More than 2,500 have drowned or gone missing in the Mediterranean on their way from North Africa since January. Malta is right to demand more EU action but its unwillingness to take more migrants may be leading to loss of lives, says Amnesty International.

The international outcry to do more to save lives at sea has not resulted in any meaningful political action a year on from the Lampedusa shipwrecks that claimed more than 500 lives, according to Amnesty International.

The human rights organisation slammed “the shameful inaction of EU countries” and criticised Malta for employing a narrow definition of distress that could be leading to loss of life.

“Malta takes the view that there needs to be a request for assistance and a clear and immediate danger of loss of life... for some, such as Malta, a vessel must be on the point of sinking while for others, including Italy, unseaworthiness per se entails distress,” it said.

Italy was the only EU member state to take concrete steps against deaths at sea, launching Operation Mare Nostrum at a cost of about €9 million per month.

“The shameful inaction of EU countries has contributed to a spiralling death toll. More than 2,500 people have drowned or gone missing in the Mediterranean on their way from North Africa since the start of the year,” Amnesty said in a report that details the findings of recent visits to Italy and Malta.

For some, such as Malta, a vessel must be on the point of sinking

The report states that this year more than 130,000 refugees and migrants irregularly crossed Europe’s southern borders by sea.

Conflicts and persecution in the Middle East and Africa, economic deprivation and the sealing of land borders in southeastern Europe have pushed desperate people towards the sea.

The vast majority of refugees left from war-torn Libya where “tens of thousands are currently trapped”, the human rights organisation said.

The report identifies structural weaknesses in search and rescue services in the central Mediterranean and calls for more safe and legal routes to Europe for people fleeing conflict and persecution.

This can be done through resettlement, humanitarian admission programmes and facilitation of family reunification.

Amnesty also makes the case for a review of the Dublin regulations governing the processing of asylum applications in the EU.

“The lack of responsibility sharing among EU countries is discouraging southern European states, particularly Malta, from taking refugees and migrants to their ports,” Amnesty said.

As refugees and migrants’ boats often head for Italy and do not want to end up in Malta, the country has used this interpretation to its advantage to minimise its search and rescue interventions, the report states.

Journeys are often made in dangerously overcrowded boats.Journeys are often made in dangerously overcrowded boats.
 

Trapped in Malta but dreaming of the Netherlands...

In Malta, Amnesty International met five Syrian refugees, survivors of the October 11 shipwreck. All are fleeing war in Syria. These are the personal stories of two of them.

Mohamed Kazkji, from Syria

Mohamed, 22, fled Syria in August 2012 after receiving a letter from the police ordering him to serve as a soldier. He left his parents and four siblings and flew to Egypt.

His grandfather, one uncle and five cousins died during bombings in Damascus. From Egypt, he paid smugglers to take him to Libya where he joined an uncle.

“Libya was becoming very dangerous for me. Lots of fighting, everybody was armed... in Misurata, there are no police, no authority, it is lawless. I was seeing my mother in my dreams every day.”

So Mohamed attempted the sea crossing. “The Netherlands seemed best, you can learn the language and study or work there.

For us it would have been better to die in the sea than be here

“So I went to a Libyan smuggler with a friend from Syria, Yahea, whom I had met in Libya. We asked the smuggler to arrange our trip to Italy. It was $1,300 each. My friend Yahea died in the shipwreck. He was 22.”

Ibrahim Abdalla Sudi, from Syria

Ibrahim, 28, left Syria in November 2011. He comes from a family of farmers who lost their livelihood in the war. “There was no more food. I had to leave. I have five siblings. I cannot call my family because all lines are down in my village. Sometimes I call my sister, who lives in Damascus. But even she cannot call our village, so I have had no news of them since I left.”

Ibrahim went to Jordan, then to Egypt and Libya by bus, where he stayed for two years working as a carpenter. But the problems in the country forced him to leave. Now, he is trapped in Malta.

“For us it would have been better to die in the sea than be here. There is nowhere to go... we need nothing from Malta, we are here by mistake. We want to go to Europe.”

In figures: how total has grown over years

1998-2013 – a total of 623,118 migrants reached EU shores irregularly

2009-2012 – over 1.7 million long-term immigrants entered the EU

Total arrivals by sea through the Mediterranean:

2011 – 69,000 (of these, 51,000 in Lampedusa; 1,500 in Malta)

2012 – 22,500

2103 – 60,000 (of these 43,000 people arrived in Italy)

2014 (as of Sept 15) – 130,000 seaborne refugees irregularly crossed Europe’s southern border; most went to Italy

2014 – 565 individuals were brought to Malta by the end of August. By mid-September 2014, around 2,500 men, women and children died in the Mediterranean

Victims’ bodies are brought ashore.Victims’ bodies are brought ashore.

Did rescue delay contribute to shipwreck?

The death of about 200 people, mostly refugees fleeing war, in an area where rescue was avail-able and had been repeatedly requested demands accountability, Amnesty said.

On October 11, 2013, at about 5pm a trawler carrying more than 400 people, the vast majority Syrian families, sank 111 kilometres from Lampedusa and 218 kilometres from Malta, in Malta’s search and rescue zone. Only 212 people were rescued and about 200 died.

This was “a shocking example” of the dangers created by the shortcomings in the cooperation between Italian and Maltese search and rescue services, according to Amnesty.

The trawler had left Zuwara, in Libya, at 1am. At about 3am the boat was approached by a Libyan vessel with several armed men who tried to stop it by shooting at the engine. Some passengers were injured and the trawler started to take in water. At dawn, the Libyan vessel left.

Calls from the boat to Rome were made at 12.26pm and 12.39pm but the migrants were told the boat was in Malta’s search and rescue area. Rome informed Malta but despite the urgent request for assistance, no rescue was provided for hours, Amnesty said. At 5pm, the boat capsized and sank rapidly.

At 5:07pm, Malta informed Rome that many people were in the water and requested assistance. Maltese and Italian assets, as well as commercial vessels, assisted in the rescue.

“It is reasonable to question whether Italy and Malta acted promptly and with all available resources to save the refugees and migrants and whether a delay in going to their rescue contributed to the shipwreck.”

In reaction, the Home Affairs Ministry said the AFM acted in a highly professional manner, saving many lives. More would have been lost had it not been for its timely intervention.

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