiterated his support for the Italian policy in the wake of a meeting with Italian counterpart Giulio Terzi in Rome.
“There is nothing wrong if Malta could participate in such operations, as long as they respect domestic and international law,” Dr Borg said, insisting Malta would do nothing that violated any law.
The Italian media have published the text of an agreement between Italy and Libya in April that makes no clear reference to the pushback policy, but leaves room for interpretation.
Dr Borg acknowledged it was not clear what the new agreement meant but insisted Italy had every right to push back migrants.
Although the agreement speaks of respect for human rights and international law, it has been criticised by human rights organisation Amnesty International.
The previous agreement Italy had with the Gaddafi regime also referred to human rights. Yet, the European Court of Human Rights found Italy’s government guilty of breaching the rights of African migrants when they were immediately repatriated to Libya after being rescued at sea.
Between 2009 and 2010, the policy stamped out migrant crossings and Malta benefited indirectly as the number of migrant arrivals dropped dramatically.
Mr Jolles said that every country had a right to defend its borders and return people who did not deserve protection to their country of origin or the country from where they left.
“But the problem with the policy of intercepting people on the high seas was that no attempts were made to properly identify those who would have needed some form of international protection. People were indiscriminately sent back.”
Mr Jolles was unfazed by Dr Borg’s argument that Libya was a more democratic country after the removal of the Gaddafi regime.
He insisted that the scenario has not changed in any way.
“I would like to know what the changes were, because the areas we believed were problematic then are still problematic now.”
Libya has not signed the Geneva Convention, a UN charter outlining refugee rights, and the UNHCR still has no agreement with the North African country.
Mr Jolles explained that people were still being detained and gaining access to detention facilities was proving difficult.
Migrants had no way to claim asylum or receive international protection, he added.
“We all hope things will really change in Libya.
“This will certainly make things easier for many countries but particularly for those vulnerable people in Libya who merit international protection,” Mr Jolles said.