The European Commission’s proposal for a Mediterranean-wide Frontex operation to prevent further migrant boat tragedies has been cautiously welcomed by organisations in the field.
A spokesman for the UN refugee agency in Malta said it supported broad cooperation on measures that could prevent loss of life at sea, provided the rights of asylum seekers were respected.
“It is crucial to ensure that any new arrangements will ensure effective access to protection for people fleeing persecution and war.
“There is no room for ‘push backs’ to unsafe situations,” the spokesman said.
The idea, in the words of Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, is to create a Frontex search and rescue operation that will cover the entire Mediterranean Sea “from Spain to Cyprus”.
It was prompted by the sinking of a migrant boat close to Lampedusa a week ago in which more than 300 people are feared to have died.
Ms Malmström proposed the idea at a meeting of home affairs ministers in Luxemburg on Tuesday.
“All member states who expressed themselves said Frontex could do more,” she said after the meeting.
Frontex is the EU’s external borders agency that offers technical and operational assistance to member states.
Ms Malmström told the press in Luxembourg it was too early to say how much more money or resources would be needed to fulfil the proposed ambitious mission.
Yesterday Frontex announced it would use up the remainder of its 2013 budget to extend Operation Hermes, focused on migration flows from North Africa to Italy, until November.
Asked whether a Mediterranean-wide Frontex mission could prevent migrants from entering EU waters to apply for asylum, Jose Angel Oropeza, chief of mission of the International Organisation for Migration in Rome, said: “Making the sea more secure does not mean that violations of human rights will take place.
“We have learnt a lot from what happened in the Mediterranean in recent years.
“There is legitimate concern for the wellbeing of migrants and a need to provide safe haven for those in need of protection.”
Neil Falzon, director of human rights NGO Aditus, said the terms of reference and operational rules of any proposed joint operation would need to be made clear.
“If these are grounded in the securing of access to safe territory where asylum seekers can present their asylum applications and where they will not be exposed to severe human rights violations, then the project has the potential of saving many more lives than Malta and Italy can rescue together today,” he said.
Referring to the Italian proposal for an EU “task force” on irregular migration, backed by Malta, the UNHCR said this would only be effective if border control and security enforcement measures were reconciled with fair asylum procedures.